RPGDX > Forums > General Discussion > OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console

BadMrBox

I just saw about this kickstarter project.
It's an open source gaming console and it seems like people really backs it up.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console
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tcaudilllg · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:23 am Post subject:

Interesting... I'll keep an eye on this. I presume Chrome and FF will be ported to it? Then Gamestar will run on it, I assume.

On the other hand, mobile gaming is more popular than ever. I think it makes one crucial error, however, and that is the idea that people will play OSS games on a TV instead of their PC. Consoles don't make it by hardware... it's the games. Playstation's popularity was built on like, five or six exclusive titles (like FF7). N64 had only one title (Ocarina of Time).

Actually this comes off to me as an entertainment PC setup marketed like a console. Like the technique the console makers use to counter "I shouldn't spend on something just to play games" arguments. But I'll bet they don't survive on the console angle alone. This looks like a net appliance to me.

It seems tailor made for emulators (...), so my money says this console gets featured as the next incarnation of Arfoire. XD

Edit: this looks to be the most popular Kickstarter ever. I'm gonna do an experiment: given that this thing has a month to go, I'm going to survey the other projects on the site, based on success vs failure, and compare to the month before and the month after. If my hypothesis is correct, the market for small time venture capital (particularly over the internet) is ultimately limited due to a host of practical and personal factors. If this thing sells like, 100k units, then I'll bet that will have an adverse effect on Kickstarter itself, in that it will herald a change in the product focus from experimental and artistic projects to mass market product (the appeal of which will siphon off support cash for the more taste specific projects). Home consoles aren't a niche market, after all, and the 20,000 orders this console has secured are way more than the emu community would care to buy. So I think these guys are taking aim at Nintendo's home console division (not that I think they will succeed, because people buy consoles for the published games, not the potential games). Yeah this is really starting to look like the Jaguar...

RampantCoyote · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:49 pm Post subject:

I backed it - which basically amounts to pre-ordering a console at full price. Here are some of my thoughts...

Oh, Yeah - The OUYA

I was skeptical when I first heard about it, but as it's getting close to 25,000 pre-orders as of today about 9 months before release, I think there's a chance that the creators are right about the size of the niche.

I don't know how they are going to sell it to the general public without having some major exclusive titles. Ports of popular indie games that are already available on other platforms won't cut it.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

tcaudilllg · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 9:37 pm Post subject:

That's the thing: it's Android. There can be no such thing as an exclusive title on this system. Anything that runs on this, runs on PC and/or phone.

I think they have fundamentally misjudged the purpose of the console market. The purpose of consoles is to create an advantage for the manufacturers over other game companies. That's the only reason they are produced. In that context, I interpret the backing of this project as a rebellion scheme against the dominant console manufacturers -- they think they are leveling the playing field, but they are doing it on the backs of consumers, which is why I expect this thing to explode as soon as soon as someone with more repute than I points this out.

UNLESS Google is behind it! Which makes a lot of sense... a stealth attack on MS. That must be what this is about.

There is another angle as well... licensing fees by the Big 3 raise prices on big budget titles which makes it harder for them to compete with indie titles, particularly with the rise of XNA, WiiWare, PSN, and Android Market. And with a big budget going towards free games, that'll be a big hit against the indie dev scene. It's a poison pill to strengthen the big boys against indie.

Yes sir, this is the most calculating console ever. I was into it before I heard it'd be offering free games... that's no good for me. Not at all.

RampantCoyote · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 11:01 pm Post subject:

This is no different from how indies have (almost) always behaved - free demo and a for-pay full version. For a while the AAA studios were trying to follow suit, but they eventually decided it was more cost-effective to throw all that money that would have been put into the demo version into marketing hype instead.

Anyway - I think the "free" thing is really how they are going to try to market it. For $99 you get a pretty decent console and a seemingly infinite supply of "free" games. But almost all those games DO come with some price tag or means of monetization. But it's about the same way the Apple App Store works. Nothing really new there, either.

One of the advisers and original backers for the project is Ed Fries, formerly VP of game publishing of Microsoft during most of the original X-Box run. So they have some people who know what they are doing working on it.

Based on their FAQ, it seems Android apps will not be directly compatible with the system - they will need some changes to work. Android is its O.S., but it's not just a tablet you plug into the TV.

Ease of development *IS* key, and I'm pretty excited about that one. My first real job out of college was working on the "mystery machine" for Sony that eventually became the first Playstation. A big reason for its success was the ease of development (something Sony forgot about with future systems... though my information is third-hand for the PS3, I only did development work on the first two).

I think the chances of it making a *big* splash in the general public are still pretty small - I don't think it's going to really give Apple, Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony a real run for their money. But it may have a place as a popular "second console" for gamers.

I dunno. We'll see.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

Nodtveidt · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 4:54 am Post subject:

I know a guy who works on both the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 in a commercial studio as a coder... he says that the PS3 is a nightmare to deal with.

I really like this console idea and I hope it's successful.
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If you play a Microsoft CD backwards you can hear demonic voices. The scary part is that if you play it forwards it installs Windows. - wallace

RampantCoyote · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:10 pm Post subject:

Of the consoles I've developed on, my favorites (and easiest to work with ) were the PS1, the XBox 360, and the Sega Dreamcast. Though I was never very fond of the CodeWarrior suite we had to use for the Dreamcast. Otherwise, it might have been my favorite. Really fun machine, died way too quickly.

The PS2 has so far proven the biggest PITA for me, but not horribly so. But I've heard guys who worked on the PS3 saying it makes the PS2 development seem lovely by comparison.

Still - dunno how that would compare to trying to make a PC engine game. :) So if this thing takes off, do you think you might consider porting Mysterious Song to the the OUYA?
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

Nodtveidt · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 4:43 am Post subject:

Making a PC Engine game is more about efficiency and maximizing the limited resources. Also, it's a different coding paradigm than Android; there's no fancy OOP stuff, it's all old-school procedural magic. :)
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If you play a Microsoft CD backwards you can hear demonic voices. The scary part is that if you play it forwards it installs Windows. - wallace

Mattias Gustavsson · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:19 am Post subject:

Nodtveidt · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 11:44 am Post subject:

I don't think I would port Mysterious Song again though... I think the 360 is going to get its only conversion. I would rather spend the time making something fresh, or porting something larger.

tcaudilllg · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 7:33 pm Post subject:

Isn't it possible to "up-compile" a lower level language to a higher level one? It should be possible to write a program in procedural language and automate the conversion to a higher level language, using generic semantics (not to be confused with OOP generics).

Regardless, I don't think Mysterious Song would make a good impression on OUYA buyers. For a game made in QB it's exceptional, but it's hardly competitive with other PC Engine RPGs that I've seen.

Nodtveidt · Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:19 pm Post subject:

Bjorn · Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:08 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I backed one too. This thing looks like just what I wanted. It's pretty much what I turned my Wii into already anyway, but that one I had to hack and then install Homebrew on, which ultimately makes you the odd one out and developing for it is painful and not very rewarding. In contrast, this console has that kind of community as its one of its primary targets, with the chance to make it a lot more popular.

So, I'm really looking forward to port a game to the TV next year. :-)

tcaudilllg · Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:49 pm Post subject:

I'm a little concerned that if the content isn't policed in some way, the OUYA's rivals could charge that its creators are leveraging piracy a la Megavideo. For example, it probably has the ability to emulate PS2 games at a reasonable speed. Although Sony dropped PS2 emulation ability from the PS3, they still offer a lot of titles over the internet. What do you think?

Nodtveidt · Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:59 pm Post subject:

I highly doubt this thing could effectively emulate the PS2. My desktop computer is more than twice as powerful as this lil thing, and PCSX2 (probably the most advanced PS2 emulator there is) still runs too slowly.
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If you play a Microsoft CD backwards you can hear demonic voices. The scary part is that if you play it forwards it installs Windows. - wallace