Is anyone else really sceptical about the OUYA?

[ToastiestZombie]

So, as most of us have heard the OUYA is the latest big Kickstarter thing. There's been a LOT of celebration around it, but really I'm incredibly sceptical that this thing might either be a scam or an epic failure. Now, before you go saying I hate the thing, I don't. If all my fears turn out to be false, and the console actually comes out and is actually good I'll get one in a heartbeat. But I won't be backing the Kickstarter, because of these reasons:

We haven't actually SEEN a prototype yet, the only thing in the video we could see was a game being played on a screen with a PS3 controller, the silhouette looked nothing liked the OUYA controller. I figured that with that much money and the fact that they're saying "We've got a working prototype" would mean they would have one to show to the public and the press. There hasn't been one image of the OUYA in actual real life yet, the others being marketing photos that either look like shopped images or a simple hollow shell of the console. We've not seen a working prototype, and they're already asking for pre-orders.

This is what the "mastermind" behind the project said when asked about why we haven't actually seen a prototype:

Spoiler

OUYA is real. We have a real functional prototype (we show it playing Shadowgun in our video.) It runs on a Tegra3 standard reference board. What is unique with OUYA is not the technology but how we put it together and how we wrap it in a beautifully designed, Yves Behar package.

If OUYA was real, then why hasn't she shown anything to us yet? You can do the exact same thing they were showing with other devices, and the use of a PS3 controller confirms this. I just feel that the fact they haven't shown ANY of the prototype except for VERY ambiguous parts of the movie is quite suspicious.

Secondly, they actually haven't confirmed any games for it yet. They said Minecraft would be coming, yet Notch knew nothing about it till he was told by some other person. They've promised a lot of games, like bloody Madden. Yet the likeliness that EA will actually support a console which encourages hackers is is very, VERY low. I haven't seen word from any developers that they are making those games for the console, and it won't be as easy as a simple port either. They'll have to make new controls for the game and let it be used on any TV. We haven't heard from the developer of Shadowgun that the game will be coming out for the thing, we actually only heard about the first "official" game today.

So, is anyone else sceptical about this so called "revolution" of a device? If so, why? I'm not trying to start a flamewar, because as I stated that these are only suspicions and I am very interested in the idea of the console. But I'll never pay 100 dollars to fund an "idea", I'll pay it to get a product.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Madden?! Well now I'm worried too, if their starting lineup is that bad...

Anyway these guys aren't one of the big players, they haven't got prototypes to throw at press, I'd be surprised if they even made more then one (i.e. prototypes are extremely expensive).
And yes this does leave a big black mark on the deal because we have no concrete evidence that the end product can do what it promises, sadly Double Fine and the others inspired a practice of "sell hot air now, fill the rest in later"... it's a really terrible standard to set because it's a huge gamble on both ends.
So right now OUYA is doing just that selling a big tasty pie in the sky, but noone can tell what will really come down.

The upside is with so many people focusing on it they have a huge viral marketing thing going already, no doubt developers will pay attention and customers will roll in, so there is a big incentive for the creators to get this done.
Or fake their own deaths and leg it with the money...

 

[DJjaffacake]

OUYA is real. We have a real functional prototype (we show it playing Shadowgun in our video.) It runs on a Tegra3 standard reference board. What is unique with OUYA is not the technology but how we put it together and how we wrap it in a beautifully designed, Yves Behar package.

Seriously? She's selling it on the basis that, "It wooks pwetty," and expecting that to substitute for an actual visible prototype?

I'm with the OP, if it turns out great, I'll probably get one, but there are definitely some issues that need resolving first.

 

[Esotera]

Yeah, Android gaming sucks compared to the big three consoles, and the only advantages to it are a low investment of time required, and mobility. Producing a game console kills the mobility aspect and means you're either never going to use it for more than a few minutes, or you'll get bored of the games. I'm also convinced that Android is a couple of years away as an OS from being a decent platform for games.

Also, does OUYA even have touchscreen?

 

[GiantRaven]

The whole thing sounds completely ridiculous to me. On top of that, what the Ouya plans to do is something I can already do with my not-particularly-great laptop, and my iPod - play 'simple' games that were aimed at mobile devices.

Why would I bother to spend money to do something I can already do?

 

[Fappy]

I got one as I am excited by what might come of it, but if it is a crappy flop... well let's just say I have my little brother's next birthday present. If it gets nothing but crappy Android games he'd love it!

 

[ToastiestZombie]

I got one as I am excited by what might come of it, but if it is a crappy flop... well let's just say I have my little brother's next birthday present. If it gets nothing but crappy Android games he'd love it!

I want to see if this turns out to be one big vapourware project, because nothing really has indicated that they're anywhere near finished. You don't need millions of dollars to put out a video showing off your prototype, so why aren't they doing it?

 

[InterestingKiwi]

Oh, it's pretty obviously going to flop. The very poor hardware inside of it alone is enough to ensure it's not going anywhere. I see it being on par with the dreamcast. Even so, for what is essentially a rom box, I'd rather get a dreamcast than the Ouya.

 

[TrevHead]

$99 it alot of money to give to somebody you don't know on the internet.

A piece of console hardware is much more risker thing than just a reboot of an old game, there's waaay more things that could go wrong.

That said I like the idea of anyone taking risks in the gaming industry, I just hope that those who have payed money into it fully understand what they are getting into and have no hard feelings if the die roll doesn't land on double six.

I havn't been following kickstarter event's personally however my gut reaction tell me that most of the kneejerking and fanboy level negativity thats usual on the net isn't coming from those who supported it, rather those who haven't, and had no intention of doing so no matter how good the pitch on Kickstarter, which considering they didn't pay into it don't really count

 

[sanquin]

For the amount of hype it's getting and how much funding it got already, yea it's going to flop. People expect way too much of it, and will be disappointed with the end result. Especially for for amount of money that was donated to the project.

The Ouya sounds like it will be nothing more than an android phone that you can hook up to your TV for a larger screen, and that you can play with a controller. It will at most be as 'strong' as a mid-range tabled these days.

'Wishlists' ask for games like CoD, Mass Effect, Battlefield and Skyrim on the thing, but that will never happen. It will be far too weak for those types of games. Well, maybe CoD and Battlefield if they take the first games. Furthermore apparently they 'promise' to put games on there without even notifying the developers of said games, so how are they ever going to port them, let alone also have the devs' permission to do so? Oh, and did I mention they plan to release it in 2013?

Yea, it's going to relatively flop. Maybe it'll become an 'indie' console for -really- casual phone app gamers and little kids. But nothing more.

 

[Archer666]

From what I've been reading on the internet, the actual costs for mass producing a console are a lot higher than 5 million so I seriously doubt they'll be able to actually bring it out. They've been very vague about this thing, during the Kotaku(ewwwww) Q&A session most questions doubting the reality of this project were met with a "YES WE TOTALLY CAN" without anything to back it up.

To me, OUYA is either the work of some truely naive people that mean well but have no idea how this business works or are actively scamming people.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

What I'm wondering about is who the audience for the thing is.

The console crowd? Not likely, since a niche product like the Ouya is not likely to draw in the consumer base needed for the support of AAA developers, who will in turn create the games needed to attract the console crowd. Sure, you could use it for emulators and turn it into a retrogaming device, but even a humble modern pc can emulate just about every console (that has a decent emulator for it). Really, most mobile devices could do that.

Which leads me to the mobile gamer. Why would they buy a device to play games that they can already play on their phone/tablet. To play it on a bigger screen? With the way multimedia are becoming ever interconnected, mobile devices are probably going to have that kind of functionality anyway, except you can also, you know, be mobile.

It's very late here and I'm quite tired, so my reasoning may not be up to par right now, but I can't figure out which demographic the Ouya serves. At least, not any demographic that is also commercially viable enough to ensure it's continued existance. I'm sure many of my fellow Escapists may be interested in it, but we aren't exactly representative of the average consumer, console or mobile.

 

[Vitagen]

What I fail to understand is what an Ouya lets one do that can't already be done. It seems to me that it's either:

A) A way to play smartphone games on one's television, as it probably won't be powerful enough to handle much else.

B) A device to stuff better hardware in once you buy it, so that you can play more taxing games, which offers no apparent advantage over a PC.

It might offer an interesting and relatively inexpensive way to practice game development, but UDK, Source, and a myriad of other tools already do that.

Ultimately, I love the idea of an open source, upgradeable console, but I'm not sure what purpose it serves, so even if they get it out the door, I doubt many people buy it.

 

[Rawne1980]

Also, does OUYA even have touchscreen?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console

It's a games console ... it plugs into your TV ..... so no.

 

[Hazy992]

Also, does OUYA even have touchscreen?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console

It's a games console ... it plugs into your TV ..... so no.

Actually yes it does.

From their Kickstarter:

We are designing the controller to be a love letter to console gaming. It will have everything you've learned to love: fast buttons, triggers, laser-precise analog sticks, a D-Pad ? and it will have a touchpad for any games making the trek from mobile or tablet to the TV.

OT: Could be a neat little device but it sounds like it's going to be more for homebrew and retro gaming than anything else.

 

[kortin]

If you aren't skeptical about it, you're an idiot.

You should be skeptical of EVERYTHING on kickstarter. Especially one that you actively show interest in, and especially the Ouya, considering they don't have ANY working prototypes to show for it (saying you have a working prototype does not count).

 

[Davroth]

Skeptical that it will be a success? Certainly.

Skeptical that it's a scam? Not really.

Do I want this to be a success and would throw money at it to make it one? You bet.

 

[yaydod]

Well i am skeptical about its success, but i think it might work out for them since the devkit is 99$ and not thousands, you will be able to post your games and update them for a reasonable price.

I also think that it would be great if it worked to make things move on the console market which is getting very stale.

Other funny part is that people are talking about the "graphics will be bad", hum no? The tech in it is more powerful than your xbox360 or PS3 and do they have crappy graphics? Not sure about that. Do we need better graphics, not really, we arrived at a point where graphics are good even on low/medium specs.
More polygons do not make better games.

I think most people (i hope) are investing in it because it is a very good idea, we need some thing to change in this market with all these drastic DRM, broader audience to touch, increasingly bloated budgets, if you want your game made you must go through the big 3, it would be great if they can pop that bubble.

So yeah i really hope that it succeeds and will through a bit of money at it now and allot when it comes out.

Also about Notch not knowing,he did a very big pledge to the project and said something like this (cant find the article where i read this T.T ) "Minecraft will be on this console if it shows that it works an enough people are interested in it".

 

[Kahunaburger]

The name sounds like some sort of birth control device. Other than that, no strong opinion on my part.