OUYA and console development costs?

[UnknownGunslinger]

So Ouya has now has now gotten close to 4,5 million dollars - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console.

Makes me wonder how high are production costs for consoles anyway, how much did it cost Microsoft for the first batch of Xbox 360s, or Sony for the PS3s?

Since I cant seem to find this info online, what do you think?
How much of a player will the OUYA be after this?

P.S. My capthca was Stranger Danger! ROFL

 

[Fappy]

This money will just help it out the door. We won't see how well it can compete financially until it is released to the general public.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Who knows. The Ouya is a bit of a unique case in that they're using off the shelf hardware with some specialized software. It's basically a high end android tablet with a customized Android OS, but no touch screen (so there goes $100 off the price to the end consumer). Other consoles tend to have higher R&D costs because actual hardware has to be developed. Even the original Xbox and the 360 have custom hardware, despite being essentially PCs (as in, IBM PC compatible computers) with a specialized OS.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I'm excited to see what goes down, win place or show.

I'm also wondering when they're going to start telling us what they'll do with their extra money.

 

[targren]

$4.5M?! Jesus zombified christ, that's nuts.

I definitely think the thing has some potential, but more for replacing my MythTV HTPC than a game console, so I hope it makes it. If it doesn't, though... I should buy some stock in ConAgra[footnote]Owner of the "Orville Reddenbacher" popcorn brand[/footnote]. I'll make a fortune when the shitstorm hits if the project fails!

 

[IndomitableSam]

Sounds promising... the more competition there is, the better it is for the consumer. That makes me happy. And the specs don't seem too bad either.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well you haveto know that most kickstarter projects are actually kick-finishers, i.e. they came up short on own finances and come for extra support to kickstarter, the money there is only a small fraction of the total cost.

Also R&D in small companies is magnitudes of times cheaper then in big ones because it is usually more a labor of love then anything else, so people will put in all their time for almost no pay just to see their baby come to life.
Plus these guys are building from existing platforms unlike the big boys who decided it must all be brand new.

 

[XMark]

One thing I'm really looking forward to is the way this opens a genuine home console market up to any independent developer. Sure, that will also probably mean lots of crap games, but it's a market that indie developers of the past couldn't have even dreamed of.

 

[targren]

One thing I'm really looking forward to is the way this opens a genuine home console market up to any independent developer. Sure, that will also probably mean lots of crap games, but it's a market that indie developers of the past couldn't have even dreamed of.

The question is whether or not that will end up being a good thing.

Hear me out before you decide I'm trolling. The developers for this thing are ALL going to be the indie devs. The big boys are almost guaranteed not to touch this thing with a ten foot stupidly-oversized sword. Which means if the indie developers aren't enough to keep it alive, it's just going to cement SquarActivArts' stranglehold on the industry, because it'll show that you *need* them to survive.