On Ouya

There is a new video game console being relesed. No, it's not the new PlayStation or Xbox; it's the Ouya. Odds are, if you've dug deep enough into the interwebs to find this blog, you've heard of Ouya and it's record-breaking Kickstarter project. As of this writing Ouya has reached 28,000 backers and over $3,500,000 in pledges. In two days. It beat out both the Pebble watch and the Double Fine Adventures game Kickstarter projects.

The hardware is not necessarily outstanding. In fact, it has similar specs to most contemporary smartphones including a Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8 GB of flash storage. The controller is interesting, it includes a touchpad that could open up gameplay types. It runs Android 4.0, which makes it open and easy for porting existing Android apps.

And that is where the Ouya shines. The Kickstarter page portrays the machine as a hackers dream. You can get to the guts with standard screwdrivers and replace or upgrade parts. You can mod the software and hardware as much as you want. You can develop and publish games without paying licensing fees.

It is surprising that it has taken this long for someone to put together a product like this. It is essentially the Roku of video games, and should have that same type of disruptive effect on the video game world as the Roku is having on the television world.

We live in an exciting time. Soon we should be able to buy a Roku and an Ouya (weird names, huh?) and enjoy much the same entertainment options as those who pay for proprietary, closed systems like cable and PlayStations. The Ouya has a long way to go, but it's off to a great start.

 

Andrew

 

Reading: Caliban's War, James S.A. Corey. Page 69/611