Ouya Android Game Console Launches, Quickly Sells Out 279
Ouya, the Android-based game console that arose out of a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, officially launched today. The $99 device quickly sold out at a number of retailers, including Amazon and GameStop. "According to Ouya, the console currently has more than 170 downloadable games, as well as a built-in software development kit that enables people to create and test titles right from the hardware." Many reviews of the console suggest the controllers are not very good, and there are reports that the Wi-Fi connectivity can be flaky. There's also a lot of commentary about Ouya that clearly came from unrealistic expectations of what a $99 device can provide. Most of the backers from the Kickstarter campaign have received their consoles, but some are still waiting as Ouya tries to sort out shipping problems with DHL.
How many were released? (Score:4, Insightful)
The information "sold out" means nothing unless we know how many they released.
Expectations lowered by all the crap out there (Score:4, Insightful)
Are people so trained on sub-par, cheap Asian electronics that there's an expectation of suckage on a device that "only" costs $99 ? Is $99 the new throwaway price, where you use something, expect it to fail, then go buy another one? It's the Walmart generation I guess.
What we can take away from this (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:If this were an Apple Device (Score:4, Insightful)
If it were an Apple device, it would cost a helluva lot more than $100.
Re:Xbox One (Score:5, Insightful)
But can you run any game you want, any emulator you want, or write any game you want on an old XBox? Not really. Yes, it's a niche, but and important one that is not being served by the current console makers. That's why Ouya's been so popular so far. It fills a need that the console makers refuse to satisfy.
Re:If this were an Apple Device (Score:2, Insightful)
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/ipod_accessories/apple_tv [apple.com]
Re:Xbox One (Score:1, Insightful)
But do they have PCs in the living room? (Score:4, Insightful)
Smart people looking for fun, novel experiences already have computers.
But are these PCs in the living rooms of smart people? Sources say no [slashdot.org]. So what do smart people looking for fun, novel experiences to share with house guests have? Until Ouya, "fun, novel experiences" and multiplayer with multiple gamepads and one big monitor were almost mutually exclusive because there aren't enough deployed home theater PCs to make the home theater PC attractive as a target platform.
Re:Say halo to exclusive games (Score:4, Insightful)
The "Xbone" is a damaged brand at this point. The best case scenario Microsoft can hope for is roughly equal market share, if their damage control works wonders or if Sony makes mistakes as well. More likely, Xbox One will have a smaller market share than the PS4.
The hardware in the Xbox One and the PS4 is not all that different, and everything that is different seems to be to the advantage of the PS4 (faster RAM, more GPU stream units). While it would take some effort to support two different APIs, porting from Xbox One to PS4 would be relatively easy, as it wouldn't require changes to the content. Even if they have competition from cheaper indie games on the PS4, the extra sales are likely to outweigh the costs of porting.
Another reason to go exclusive is Microsoft paying the publishers for exclusivity. AAA game development is very expensive though and I doubt Microsoft will want to invest that kind of money on their third generation console. They could sell the first Xbox under cost to gain entry into a market, but the Xbox 360 did pretty well on its own merits (besides the red ring of death problems), so heavily sponsoring the Xbox One platform would be a step back. Also the announced price of $500 doesn't suggest Microsoft wants to subsidize the system.
So I don't see much incentive for publishers to make exclusive titles for the Xbox One.
Re:Xbox One (Score:2, Insightful)
Lets's face it, whether Slashdot likes MS or not is irrelevant.
What's important is that customers hate most of Microsoft's recent ventures. Surface is dead in the water. WP8 phones are being price-dumped in every market they're sold in, Bing survives solely on Corps who set it as default, Windows use is dropping more than 10% every year.
This is a company that does not produce products people want any more.
Why would their game console be any different?