Startup Aims For $99, Android-Powered TV Game Console 194
rodrigoandrade writes "Ouya is a new Android-based home console that aims to bring to the living room the $0.99 games business model that has worked so well for Apple. The device 'will allow developers to easily create and sell their games and be fully “hackable” — anyone will be able to pull the machine apart and tinker with it to their heart’s content.' They're planning on shipping by March 2013. Admittedly, it's vaporware so far, but it could turn the industry on its head, effectively putting an end to the things we all hate about modern console gaming ($60 games, DLC, DRM, endless sequels, movie tie-ins, etc.)"
Yeah, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
The $.99 business model only works for ios devs because there are millions of devices in the wild. How many do they plan to sell? It's not like standard android apps blow up to the size of tablets or --worse-- tv screens is attracting customers by the millions.
Re:Yeah, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
That's not even to mention that there is a huge disparity in quality between $0.99 games and $60 games.
Don't get me wrong, there are a TON of shit games released for full consoles that aren't worth $6, let alone $60, and there are a ton of excellent games available for android/ios that are easily worth the $1, $2, or even up to $5 price tags that go along with them...
but you aren't going to ever get a Diablo III / Mass effect / Modern Warfare / etc level game on android/ios for $1. ain't happening. sheer logistics of development team size.
and i'm cool with that. there's no need to have only one or the other. we can have both.
Re:Not that revolutionary (Score:4, Insightful)
In France, where almost all domestic broadband is "triple play" (phone, TV and Internet), at least two of the major ISPs offers gaming as part of the functionality of their latest glorified router package. You can't get much easier to install than "It's already there", and the ISPs already have a distribution model that they use to sell view-on-demand video.
What kind of content do they offer? Bejeweled? Card games? What's the controller like?
At the end of the day, "just showing up", though important, doesn't help when the content or usability are weak. That's like the VOD I have for Dish Network - completely uninterested, even if it was free - there's better stuff on Netflix or Amazon Video and it's easier to access those with a Roku.
Re:Even GPU costs more (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft overtaking Google with Bing? What world do you live in? Instead of googling people in this world, do you Bing them?
Re:Even GPU costs more (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Even GPU costs more (Score:2, Insightful)
You're being trolled.
There was a time when Microsoft/Waggener Edstrom/Burson Marsteller shills would place posts praising their own products and slagging Google at the top of every story. I suspect this is intended to be a parody of them.
Having said that, Microsoft must be terrified of these things. They're available for as little as $20 in volume http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/561407182/Ider_Exclusive_Dongle_design_hdmi_dongle.html [alibaba.com], and are easily capable enough for browsing the web, email, Facebook, basic office work etc. With HDMI to a decent screen and USB for keyboard and mouse, these dongles could easily replace 90% of home and small office desktops today, if it wasn't for MS Office format lockin.
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