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primesuspect
The Curator of Delightful Experiences Admin, D&D Supernerd, Supporter, Expo Attendee
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/slinks off into "unrelated comment" territory.
I love the idea of this being open, but I'm not sure otherwise why the kickstarter took off so well. I see nothing compelling about it yet that is deserving of my money.
I think the biggest point to make here is what you mentioned in the 2nd to last paragraph. We are in a Kickstarter bubble. Kickstarter is still a new thing, and everyone still thinks they can do whatever they want with it. Just look at Penny Arcade. Fans are eating this stuff up, and almost every person donating is encouraging some sort of bad behavior - and I don't just mean PA, I mean with most Kickstarters.
Here's the thing - we have yet to reach a point where end products materialize as a result of the majority of Kickstarter efforts. We're still only in the honeymoon stage. Take for instance the card game Katalyka. Over Seven grand was donated by 85 backers to make this game a reality. A year later there is no game, and the author is talking about her inability to finish because "the SUN is speaking to her in her head, and telling her to not release the game". I'm not making this up. The backers are pissed and yelling in the comments, but in the end they can't do anything. Backing a kickstarter does not guarantee a return service. This is probably the first of many such cases.
The fact that Ouya has four million in the bank without nothing but a thin promise is staggering. If anything, a project of this magnitude can and should serve as the litmus test for the legitimacy of Kickstarter as a service that dishes out a return product, and I think it's going to burn.
Secondly, (and this is more personal crazy speculation), I feel that Android is headed the route of full-fledged computer OS, sort of in a reverse Microsoft mode (where Windows 8 is computers reaching to the tablet/smartphone, Android seems to be reaching away from smartphones more to the computer to me), and this is just the first major example of this. Though again, this paragraph is just crazy personal speculation.
There's a market there, I think. I can think of quite a few apps I'd like to play with a controller in front of the tube.
Still, it's really hard to get excited about that Tegra 3. Maybe the 2nd or 3rd iteration of the hardware will be worth considering.
1. Capital is no longer an issue, at least to meet the initial demand. I guarantee this Kickstarter made a whole lot of VC's take notice. They have all the capital they need.
2. I think you missed the point of the system. The developers they are looking to buy in are the guys in their garages and small indie groups. I'm sure they would love to get big developers too, but it doesn't need them to be successful. Minecraft is the perfect example. All they need is a few killer indie games made for it and for only $99, they'll get sales. The developers they need to buy in are likely the same people that invested in the Kickstarter project.
3. Piracy is a serious concern and this is a very legitimate point. I wonder how they will combat this.
4. We don't really know who is involved at this point, so this statement is absolute conjecture. The founder, however, seems to have plenty of experience in the industry.
5. See point #2
6. This is my biggest worry and a very legitimate point. I think no one realizes the hardware limitations and soon after getting it and realizing that everything is a simple indie game, they'll lose interest after a month and return to their xboxs.
7. Apparently a record setting amount of people on Kickstarter do. You should never look at your close circle of friends to determine the validity of a product. That's a serious business mistake.
8. See point #1
9. This is another serious issue and a very legitimate point. Amazon will sell it I'm sure, but not any physical retail outlets. On the other hand, perhaps we're making a mistake in assuming they need the market penetration of MS, Sony and Nintendo to be successful. Maybe they can be plenty successful with a million units with active users and remaining a small company. Some companies stay small and are plenty profitable for their founders.
10. Completely irrelevant (and somewhat ignorant) unless it was put in as mostly humor. The 3DO failed because it was $600 in a market with the SNES. Obviously, since Ouya's market is how cheap can we make games and the system, this is not their issue.
So, out of all those points, I would say there were 3 that were legitimate. At the same time, that may be enough. #9 will stop it from having a huge user base and the other #3 and #6 will probably make its existing user base lose interest soon after launch. I'm still getting one though because I think it's going to be a sexy toy for me to play with!
1) Porting existing apps to this thing will be extremely easy and cheap.
2) The Ouya merely beats TV manufacturers to the punch of building IOS, Android or Windows 8 into their TVs. That is, if they hurry. Will there still be a market for the system when these Smart TVs start rolling out?
3) You don't need a high-power GPU for puzzle, card, board, strategy, or educational titles, for example, and there are plenty of other games and apps that have similarly low graphics requirements but are wildly popular. This has been a major area of weakness on the traditional consoles because licensing, publishing, patching and marketing small budget games on these systems is cost prohibitive. Ouya could fill that need easily.
4) I don't see anyone getting sick of a steady stream of apps like these. People still buy Myst and play Tetris, Solitaire and Minesweeper....
5) Gamers will still prefer to play larger budget, graphics intensive games on more powerful PC's and consoles first (see the Wii), so the Ouya doesn't really NEED to compete with the latest and greatest GPU. But the Tegra 3, doesn't seem sufficient for the few successful 3D-intensive shooters and action games the system might attract. Especially looking a year or two (more?) into the future when these start to ship.
The best thing about the console though, is that it is a devkit. When I buy it, I also get a devkit so I can actually start making my own game for it. And I want to make a game, but I personally didn't want to make a touchscreen one, because I prefer touchscreens with a stylus (I got used to it with DS and 3DS). Now I can make my game cheaply, and design in for a controller! What's not to like?
It's not in the 360's league, and really not even close.
People need to recognize that it's not a sales site; it's a crowdfunding site. If you're not willing to pretend you never had whatever money you're pledging to the thing, you shouldn't be spending it. Hopefully that's the attitude backers are taking, particularly with things that are just open promises. If you can't bear to part with your $50, wait until it's actually a product that's on sale, and buy it then.
I like it when comanies try to fill up the small free spaces in the market and I believe that there is a market for an open-source, cheap console. And even if it all turns out that they wont' make a console in the end I'm fine with that and I wouldn't regret pledging the money.
In my opinion they did everything right so far. They have a creative, experienced team and a great vision.
Using the already successful and popular Android OS and the Play-store is the best they could've done. Because know we can be quite sure that at least the software component of the product won't make any trouble.
The hardware might seem outdated (especially when you concern that the console won't ship until March 2013) but it's enough for the beginning...also for all the crafty tech freaks out there it's just an opportunity to improve it theirselves. At least I would try. And again: they don't want to compete with those high-end systems like xbox or ps3. And there won't be any benchmark games like crysis or battlefield. As long as there are creative developers making awesome little games the whole product will be a success.
Also I can (and will) use the ouya in my home network. I think there are a lot of opportunities.
And finally the piracy problem. I agree with the writer of german article about the ouya I just red (I'm sorry I don't remember where) who thinks that this will be a very small problem. Piracy in the indie-game market is usually way lower than with the AAA-titles. Also I people would rather buy a really good indie game for 5$ than a 40$ blockbuster they just want to check out.
So I wish the ouya a great success and I believe it will be one!
So long
Developers like the sound of this now, but not when they are getting ass-raped by piracy which will surely be present in a big way on this console.
The Android marketplace is eating up devs and spitting them out right now.
ever hear of home brew? its when you mod a console to make your own games on it, thousands of people do it. if 500 people buy OUYA for home brew and put 5 games on the marketplace for free each that is 2500 games for free.
OUYA isn't for skyrim, or COD, or battlefield, it is for awesome indie games. Minecraft started as an indie game, and i have a huge feeling that if OUYA was out before minecraft that the first port (other then PC/mac) would have been to OUYA and not 360.
Piracy still isn't an issue in the game industry. stop looking at "this torrent was downloaded 50,000 times" and think about it, to be a lost sale it has to be something the person wanted to buy in the first place.
Skyrim pretty much defeats every piracy argument out there. it was leaked on the internet 3 weeks before launch and still sold record copies across all playable platforms.
The only real argument here is about the power of the console. it is at best on par with 360, and with next gen around the corner it might be left in the dust, however, at $100 and possible large indie game market it will probably be a must buy.
Here's something I asked them:
"
Hello OUYA Dev Team!
My name is Ardavan Hosseini, I'm a newbie Security Researcher.
When I first saw your project I was like wow this is really cool. I was about to go for $225 and was about to pay, but this question came to my mind...
How powerful is this device?
I checked the KS page again and saw the Specifications...
I have some questions about this:
1. How is Tegra3 chip and 1GB RAM is going to make Mobile games that we have on our Android and iPhones more fun? Screen? Controller?
2. How long is this device going to live? Even in Mobile devices Tegra3 is going to last for a year because many games are going to come out and they need more power.
3. How is your device going to compete with other consoles? More indie games? Why would someone want to pay for a console to play the games they have on their mobile?
4. Both Microsoft and Sony are working on their Next Generation consoles which means that Devices a lot more powerful are going to come. Why did you go for Tegra3?
5. Don't you think that your device is more Developer/Hacker friendly than Gamer friendly? I mean your device is more like an Indie box. Even if we assume that many Game developers go for your device , still with Tegra3 no one can make Huge games such as Battlefield 3 and Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim.
6. Open also means Piracy is possible. Android can also get infected by Viruses etc. What are you going to do about security of your device and users?
These are my thoughts on your device because I think people got overexcited about it.
I want answers from you if possible.
Why did you go for Developer friendly instead of Gamer friendly?"
The description says you'll be able to play AAA games on it. Not only that, but when they did that survey in the first week about what games people would like to see on the Ouya, Skyrim, Battlefield, CoD etc. WERE included as options.
Are you thinking "Well, that just marketing BS"? I agree. And I'll take it a step further: they're being intentionally misleading to even suggest any of those titles could EVER appear on the Ouya. I don't want to use the word "lying", but...
Let's just say, it's one of many reasons a lot of gullible funders are in for a HUGE disappointment.
Now with onlive and FF announced they are coming, what do you all think now?
I'm still not utterly convinced of Ouya's success, but I think having a partnership like Squeenix in the pocket substantially increases the profile and viability of the platform.