The Ouya

[Foxkit 4]

So for starters, everyone who doesn't know about the Ouya, here's a link, go check it out.

 

Link: http://www.ouya.tv/blog/

 

For everyone else that has been keeping up to date with the vidja game biz. What are your thoughts on this? To make things simple first, assume that this isn't just some big scam where someone walked away with 8.1 or .5 million from a kickstarter. Do you think this is good for the video game industry? What faults can you see with a business model like this? I'm looking for general feedback. That does include if you think it's a scam. I'm not some diehard fan of this, I'm just looking to see what everyone here thinks about it.

[Marked 197]

I never thought it was a scam, seems legit to me. They would have give up and ran after kickstarter right?

 

Looking at the video I think it's great if they achieve their goals. I think a lot of really great games are going to pop up, and I can see what they mean by its going to open up a whole new business sector. I think it would be great to get those independent game developers game's on the market so they can develop and keep on developing. There will be far less barriers of entry into the market, which I think is beneficial for everyone.

 

The thing I'd be skeptical of is whether or not they can get enough people to buy the console. There will be a lot more free games and probably a heck of alot cheaper than the main consoles, but will that drag people away from their more powerful, more expensive console?

[Foxkit 4]

The thing I'd be skeptical of is whether or not they can get enough people to buy the console. There will be a lot more free games and probably a heck of alot cheaper than the main consoles, but will that drag people away from their more powerful, more expensive console?

 

Who knows? It might because more and more people are drifting away from developing for the TV. Lots and lots of indie developers are getting started in the IOS, android, and computer scenes now because it's cheaper, easier, and far less of a hassle to release on these systems. Since the Ouya comes with it's own development kit, It will really lower the bar for entry into the development market. How much is the running cost of Unity Pro, Source SDK, Unreal Engine 3, Frostbite, ect ect anyways if you include what it would cost to get Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft to allow it on their system? If it's cheaper than $99, I will put my foot in my mouth and eat it right here and now... so to speak.

[Leon 55]

Am I right to assume this would be digital play only?  If so, that does away with hard-copy disks.  This is something I do fear, because if somehow you lose your copy, or account, depending on how your license is stored.  Either way, there is a risk of having to re-purchase your license.

 

Its sorta like the WiiU/3DS.  Buying the same license twice to play the same game on multiple platforms.  Its kinda why I support Sony's (much less used) cross-buy setup.

 

Don't get me wrong, I do believe used games are killing the gaming industry, but so is high-capacity graphics, and everything else the gamers want. 

 

I think another console will just take some thunder from the other 3 makers (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft); and could, potentially, increase hardware and software prices.

 

Because, in addition to the developers making cross-platform games across 3 consoles, adding a 4th means more coding for the programmers, which means more work, more pay, and can also increase costs.

[Foxkit 4]

I think another console will just take some thunder from the other 3 makers (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft); and could, potentially, increase hardware and software prices.

 

Because, in addition to the developers making cross-platform games across 3 consoles, adding a 4th means more coding for the programmers, which means more work, more pay, and can also increase costs.

 

The risk of having to re-purchase your liscense has always been around, computer gamers have always had to deal with this if the game included online play.

 

I think it will steal their thunder yes... but I believe this is a good thing, look at how hard it is for an indie developer to get noticed and started. Almost all of the highly known indie games that I've played at least, had their start on something other than consoles. Minecraft, Limbo, Amnesia, FTL, Terraria, Lone Survivor. Heck, even DayZ got started out of the market for consoles.

 

If every person who owns an Ouya can develop for it for free. (They already have a dev kit out for those who want to look at it.) It's not much more different than developing something for the IOS, or the Android, except you can add in controller compatability. There was a recent article on I believe either Rock, Paper, Shotgun, or PCGamer that stated that the console version of Battlefield 3 was being held back in patches because of the console checklists. To try and keep everything fair for the players, the computer version was also held back to keep in line with the console version. Also, when the dev kit is free, your only having to worry about paying someone to port the code over to another console instead doing that as WELL as buying a SDK from the manufacturers.

 

Used games are a different issue entirely, unless we really start talking about high graphics games and why they generally are bad.

 

I think it would be more like using a Steam account, or a google apps account or a Apple ID. Steam I know has a VERY good reputation for being honest with their customers and trying to help people remember their account information. They are also very good on the security front. Also, I believe your concerns for loosing an account are valid, but I think the Pro's of using Digital over hard copies is much more vast. The more money you sink into a digital distribution service, the more likely you are to make an effort to remember your password unless you just don't care about how you spend your money. People like to see an investment protected, so they will generally takes steps to do so. I would also like to point out, there is still the chance of loosing your hard copies as well. This is comming from a person who has lost 2 pokemon games, and 2 blizzard games because of moving.