OUYA (Founding Backer Edition) Review

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The crew at Wired have a less than flattering review of the OUYA Android console posted today. Personally, I found it a bit odd that they reviewed a pre-release version and then dinged it for being half-baked. :confused:

The version of OUYA shipping now should be considered a beta release, and anyone hoping for anything more is in for some disappointment. It's simply not ready for retail. The system is rough around the edges in many ways, quite literally when regarding the controller, but the interface and menus also could use work.
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You have to remember this thing launches June 4th. That means what they have in their hands now is effectively what will be shipping. That is a huge number of issues for something a scant 2 months from release, especially given a large portion of the issues are physical design problems that can't just be patched. Honestly their review was just honest about the device and nothing else. Far too many people are being extremely dishonest or flat out delusional about what it is really capable of. I have been extremely critical of it from the moment the kickstarter was announced and have yet to see anything that makes me less so. I just simply do not see this being successful outside an amusing niche product for someone who has $100 to blow. There literally isn't a single thing it does that I don't already own something that does it better.
 
Got the feeling the article was written from the perspective of this being a competitor to $200+ devices or something. I can't take seriously anyone who had those expectations and are ragging on the device for it.
 
jpm100 said:
Got the feeling the article was written from the perspective of this being a competitor to $200+ devices or something. I can't take seriously anyone who had those expectations and are ragging on the device for it.
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$100 towards junk is better put toward something for $200 and MUCH better... just saying...

Glad I didn't back this
 
jmilcher said:
$100 towards junk is better put toward something for $200 and MUCH better... just saying...

Glad I didn't back this
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Yes, but $100 is cheap for a powerful Android TV box. So it's really in the perspective of the buyer.

Would I buy this for for gaming? No. But compare it to other media player boxes and it sits nicely. It was either $100 for this or $120 for some generic.

Having the controller to allow me to emulate Genesis/n64/nes/snes games is a nice addition.
 
You mean that the ouya isn't actually the $99 godbox that everyone was proclaiming it would be? Color me shocked.
 
XBMC, Emulators, streaming media. A Roku is $99 bucks and this does more. Worth it no matter how you slice it or bash it, and I love my Roku's. :)
 
leeleatherwood said:
Lets face it most (99.999999%) of Android games suck donkey balls and are only slightly amusing for about 5 minutes.
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This. Plus most games are designed to be played in 3-5 minute intervals while you're taking a shit, not for extended periods of time on your couch in front of your TV.
 
The Ouya will go down as a flop that only did one thing a Roku could not, and that is emulate console games.
 
leeleatherwood said:
Lets face it most (99.999999%) of Android games suck donkey balls and are only slightly amusing for about 5 minutes.
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Those are mainly due to limitations of the platform, including lack of a controller and limited battery life. I agree though that touchpad games on OUYA will suck as badly as on other Android devices, or possibly even more since there's less precision without a LCD behind it.

OUYA will suck for even native games because it will mostly attract hobbyist developers and not enough professional developers to make polished games. At least it can do other things like media center and run emulators.

I'm rooting for it anyways. Why not?
 
DeathPrincess said:
Lots of these Kickstarter projects have been underperforming. The games too.
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I have backed 21 projects so far.

3 have fully delivered. 2 of those were better than expected, one was as expected.

5 more are just waiting to be shipped and should arrive this month or next.

Of the remaining 13 four are still on time, 9 are behind but still moving towards completion. I am only "concerned" about 1 of them, but I didn't put much into that one because I suspected it would be the one most likely to run into very serious delays.
 
If the controller isn't fixed for the wide release, then they might as well just stop here.
 
Is there any reason to think that Final Fantasy on the OUYA playing off of a 1080p LCD television will be just as atrocious as playing Final Fantasy from the PSN store off of a PlayStation 3?

Final Fantasy is pixelated as hell when playing it on the PS3, even when you adjust your television to 4:3 mode. I couldn't play very long because it was terrible. Instead, I took the effort to load it on my PC with the patches and all and it was much easier on the eyes, like in the days.
 
Azhar said:
Is there any reason to think that Final Fantasy on the OUYA playing off of a 1080p LCD television will be just as atrocious as playing Final Fantasy from the PSN store off of a PlayStation 3?

Final Fantasy is pixelated as hell when playing it on the PS3, even when you adjust your television to 4:3 mode. I couldn't play very long because it was terrible. Instead, I took the effort to load it on my PC with the patches and all and it was much easier on the eyes, like in the days.
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The game is just the same android version avaialble now, it's not like anyone is actually devoping games for OUYA, What you see on your phone is what you will see on your OUYA. I would think it would be identical to the PSN version.
 
My bad, further investigation looks like FF3 will be a new port for OUYA. Maybe there is hope for this thing.
":Square Enix announced a high-definition port of the remake for the Ouya console, which will be released as a launch title"
 
kmoed said:
My bad, further investigation looks like FF3 will be a new port for OUYA. Maybe there is hope for this thing.
":Square Enix announced a high-definition port of the remake for the Ouya console, which will be released as a launch title"
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That would be sweet. I long for the day Square Enix do a complete remake of Final Fantasy VII using Final Fantasy XIII graphics. I would pay a lot for that.
 
kmoed said:
My bad, further investigation looks like FF3 will be a new port for OUYA. Maybe there is hope for this thing.
":Square Enix announced a high-definition port of the remake for the Ouya console, which will be released as a launch title"
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I wish they picked a better FF. One of the worst FF IMO.
 
The only way it's going to succeed is if they get developers behind it to develop games specifically for the hardware set. In that way I could see it doing well.

If all it does is port current Android games over, it'll most likely fail.
 
ballistic90 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there some Hawken based game being developed for it?
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Hawken is being developed for PC. It has also been demoed on "Project Shield," the other "big" Android game system in the works. It would thus theoretically be able to run on just about any Tegra 4 device, though there is speculation that it could be exclusive specifically (and completely unnecessarily) to Nvidia's console.

Since Ouya is based on Tegra 3, it turns out that you are indeed wrong. ;)
 
Edit to above: "You are indeed probably, according to the most current information wrong." :D
 
jmilcher said:
$100 towards junk is better put toward something for $200 and MUCH better... just saying...

Glad I didn't back this
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What's with all the idiots that infest every ouya thread? Are you saying spend $200 on a HTPC or another set top box that would accomplish exactly the same thing that he wants to do (run XBMC)? Why would he want to throw down another $100 just to make you feel better?
 
Im waiting to see if the OUYA is powerful enough to fully emulate N64 and PS1 games. If so thats something im looking forward too.
 
DarkStryke said:
What's with all the idiots that infest every ouya thread? Are you saying spend $200 on a HTPC or another set top box that would accomplish exactly the same thing that he wants to do (run XBMC)? Why would he want to throw down another $100 just to make you feel better?
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someone who is religious about their personal choice in consoles and don't want their choice to be 'wrong' from any perspective.

for example as a xbmc or roku box, the xbox should be more than enough but it execution is very poor in this regard.
 
I admire their effort but I also recognize you can get a refurb 360 for $100 from cowboom and I've hacked mine to do all sorts of things
 
jpm100 said:
someone who is religious about their personal choice in consoles and don't want their choice to be 'wrong' from any perspective.

for example as a xbmc or roku box, the xbox should be more than enough but it execution is very poor in this regard.
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eh, the Xbox integrates well with Tversity, but I wouldn't even try to use the media center integration that comes with Windows. That's terrible.
 
Wow, the perception that the Ouya is anything but a game console has me puzzled. It is a game console. It can run other applications though because of Android. The reason Android was chosen was to make it so that you can develop games for it easy since it's based on Tegra 3. Tegra 3 is not an outdated SoC. The chip that Ouya is using is from Q2 2012. So maybe a year old. Can you really call that Outdated? The Xbox 360 is Outdated being 8 years old. The Ouya uses the same Cortex-A9 MP Core as what the PS Vita uses. It's the GPU that's different in both with the Ouya being the GeForce ULP.

While I would say that many people are not an intended target audience, I think what the Ouya would really work for is a small family that doesn't exactly have a lot of money for a tablet or next gen video game system that wants to give their kids something to play on that isn't going to stretch their budget. A tablet plus controllers can easily exceed 500 - 600. A smart phone is $200 on contract. However I think that an Ouya would be great for developers to make games for it to appeal to anyone and everyone. Do you have to get one? I don't have a PS3, just an Xbox 360 and broken Wii. Did I back Ouya? Yes, but I want to see a system that gives indies main stream access. Cut down the red tape. It's been there long enough.
 
soulman901 said:
Did I back Ouya? Yes, but I want to see a system that gives indies main stream access. Cut down the red tape. It's been there long enough.
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Protip: If you want indies to have mainstream success, don't support a device that will inevitably be a niche system and which hardware will be [seriously] out of date less than a year after its release - Project Shield with Tegra 4 is due to be on the market anytime now, possibly even before Ouya's true release date!

Besides, the current business plans of indie developers seem to revolve around the "free-to-play" model which of course is code for "free to play in a limited way for a limited period of time unless you pay frequently."

Xbox Live and PSN have done more for "indie" developers than Ouya ever will.
 
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