Android Based Video Game Console Kickstarter

Wow.. this is going well. When I looked at this this morning it had about 50k, and now it's at almost 300k!
 
"A television costs a lot of money."

Who the hell doesn't have a television that would want to play video games?
 
I 100% agree with the concept.
It is why I always push back when people suggest "buy a console".
I like scoring a game for $5 on a Steam special rather than paying $50 at BestBuy for the same game.
 
Holy crap this is amazing. This would definitely allow developers to retain their creative freedom and such. Now, all they need to do is hook up with Valve for steam integration for publishing.


A indie game devs dream. :D
 
Dr. Righteous said:
I 100% agree with the concept.
It is why I always push back when people suggest "buy a console".
I like scoring a game for $5 on a Steam special rather than paying $50 at BestBuy for the same game.
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Would you get a console if the game prices were the same?
 
I think it is worth backing up; it could bring some stimulation to the console market and video games development.
 
It don't see it really shaking up the console market, but i do see a strong community forming around it.
 
Wow, almost a million dollar goal...okay. :p

Be interesting to see if it makes it and what comes out of it.
 
Well, despite the Tegra 3, it's capable enough for my engine project. Could be fun. I'm in.
 
Anyone interested better move fast.

Looks like the spots to actually get a unit at the base price are limited to about 6000.
 
If they can give it a very good ARM processor (quad core perhaps at 1.5 or 1.8 GHz) paired with a PowerVR GPU similar to the Vita, or a Tegra4 even, then they may have something that may actually work. This looks to have a lot of promise because it'd be like the days when I had QBasic and made games for my XT computer. I miss those days. It was a lot of fun for me. Especially if they can keep the costs down, have a good way to distribute the games and applications, and make the cost of entry low enough for developers to get on, then it may actually work.

I wish I could see something similar for Windows-based, non-Android PCs. A dedicated gaming machine that you can program for, pop the game in, test it and play it. And, do so affordably without a high cost of entry (such as expensive dev kits) or high barriers of entry (publishing, awaiting approval, getting a security certificate, etc.).
 
There's already an open gaming platform you can hook up to your TV. It's called a PC. It hooks up with the same HDMI cable a console does and it lets you do all sorts of other non-gaming things too!
 
Awful controller design, awful cpu. Seems like a massive waste of resources.

I'll pass on this one. It doesn't compete with existing consoles on any level and either has to compete with mobile devices or PC and can't do either.

I love the concept, but frankly see no future in the current design and direction.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
Awful controller design, awful cpu. Seems like a massive waste of resources.

I'll pass on this one. It doesn't compete with existing consoles on any level and either has to compete with mobile devices or PC and can't do either.

I love the concept, but frankly see no future in the current design and direction.
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I wouldn't say the CPU is as bad as we think...especially if you consider the fact that developers can design games SPECIFICALLY for Tegra 3...kind of like whats been done on consoles.

So even with sub-par hardware, when you're dealing with a single platform that means that every little bit of performance gets to be squeezed out of this new console.
 
The problem as I see it, developing damn near anything these days, is the patent trolls. And big companies like Microsoft, Apple, etc... that have thousands upon thousands of patents.

The odds are pretty damned good that you are going to step on a patent somewhere, even if unintentionally. Just look at some of the bullshit that's been awarded patents. Far too wide of scope.

If they don't like your potential competition, well, they just slam you with a patent and away you go. Broke.

This is why innovation is at a stand still. The patent system has screwed everyone.
 
If it means the death of the Xbox and ultimately the death of Microsoft then, I'm in.
 
JoeUser said:
I wouldn't say the CPU is as bad as we think...especially if you consider the fact that developers can design games SPECIFICALLY for Tegra 3...kind of like whats been done on consoles.

So even with sub-par hardware, when you're dealing with a single platform that means that every little bit of performance gets to be squeezed out of this new console.
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Doesn't matter, it still can't compete with the raw horsepower of current gen consoles much less next gen or PC's. That is what it must compete against given it isn't a mobile device. If we wanted to argue that performance doesn't matter so long as it is in the envelope of the hardware, then people would still be on the PS2.

wonderfield said:
How on Earth can you tell?
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It is basically an xbox controller with extended handles. The xbox controller is already bulky, making it bigger doesn't make it better.
 
Also, they need a more attractive female to promote this. :cool:

Though it's already doing pretty darn well...
 
Krenum said:
If it means the death of the Xbox and ultimately the death of Microsoft then, I'm in.
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Wow. Someone is stuck in 1999 when it was still cool to hate Microsoft... :rolleyes:


While I love the idea and think it's awesome. I don't think it will do well in the market. Sounds fun and cool, but only for us nerds that would develop for it and learn with it. Not for the average home user.
 
I wonder if the developer will go all "Infinium Labs" on anyone suggesting that this might be vaporware?
 
The point of this console is to provide an open source environment for indie game devs and ensure individual developer freedom without licensing/patent issues. It won't compete with the "Big 3" but that isn't the point.

I would love to get my hands on one of these things. :D
 
450 said:
Would you get a console if the game prices were the same?
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Likely for my family and not myself.
Last week we were visiting my Brother and they have a Wii. Graphics are CRAP; but my son really liked playing the games with the controller and the realistic motion of bowling, batting, etc.
My son (he's 7) has his own gaming rig and he spends HIS money on games. That is usually $5-10 or sometimes $12 on Steam. We got Space Marines for around $7 on Steam. I told him that same game is $50 on the Xbox. He said "That is crazy talk! It ain't worth that!"
He's right. ;)
 
Ur_Mom said:
Wow. Someone is stuck in 1999 when it was still cool to hate Microsoft... :rolleyes:
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The days of paying 300+ dollars or more for an operating system are long gone my friend. Get with the times.
 
nOrVow said:
That won't happen anytime soon dude. Lol It's a pipe-dream at best.
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Oh yeah? And what has Microsoft brought to the table that is worth a damn in the past 5 years?......If it weren't for Direct X and Xbox Microsoft would be out of business in a heartbeat.
 
Krenum said:
Oh yeah? And what has Microsoft brought to the table that is worth a damn in the past 5 years?......If it weren't for Direct X and Xbox Microsoft would be out of business in a heartbeat.
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Past 5 five years? Hmm.. can't think of any. Windows 7? lol But Microsoft has does the world a favor in making PCs accessible around the world with their software. I know the big 'ol M$ is teH evil with their bad business practices, but you've got to give credit where's due.
 
nOrVow said:
The point of this console is to provide an open source environment for indie game devs and ensure individual developer freedom without licensing/patent issues. It won't compete with the "Big 3" but that isn't the point.

I would love to get my hands on one of these things. :D
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Except it is aimed at a home console market. It has to compete or it is destined to go the same way as all the other "niche" gaming devices.

wonderfield said:
There are a few, yes. Hardly enough to be able to determine whether the thing offers any decent comfort.
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More than enough if you have any decent amount of experience with console controllers.

Don't get me wrong, I would love something like this. I just don't see it being more than an amusing toy with what they have shown and talked about thus far. Couple that with the negatives I first posted and it renders it pointless.
 
Krenum said:
The days of paying 300+ dollars or more for an operating system are long gone my friend. Get with the times.
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WTF consumer OS costs $300???

Plus, if you don't like it don't buy it...always amazes me the shit people will hate just to hate.
 
wonderfield said:
Well, despite the Tegra 3, it's capable enough for my engine project. Could be fun. I'm in.
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What's wrong with the Tegra 3? :confused:

Kueller said:
There's already an open gaming platform you can hook up to your TV. It's called a PC. It hooks up with the same HDMI cable a console does and it lets you do all sorts of other non-gaming things too!
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+1 There are Android devices creeping into the market that can serve as a desktop PC (or netbook if you can put up with the awful quality of ShenZen China stuff sold on Ebay) so I don't see the point in preventing the hardware, which is just more tablet gear in a different casing minus a lot of extra functionality, from doing what other Android hardware can already do.

Krenum said:
Oh yeah? And what has Microsoft brought to the table that is worth a damn in the past 5 years?......If it weren't for Direct X and Xbox Microsoft would be out of business in a heartbeat.
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You have some strange ideas. Microsoft sells lots of stuff that doesn't have anything to do with DirectX or the Xbox like Exchange, SQL, Office, and various other things. There might be a future in which Microsoft goes the way of Novell or becomes specialized like Oracle was before they started getting more diverse with the acquisition of Sun Microsystems, but I don't think they'll go out of business quickly if the console market abandons them and game developers find a different API.
 
i see this hitting many roadblocks the one that screams at me at this moment is what dev will waste their time developing a app for it
 
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