There Will Be A New OUYA Every Year

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According to the people behind the OUYA, there will be a new model every year. Good idea? Bad Idea?

There will be a new OUYA next year, and the year after that, unlike the traditional game console model, where new hardware ships in five- to seven-year generational increments. "Our strategy is very much similar to the mobile strategy," OUYA CEO Julie Uhrman told us in an interview this afternoon, following her DICE 2013 speech.
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First she needs to worry if they'll even survive to a year. Which, judging by her cluelessness in some of the videos like the unboxing one where the whole thing seemed like news to her, not so sure.
 
It might work for 2 to 3 years, but I can't imagine it being a sustainable console release system for much longer than that.
 
Wouldn't it just be similar to buying a new gaming PC every year as the OS doesn't often change, so your games all still basically work?
 
If they maintain backwards compatibility like the other mobile app stores then it is a good thing in such a rapidly changing market ... if they can't maintain backwards compatiblity then it is a major cluster and will cause nothing but trouble ;)
 
Those Android Stick's specs already outstrip these. They offset that with some polish and vetting for specific things like games, controller, xbmc, etc. But they need to keep up become those sticks will be too far beyond these in a few years if they don't.
 
This will work right up until the point that newer games are written for the faster processors only. Just ask anyone with a 1st Gen iPad, you start seeing "not available" alot more often now (even for games that already worked, but new updates for it you don't get).
 
kbrickley said:
If they maintain backwards compatibility like the other mobile app stores then it is a good thing in such a rapidly changing market ... if they can't maintain backwards compatiblity then it is a major cluster and will cause nothing but trouble ;)
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I doubt that OUYA is moving away from ARM. The only compatibility issue would be able to use old games on new graphic core. Say OUYA went from Tegra to Qualcomm, which uses Adreno. Or if they went with something from Samsung which uses Mali graphics. But I don't see that being a problem anytime soon. Even if it were, then it's something every platform eventually runs into, even iPhones will have to deal with this eventually.

Even PC deals with this today. Ever had a game made in the late 90's and tried running it on today's PC? Very good chance it won't work, but there are applications like DOSBox that make it work. Wine is there for Linux to run Windows applications. But this would be the result of moving away from Android Jellybean to something like Banana Split.
 
So basically their business model is "buy a new one every year".

Yeah, that's going to work well.
 
That is the same reason why it's hard for me to support Android. In a year, that old hardware won't run the newer OS, won't run the same games. iOS suffers from that a little.

Consoles are what they are because right now, if I were to buy a brand new Xbox 360, I could play the exact same games with the exact same experience as with a 6 year old Xbox 360. I don't want to go to the market place and see that I can't play a game because my console is a year or two old. PC's, I can understand. Mobile, I can understand. But, a 'console'? Nah. I'll pass. I'll save that type of upgrading for my PC, where I can get a much better return on my investment.
 
The only thing that I'm even kind of excited about with OUYA is the XBMC aspect of it. If they get a console like experience going with fast menus and bitstreaming HD audio I'd be all over that.

XBMC on a windows machine is so freaking finicky.
 
Ur_Mom said:
That is the same reason why it's hard for me to support Android. In a year, that old hardware won't run the newer OS, won't run the same games.
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There's truth to that when it comes to individual apps (and is often a lot more about the developers than about the hardware and Google - consider that there are apps available which are listed as incompatible with even Google's Nexus hardware) but not really when it comes to the OS. The hardware will most often run the newer OS version(s) but the manufacturer/service provider a) doesn't want to do the work to support it and b) wants you to buy a new device (and the extended contract that comes with it) instead of making your current device better.
 
face2palm said:
So basically their business model is "buy a new one every year".

Yeah, that's going to work well.
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It's only $100. Most people spend more then that on Starbucks every year.
 
J So said:
The only thing that I'm even kind of excited about with OUYA is the XBMC aspect of it. If they get a console like experience going with fast menus and bitstreaming HD audio I'd be all over that.
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Why would you use that over a PC?

Not only does a PC offer way more flexibility with storage and codec support, but I can hook up an outboard 192/24 DAC and get bit-perfect HD playback via USB or SPDIF. Most sandboxed playback devices have a hard cap on the supported stream (e.g., AirPorts are capped at 44.1/16).
 
"all the games will be backward compatible" going forward. When pushed on how this will work, she said, "The games will be tied to you, the gamer," (like Steam is now) rather than tying your game licenses to the hardware you purchased
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Guess she doesn't know how its REALLY going to work. Backwards compatibility doesn't mean licensing issues, it means hardware issues.
 
InorganicMatter said:
Why would you use that over a PC?

Not only does a PC offer way more flexibility with storage and codec support, but I can hook up an outboard 192/24 DAC and get bit-perfect HD playback via USB or SPDIF. Most sandboxed playback devices have a hard cap on the supported stream (e.g., AirPorts are capped at 44.1/16).
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Because I want a total appliance like GUI that my wife and kids can use. I don't want to use a keyboard or a mouse. I don't care about storage, that's what my media server is for. All my media is my own ripped Blu Ray and DVDs. I use makemkv and everyhting is just in mkv format and plays perfectlly on XBMC.
 
InorganicMatter said:
Why would you use that over a PC?

Not only does a PC offer way more flexibility with storage and codec support, but I can hook up an outboard 192/24 DAC and get bit-perfect HD playback via USB or SPDIF. Most sandboxed playback devices have a hard cap on the supported stream (e.g., AirPorts are capped at 44.1/16).
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If you have ever used XBMC on a closed device Apple TV, an OPENelec build or the better yet the original Xbox version you would understand. You get a very consistent piece of software on these closed devices. On an android system, you could deploy $70 or less devices with remotes to all tv's with little power use and high stability.

I have a myriad of PC's, but the just work part of a android based XBMC player is very attractive. Especially with the low power advantage thrown in.

Are there downsides yes.

XBMC is the main reason interested in the Ouya or any android box/stick.
 
Ur_Mom said:
That is the same reason why it's hard for me to support Android. In a year, that old hardware won't run the newer OS, won't run the same games. iOS suffers from that a little.
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My Android phone came with 2.3 and no official updates past that. However it's running 4.1 Jelly Bean now.

It's definitely not stuck on the old OS and in fact runs considerably faster now due to the new OS than it did when I first got it a year ago.
 
I think the final thing that will determine if this device will survive is the game catalogue. Consoles can live or die on their available games, or if the games aren't attractive for the consumers interested in the device.

If the games end up being little more than slightly expanded Android phone/tablet games, I'm not so sure if Ouya will need to plan another release.
 
Alti said:
My Android phone came with 2.3 and no official updates past that. However it's running 4.1 Jelly Bean now.

It's definitely not stuck on the old OS and in fact runs considerably faster now due to the new OS than it did when I first got it a year ago.
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Yea, I always ran custom and updated ROM's that the manufacturer didn't support. But, if I were to go with manufacturer support, I wouldn't have ever got to use many apps. If Ouya can keep even the older models updated (doubtful), then they may have a good chance. But, if I own an Ouya, buy a Ouya game but can't play it, I'll be upset. If it's going to be a console, it needs to be one. I don't want to go buy an Xbox 360 game, put it in a 1 year old system and have it tell me it can't play it, I have to buy a new one, I'd be pissed.
 
one swell foop said:
Mmmmm. Android fragmentation.
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Ur_Mom said:
That is the same reason why it's hard for me to support Android. In a year, that old hardware won't run the newer OS, won't run the same games. iOS suffers from that a little.

Consoles are what they are because right now, if I were to buy a brand new Xbox 360, I could play the exact same games with the exact same experience as with a 6 year old Xbox 360. I don't want to go to the market place and see that I can't play a game because my console is a year or two old. PC's, I can understand. Mobile, I can understand. But, a 'console'? Nah. I'll pass. I'll save that type of upgrading for my PC, where I can get a much better return on my investment.
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I agree with both of you. I really wish Android devices weren't fragmented.

To the experts here: Is there any reason why Android devices cannot follow a similar approach to desktop PCs?

If I were to take a game that ran in Windows 98, I can run and install it in Windows XP on a different, beefier hardware. And, I can do the same in Windows 7 (barring any compatibility issues with DirectX, GLIDE, etc.).

For example, ideally, if I buy one Android tablet now, it can run future versions of Android OS up to three or five years from now in a similar fashion to how some older PC hardware from five years ago can still run Windows 7. And, games and programs compiled and coded for an older version of Android, let's say Gingerbread, can still be backwards compatible on another Android tablet regardless of the onboard GPU and processor. One Android OS that is the same on different hardware like Windows and Linux can run on different x86/x86-64 desktop PCs, but still being the same OS with the same forward and backward compatibility.

That's a more affordable approach to consumers. You don't have to toss a $200 subsidized (or $700 unsubsidized) phone/tablet every year or two, and pay another amount and enter another contract for a new phone/tablet.
 
octoberasian said:
I agree with both of you. I really wish Android devices weren't fragmented.

To the experts here: Is there any reason why Android devices cannot follow a similar approach to desktop PCs?

If I were to take a game that ran in Windows 98, I can run and install it in Windows XP on a different, beefier hardware. And, I can do the same in Windows 7 (barring any compatibility issues with DirectX, GLIDE, etc.).

For example, ideally, if I buy one Android tablet now, it can run future versions of Android OS up to three or five years from now in a similar fashion to how some older PC hardware from five years ago can still run Windows 7. And, games and programs compiled and coded for an older version of Android, let's say Gingerbread, can still be backwards compatible on another Android tablet regardless of the onboard GPU and processor. One Android OS that is the same on different hardware like Windows and Linux can run on different x86/x86-64 desktop PCs, but still being the same OS with the same forward and backward compatibility.

That's a more affordable approach to consumers. You don't have to toss a $200 subsidized (or $700 unsubsidized) phone/tablet every year or two, and pay another amount and enter another contract for a new phone/tablet.
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I am not a programmer but I would assume it is due to inconcistencies from one mobile platform to another ... in the PC DOS/Windows was highly constrained (base RAM was reserved and drivers affected how you interfaced with external input devices like keyboards and mice) so as long as you made your graphics scalable it was much easier for backwards and forwards compatibility

Mobile introduces lots of variation in inputs (touch, joystick, keyboard, buttons) ... each variation might be specific to a particular phone or generation of phone ... there was also substantial variation in chipsets, RAM, CPU, Resolution, etc ... since you would have to perform testing and quality control on every variation you enabled it was often easier to only release software for a narrow subset of the community

That would be my guess, maybe one of the programmer types can add more :)
 
Ruoh said:
It's only $100. Most people spend more then that on Starbucks every year.
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That $100 also includes a controller. If you didn't need to purchase a new controller, just a new OUYA console, it could end up being no mostly than a new mainstream PC game.
 
J So said:
The only thing that I'm even kind of excited about with OUYA is the XBMC aspect of it. If they get a console like experience going with fast menus and bitstreaming HD audio I'd be all over that.

XBMC on a windows machine is so freaking finicky.
Click to expand...

You should try out Plex if you haven't already. I've been using it for a while and it seems to work pretty well. You can even set it up to stream through a web browser so you have your own personal netflix to use wherever you go. The phone apps work excellently as well.
 
Well it runs Android, and Android game developer isn't going to be sitting on their hands waiting several years for Ouya to play catch-up. If you want the latest games and the latest updates, you need to keep up.

Ouya isn't like Xbox or Playstation where developers code specifically for them for years. Ouya piggybacks on an already-existing app environment.
 
Azhar said:
Ouya isn't like Xbox or Playstation where developers code specifically for them for years. Ouya piggybacks on an already-existing app environment.
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It's a screenless Android tablet that comes with a game controller and has special apps. Similarly, Project Shield is an Android tablet with a controller attached and has special apps.

I can't help but wonder why I would want to buy specialized hardware - apart from perhaps a controller and an AV-out cable - when these apps could simply be offered for existing Android devices. With this promise of yearly Ouya hardware updates, it's that much more clear that the hardware is going to be pretty much stock ARM stuff jammed into their pretty little case.
 
Babbster said:
It's a screenless Android tablet that comes with a game controller and has special apps. Similarly, Project Shield is an Android tablet with a controller attached and has special apps.

I can't help but wonder why I would want to buy specialized hardware - apart from perhaps a controller and an AV-out cable - when these apps could simply be offered for existing Android devices. With this promise of yearly Ouya hardware updates, it's that much more clear that the hardware is going to be pretty much stock ARM stuff jammed into their pretty little case.
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Perhaps someone will get their hands on an Ouya interfaced Android ROM and we could turn our HDMI equipped Android tablet into an Ouya console.
 
J So said:
Because I want a total appliance like GUI that my wife and kids can use. I don't want to use a keyboard or a mouse. I don't care about storage, that's what my media server is for. All my media is my own ripped Blu Ray and DVDs. I use makemkv and everyhting is just in mkv format and plays perfectlly on XBMC.
Click to expand...

Hey you, get your whole 'making sense thing out of here! How dare you spend $100 to run XMBC, stream twitch and play the golden age of console games via emu!
 
odditory said:
First she needs to worry if they'll even survive to a year. Which, judging by her cluelessness in some of the videos like the unboxing one where the whole thing seemed like news to her, not so sure.
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What are you even on about here? How informed is an unboxing promo video supposed to be exactly?
 
I wouldn't doubt it could work. Most of the "newer" games will just need to scale with the graphics.
 
Azhar said:
Perhaps someone will get their hands on an Ouya interfaced Android ROM and we could turn our HDMI equipped Android tablet into an Ouya console.
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I wouldn't be surprised if it happened pretty quick, actually. Easy rooting is actually one of their stated selling points...something that end-users will appreciate but will also discourage game developers from focusing on it. Yet another reason that their plan of selling new versions every year is extremely unrealistic. Why bother developing specifically for a tiny enthusiast market when it's easier and more profitable to develop for and sell to the wider Android market? Yeah, piracy is still easy on most other Android devices, but few are specifically marketed in a way that potentially encourages it.
 
I predict a new generation of the Xbox & PlayStation every 2 years, not 6 years anymore. The new PlayStation 4 architecture seems to reflect that likelihood.

So far, it is looking like both the PlayStation 4 & Xbox 720 architecture is based on the AMD A8 equivalent to 4 x 3.2 GHz, and a GPU equivalent to AMD 7670. The AMD 7670 GPU is about half the performance of a Radeon HD 5870, and about a quarter of the high-end Radeon HD 7970.

It is just a PC. Not expensive to design. Slightly customised. Using common mid-range PC components, that would have gone away in less than 6 years.
 
face2palm said:
So basically their business model is "buy a new one every year".

Yeah, that's going to work well.
Click to expand...

You could buy one every two years or so. With a one-year regeneration, it will be like an optional upgrade for some users, or a decent entry level for others.

You see, once you have the basic PCB chip architecture design in place, along with the dev team, it is easy to change chips every year to take advantage of upcoming tech. It is a simple PCB. A lot less complex than a PC Motherboard or Graphics Card.
 
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