It took me a couple of reads to figure out just exactly what this group is doing. The link is to their kickstarter page. Funding isn’t the reason I’m posting a link to their site, they’ve got more than enough right now. What piqued my curiosity was that they’re trying to make a Android(OS) powered consoled that’s basically opened up for people to develop on. They want to bring gaming back to the TV, but are unhappy with how the big consoles are locked down and it’s a difficult process to develop games on these. You’ve got all these indie games being made and released on the PC, but to get on the console yours has to be a real gem. They’re making a controller and a console. Specs on the console aren’t bad:
- Tegra3 quad-core processor
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB of internal flash storage
- HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth LE 4.0
- USB 2.0 (one)
- Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
- Android 4.0
I like the idea of a touchpad on the controller and having an open platform to develop games on is pretty great. The whole system feels like they’re taking the concept of a game app store for your phones/tablet and putting it on your TV. Free to play games, gaming related TV events like shoutcasts.
It’s a great idea and I am all for independent developers having a platform to showcase their stuff. The big publishers (EA, Activision) have their place, but they tend to have very strict notions about IPs and what makes a good game and of course are always concerned about profits. They’re not free to let developers just make the game that their heart desires.
OUYA has the funding, hopefully they’re able to take it somewhere.
Posted by Matt Scott
