Ouya tops $8.5 million as Kickstarter campaign comes to a close • Hacker News Board

Re: Ouya tops $8.5 million as Kickstarter campaign comes to a close

#71

Post by dinkumthinkum » Thu, Aug 09, 2012, 8:12 PM UTC

angersock wrote: post #17

randomdrake wrote: post #12

While everyone seems to be commenting on the impact this will have on hardware manufacturers, I'm more excited about the impact this will have on the big software distributors. I would love to see a disruption to the likes of EA. The console video gaming world has become, mostly, stagnant; full of sequels upon sequels. Current games are chocked full of DRM for overplayed, non-innovative titles. The market has become…

EA and Activision are the heroes gamers deserve. Honestly, when your target audience are people so devoted to a frivolous activity that they willing buy devices with no other purpose than to consume carefully curated content, it becomes hard to see them as anything other than a paycheck.

Oh what is this nonsense. Why don't you just come out and say what your position is.

So any consumer of content deserves simply scorn and ridicule? What high and mighty bs.

Re: Ouya tops $8.5 million as Kickstarter campaign comes to a close

#72

Post by dinkumthinkum » Thu, Aug 09, 2012, 8:16 PM UTC

shadowmint wrote: post #16

47126 Ouya 7755 Ouya + Controller 2500 Ouya + 2 Controllers 826 Ouya Dev Kits By April 2013. Good luck guys~ It's interesting to note some figures; if you assume $50 US per ouya that's $2,910,350 or 33% of the collected costs to make the hardware; double that to a guess of $100 per unit and you looking at ~68% of the collected Kickstarter. Realistically the hardware is probably relatively cheap to manufacture in bulk…

As cool as I think this whole thing is, honestly I think they're going to need a lot more money than that what was raised on Kickstarter to be a serious contender.

Re: Ouya tops $8.5 million as Kickstarter campaign comes to a close

#73

Post by angersock » Thu, Aug 09, 2012, 9:12 PM UTC

Sumaso wrote: post #21

angersock wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EA and Activision are the heroes gamers deserve. Honestly, when your target audience are people so devoted to a frivolous activity that they willing buy devices with no other purpose than to consume carefully curated content, it becomes hard to see them as anything other than a paycheck.

I suppose we should throw out our TV's while were at it

I would tend to agree, especially as the other pull models for content consumption are a lot better in every meaningful way.

TV's entire model is funded by advertising, the sole purpose of which is to get you to buy things. So, again, I wouldn't take it over, say, a PC where I occasionally stream/pirate videos or, even better, pay artists directly for the performances I enjoy.

Re: Ouya tops $8.5 million as Kickstarter campaign comes to a close

#74

Post by angersock » Thu, Aug 09, 2012, 9:27 PM UTC

vectorpush wrote: post #36

angersock wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EA and Activision are the heroes gamers deserve. Honestly, when your target audience are people so devoted to a frivolous activity that they willing buy devices with no other purpose than to consume carefully curated content, it becomes hard to see them as anything other than a paycheck.

when your target audience are people so devoted to a frivolous activity that they willing buy devices with no other purpose than to consume carefully curated content, it becomes hard to see them as anything other than a paycheck. Mmmmmm, how deliciously condescending. I wonder if that's how musicians, actors, and iOS developers feel? I make software for desktops, so I respect my target audience (of course, frivolous…

See, I know what you're trying here, but bear with me for a moment.

First, what is condescending about a simple statement of fact?

Games are frivolous (by definition, see http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frivolous) activities which are pursued for pleasure; if you would like to argue about professional gaming, I'll posit that that applies to a small enough part of the target audience that we won't need to consider it--everybody else plays for fun.

Game consoles are single-function devices whose purpose is to consume carefully-curated content. They aren't made to write art, games, or software; they aren't made to help you create music; and they aren't made to help you pay rent.

Knowing this--and let's not even go into the absurd and abusive criticism that a lot of games get, for better or worse!--and knowing that your audience will never use what you've given them to create anything, and that you probably (given the deathgrip publishers/vendors have on the console industry) didn't even get a fair shake in the production of your title, why would you think of console gamers as anything else?

Seriously, why? Literally your entire interaction with them is that they buy consoles, buy games for the consoles, play the games, and then praise or damn those games on the internet. Oh, and probably trade in the game as soon as there is a reason for doing so.

Contrast this with, for example, how we treat other programmers. We submit bug reports, we release new code, we do things as a community. I believe that this is so because we know the people who receive our work are using it to do something, and that they are capable of creating their own things which one day we too may use. This is not the consumer relationship that console gamers enjoy with publishers.

iOS or mobile developers I would be hesitant to speculate on. I will, however, point out that a lot of freemium apps are driven by ad revenue, and a lot of games are monetized by clever application of psychology to trap the dollars of "whales"--so, please, draw your own conclusions about the sort of respect they must have for their consumers.

Actors and musicians I'll not speculate on either, mostly because there is a big difference to me between buying a device whose only purpose is consumption and buying a ticket to go enjoy an experience--the goods in question are a great deal different.

Re: Ouya tops $8.5 million as Kickstarter campaign comes to a close

#75

Post by angersock » Thu, Aug 09, 2012, 9:34 PM UTC

pi18n wrote: post #62

angersock wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EA and Activision are the heroes gamers deserve. Honestly, when your target audience are people so devoted to a frivolous activity that they willing buy devices with no other purpose than to consume carefully curated content, it becomes hard to see them as anything other than a paycheck.

> devoted to a frivolous activity You say that with scorn. And yet here you are, talking about frivolity on the internet.

Talking about frivolity on the internet while posting from a device with several editors open and getting work done. There is a large difference between choosing to do something fun and frivolous, and choosing to lock yourself into a platform that forces you to consume.

Re: Ouya tops $8.5 million as Kickstarter campaign comes to a close

#76

Post by angersock » Thu, Aug 09, 2012, 9:38 PM UTC

dinkumthinkum wrote: post #71

angersock wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EA and Activision are the heroes gamers deserve. Honestly, when your target audience are people so devoted to a frivolous activity that they willing buy devices with no other purpose than to consume carefully curated content, it becomes hard to see them as anything other than a paycheck.

Oh what is this nonsense. Why don't you just come out and say what your position is. So any consumer of content deserves simply scorn and ridicule? What high and mighty bs.

  So any consumer of content deserves simply scorn and 
  ridicule?

That's not what I said--please don't put words in my mouth. I did not expand my definition to include any consumer of content, and I did not suggest anything other than that developers have no reason to view their target audience as anything other than entities paying for their product--they have no reason to see them as people with feelings and emotions, they have no reason to see them as independent creative beings, they have no reason to see them as anything other than actors in a marketplace.

Forgive me for not according to gamers qualities that on the whole we can't know.

(and, hazarding a guess from your username: come now, what would Heinlen say about your imprecision of argument?)

Re: Ouya tops $8.5 million as Kickstarter campaign comes to a close

#77

Post by dinkumthinkum » Thu, Aug 09, 2012, 11:33 PM UTC

angersock wrote: post #76

dinkumthinkum wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh what is this nonsense. Why don't you just come out and say what your position is. So any consumer of content deserves simply scorn and ridicule? What high and mighty bs.

So any consumer of content deserves simply scorn and ridicule? That's not what I said--please don't put words in my mouth. I did not expand my definition to include any consumer of content, and I did not suggest anything other than that developers have no reason to view their target audience as anything other than entities paying for their product--they have no reason to see them as people with feelings and emotions,…

No imprecision here. You scorned the users for being consumers of "carefully curated" content. I guess the only way I was imprecise at all was that I didn't cater for you respect of those on "non-carefully curated" content, but given how incendiary the original was, I figured this was just splitting hairs. But you still didn't answer the question as to why not just be open about your position.

Re: Ouya tops $8.5 million as Kickstarter campaign comes to a close

#78

Post by angersock » Fri, Aug 10, 2012, 12:23 AM UTC

dinkumthinkum wrote: post #77

angersock wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So any consumer of content deserves simply scorn and ridicule? That's not what I said--please don't put words in my mouth. I did not expand my definition to include any consumer of content, and I did not suggest anything other than that developers have no reason to view their target audience as anything other than entities paying for their product--they have no reason to see them as people with feelings and emotions,…

No imprecision here. You scorned the users for being consumers of "carefully curated" content. I guess the only way I was imprecise at all was that I didn't cater for you respect of those on "non-carefully curated" content, but given how incendiary the original was, I figured this was just splitting hairs. But you still didn't answer the question as to why not just be open about your position.

Check my reply to vectorpush for a more thorough explanation of my position.

Re: Ouya tops $8.5 million as Kickstarter campaign comes to a close

#79

Post by xam » Fri, Aug 10, 2012, 2:36 AM UTC

tomflack wrote: post #60

xam wrote: post #28

Very impressive! If I were Google, I'd buy the company immediately. With Google's backing, they could go into production with more speed, maybe even using the Nexus Q's USA-based manufacturer. I think once they've release the first Ouya, Google should start working on putting in more Google TV and Nexus Q features.

That's exactly what I don't want to see. Yet another device tied in to Google. For me, all the promise of the Ouya is in doing things independently, not tied to the mission of a corporate behemoth. If corporate behemoths want in, they can do the same thing as everyone else and write SN app for it.

I understand what you're saying, but I don't think Google would do much of anything to tie the Ouya to its 'corporate behemoth' mission. Besides, I believe that Google's immense power could improve Ouya's standing by backing it thoroughly.

Re: Ouya tops $8.5 million as Kickstarter campaign comes to a close

#80

Post by pi18n » Fri, Aug 10, 2012, 1:50 PM UTC

angersock wrote: post #75

pi18n wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> devoted to a frivolous activity You say that with scorn. And yet here you are, talking about frivolity on the internet.

Talking about frivolity on the internet while posting from a device with several editors open and getting work done. There is a large difference between choosing to do something fun and frivolous, and choosing to lock yourself into a platform that forces you to consume.

No there is no significant difference. Both are a choice to be frivolous. At least the gamers don't have your arrogance or cognitive dissonance to think otherwise.