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The shock of playing the Ouya, one year later

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Re: The shock of playing the Ouya, one year later

#101

Post by Amarok »

rexf wrote: post #64
baby wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a huge problem with new consoles I find. I don't remember having to update my N64 every time I wanted to play it. But my PS3? Every time I want to play I have to spend like 30 minutes in downloading and installing an update. Every single time. I don't play that often but still do play from times to times and I haven't had a clean launch for years.

I have the same problem with my gaming PC. When I boot it up, I have numerous updates for Windows, Steam, games, etc.

One of the reasons I switched from windows to debian was not having to deal with windows-style updates: you can have the computer running and don't need to reboot after updating. I wonder if someone already thought of applying the same principle to consoles.

Re: The shock of playing the Ouya, one year later

#102

Post by KVFinn »

The trend the author is seeing is not just on Ouya. 'Sportsfriends' on PS4 (and PC soon) has four unique games as good as any he played for local multiplayer. Towerfall is better on PS4. And many more like these the pipe! I heartily recommend Nidhogg when it comes out for PS4 later.

If you have a PS4 and more than one other local person to play with occasionally you must be Sportsfriends right away!

Re: The shock of playing the Ouya, one year later

#103

Post by hershel »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #41
billyhoffman wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. This. Ouya + XMBC is amazing. While modern $99 "video pucks" like AppleTV, Roku, or Amazon are good streaming clients for NetFlix, etc, they utterly suck at playing files from a local network. Ouya + XMBC is an incredibly option for this use case, now that Boxee is gone.

I've been having a lot of success with the Chromecast lately. The more I think about it, the less I want an intelligent TV or yet another device (which needs updates and config) and controller (which needs its batteries replaced and fished out of the couch cushions) attached to it. A dumb receiver like the Chromecast seems to be the superior solution. I have no shortage of smart devices, I don't need another. I just…

But what about latency ?

Re: The shock of playing the Ouya, one year later

#104

Post by ZeroGravitas »

srs0001 wrote: post #34
nkozyra wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think anyone would argue the PS3 is the perfect party console, either. I bought the PS3 and Wii around the same time and obviously the "party console" prize went to the latter - particularly early on it seemed like every third time I put a game in there was 15 minutes of firmware and software updates.

Slightly off-topic, but if you're looking for a good party console I'd recommend a GameCube. You can buy a used one and a few controllers for about $100. There are a ton of great local multiplayer games: Smash Bros, F-Zero, Def Jam, Mario Kart, Blitz 20-02. Plus, no need for updates.

Earlier model Wii's also have backwards compatability with Gamecube, so all you need is the games and controllers if you already have one of those. Not sure if that's going to see many more updates.

Though not a party game as such I'd recommend buying Jungle Beat and a pair of bongo controllers if you do go down the Gamecube route.

Re: The shock of playing the Ouya, one year later

#105

Post by prawks »

srs0001 wrote: post #34
nkozyra wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think anyone would argue the PS3 is the perfect party console, either. I bought the PS3 and Wii around the same time and obviously the "party console" prize went to the latter - particularly early on it seemed like every third time I put a game in there was 15 minutes of firmware and software updates.

Slightly off-topic, but if you're looking for a good party console I'd recommend a GameCube. You can buy a used one and a few controllers for about $100. There are a ton of great local multiplayer games: Smash Bros, F-Zero, Def Jam, Mario Kart, Blitz 20-02. Plus, no need for updates.

Plus, Gamecube controllers are very well designed, especially for people with smaller hands.

Re: The shock of playing the Ouya, one year later

#106

Post by ZeroGravitas »

muyuu wrote: post #74
ebbv wrote: post #8

> I have terrible memories of coming to a gamer’s place to spend the afternoon playing Fifa, Street Fighter 4, etc… in all these AAA titles, the guy who owns the game basically beats your ass so hard that all the fun is gone. This is not a failure of those games, this is a failure of the person who owns the game to not be a dickhead. Street Fighter 4, for example, has handicapping. You can tilt the game wildly in the…

Then they mash the buttons away and win almost half of the time. He's right, these games are meant to be played by people with about the same experience, or at least a decent amount of experience and then a bit of handicap. They're not exactly Mario Party.

Talking of Mario, Mario Kart is famous for it's "rubber banding" where if you fall behind you are showered with powerups that can put you right back in the game, while those in the lead get less powerups and get targetted by the blue shell.

Re: The shock of playing the Ouya, one year later

#107

Post by johnward »

baby wrote: post #60
lhnz wrote: post #7

The problem with calling it the perfect "party gaming" console is that it completely doesn't work for that when "it took me almost an hour to update the firmware and configure the 4 controllers." I'm not saying that to hurt OUYA, I'm just saying that if they want to find this niche they should focus some effort on fixing that. Edit: I'm not implying that other consoles are better fitted to this. I'm implying that eng…

This is a huge problem with new consoles I find. I don't remember having to update my N64 every time I wanted to play it. But my PS3? Every time I want to play I have to spend like 30 minutes in downloading and installing an update. Every single time. I don't play that often but still do play from times to times and I haven't had a clean launch for years.

This happens to me. I think I'll turn on the old console for a quick game. 30 minutes later it's still updating. Guess I'll go do something else then.

Re: The shock of playing the Ouya, one year later

#108

Post by __david__ »

YokoZar wrote: post #99
yurymik wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That only works with a paid PS+ subscription.

A subscription you're particularly unlikely to get if you only use the thing every couple of weeks.

I don't know. I'm not a heavy user (I am in bursts, but not on average), and I'm happy to pay for PS+. I like the "free" games, it's introduced me to stuff I had never considered before that I really enjoyed. No, I don't think you need to be a heavy gamer to appreciate PS+.

Re: The shock of playing the Ouya, one year later

#109

Post by georgemcbay »

baby wrote: post #60
lhnz wrote: post #7

The problem with calling it the perfect "party gaming" console is that it completely doesn't work for that when "it took me almost an hour to update the firmware and configure the 4 controllers." I'm not saying that to hurt OUYA, I'm just saying that if they want to find this niche they should focus some effort on fixing that. Edit: I'm not implying that other consoles are better fitted to this. I'm implying that eng…

This is a huge problem with new consoles I find. I don't remember having to update my N64 every time I wanted to play it. But my PS3? Every time I want to play I have to spend like 30 minutes in downloading and installing an update. Every single time. I don't play that often but still do play from times to times and I haven't had a clean launch for years.

Agreed completely. I joked that the U in "Wii U" stood for "update" because the amount of forced modal updates required to every part of the system was almost comical when the system was new.

I've also got the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3 and PS4 and all are basically the same... if I haven't turned it on in a couple weeks it is nearly guaranteed I'll have to sit through a couple-hundred megabyte update or two (for the OS/firmware and probably whatever game I am playing too) and fritter away 10-15 minutes before I can do what I wanted to do in the first place.

Even the systems that try to make this less bad by downloading updates in the background while in low-power mode tend to be pretty clumsy about the whole thing, so even though the download part is already done for me I still probably have to sit through a 5+ minute 'install' (after agreeing to a EULA, and maybe a TOS change or two) requiring 2 restarts.

bleh.

Re: The shock of playing the Ouya, one year later

#110

Post by muyuu »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #106
muyuu wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then they mash the buttons away and win almost half of the time. He's right, these games are meant to be played by people with about the same experience, or at least a decent amount of experience and then a bit of handicap. They're not exactly Mario Party.

Talking of Mario, Mario Kart is famous for it's "rubber banding" where if you fall behind you are showered with powerups that can put you right back in the game, while those in the lead get less powerups and get targetted by the blue shell.

Yeah, but still it's a skill game for the most part, except some particular versions like Mario Kart 64 which IMO is piss poor.

That's why Diddy Kong Racing was such a massive success. The truly good party racing game for the N64.

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