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What Ouya Isn't

games.hazzens.com

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Re: What Ouya Isn't

#41

Post by lmm »

jeffool wrote: post #21

What Ouya is, is a free emulator for older games. And an OnLive box. And an XBMC box. And by default of running Android, a Netflix box. There are 3600 people willing to pay to reserve their usernames. Almost 60k people have bought the hope of having one. At worst, it will get a retail push and be a BlackBerry PlayBook level failure. Or it may not, and it could be a Raspberry Pi like success (in terms of buzz). Or any…

>What Ouya is, is a free emulator for older games. And an OnLive box. And an XBMC box. And by default of running Android, a Netflix box.

So a regular XBMC box does that better, and does it today.

>What I don't get, is the immense hate it gets. I don't see anyone calling it "the future of gaming", except maybe the press people behind the product? And that's kind of their job. The derision it gets from people who seem to think they're on a Crusade to teach the unenlightened that they're being bamboozled is weird. It's a game console, primarily aimed at a tech-savvy audience that doesn't mind hacking their toys, and even soldering them. And yet I haven't heard that audience reach even the levels of annoyance of an iOS/Android argument. Much less one that needs to be told (repeatedly) that their toy WILL NOT change gaming! ... Who pigeonholed the OUYA as a flagship in the revolution anyway? Marketing? So air your screeds at marketing people. Not those who enjoy tinkering with computers.

Whoever it came from, there's some hype that needs addressing, otherwise people are going to be disappointed and angry when it arrives. Do all of those 60k people realise they're getting what's basically an xbox360 with fewer games but open? You wouldn't think it to hear the media reports.

Re: What Ouya Isn't

#42

Post by bostonvaulter2 »

lmm wrote: post #41
jeffool wrote: post #21

What Ouya is, is a free emulator for older games. And an OnLive box. And an XBMC box. And by default of running Android, a Netflix box. There are 3600 people willing to pay to reserve their usernames. Almost 60k people have bought the hope of having one. At worst, it will get a retail push and be a BlackBerry PlayBook level failure. Or it may not, and it could be a Raspberry Pi like success (in terms of buzz). Or any…

>What Ouya is, is a free emulator for older games. And an OnLive box. And an XBMC box. And by default of running Android, a Netflix box. So a regular XBMC box does that better, and does it today. >What I don't get, is the immense hate it gets. I don't see anyone calling it "the future of gaming", except maybe the press people behind the product? And that's kind of their job. The derision it gets from people who seem…

There is absolutely no comparison between the android ecosystem and the XBMC ecosystem. Android has many orders of magnitudes more apps than XBMC does.

Re: What Ouya Isn't

#43

Post by simias »

mtgx wrote: post #40
malkia wrote: post #6

On one side I want it to succeed (the liberal hobbyist in me), on the other side I see some problems (the conservative console game developer in me) I don't see how AAA title would be delivered to this device. And without AAA titles, the device can't be primarily about games. What used to fit in CD-ROM in PSX days, then on DVD in PS2/Xbox, now it needs bigger and more storage. With the recent download limits from int…

AAA titles? This device is about "disruption". By default that means it won't get the very best games out there, but that's irrelevant. Did iOS have AAA title games in the first few years? Can you even say it does now? And does it matter that it doesn't? Because I don't see it.

I kinda agree with your point, however I don't think you picked a good example. The iPhone and iFriends were not sold as gaming devices (at least in the beginning, and even now it's not their main function).

The other "open source" consoles I know of were handheld (gp2x, pandora, etc...). It was a niche market, mostly for emulation with some homebrews. None of them really "disrupted" anything.

Of course, the ouya's main gambit is the android market, we'll see if it'll give them enough momentum to make it.

Re: What Ouya Isn't

#44

Post by MichaelJW »

hazzen wrote: post #17
vibrunazo wrote: post #3

The key he is missing is Android. The huge big advantage of the OUYA is that it leverages the Android ecosystem. As a game developer myself, we were already developing OUYA ready games before the OUYA existed. Many (most?) games in the Play Store right now are already ready for the OUYA (gamepad support, freemium, 10 feet experience) or close to it. Which are a great good practice for developers to be following on An…

Author here. I've updated my post to include some words on the current Android games market and how none of it maps to the Ouya. Simply, a game written for a 4.5" diagonal phone screen will not scale down to the 2-3" diagonal touchpad on the controller and then back up to the 52" diagonal of a TV. You have lost too much fidelity in the process; the game will feel wrong if it even works at all. As for Android being th…

I think you misunderstand vibrunazo's point about some games being "Ouya ready". You can already plug an Android into a TV and connect it to a controller, so some games already offer proper, non-touch gamepad support, designed to work on a big screen.

Here's a video of Sonic 4 Episode 2 that demonstrates this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fUP6mh3aOg

Plus, touchscreen games don't all require you to tap specific points on the screen (as in your Reversi example). Look at Temple Run: you duck and jump by swiping down or up, from anywhere on the screen, rather than tapping on-screen Duck and Jump buttons.

Re: What Ouya Isn't

#45

Post by lmm »

bostonvaulter2 wrote: post #42
lmm wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>What Ouya is, is a free emulator for older games. And an OnLive box. And an XBMC box. And by default of running Android, a Netflix box. So a regular XBMC box does that better, and does it today. >What I don't get, is the immense hate it gets. I don't see anyone calling it "the future of gaming", except maybe the press people behind the product? And that's kind of their job. The derision it gets from people who seem…

There is absolutely no comparison between the android ecosystem and the XBMC ecosystem. Android has many orders of magnitudes more apps than XBMC does.

Few of them designed for anything console-shaped.

More to the point, your XBMC box can run ordinary windows programs, of which there are many orders of magnitude more than android apps. Plug in an Xbox360 controller and you're playing on something very like what many existing games were designed for.

Re: What Ouya Isn't

#46

Post by paines »

ringmaster wrote: post #32

The one thing the author fails to address is what is actually revolutionary about the OUYA: It is a TV-based console without a developer licensing fee. This is revolutionary because on any other platform, the developer produces the software and the distributor takes a cut of the earnings, and the console manufacturer takes a cut of the earnings. (Remember all that "loss leader" talk when new consoles come out and are…

>The one thing the author fails to address is what is actually revolutionary about the OUYA: It is a TV-based console without a developer licensing fee.

This is wrong ! You will have to pay 30% of each sold copy of your game to the big G ?!?

Source: For applications that you choose to sell in Google Play, the transaction fee is equivalent to 30% of the application price. You receive 70% of the payment and the remaining 30% goes to the distribution partner and operating fees. From: http://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/bin/a...

Re: What Ouya Isn't

#47

Post by _b8r0 »

MichaelJW wrote: post #44
hazzen wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Author here. I've updated my post to include some words on the current Android games market and how none of it maps to the Ouya. Simply, a game written for a 4.5" diagonal phone screen will not scale down to the 2-3" diagonal touchpad on the controller and then back up to the 52" diagonal of a TV. You have lost too much fidelity in the process; the game will feel wrong if it even works at all. As for Android being th…

I think you misunderstand vibrunazo's point about some games being "Ouya ready". You can already plug an Android into a TV and connect it to a controller, so some games already offer proper, non-touch gamepad support, designed to work on a big screen. Here's a video of Sonic 4 Episode 2 that demonstrates this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fUP6mh3aOg Plus, touchscreen games don't all require you to tap specific poi…

I have a question, and I'm genuinely looking for an answer here.

Why would I want to play games designed for a phone or tablet on a big screen when I can play them on my phone or tablet already?

Re: What Ouya Isn't

#48

Post by dkersten »

mtgx wrote: post #38
kevingadd wrote: post #19

I like the post overall, but the tech analysis is really weak. It makes it look like you spent a few minutes reading specs on wikipedia and decided that was enough to compare and contrast the hardware. It's not, and that comparison doesn't really add anything to the post. To properly compare the processors you need to note that they are using different instruction sets and that the 360's processors are in-order with…

Out of order, 1 MB of cache. I'm not too familiar with the GPU. Xbox360 most likely has higher performance, and this is why I was hoping they'd use as "beefed up" (no regard for power consumption) Tegra 4 instead of a beefed up Tegra 3. Not sure what DirectX version Xbox is using but I know PS3 graphics are usually considered higher quality, and they're only using a slightly modified version of OpenGL ES 2.0, which i…

and they're only using a slightly modified version of OpenGL ES 2.0

I read someplace - can't remember where exactly - that AAA PS3 games generally don't use OpenGL ES at all but instead use some kind of more direct access. There's also RSXGL, which implements the OpenGL 3.1 Core API.

Re: What Ouya Isn't

#49

Post by freehunter »

paines wrote: post #46
ringmaster wrote: post #32

The one thing the author fails to address is what is actually revolutionary about the OUYA: It is a TV-based console without a developer licensing fee. This is revolutionary because on any other platform, the developer produces the software and the distributor takes a cut of the earnings, and the console manufacturer takes a cut of the earnings. (Remember all that "loss leader" talk when new consoles come out and are…

>The one thing the author fails to address is what is actually revolutionary about the OUYA: It is a TV-based console without a developer licensing fee. This is wrong ! You will have to pay 30% of each sold copy of your game to the big G ?!? Source: For applications that you choose to sell in Google Play, the transaction fee is equivalent to 30% of the application price. You receive 70% of the payment and the remaini…

From what I understand from the Kickstarter, Google Play might be an option for distributing your games, but Ouya will have its own store as well. If it's not sold on Google Play, you don't need to pay Google for it.

Re: What Ouya Isn't

#50

Post by nuclear_eclipse »

_b8r0 wrote: post #47
MichaelJW wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you misunderstand vibrunazo's point about some games being "Ouya ready". You can already plug an Android into a TV and connect it to a controller, so some games already offer proper, non-touch gamepad support, designed to work on a big screen. Here's a video of Sonic 4 Episode 2 that demonstrates this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fUP6mh3aOg Plus, touchscreen games don't all require you to tap specific poi…

I have a question, and I'm genuinely looking for an answer here. Why would I want to play games designed for a phone or tablet on a big screen when I can play them on my phone or tablet already?

I personally find it much more comfortable and relaxing to be able to hold a controller in my lap while looking up at a TV. With games on my phone or tablet, I either have to strain my arms holding it up high enough to be in front of my face, or I have to strain my neck to look far enough down that I can hold the device in my lap to play; there just isn't a comfortable way to play a mobile game for more than 5 or 10 minutes.
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