So about the Ouya

[desura]

Can someone explain what's so great about this thing? Couldn't you basically do the same thing with any old android phone/tablet + chromecast + BT controller? It looks like it is based on the old Tegra 3 too...fairly slow...

 

[ImpulsE69]

Can someone explain what's so great about this thing? Couldn't you basically do the same thing with any old android phone/tablet + chromecast + BT controller? It looks like it is based on the old Tegra 3 too...fairly slow...

I don't think anyone is saying it is great except the creators...laughing their way to the bank...

 

[Bateluer]

Its wasted potential. Tegra 3 may be dated, but it can still produce decent visuals and games, its just that the quality of games is standard mobile fare; ie, infected with freemium cancer. If they want to sell a console, they need a legit, real title. Not Candy Crush, not Trexels, an actual real, full game thats designed to be played a television not a tablet, and thats not filled with microtransactions.

Until they get that game, it won't matter at all whether they upgrade the hardware to a spiffy Snapdragon 805, Tegra K1, or Exynos 5 Octa.

 

[mmntech]

The Ouya works well as a cheap XBMC box. Though it doesn't have an independent development screen. Nobody wants to play phone games on their TV.

 

[Nintendesert]

Ouya exploited the masses desire for new consoles after Sony/MS let the 360 and PS3 linger for so long. Now with the new consoles out, nobody will care at all.

 

[Doppel]

Can someone explain what's so great about this thing?

No, they can't really.

The Ouya has turned out to be what my first impression of it was: pointless and utterly blah. It will fade from its current near irrelevance into total obsolescence in short order.

If you go to its site and look at the list of 500+ games, 98-99% of them are total shovelware.

 

[lamedude]

They sold an all access pass to that shovelware, and it somehow sold out.

 

[poofyhairguy]

What the Ouya taught me is that if Nintendo would release something akin to an Atari Flashback (aka a box that looks like an NES with like 100 games preloaded) it would be a best seller.

 

[mmntech]

A lot of the gaming pundits seem to think the all access pass is the Ouya's last gasp. Games sell the hardware, and the device doesn't exactly have any compelling titles. Being underpowered certainly doesn't help. The Tegra 3 was never known as a good gaming chip. Had it been marketed as something like the PlayStation TV, it may have done better.

 

[xantub]

I'm using as a console emulator and XBMC box all in one.

 

[ponyo]

Who would buy this over Amazon FireTV?

 

[Exophase]

What the Ouya taught me is that if Nintendo would release something akin to an Atari Flashback (aka a box that looks like an NES with like 100 games preloaded) it would be a best seller.

It may sell a lot in some terms, but consider..

Nintendo currently has 94 games available for Virtual Console on Wii U. Most of them cost $2.99, with a handful costing about $3.59 (600 points instead of 500).

I think a Flashback-like device would have to be at most $50 to really sell. I'd expect the manufacturing/distribution/retail cost of the device to be at least $10 a unit, even with an extremely integrated NES + mappers ASIC - probably more, but we'll go with this as a lower bound. So $40 profit, minus whatever development costs this had, and if it means making an ASIC there's a pretty substantial initial design expense. I mean, they could probably use one of those Chinese NES chips for this, that'd be funny 😛

Anyway, $40 max profit per unit with 100 games, so we'll say around $0.40 per game. Now, I don't have good numbers for how well Virtual Console has sold, only that it was allegedly $66m total as of 2010. And SMB3 alone was estimated to have sold a million.

In other words, they'd have to sell a LOT more of these devices to make it a better alternative than Virtual Console (which they'd undoubtedly be siphoning sales from).. I don't really think it'd work out.

 

[poofyhairguy]

It may sell a lot in some terms, but consider..

Nintendo currently has 94 games available for Virtual Console on Wii U. Most of them cost $2.99, with a handful costing about $3.59 (600 points instead of 500).

I think a Flashback-like device would have to be at most $50 to really sell. I'd expect the manufacturing/distribution/retail cost of the device to be at least $10 a unit, even with an extremely integrated NES + mappers ASIC - probably more, but we'll go with this as a lower bound. So $40 profit, minus whatever development costs this had, and if it means making an ASIC there's a pretty substantial initial design expense. I mean, they could probably use one of those Chinese NES chips for this, that'd be funny 😛

Anyway, $40 max profit per unit with 100 games, so we'll say around $0.40 per game. Now, I don't have good numbers for how well Virtual Console has sold, only that it was allegedly $66m total as of 2010. And SMB3 alone was estimated to have sold a million.

In other words, they'd have to sell a LOT more of these devices to make it a better alternative than Virtual Console (which they'd undoubtedly be siphoning sales from).. I don't really think it'd work out.

Three things on that:

1. Thank you for actually considering what I said, I appreciate it.

2. I would think $99 is the price point.

3. Nintendo has been overvaluing its properties for years. When the Wii platform runs out of steam Nintendo can chose $0.90 per game for a system they still control or ~$0.90 per game after Apple's cut in the app store with Apple in control.

 

[Rakehellion]

Why does it only have 500 games? I think that's the problem.

 

[mmntech]

Why does it only have 500 games? I think that's the problem.

I've been reading that Console Wars book. If there's one thing I've gotten out of it so far is Nintendo's mantra, "the name of the game is the game".

That statement means:
1. Games sell the hardware, not the other way around
2. The games have to be good. Not just good but great. Doesn't matter what they're about, or what kind of hardware they run on. They just have to be good.

Nintendo has built their entire brand around that one sentence, and it's served them very well over the years.

Ouya, well, they don't work on this mantra. They built their platform around the hardware. All on the basis that it was "open". But they had nothing on it that really wowed the public. All it does is allow you to play phone games with a controller. There's a lot of content, but none of it's good. And with no good content, you don't sell hardware. And when you don't sell hardware, nobody wants to develop for the platform.

 

[clok1966]

I like My Ouya but i seem to be one of the few. games, ehhh if you call phone games, games.. I have downloaded and tried quite a few.. Have played more on it then my phone or tablet.. No matter what anybody says a controller is far better for 95% of games then a touchscreen is, even on the shovel ware out there. Of course you can get a controller for a tablet or a phone.. but that sorta defeats the purpose of portable. IF you just buy to play phone games, worthless I will agree. If you run XBMC and play a few emu's an picked it up for $70 on Amazon, its a ok deal.. I use it 90% XMBC and 10 % emus. I dont want a whole second PC at my bedroom tv so this tiny box works well. and getting 6 month out controller thats used nightly is pretty dang good battery life. really depends on your use.

 

[exar333]

I've been reading that Console Wars book. If there's one thing I've gotten out of it so far is Nintendo's mantra, "the name of the game is the game".

That statement means:
1. Games sell the hardware, not the other way around
2. The games have to be good. Not just good but great. Doesn't matter what they're about, or what kind of hardware they run on. They just have to be good.

Nintendo has built their entire brand around that one sentence, and it's served them very well over the years.

Ouya, well, they don't work on this mantra. They built their platform around the hardware. All on the basis that it was "open". But they had nothing on it that really wowed the public. All it does is allow you to play phone games with a controller. There's a lot of content, but none of it's good. And with no good content, you don't sell hardware. And when you don't sell hardware, nobody wants to develop for the platform.

Blah. I don't really agree. I loved Nintendo too, but after recycling the sale franchises over and over again it gets old. They rarely innovate or take chances OTHER than with the hardware. This is exactly opposite what your conclusion is, which is interesting.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Blah. I don't really agree. I loved Nintendo too, but after recycling the sale franchises over and over again it gets old. They rarely innovate or take chances OTHER than with the hardware. This is exactly opposite what your conclusion is, which is interesting.

I agree with you. At least Microsoft and Sony have taken more chances on original IPs and ideas. With the original release of Halo, Gears of War, Forza and even their titles that didn't really last like NFL Fever and Project Gotham Racing...Microsoft has at least kept things somewhat fresh for gamers by trying new ideas, even if you don't think they have done so lately. Sony likewise has their own IPs and original games that they have built upon over the years. Little Big Planet, MLB The Show, God of War, Uncharted, Last of Us.

Both companies have brought out more original games from in house studios than Nintendo has since 2001. I think for Nintendo the main issue is they are mired in doing business the traditional Japanese way. They have yet to fuilly embrace gaming globally and are content to rely on games that are colorful and in some ways cute. This is ok for some demographics but It's not what everyone wants to play worldwide. In japan cute is accepted, elsewhere I don't think it has the same appeal.

 

[mmntech]

Blah. I don't really agree. I loved Nintendo too, but after recycling the sale franchises over and over again it gets old. They rarely innovate or take chances OTHER than with the hardware. This is exactly opposite what your conclusion is, which is interesting.

But that doesn't matter as long as the games are good. Which they are. Hard to argue that Nintendo makes bad games.

 

[cmdrdredd]

But that doesn't matter as long as the games are good. Which they are. Hard to argue that Nintendo makes bad games.

Unless you aren't into the cute and colorful style that is associated with Nintendo recently. Then pretty much everything Nintendo makes is out the window.

Games have to appeal to you before you can even start to call them good. No matter what scores they might get, mass appeal and huge sales numbers require you to cater to new demographics not just hardcore fans. For many I am sure, they have moved on past games like Mario and games that use Mario characters (Mario Party etc). The game can score well from critics but unless it offers something with more substance, there's a percentage of gamers who don't care. They may appreciate that the game is received well by critics but they won't buy it.

I fall into this group now. I appreciate Nintendo's games for what they are but they aren't for me any longer and will not get me to buy them. I tried a WiiU for a while but I was so underwhelmed by it after a month or so, and the games I knew about didn't interest me so I could not keep it around. The only two franchises I care about from Nintendo are Metroid and Zelda but I already feel there are games in similar genres that offer deeper experiences than those have in recent years. There are still people who buy Nintendo games, but they have fallen pretty far from what they once were as gaming became a global business.

 

[bearxor]

That's kind of how I feel about Nintendo now. Everyone was raving about Mario 3D World. I finally went to try it at a friends house.

I can tell it's good. I really can. But it's just not interesting anymore. Same way I feel about Mario Kart 8.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Unless you aren't into the cute and colorful style that is associated with Nintendo recently. Then pretty much everything Nintendo makes is out the window.

Honestly what Nintendo needed to do was lean on women harder. Women/girls drove sales of the DS and the Wii, but they aren't given any reason to care about the Wii U.

The Wii was revolutionary because it got women in the game since they didn't have to know how to hit buttons on a controller as if their life depended on it like every other console ever. But Nintendo threw that away with the tablet controller, scaring off those nontraditional gamers.

What they need is another WiiFit balance board. Make a deal with fitbit to make the Wii U THE premier workout device. Crank out some Crossfit titles to ride that momentum.

Boys and dudes are lost to Nintendo. They want dark games, they want FPSes, they want hardware specs, they want great online gaming experiences. Simply put, the modern hardcore gaming male wants more from Nintendo than they can ever provide. Nintendo needs to get back to that audience that is happy flailing their arms around, playing with cute cartoon farm animals while maybe losing a little weight.

Or, since they are probably incapable of that, they need to crank out retro consoles and milk all the nostalgia money from the primary gaming demographic that they can milk before they dry up and blow away.

 

[Rakehellion]

Unless you aren't into the cute and colorful style that is associated with Nintendo recently. Then pretty much everything Nintendo makes is out the window.

Games have to appeal to you before you can even start to call them good. No matter what scores they might get, mass appeal and huge sales numbers require you to cater to new demographics not just hardcore fans.

The first sentence and the second contradict each other. I have no interest in playing a rehash of Battlefield or Grand Theft Auto on any platform, so I haven't bought a PS4. You dismiss "cute and colorful" as if it's a bad thing. Everyone's into something different.

Clash of Clans for mobile is pulling a billion dollars a year by itself.

 

[lamedude]

I'll take cute and colorful over Gear's 50 shades of gray any day.

 

[futurefields]

I like baseball. Root beer sure is great.