Open-source Ouya gaming platform killing it on Kickstarter

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57469935-1/open-source-ouya-gaming-platform-killing-it-on-kickstarter/?tag=mncol;topStories

by msie • 14 years ago

22 12 14 years ago

news.cnet.com

mindcrime• 14 years ago

Oh, this is way cool. Not so much because I care about a gaming platform per-se, but because it shows that people care about hackable / open hardware, and that crowdfunding is a viable way to fund development of such hardware.

Given the sentiments expressed in articles like "The Coming War on General Purpose Computing"[1] - and the debate over UEFI / Secure Boot - it's very encouraging to see this kind of thing happening.

The availability of things like Raspberry Pi[2] is also encouraging on the same front.

Here's to the continued development of general purpose computing hardware and open/hackable systems that anyone is free to use as they see fit!

[1] http://boingboing.net/2012/01/10/lockdown.html

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi

wavephorm• 14 years ago

  we are working on our stretch goals, what we can do if we raise more money.

How about instead of moving the goal posts out further, just focus on delivering what was presented in the Kickstarter video.

bryanlarsen• 14 years ago

Agreed. The vast majority of their pledges are for the $95/$99 console. Margins are going to be tight at this price, so even though the gross is pretty high, net is not. They're going to have to be careful with their money and not get distracted by the big numbers.

mnicole2• 14 years ago

This is something that bothers me about Kickstarters that raise more than they wanted; they think that it means they'll have the funding to continue to ideate and act on it. Considering the string of blog posts about money disappearing from these projects after all of the payments and fees regarding the service, wages, health insurance and R&D itself are said and done, it's concerning.

nooneelse• 14 years ago

I've friends doing prep-work on a Kickstarter project, and they are thinking along the lines of any stretch goals being more in the direction of concrete business expansion steps. Such as funding specific trade-show entries and ad buys. To me, I think that seeing that on a Kickstarter page would sound more reassuring. Like the inventors are thinking realistically about the future. But I might be bit biased, so I (and I'm sure they) would welcome thoughts from someone else that is dubious of the usual stretch goals.

makmanalp• 14 years ago

Related kickstarter blog post here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4229926

cooldeal• 14 years ago

Looks like they're doing a 70/30 deal on the games, but if the device is not locked to the App store, the games can simply bypass them and save the 30%.

They call it open, so I am guessing that they're not going to lock it down, but that can affect their revenue.

wmf• 14 years ago

Many Android phones allow sideloading, yet virtually all apps are in the store(s) because they need the exposure.

aeurielesn• 14 years ago

That was US$150,000 for Kickstarter in an evening, right? I just looked it up and it seems to be a 5% share.

Frankly, I thought it was less than that. Big figures are really favorable for them then.

osxwm• 14 years ago

Kickstarter as a whole broke it's all time pledges yesterday taking in $3,174,820 [1]. At 5%, and if all pledges pay, Kickstarter took in $158,741. Not all pledges follow through on payment.

[1] http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/ouyas-big-day

nemo1618• 14 years ago

Gotta say, I wasn't expecting this result after the opinions expressed in the comments of the original Ouya HN post. Maybe HN just likes to grumble about everything.

Open-source Ouya gaming platform killing it on Kickstarter

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