Ouya console review: "Pass on it"

by cpeterso • 13 years ago

40 43 13 years ago

ergo142• 13 years ago

I actually think that as an inexpensive XBMC TV device + emulator gaming Ouya is an outstanding offering for its price. But if someone expected current gen console compatition here - it means that the product was misunderstood.

GuiA3• 13 years ago

Yes, I've been thinking about getting one specifically for that purpose: a cheap way to play NES/SNES/GBA/etc. games on my TV (I'd imagine that a Ouya filled with such games would be a great present to a niece/nephew whose family can't afford to pay for modern consoles + games). The Ouya also has Towerfall, which is apparently a fantastic game.

Comparing it to PS3/Xbox/Wii U is missing the point.

xbm• 13 years ago

NES/SNES/GBA? Since you mentioned costs of original games, where will you get legal ROMs for those consoles?

bitJericho• 13 years ago

Why do this when the Wii with Homebrew is perfectly capable of running a myriad of emulators that are a pleasure to use, has a superior controller, and runs it all really well?

EpicEng• 13 years ago

Another cheap way to play SNES games; your computer and a $10 controller.

ripter• 13 years ago

Mine still crashes XBMC, but once that's fixed I'll be happy with it.

LawnGnome2• 13 years ago

I couldn't agree more: mine runs XBMC well and, for me, is worth the $100 just for that. That there are emulators that work well and some fun games are pure bonuses, really.

It's something that slots in alongside other consoles rather than replacing or even competing with them.

porsupah• 13 years ago

Is its 1080p performance perfect? It'd be an interesting option here, if so. The Pi isn't up to the job, which seems to leave something of a toss-up between this and an Apple TV, suitably jailbroken for Matroska support.

mattmanser• 13 years ago

Can't help but feel Ouya's sitting in a niche that someone's going to snap up in 6 months or so like the iPad did to the ill-fated crunchPad/JooJoo. Be it the steam box or someone else.

Perfectly good market, fantastic vision, just not quite polished enough and with not enough money behind it to get over the technical hurdles & polish to win over the consumers (obviously excluding the drama with the crunchpad at the end, which didn't help).

jiggy20113• 13 years ago

I feel that the problem is the price, none of the major console manufacturers have tried (or at least succeeded) in building a console for that sort of money. There's probably a reason for that.

ianterrell2• 13 years ago

The reason the major players haven't made a cheap console is because they (Nintendo excepted) are pushing the boundaries of what "cheap enough" hardware can do. That's necessary for the type of games they want to sell -- but it's not necessary for all games.

I fully expect an Ouya/Google/Apple/GameBerryPi/etc to really find a fun loving, large market at a $100 price tag.

imperialWicket• 13 years ago

It does seem like they're interested actively enhancing their library: http://www.ouya.tv/freethegamesfund/

zoba• 13 years ago

This review states the Ouya is "hacker friendly" and I think thats far from the truth. It comes with a locked bootloader and, as far as I've been able to research, no one has been able to put any other version of Linux on it.

I think piracy concerns ended up causing Ouya to close their system some, making it less hacker friendly.

guelo• 13 years ago

Does it allow side-loading of unsigned apk's? That wold make it very friendly for some types of hackers.

flogic• 13 years ago

I believe it does. I vaguely remember seeing something along those lines in the setup screens.

Dylan16807• 13 years ago

Not only is the bootloader locked, it has no recovery mode. It's dangerous to even update the system, let alone install custom OS-level software.

seivan2• 13 years ago

Make a game editor, with a decent 2d editor and a nice integrated IDE.

vinkelhake2• 13 years ago

That will surely remedy the lack of quality games.

seivan2• 13 years ago

Woaaaah, easy there sarcasmo!

That sorta sounds like Sony. Hey lets make our platform an entirely new platform, different from x86 and as hard as possible to get quality game developers.

Sounds familiar?

sehugg• 13 years ago

There are two games that we love: Amazing Frog and Bombsquad. The rest don't get played much. Hopefully this situation improves.

bendingoutward• 13 years ago

A few that I've really enjoyed so far, if you don't mind the suggestions:

* Antichromatic (hit and subsequently blasted out of the sandbox earlier this week, effectively Ikaruga mechanic applied to a platformer)

* Inferno & Ballistic SE (same author, same general gameplay, different world mechanics)

* Saturday Morning RPG

I'd love to see an actual vs fighter, but currently lack the free time to even care about hacking one up :/

skw• 13 years ago

"the idea of an Android console sounds great"

Does it though? Really?

Ouya console review: "Pass on it"

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