OUYA target hit

[AmiNeo]

Just thought you guys would like an update on the Android console I read about a while back on here... It seems they achieved their target... and some!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console


PS. Sorry if this has been posted before.

 

[alexh]

Just reaching funding doesn't mean that the project will take place... I wonder if it will?

The 3D will suck compared to any current gen console. Probably putting it somewhere just above the PS2/Gamecube generation?

 

[Phipscube]

.... 99 dollaz. That makes its lack of power moot to joe bloggs. Also due to the use of android and Arm tech they have a good platform to easily introduce a new console every year and instantly maintain compatibility. Older machines will still even be able to play newer games with downscaled gfx. Its already happening now with tegra enhanced games. Lets see eh?

 

[FOL]

Now this looks interesting, better than their tablet jobby.

 

[morcar]

I am going to pre-order one soon because at that price it will be a great media center if nothing else.

 

[mjnurney]

looks damn good to me

 

[slk486]

Only getting one if it comes in offwhite pink

Didn't that kickstarter end months ago?

 

[alexh]

.... 99 dollaz. That makes its lack of power moot to joe bloggs.

?? You can get a second hand PS3 or an Xbox360 for $99

---------- Post added at 15:30 ---------- Previous post was at 15:28 ----------

I am going to pre-order one soon because at that price it will be a great media center if nothing else.

The RaspBerryPi isn't that great as a MediaCentre. The GUI is just too slow. But it only has a single core 800MHz CPU so Ouya may well be much better with a quad core 1.5GHz CPU.

 

[keropi]

99$ for a new device is a nice price, it will (for example) effectively make having a xbox1 connected for emulation on your tv obsolete as it will be superior in every way. Plus I am pretty sure it has more than enough power to act as a media player or even a small file/download server.

It's not made to compete with next gen or even current gen consoles, why do people compare it with them is beyond my understanding.

 

[alexh]

it will (for example) effectively make having a xbox1 connected for emulation on your tv obsolete.

Should be. But it will have the additional boot delay of loading Linux / android. The xbox-1 boot time is quite short. But you have your XBOX-1... do you really want to pay $99 for equivalent capability?

Plus I am pretty sure it will have enough power to act as a media player or even a small file/download server.

Should do but the XBMC gui may be slower than you're used to. The 733MHz x86 of the XBOX-1 is quite a bit more powerful than it's ARM equivalent. Even overclocked to 1GHz and only 720p the RaspberryPi version of XBMC is very slow. Not 100% comparable to a Tegra3 I know but it will be similar.

It's not made to compete with next gen or even current gen consoles, why do people compare it with them is beyond my understanding.

Because it is effectively the same price as a second hand current gen console.

 

[keropi]

Should be. But it will have the additional boot delay of loading Linux / android. The xbox-1 boot time is quite short. But you have your XBOX-1... do you really want to pay $99 for equivalent capability?

yes, the xbox1 is too old the ouya will run circles around it with it's quad-core Tegra3, 1GB of ram, usb2 wifi/bluetooth and wireless controllers.
And it's not equivalent because tegra3 can do 1080p video decoding without sweating.

Should do but the XBMC gui may be slower than you're used to. The 733MHz x86 of the XBOX-1 is quite a bit more powerful than it's ARM equivalent. Even overclocked to 1GHz and only 720p the RaspberryPi version of XBMC is very slow. Not 100% comparable to a Tegra3 I know but it will be similar.

what the RaspberryPi specs have to do with the ouya?

Because it is effectively the same price as a second hand current gen console.

It's still beyond my understanding why you compare a 2nd hand current gen console with the ouya. They are made for different things.
Only wii is on par on homebrew apps but it's ackward with it's controller - even with the classic one attached. Not to mention the lack of hdmi or decent media playback.

It might come as a surprise to you but many people choose the better solution over the cheapest one.

 

[slk486]

It's compared to this/next gen because they're aiming at the exact same market. In my opinion - how can you not

 

[commodorejohn]

This is an intriguing idea, to be sure...the big question will be software, I doubt console gamers are going to be thrilled with the idea of playing tablet/smartphone games on it. Hopefully they get out a bunch of dev units to some good developers early on so they have a decent launch lineup.

As for the hardware, perhaps it doesn't quite stack up to the next-gen consoles (or possibly even the current-gen ones, I dunno,) but to be honest I don't think that's going to be an issue. The games industry is already driving itself into the ground trying to come up with big-budget hi-def titles that outdo the last similar game to make money, we don't need more of that. A console that hits a sweet spot of capability without developers feeling pressured to keep raising the bar would actually be pretty great - especially at $99. We'll see how it all works out, but I don't think a failure to be the biggest iron in the living room is necessarily going to be a problem for this.

 

[keropi]

When did they say that the OUYA is competing with this/next generation?
They haven't said anything like that at all, it will be morronic for a tegra3 based system.. All they advertised is their open android-based platform, they never promised exciting 3D gaming or multiplayer carnage.
It's the users that have this false comparison in their minds, those will be dissapointed if they expect to run games like uncharted/halo on the OUYA.

But in one thing it is certain that the OUYA will be ages ahead on current gen consoles: emulators/media players. The 360/PS3 are worse than the xbox1 on that.

 

[alexh]

yes, the xbox1 is too old the ouya will run circles around it with it's quad-core Tegra3, 1GB of ram. And it's not equivalent because tegra3 can do 1080p video decoding without sweating.

Erm.. That section was talking solely about emulators. The XBOX-1 plays most emulators at full frame rate. You'd just be swapping one box for another.

what the RaspberryPi specs have to do with the ouya?

The RaspBerryPi is the only ARM XBMC implementation in full production and thus the only benchmark today. RaspBMC GUI is very slow. Mind blowingly slow if you use the Fan art and databases.

It's still beyond my understanding why you compare a 2nd hand current gen console with the ouya. They are made for different things.

Because it's supposed to be a gaming platform !!

It might come as a surprise to you but many people choose the better solution over the cheapest one.

If you're interested in games and media playback then a second hand xbox360 or PS3 will be the better solution. Their media players don't have all the bells and whistles of XBMC but they play pretty much anything you can throw at either of them.

I don't know about the homebrew scene on either but I'm pretty sure the RGH and CFW have meant neither is without homebrew these days. I admit that if homebrew is your thing then a hacked console will never compare to a fully open system.

 

[keropi]

you'd be basically swapping a huge black box with a small one
don't get me wrong, the xbox1 is a great console but it has reached it's limits at this point. It can't play full speed GBA or PSX games and is limited to SD videos. If one does not want more than that then yep , no need to "upgrade" ...
as for the homebrew scene on the 360: it's next to zero. The ps3 is a little better with a media player and some basic emus but other than that it's nothing like what the xbox1 offers. Current gen consoles 90% of homebrew is actually game launchers.

 

[commodorejohn]

what the RaspberryPi specs have to do with the ouya?

The RaspBerryPi is the only ARM XBMC implementation in full production and thus the only benchmark today. RaspBMC GUI is very slow. Mind blowingly slow if you use the Fan art and databases.

But it's not even close to an accurate comparison. The RPi is slow because the RPi is a 700MHz single-core ARMv6 machine with 256MB RAM and a GPU that's been compared to the original XBox. The Tegra 3 is a 1.5GHz quad-core ARMv9 with 1GB RAM and a newer GPU (and possibly a DDR3 FSB instead of DDR2, but they don't specify on the site.) It's not the same thing at all.

 

[alexh]

It's not the same thing at all.

I know that. I said that. But it is the closest comparison supported by XBMC today. Even a 512Mbyte Pi overclocked isn't great (in the gui that is, playback is practically perfect for most codecs because it is all hardware offload).

Actually an AppleTV2 is perhaps a closer equivalent, 1GHz ARM v7 with 256Mbytes RAM. That too struggles to power the XBMC GUI.

Having more than one core won't help in the short term. (XBMC isn't and doesn't seem to have any plans to be a multi-threaded app)

Does Tegra3's ARM's even have VFP? (Hardware floating point).

It will be interesting to see how well it copes.

 

[AmiNeo]

Well, I'll say this. The fact that they've overshot the target by as much as they have speaks volumes about how many people want this to be out there. The original target was just under 1 million... Last time I checked they had over 8 million...

Android already has masses of games, retro styled and modern, not to mention emulators and other retro themed goodness.

As has been mentioned, the current state of the gaming industry is driving itself into the ground with rehashes of what was once successful. Most companies are taking no chances because of the recession and just releasing the same game over and over to milk their original success.

Something like this gives the industry a new direction and at the same time makes it easier for people to get into the industry and make a name for themselves without having to get hired by someone like EA first. I can see a lot of trash games and apps on the android market, sure, but I can also see some talent shining... Talent that could be nurtured.

Any oldschool gamer should know it isn't the hardware that makes the machine, its what is done with the hardware in the software...

I for one am looking forwards to seeing what this does for the industry. It could mean the rebirth of oldschool computing for a digital age. Sharing, trying it yourself, getting what you've done out there. Games programmed by guys in their bedrooms, not massive conglomerate companies... It's coming back thanks to android and open source, and I believe this little box will help it happen.

 

[NovaCoder]

Wow that's a massive pledge, should be enough to get Sony/MS/Nintendo very concerned about the changing market.

I downloaded Rayman for my Nexus 7 last night and was very impressed with the graphics and game play.

Side story: Last night I needed to find the ingredients of a protein packet sitting in a bag on the floor by the bed but instead of getting my lazy ass out of the bed and looking, I just paused the game and googled it with my Nexus instead.

If the OUYA can double as an XBMC it will sell by the bucket-load I reckon