US retailers pledge to stock $99 Android-powered Kickstarter console.
Ouya, the Android-based console that smashed its funding target with $8.5 million in Kickstarter donations, will be available from plenty of US retailers when it officially launches in June.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman said the machine will be available from Amazon, GameStop, Target, and Best Buy.
Ouya will see a phased launch, with Kickstarter backers receiving the machine in March and those who preorder now getting hold of the machine in April. The official launch, when the retailers will start stocking the device, is in June.
The Ouya is priced at $99.99, with the touch-screen controllers going for $49.99. "It's a premium price for a controller," said Uhrman, "but the inclusion of the touchpad really makes it a premium in the marketplace."
GameSpot has asked Ouya about whether the machine will be stocked by retailers internationally. Right now Ouya is charging $25 to ship to the UK.
When asked if Ouya felt threatened by the imminent announcement of new next-gen hardware from Sony and Microsoft, Uhrman asserted that Ouya will occupy a unique space in the market. "We don't need to beat Xbox or Sony or any console that enters the marketplace," said Uhrman. "We need to carve out our own niche."
"Ouya offers a very different value proposition to the gaming you can currently experience. It's a box designed specifically for the television that leverages the screen, we support 3D gaming, HD, we support the controller, we added a touchpad to the controller. The kind of content you'll see on Ouya, it'll be inventive and creative and has never been on the television."
Martin Gaston has absolutely never at all had the song from Beauty and the Beast sung to him at any point during his life, ever.
It's a scam. Just wait for it to deliver nothing, or crap. You really think they want through extensive periods for QA for this box? You really think they can do a better job as MNCs and their consoles still get red rings etc. People will want their $8.5m back.
I'm not really on board, but, its cool something can come shake things up. Hope it occupies its own space and thrives
1 Like Love the fact that it is fully hackable. Imagine the possibility that it could do things the big 3 won't allow us to do.
4 Like While I'm no longer into propietary gaming devices, I still want to see Ouya succeed. It really does appear to be addressing accessibility, diversity and allowing devs a financially safer alternative to the 'big 3' (Sony/MS/Nintendo).
1 Like Not picking one up anytime soon but I've been following this console for awhile and hope it does well.
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THERE is just so much out there now and coming out soon so I just don not know what to expect.... the market will not be able to support all at high levels.
Project shield - steam box - Gamestick - not to mention handhelds, PC.... well i hope it does well just wish it waited a short time for the Tegra 4 chips to launch with
2 Like It's really unbelievable how hard Julie & company are pushing- that's really the type of dedication it's gonna take to make a dent in this industry though. I agree with what some others posters are saying; the 8th generation of consoles is going to be unlike any other. This should be very, very interesting.
1 Like This is a great idea and is an alternative to console gaming while closed system gives developers a solid stable system to work with. In 2 years a new Ouya will begin being built BC naturally, and in 3 it will launch.
How will the landscape look by then is anyone's guess. Steambox Gamestick, Consoles PC, handhelds, Phones, tablets...
1 Like That's a stupid question to ask them. Ouya clearly isn't competing with Microsoft and Sony... just like smartphones aren't competing with them. Sure, Ouya's a home console and smartphones are handheld, but neither one is in the same market. I personally can't wait to get my hands on one as long as it's as easy to do things with it under the hood as other Android devices are.
1 Like What?? I had no idea it was gonna be so mainstream, Best Buy and Target, wow. I backed this thing but only for the hell of it, I honestly thought it was going to be mostly a failure but I liked that someone was willing to try. I kind of expected a poor selection of games that mostly wouldn't interest me, but I wanted to get one anyway and kinda justified the expense as something I could tinker with.
However, now that I see it's going to be in major retail stores, I wonder if MAYBE it will be a success and have decent games. I'm still not convinced because, well without getting into a lot of details there's a lot of things working against it. Anyway, I'm impressed, and I hope they really do get them out to us by March.
1 Like You can find good Indie games every once in a while like Infiniti Blade or World of Goo, but it's exhausting searching through all the garbage in the App stores to strike gold with something good.
8 Like This little box really could shake up the industry. I really do wish it the very best of luck.
1 Like I wonder if the customizability will allow for it's power to be increased....I'm not a techy so i'm not sure if that's a stupid statement or not
@Chaos_Dante_456 with such a low price I see it lasting 3 years at the most before a new game is console is released.
@Ravenlore_basic @Chaos_Dante_456 True.
But the cool thing is, Ouya will probably be backward compatible considering it's Android based. The big 3 tend to act funny about letting us play our old favs on next gen hardware. And, no, "HD remakes" don't count; you're still RE-purchasing what you already own.
Wait, so no one who pitched in to the Kickstarter is getting the touch screen controller and it has a premium price? The cynic in me says cash grab. You really need the touch screen to play most of the android games from the market.
7 Like Why are people here bashing consoles based on hardware? I will still pick up a copy of super mario bros in 8 bit and play it to death. Hardware specs are just one small part of what makes great games.
This gives indie devs a platform to release things on, we should support it!
@spoonybard-hahs Since you decided to table the item you don't need to read languages at Oxford to know there are differences in idioms between dialects. Full stop.
1 Like This is a very neat idea and I really do hope they get success with this little box.
It's a cool concept for those who want to play games on the Android OS without the need of having to go out and get a stupidly expensive phone for them, I'm using a Nokia 201 and never intend to get one of those phones, ever.
ROCKING IT OLD SCHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL./
@ArataWata "stupidly expensive phone"? Android has one of the most widest prices ranges in the mobile market (from £50 too £600)... don't want an expensive phone? no problem, you can still have android x
1 Like @ArataWata look up the sony xperia ray, great android fone, with the same form factor of the older smaller fones. None of that huge oversize screen overprice apple crap
2 Like Nope,Nope,Nope this doesnt exist until I hear, see or find out about games I want to play...this is an expensive paper weight...
1 Like Bah I was hoping it will be available a little sooner :(
And I hope it will be able to get it from Europe. Shipping it from USA might be a bit risky for me and my street name with crapton of Polish characters ;)
This can only be good news for OUYA. They are already attracting the indie developers. One source has confirmed over 450 games already. (see: http://ouyaforum.com/showthread.php?18-List-of-Games-Coming-to-the-OUYA). The fact that they are now in retail only means more developers will jump on board with OUYA.
@eddiekrass Judging from a lot of those titles, be prepared for shovel and copy ware (there's an unauthorized Mega Man X clone in there. Like that's not going to get pulled).
I can potentially see this running into the same problem as the Wii U, a majority of what would be considered AAA titles (such as American McGee's game) are going to other platforms as well. Why should I invest in an Ouya if I can get the games I want on machines I already own?
if they add smartphone support instead of custom controlers made by them, ouya will be a success
Trying to go big in a smart way? Well, console business and overall gaming business really demands it.
2 Like 'from June'?
Do you mean 'in June'?
As it stands the title makes no sense, unless June is someone's name.
Nice price point, but you're not getting my Benjamin until you show me some good console quality game. I've been trying to find info, and I'm finding nothing interesting. What games are you guys getting this to play?
@SSJMonkey Final Fantasy game was announced. I think they're still grabbing for Minecraft. Ehh not really anything else promising.
@Succumbus @SSJMonkey 75% sure Hawken is gonna get on it. Theres a couple of good Unity3d projects out there also.
@SSJMonkey LOL @ the Benjamin :)) The games I'm getting this to play? Angry bird star wars. Naw JK.. I'm looking for games like what @DaneGamer said and for free!!
1 Like I'll wait till I can read/watch some reviews of the controller and hardware to make sure its not junk, but I'm excited and will probably get it
Kim Swift's downloadable title Soul Fjord will be exclusive to $99 Android-powered Ouya console.
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