this thing is out to retail today. is it worth it?

6/25/2013 4:04:31 PM

Since I've yet to get XBMC running on it, nor does the Google Play store work on it when side-loaded, I would say no, it's not worth it if you already have something that plays Netflix.

6/26/2013 11:12:22 PM

I looked into this, and overall, it seems pretty sad.

The hardware is the same that you can get on tablets. And apparently, you can just plug many of those tablets into your TV. I suppose there's a price difference as well, which is a bit of an accomplishment, but the Ouya has a pricing system that looks like it's designed to take you for all your worth.

Why is the controller $50? That's ridiculous. The entire system is $100 and your controller is half that ?! huh? You can get PC oriented controllers for <$15, so if you're not competing with the big guys on the frills, why a crazy controller?

I think there's a possible niche for a tiny box that's flexible to let devs make whatever they want cheaply. The box could be cheap enough that you'd buy it just to get access to a single game. Plus, if you had completely utilitarian controllers you could rock crazy multiplayer. But all these opportunities seem lost.

6/27/2013 8:28:01 AM

I agree $50 for an extra controller is a bit high. They were $30 for an extra one during the kickstarter and that's that's what I consider the high end of pricing should be considering the quality.

I'm not sure anything else you said in that post is even remotely close to true though.

The hardware is the same as something you can get on a $300-$500 tablet. And it comes with a "$50" controller that the tablet doesn't come with. It accepts any bluetooth or USB controller so if you want extra controllers they are readily available. Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers work fine too, so the scenario you painted about "rocking crazy multiplayer" is already a reality.

All in all I had extremely low expectations of the Ouya, and even still I managed to be let down. It is an extremely underwhelming device right now, but it has already improved significantly since I got it and I hope that it will only continue to do so. Even so, with all the things that are legitimately wrong with the console, choosing price and lack of controller options to complain about doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

6/27/2013 4:53:03 PM

you can get a tegra3 tablet for $150 and it comes with a screen
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=890977&Q=&is=REG&A=details
refurb nexus 7 in similar price range. that hardware is in no way "300-500"

6/27/2013 7:53:18 PM

Sorry, I don't keep up with the pricing structure of shitty third rate refurbished 7 inch tablets.

Correct me if I'm wrong though, but $99 is still less than $150, right? It's been a while since I had a math class. My point still remains that it doesn't make sense to bitch about the pricing structure of the Ouya when it's still 66% off the price of the cheapest similarly spec'd piece of shit tablet you can find and that's with a controller that is kind of helpful if you want to play games on your TV, which is sort of the point of a video game console to begin with.

Also, an extremely quick google search shows me that you can indeed still buy a tegra 3 tablet for $500 at a major retail outlet today. So it kind of looks like that hardware is, in fact put in $300-$500 devices.

6/28/2013 3:23:22 PM

You are correct. $99 is still less than $150

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

6/28/2013 3:27:21 PM

the Ouya is a shitty third rate piece of shit console

6/28/2013 5:17:05 PM

Quote :

"Also, an extremely quick google search shows me that you can indeed still buy a tegra 3 tablet for $500 at a major retail outlet today. So it kind of looks like that hardware is, in fact put in $300-$500 devices."

Just because a retailer offers a product, does not mean the product will be sold at that price... In that same argument, Bestbuy sells $1000 6ft gold plated HDMI cables that you need to get for your ouya since you are saving a shitload of money...

6/28/2013 8:37:34 PM

^^You're not wrong. It is very much a third rate product at this point it time. It's possible that it will be forever. The point you're choosing to ignore is that it's the cheapest product that had similar specs by at least 33% and in some cases, up to 80%. Also, as shitty as it is, it's still 10 times better for what it's trying to do than hooking up an hdmi cable and bluetooth controller to a tablet and running that to the TV. So the argument of price just doesn't hold any weight at all. It may be shitty, but it's cheap as shit too. mrfrog said "the Ouya has a pricing system that looks like it's designed to take you for all your worth." and there's just absolutely nothing at all to back that up. Of all of the Ouya's flaws, and there are many, pricing just isn't one.

^you are so very dumb. I thought about trying to logically respond to your idiocy, but I just don't have it in me. Please go away.

6/29/2013 1:27:32 AM

Quote :

" It accepts any bluetooth or USB controller so if you want extra controllers they are readily available. Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers work fine too, so the scenario you painted about "rocking crazy multiplayer" is already a reality. "

That is kind of interesting. I never upgraded to the PS3 generation, so here I am wondering how the USB connection helps with the controllers are all proprietary anyway.

Doesn't the Ouya controller have a little LED screen or something on it? Why? I hate that, and all the console makers are doing it. It's annoying for the Wii U, but it's a decision 10 times worse for the Ouya.

Quote :

" The point you're choosing to ignore is that it's the cheapest product that had similar specs by at least 33% and in some cases, up to 80%."

What about the PS3?
What about the Wii? That's already $100.

The Ouya does have some advantages. There's still new stuff being done for it. It has a library of free-to-play games, and it's hackable. Those things will matter more to some people than others. But in order for it to grab onto this slippery niche it shouldn't be making enemies, doing things like putting a goddam touchpad on a controller for a $100 system.

6/29/2013 8:58:43 AM

Quote :

"Doesn't the Ouya controller have a little LED screen or something on it? Why? I hate that, and all the console makers are doing it. It's annoying for the Wii U, but it's a decision 10 times worse for the Ouya."

No, it does not have an LED screen. It does have a touchpad, which is definitely required if you want to try to navigate some of the Android menus or interact with non-ouya-game apps that aren't designed (read: don't work) for a keyboard/keypad.

6/29/2013 10:55:16 AM

Quote :

"I never upgraded to the PS3 generation, so here I am wondering how the USB connection helps with the controllers are all proprietary anyway."

PS3 controllers aren't proprietary really, they just use standard bluetooth connections. The only catch is that there's no way to get them to search for, and pair with other devices through normal methods, so you have to use the USB cable the first time, to pair it with something, but after that it is just like any other paired bluetooth device. You can even turn the Ouya on and off wirelessly with a paired PS3 controller.

Also, I'm not sure why you're raising such a ruckus about the Ouya controllers having a touchpad (unless you want to talk about how absolutely shitty they are, in which case I fully support that argument) Some software simply can't be ran without the use of a touchpad and things like the web browser are better on the Ouya than they are on, say the PS3, just because of the touchpad. And since every Ouya comes with one controller, it's ok for devs to make games that require a touchpad and allow you to use non-touchpad controllers for other players.

6/29/2013 1:24:22 PM

ouya, failure in marketing, failure in business
http://games.slashdot.org/story/15/04/29/1542220/crowdfunded-android-console-ouya-reportedly-seeking-buyout

4/29/2015 1:20:41 PM

Man, this thing was a gigantic failure eh?

7/27/2015 10:41:39 AM

They just got bought out by Razer

http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/27/razer-confirms-ouya-acquisition/

7/28/2015 8:17:26 AM

what we did is try to convince people the raspberry pi was a gaming platform... failed and sold to someone else.

7/28/2015 11:44:51 AM