next »

[Richard Kain]

Google developing Android console

This, right here, is the real competition for the OUYA. (and by extension, a major competitor to the low-cost console market)

The OUYA managed to get a really excellent exterior design, and some decent engineering for its internals. But it's software infrastructure is still a bit basic and weak. And it's controller design leaves something to be desired.

A company like Google could afford to pay for great exterior design and stable internal engineering. They could also afford to get a really excellent controller produced for such an effort. Most importantly, Google could absolutely rock the back-end infrastructure and software for such a device. Rock it like a hurricane.

The OUYA has managed to prove that there is demand for such a device. Google would stand a chance of perfecting this approach, and providing a really kick-ass back-end service for it.

[ThemsAllTook]

Got mine in the mail. It's SO TINY. Like, the controller is twice the size of the console. Crazy! Controller feels really good except for the d-pad, which is too soft and squishy for my tastes. Hopefully I won't have to use it too much. I hear you can use a PS3 controller with the thing, though? Maybe I'll just do that instead. Haven't actually gotten a chance to play yet, just unboxed it.

[Richard Kain]

Controller feels really good except for the d-pad, which is too soft and squishy for my tastes. Hopefully I won't have to use it too much. I hear you can use a PS3 controller with the thing, though? Maybe I'll just do that instead.

I agree on the D-Pad, it is a bit on the squishy side, and not necessarily in a good way. It actually reminds me a little of the 360 D-Pad. (not a compliment) The Ouya uses bluetooth for its controllers, so PS3 controllers are supposed to be compatible with it. 360 controllers are also supposed to work, provided you have the 360 PC wireless adapter. (or just a wired 360 controller) I haven't tested that out yet, but intend to soon.

I put a few of the emulators for the system through their paces last night. The NES and SNES emulators worked just fine. I was quite pleased by some of the scaling and graphical options that were available. I was able to adjust the appearance to my preferences, and it looked very good on my HD screen. The N64 emulator was a bit more spotty, but still capable. It would actually render games at higher resolution, for better or worse. This also meant that performance was a tad bit spottier, hopefully this will be cleaned up in future revisions. The PSX emulator was the weakest of the bunch.

[ericmbernier]

Amazon appears to have more in stock. I just checked about a minute ago.

[Faust06]

Google wants to develop its own Android console. - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323689204578571992848684764.html

[Udderdude]

Google wants to develop its own Android console.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-06-08-mad-catz-readying-android-console
http://venturebeat.com/2013/06/20/nvidias-shield-android-console-drops-to-299-coming-june-27/

So is everyone and their mom.

At this point, there's going to be so many Android based consoles that none of them will ever manage to get a foothold over the other .. in their rush to get there first, they're going to kill the market before it can even take off.

As far as I can tell, they're all going to have the same quantity over quality issues in terms of game library, unless they do licensing.

I can only imagine how fun it's going to be for developers to have to re-port their Android game to a zillion different APIs and having to test on all of them.

Save us Steambox, you're our only hope.

[gimymblert]

The fight to be the next pipin and jaguar or the next playstation ...
It put stress on nintendo business model as it will truly became the nintendo fan machine, which is like niche among niche

[Superb Joe]

kickstarter gave julie uhrman 8.5 million for a dowsing rod to find a market gap that didnt exist so that every hardware manufacturer on the planet could immediately fill it with turds

[Superb Joe]

samsung issues gladhanding press release in late 2014 to announce that theyve "shipped" x.x million units of unsellable garbage

[Superb Joe]

just kidding they manufacture popular cellphones with hdmi ports, quality refrigerators, and are not holdimg my immediate family hostage for unveiling the seedy chaebol kickstarter tax write off scam

[moi]

Gimmy and superb, like two express trains
passing each other
at tanagra

[Rayiner]

I saw a video from Polygon today and I'm really thinking of buying this thing.

[Faust06]

so is everyone and their mom.

Yes, it will be a clusterfuck. I think Google, with its bankroll, can probably win out.

[moi]

I think noone will win, all these consoles will be more or less compatible, most games will be ported

[Superb Joe]

ouya gonna call? [ray parker jr fans scream back in unison] clueless venture capital investors!!!

[ColePowered]

It'll be a clusterfuck, but that's no different to the android phone market anyway. We have 1000s of mostly-the-same-but-slightly-different phones, and it looks like android consoles will end up the same way.

[poe]

Bought one on impulse today.
It's in the mail.

I'll give an unbiased review as someone who bought it for the purpose of android testing

[Udderdude]

It'll be a clusterfuck, but that's no different to the android phone market anyway. We have 1000s of mostly-the-same-but-slightly-different phones, and it looks like android consoles will end up the same way.

Biggest difference is that mobile phones are considered a necessity in today's society, while videogame consoles really aren't.  The markets are fundamentally different.  Not to mention the fragmentation between Android consoles and Android phones looks to be much higher, with competing APIs, stores and controllers.

[Keops]

I'm gonna buy one soon. I kinda like the "open-ness" of it, so us indies can tinker to our heart's content. It's probably decent enough to mess around, and 99 USD is not that much money so most people don't see the price as a problem. Probably in 6 months to a year the app/game ecosystem will be much better as the offerings are slim to none atm.

[ColePowered]

Biggest difference is that mobile phones are considered a necessity in today's society, while videogame consoles really aren't. The markets are fundamentally different.  Not to mention the fragmentation between Android consoles and Android phones looks to be much higher, with competing APIs, stores and controllers.

Essentially my only point is that this is what happens on android because it's so open. I'm just unsurprised that there are going to be several of the things.