Just 8 hours and 22 minutes into its Kickstarter campaign, and OUYA had already raised $1 million, surpassing its goal of $950,000. Ending its first day with nearly $2.6 million, the company set the record for the biggest one day raise on the crowd sourcing website, Kickstarter.com.
OUYA was founded in 2012 by Julie Uhrman, the idea born from her love of games, and specifically, playing games on the TV.
To bring us back to the living room, Uhrman developed OUYA, a game console that plugs into your television. But what makes this console really unique is its accessibility to gamers, developers, and hackers.
Priced under $100 and with all games free to try (with in-game items, paid versions after free trial, etc.) being stuck with a $60 game you only played once, may be a thing of the past.
The console also has video and music streaming players and other entertainment applications. Current partners include VEVO, iheartradio, TuneIn, XBMC, Plex, Twitch.tv, and OnLive. Other features of the console include:
- A tegra 3-quad-core processor
- 1GB LPDDR2 RAM
- 8 GB of on-board flash
- A HDMI connection to the TV at 1080p HD
- WiFi 802.11bgn
- Bluetooth LE 4.0
The controller is wireless with 2.4Ghz RF and standard game controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button).
A research analyst with Wedbush Securities, Micahel Pachter explains, “While it is certainly a bold move to take on the likes of Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft, I think there may be room for another player, particularly at this price point. It’s been a long time since a new console was introduced, and it is likely that pricing for consoles will go up. By coming in at a lower price point and challenging the existing pricing model for TV-based games, OUYA could hit a sweet spot with gamers.”
This “sweet spot” extends beyond gamers, to developers alike, as OUYA opens the floor to anyone with a great idea to create a game.
Mojang, the developer of Minecraft, states, “If OUYA delivers on the promise of being the first true open gaming platform that gives indie developers access to the living room gaming market, yes that is a great idea. We will follow the development of OUYA and see how it resonates with gamers. I could see all current Mojang games go on the platform if there’s a demand for it.”
To get their game in the OUYA game store, developers submit their games online where they are reviewed. If the game accepted, the developer is able to update the game as often as they like at no cost.
Finally, for hackers: rooting the device will not void your warranty. Also, every unit has a debug console, and for hardware hackers, the device opens with standard screws and there is a USB port for making peripherals.
The first wave of shipments went out to Kickstarter backers yesterday, and they’ll go on sale to everyone else in June.
For more information visit www.ouya.tv.
OUYA on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console.
