Can someone explain how this is different from any other Android thing? Is it not the same thing as my phone/tablet hooked up to the TV with a Bluetooth gamepad?
Usually when someone describes a new product as "the same as x through y while z", it means the new thing is solving a pain point. Like, "isn't Heroku just git hosted on AWS which runs a Rails server after a push?"
The process you're describing is definitely workable and some games take advantage of it, but the Ouya focuses solely on making the experience of playing and downloading games painless. Whether or not they'll succeed is a different argument, but the Kickstarter proves that there's demand for such a product.
Ah, are they providing their own UI, then? I'm guessing Android is just the backend, from what you say, is that correct? I.e. you won't have access to the rest of the apps and the system itself except through their custom launcher?
Never seen anyone hook up his phone with a TV (also never seen one do that with a tablet, but I don't know many tablet owners). Maybe because most people already have a console on that port. Which could actually be the bigger problem for OUYA - that game console space is already taken up in many living rooms and I doubt somewhat it will be easily competing with the consoles already taking up that space.
The thing is, I have a $200 phone that has Android but isn't very powerfull. I don't own a tablet, buying one would cost me $200.
For $100 they are offering me a console that I could also use as a TV media center.
I think you are narrowing your view to people that own multiple gadgets, in my country that isn't the norm and I know that a cheap console could have a huge impact here.
Are you easily able to connect your mobile phone to your TV? And does anyone even make games for phones that would benefit from being on a TV? I think OUYA could change how the platform gaming landscape looks like, and it certainly won't hurt for more competition to enter that market, hopefully putting some pressure on the existing companies.
Do that many phones really have HDMI output? Mine does not as far as I know. My point is that with the current games on phones, I do not feel any of those would directly benefit from being on a TV. Angry Birds wouldn't suddenly get more fun just because it's on a big screen.
A open console that's easily to hack on, be it software- or hardware-wise, would only be a good thing. And judging by the insane amount of money that has been pledged in this short time there is also a good market for one.¨
I think the OUYA will be a good thing, and the main benefit over just connecting your phone to the TV is that the console is created for being connected to a TV.
The games are created for being on a TV, which changes the genre of games from Angry Birds style phone games to games like Quake or whatever else you might usually play on a console.
That's sort of what I was trying to say with my previous questions, you might be able to connect your phone to the TV and have a equally good device, but the market and community the OUYA will create is what makes it valuable to me.
There is no company that will make a videogame that suits the TV on the off-chance that you connect your mobile phone to one. :/
> And does anyone even make games for phones that would benefit from being on a TV?
If it's an Android phone, then, yes, because Ouya is likewise an Android device and (unless they are tragically stupid, but I don't know for sure because they still have no developer information) is using the Android gamepad API so you could do the exact same thing with your phone.
I feel like most games on my phone are not the kind of games I would want to play on a TV. Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and so on are mobile games. With a open hardware/open source gaming platform for TV games we could get past Sony and Microsoft dominating the market.
I can't connect my phone to a TV as far as I know (SGS2), it might be possible but honestly I have not researched it because it's not something I would be interested in.
A open console with a good controller that is easy for independent developers and others to get into would be great.
Your SGS2 can plug into a TV with an HDMI adapter. Your SGS2 (if running 3.0+) can also support a Bluetooth controller. Your SGS2 is a little pokey compared to a Tegra 3, but there's just not that much difference between a HTC One and this console.
The optimism is nice and all, but the console is nothing special and it has a laughably small userbase. Even XBLIG is a better bet than this, and XBLIG is terrible. There's no way Ouya, or any other "open source gaming platform", is going to disrupt, or even come on the radar of, Sony and Microsoft's game groups.
You're in "year of the Linux desktop" territory, and it's important to realize when you're doing that and stop wishcasting.
It all sounds very doable to me so I totally don't understand all the negativity. Tablets have expensive screens and phones have complicated cellular capabilities.
