After arguably the most successful Kickstarter campaign in the crowd funding platforms short-lived history, the Android-based Ouya gaming console was released yesterday. Priced at $99, Ouya will look compete with the likes of heavyweight consoles Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in the gaming ring but early reviews may suggest otherwise.
On paper, the specs of the next-gen Android console seem formidable enough. The Ouya runs on a vidia Tegra 3 Quad-core 1.7GHz CPI and is accompanied by a 520MHz Nvidia GeForce ULP GPU, offers 1GB DDR3 memory and 8GB of internal flash memory storage, operates on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with a custom Oyua user interface, and features a wireless controller.
Android dominates the mobile operating system market with a sizable share so it’s no surprise that the Ouya makers looked to translate that kind of dominance into the gaming realm. However shoddy hardware, a limited selection of lagging games, and over-complicated operations could prove to be the console’s downfall. Let’s see what the pros have to say.
Will Greenwald, PC Mag: “I wanted to like the Ouya. A $100 Android-based game system with a gamepad seems like a great idea. However, even though it’s been released as a retail product, it’s just not ready yet. It’s held back by a mediocre controller and a software interface that, at the time of launch, is unacceptable. Unless you’re willing to go to developer-like extents to load software on the Ouya, it simply isn’t open enough and the game library isn’t large enough to justify it.
Ryan Whitwam, Android Police: “The Ouya is light years away from being any kind of viable game console, even though it has improved in some places like UI lag and the controller. I really wanted it to be better, but it’s not competitive even at $99. Do not buy this unless you are primarily interested in modding it.”
Florence Ion, Ars Technia: “Even for those used to gaming on their PCs or Xbox 360s, Ouya brings a new gaming experience to the living room. Granted, it’s a mostly smaller, independent experience, with some titles that are admittedly too casual to bother playing on a television screen. But the open nature of the Ouya affords it an endless array of possibilities. I could see developers releasing applications for the console that could eventually transform it into the type of media streaming box that the Xbox 360 is now.”
Rus McLaughlin, Venture Beat: “Hey, I fully believe an indie-focused game console should be part of the gaming ecosystem. We need a place where talented, creative people with zero publisher support can thrive… I’m relieved that a lot of the really good games I found didn’t overcommit to this one platform, because from what I saw, Ouya provides a poor, lonely stage. It needs better organization, better presentation, some kind of quality control, and a tighter, more consistent feel. Most of all, Ouya needs to make its games shine. At present, it doesn’t.”
