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[Tilla]

Console gaming is very differentiated from PC gaming. I think that OUYA combines the console and Linux mindsets. Raspberry Pi is a PC thing.

There's barely a difference. What makes Raspberry Pi that much different from an OUYA except the included gamepad? You could even probably get Android running on there and suddenly they are the same device.

[Lectorog]

The Raspberry Pi takes more work to get operational how you want it. The console appeal is having it ready to play out of the box.

[Tilla]

The Raspberry Pi takes more work to get operational how you want it. The console appeal is having it ready to play out of the box.

Which is something I don't think appeals to the Linux crowd. Like at all. They like building their own distros and hacking everything from bootloader up.

[Lectorog]

I know the OUYA doesn't appeal to the Linux crowd. It's creating a new sort of Linux crowd, based off the console demographic. It encourages those more console-oriented (and others) to get into open-source development, free-to-play games, and software development.

[Kilroy the Grand]

Have you heard what the people donated to this want on this? They want Skyrim, battlefield 3, MW3, final fantasy 13, ARMA II. They have no idea what this thing can run, some of them threw $100 on something they know nothing about.

[sambojin]

I don't want to come off sounding all piratey, but I probably will........

There is one reason I would buy this console for. Emulation. Emulation of old school consoles and arcade games. Why?

Because with a few torrent downloads, a few android emulator downloads and a quick copy to the internal memory I can have a console chock full of all the games I used to play as a kid. How powerful is a quad tegra3? Powerful enough to be an a2600, an SMS, a megadrive, a NES, a SNES, a gameboy, a dreamcast and maybe even a PS1 or DS. It will also be a C64, an Amiga and a MAME arcade machine. One that I can take to mate's houses, or have set up in my own living room, with almost the entire library of older consoles and a few choice gems of the newer ones all installed, working, using a "normal" (these days) controller, running through a big-arse telly.

Why would I pay $99 for something like that?

It sounds like it would be awesome. Cranking out a quick game of Mortal Combat 2, followed by a game of Mario Cart, followed by a hi-score challenge of Galaga, a quick 4-2 Wonderboy effort, then a quick River Raid run would be a great way of spending an evening over a couple of beers with some friends.

A lot of my friends don't understand computers. They understand PS3 controllers, big TVs and old school games. Computers suck for hotseat multi-player, especially emulation runs. Consoles rock for this. Android rocks for console and arcade emulation. The indy games thing is a total side issue and irrelevant to me. There's already a couple of thousand games I'd like to play on this. Nicely, easily packaged, so I can relive my youth with my friends.

So therefore, this is definately on my purchase list.

[Rez]

Of course it comes off piratey. It would come off much less so if you hadn't said:

There's already a couple of thousand games I'd like to play on this

Unless, of course, you bought a couple of thousand games for those consoles and own the cartridges and cd's. 

[sambojin]

Oh, yeah, that. I meant a couple of thousand "really good" homebrew games. For sure..........

[MasterFancyPants]

Oh shit. SxEPhil (a YouTube star) just talked about this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXQSjrQIyPU&feature=g-u-u

I expect funding to skyrocket.

[sambojin]

Actually, with it being a fairly open android set up, how well is controller integration going to be done? Are we talking just a software keyboard? An ability for usb mouse/keyboards?

Even if there's just basic "Android on your telly" functionality, it should be ok. The lack of a second (or third) USB port seems strange, but I guess it can be hubbed fairly easily. Another port would be handy for a usb hdd though. I sort of expect there to be a modded version of Android put together fairly quickly that will take into account other controller types and input options pretty soon after release. Especially with the "rooting doesn't void your warranty" thing.

Even a Kindle Fire can do a lot, and it's meant to be a book reader. But some people are worried about warranty issues (even though you can side-load a lot of things). But it's fiddly and annoying, and beyond the scope of some people who aren't particularly PC savvy.

This console sounds like the best of both worlds. Can be hacky, but also works straight off the shelf.
Oh, and I will have to try out Dosbox on the thing. Because Simcity 2k or Civ on your telly sounds fun. Plus the console versions were crap.
 
(ps, strangely enough, I do actually have a pretty big library of console games. Sometimes even without working consoles to support them. I tend to buy all kinds of shit at garage sales and in second hand shops).

[MrWiggles]

The Kindle Fire isn't meant to be an ereader. The Kindle is meant to be an ereader. The Kindle Fire is meant to be a tablet computer, which it is.

[Tellemurius]

Heh the Kindle fire, i slapped on ICS in the first 5 minutes.

[Tilla]

http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/the-reality-of-the-ouya-console-doesnt-match-the-hype-why-you-should-be-ske

Glad to see some journalist-types taking the more cautious side.

So not only is there no finished hardware, no service at the moment, no controller, and no games—although we’re being asked to take their word that they can create each of those things in eight months—but focusing development costs on an incredibly risky platform with a small installed base and features that make piracy all but given makes no sense for most developers who release games you’d like to play. It’s an environment that makes little sense for commercial development, in many ways it’s actively hostile to people hoping to create games for it.

[Lectorog]

I have no doubt they'll have a completed console and software system* by the time they ship. They'll probably be "touching up" the software a lot for a while, but they should have a working system.
Most of that article has been discussed in this thread already, but it's nice to see actual reports noting it, like you said. They're a bit late, though, with 36779** people having already pledged their money by the time of this post, most of them essentially buying an OUYA.
I don't think "market fragmentation" has been discussed here, but that's probably because no-one cares too much about the Android game market.
All in all, yes they're tricking their supporters, but does it really matter?

*software system meaning user interface, online store, etc.
** This number changed three times during the revision of this post.

[GrayFox]

I have definite doubts about this, but I'd love to see it take off and become successful. I guess we'll just have to see what happens.