Last I checked, the DHL tracker was showing my OUYA 99$ backer package somewhere off the coast of Mexico, but yesterday I got a note from the post office for a parcel from Hong Kong. Picked it up after work, unboxed it, plugged in the cables, eventually figured out how to put the batteries in the controllers and started it up. And...
...it's actually very neat.
There are a few shortcomings and obvious bad choices, but considering they haven't had the billion dollar R&D muscle of Sony or Nintendo the result is great. Most of the issues can be fixed in software and the rest in later hardware revisions.
Hardware:
The OUYA itself is tiny. Perhaps twice the size of its own power supply. I found it not entirely obvious how it should be oriented, but apparently the fan vent should be down. It's got an HDMI port (cable included), a regular USB 2.0 port, a micro-USB port (apparently for connecting to PC) and an ethernet port. What it does not have, and which I consider the biggest hardware shortcoming, is an SD card slot. That means you're limited to the internal 8GB flash drive for app/game install storage. There is a fan but it's very quiet, and the box itself gets warm but not uncomfortably hot.
The controllers (I ordered one extra) look good. The design is clean and smart, and they fit more comfortably in my hands than the PS3 sixaxis. For some reason they've swapped the position of the left analog stick with the D-pad, which takes a little getting used to. I guess they wanted it to look a little different from the console majors. They've got a good weight and the top plates are brushed metal, so they're rather cold to the touch. It took me a little while to figure out how to open them and insert the batteries (there was no real manual in the box), but it turns out the metal top plates come off and there is room for one AA battery in each handle. The buttons are about the same quality as the PS3, perhaps a little "clicky".
In the middle there's a small area working as a touchpad. I thought it was rubbish at first, acceleration and precision isn't the best, but it turned out to be very handy in the web browser. It is only usable as a mouse emulator and is mostly pointless in games. The analog sticks have some issues with deadzones and lag currently, but they seem to be improving it in firmware. I suspect they might be less good than the PS3 ones though.
Speaking of which, the PS3 gamepads are supported and can be paired with the OUYA, so if you have one or two around...
Software:
The boot sequence is pretty. The launcher itself is simple and functional (and there are already free replacements available for those that want something different). Network setup was simple and straightforward. I've heard some people complaining about nagging from the Wifi if you hook up the OUYA to ethernet, but I just disabled the Wifi radio in the advanced settings and have had no issues.
There is one major annoyance that made me quite angry. You can't proceed past the initial account setup/login screen without setting up the store with a credit card or gift voucher. The intent is to make purchases simple, but it's an intensely stupid way to do it. They should just have asked for cc info first time you want to buy and had a checkbox for if you want to store it, not force it like they do now. I suspect this will change in the near future as they're getting a lot of flak for it.
The Google Play app store is not available and I don't know if they intend it to ever be. They have their own OUYA store setup that looks suspiciously like the Netflix "shelf" interface and its oddly named categories. It's uncluttered and functional but will need a little work, like video support and comments/reviews. Also, since the philosophy is that every game must have a demo or free version that you try before you buy, there is no price info until you've actually tried it. I'd prefer if the full version price was listed immediately.
Currently the store content is very sparse, mostly containing ports from Android and some other usual suspects. The only high-profile games I could see was (yet another) port of The Bard's Tale and the 2006 3D remake of FF3. Also, a lot of the store blurbs written by the game makers are really terrible. There are quite a few emulators available though, for systems ranging from C64 to PSone. What it needs is some creative indie developers to get cracking, and the system seems to be perfectly suited for that. I've even set up the SDK myself...
Beyond that, what is lacking is native media app support. There are only 5-6 in the store, like Plex and Twitch (and a neat one called Blue Board that lets you use an android phone/tablet as a remote keyboard). Using the integrated web browser (which is excellent) I downloaded the APK's for Netflix and XBMC 12.2, and that's when the full potential of this little box was unlocked. XBMC 12.2 is already excellent, and V13 coming in a few months will be fully adapted to the OUYA. Netflix works OK, but will need a little work before it's ready for full deployment.
All in all I think the OUYA could have a bright future if people buy it and start developing for it. It's friendly and open.
I'd say the focus on this thing as a gaming console is a little misplaced. What it really shines at is as an extremely powerful media center with full HD, a community-friendly game store and an open design.
Anyone else got their yet?
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Topic: So my Kickstarter OUYA arrived (Read 3806 times)