Ouya: Ooooh Yeah!

[JonCole]

Last I heard, Ouya was becoming a software platform and it was going to be adopted by MadCatz for their crazy $200 Android thing.

[Zeusthecat]

Last I heard, Ouya was becoming a software platform and it was going to be adopted by MadCatz for their crazy $200 Android thing.

 

I'm a little confused as to how that works. Does that just mean that the Ouya storefront would be incorporated into the MadCatz thing? I thought I remembered hearing pretty much universal disdain for the way that stuff worked on the Ouya.

 

At this point I guess it just seems weird to me that people are still chasing this "Android game console" concept. Maybe there is market research to suggest otherwise but it seems like there is very little interest in these kinds of devices.

[Nachimir]

They've gone very quiet.

 

Tadhg Kelly has removed it from his twitter stuff and some other bios I've seen around, though it's still on his linkedin page as current. It's still in Kellee Santiago's twitter bio, but not her CV site.

 

Rooted OUYAs running XMBC seem to be all over ebay, and are fetching better prices than they used to.

[Thrik]

Think it's safe to say at this point that it went the way of the Gizmondo.

[Ucantalas]

The only thing I heard about the Ouya after its release was that the game Amazing Frog was fun. Other than that, its disappeared seemingly completely.

[Bjorn]

Didn't they hand out a ton of money to developers right before getting really quiet?  Or was that the plan and it didn't really happen?

[Nachimir]

It happened, and I heard they were high four- to low five-figure advances against sales. Which was, uh, optimistic.

[SuperBiasedMan]

It's a massive missed opportunity that the Ouya didn't feature a stretch goal for making a documentary, because there's something really amazing that could have been made, contrasting the kickstarter high with the descent into obscurity that happened post release. I feel really bad for the people who worked on it and revelled in the hype it built up only for the wave to dissipate entirely, and I'd love to get the inside perspective on it.

[Twig]

I never really understood the desire for it in the first place. I still don't.

[SuperBiasedMan]

If I remember right, it was about the idea of a more free, more open platform. Indie games being so big was a new development, as was kickstarter. So the fact that such a community centric project could produce a working console for people was very enticing.

 

I wasn't really interested either, at the time I just felt like consoles as a whole weren't worth it but I guess my apartment is pretty cramped. I was relatively sold on the idea being interesting, and I foolishly thought that the pledges and support would transfer entirely to everyone wanting to play on their Ouya and buy games on it.

[tegan]

It's a massive missed opportunity that the Ouya didn't feature a stretch goal for making a documentary, because there's something really amazing that could have been made, contrasting the kickstarter high with the descent into obscurity that happened post release. I feel really bad for the people who worked on it and revelled in the hype it built up only for the wave to dissipate entirely, and I'd love to get the inside perspective on it.

 

I want this to exist, just for the inevitable E3 2013 sequence where "In the Hall of the Mountain King" plays over scenes of Ouya renting a parking lot space and setting up a booth in front of the building, the ESA renting all the adjoining spaces and filling them with huge trucks so nobody could see the booth, Ouya renting the spaces adjoining those spaces to put up signs, etc etc.

[SuperBiasedMan]

I want this to exist, just for the inevitable E3 2013 sequence where "In the Hall of the Mountain King" plays over scenes of Ouya renting a parking lot space and setting up a booth in front of the building, the ESA renting all the adjoining spaces and filling them with huge trucks so nobody could see the booth, Ouya renting the spaces adjoining those spaces to put up signs, etc etc.

 

I heard about them being in the parking lot, but not the rest. It actually sounds like a farce.

 

Maybe someone could be coaxed into making a fictionalised retrospective documentary, they have material for it.

[tegan]

To answer Zeus' original question: what happened is that Towerfall, Ouya's killer app and most popular game, only sold 7000 copies.

[Zeusthecat]

To answer Zeus' original question: what happened is that Towerfall, Ouya's killer app and most popular game, only sold 7000 copies.

 

OUCH-YA!!!

[Twig]

How much did it sell on Steam?

[SuperBiasedMan]

How much did it sell on Steam?

 

I'm curious about this too, because I think local co-op only is generally a hard sell these days, isn't it? (for PC)

[Twig]

I'd imagine it is, but I don't know. Nidhogg probably did well, right? I remember a lot of buzz about it, anyway.

[undermind9]

Anecdotally I love couch multi player on pc, the rare occasion people come over I strongly encourage them to try nidhogg, risk of rain, and whatever else is in my steam library for 2 people.

But on topic I think ouya was and is asinine, there is one in a locked case at my target that looks like it's never moved (not even to fish out the wii-u's behind it)

[Bjorn]

I'm curious about this too, because I think local co-op only is generally a hard sell these days, isn't it? (for PC)

 

 

I think local co-op on PC is actually increasingly popular.  You've got more PCs in the living room than ever.  Scanning the forums of Steam I almost always see threads about local co-op.  Either loving it on games that have it, or begging devs to add it on games that don't.  A big reason I moved away from PC gaming for years was because I wanted a good selection of games I could play with my wife and kid.  But now many of the absolute best local co-op games are on PC, not consoles. 

[neonrev]

Making local coop on PC more of a thing is one of the things I hope the steam box is able to achieve. For me personally, its not ever really been a consideration, since my gaming PC is usually my only PC and is always in my room, but I think a little steaming box that can have either more than one mouse/keyboard or controller hooked up and either play or stream a couple of fun, quick pc multiplayer games is incredibly appealing, more than any android thing ever was to me.

[JonCole]

Local co-op on my PC will unfortunately not really happen until I retire the 360 and can really commit those controllers to the PC's wireless adapter.

 

Controllers are always the worst part about multiplayer. I've pretty much never owned more than two controllers per console I have, do people really pony up the extra $50 a piece for two more that barely ever get used?

[SuperBiasedMan]

I suppose local co-op seems extra alien to me as my desktop is in a cramped room and I don't even have a controller to use with it normally, I always go keyboard.

 

 

Local co-op on my PC will unfortunately not really happen until I retire the 360 and can really commit those controllers to the PC's wireless adapter.

 

Controllers are always the worst part about multiplayer. I've pretty much never owned more than two controllers per console I have, do people really pony up the extra $50 a piece for two more that barely ever get used?

 

I imagine people would usually ask their friends to bring over a controller or two for 4 player events.

[Thrik]

I've ended up with five PS3 controllers following one upgrade from Sixaxis to DualShock3 and one PS3 replacement.

[TyroneTargel]

Is the ouya still alive? Anyone who bought one at launch still check out the new games on it?

 

I didn't really understand the point of it. The way I see it, consoles are made for a very particular type of game. Putting handheld type games on a console is actually worse than having them on a handheld.

The only good thing about it was that each console was also a dev kit. You know......like the altogether more common and better PC :-\

[Bjorn]

Controllers are always the worst part about multiplayer. I've pretty much never owned more than two controllers per console I have, do people really pony up the extra $50 a piece for two more that barely ever get used?

 

I usually have 4 controllers for a console, though for the 360/PS3 I bought the 3rd and 4th ones as cheaply as possible on eBay.   The PS3 extra controllers were worth every penny just for one evening of an old school PS1 NFL Blitz tournament I hosted with a bunch of buddies.