Items tagged with Ouya
Razer today confirmed reports that it has acquired OUYA's software assets, including its content catalog and online retail platform. As part of the deal, OUYA's technical team and developer relations staff will join the software team at Razer and begin working on a long-term plan for its Android TV efforts, including Android-based consoles. The acquisition is a play for software and personnel only -- Razer did not buy OUYA's hardware or other related assets. However, the company does plan to publish Android TV content and Android-based TV console games under the OUYA brand as a separate interest. "Razer has a long-term vision for Android TV and Android-based TV consoles, such as the Xiaomi Mi...
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Google is undeterred; after brilliantly failing to wedge itself into our living rooms with Google TV (though it’s made modest inroads with the Chromecast dongle), the company is rumored to be mounting another effort by partnering with other companies to put out set-top boxes loaded with Android. According to CNET’s sources, at least one of the devices will run on the NVIDIA Tegra 4 chip, although Intel-based boxes are also expected. Presumably, this Android set-top box offers some sort of gaming features along with TV and movie streaming. It only makes sense; in addition to the presence of the Tegra 4 chip, Amazon’s Fire TV box is definitely geared toward gaming, and there have...
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Oddly, it seems like it’s been a while since the Ouya Android gaming console felt truly compelling after a whirlwind Kickstarter honeymoon, fundraising explosion, and emergence of the device as a Real Thing, but the company is trying to change that with its “Ouya Everywhere” initiative. Basically, Ouya Everywhere is a way to embed the Ouya platform into other devices. It makes sense to do so, considering that Ouya has hundreds of titles now and could use any exposure it can get wherever it can get it. Mad Catz M.O.J.O. The first Ouya Everywhere partner is Mad Catz, which has its own M.O.J.O. Android-based microconsole. Ouya content will be available on the M.O.J.O later this...
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Do you hear that noise? It's the sound of the big three console makers makers -- Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo -- shaking in their boots over the impending march of micro-sized Android-based gaming boxes into the mainstream. Or, more likely, it's an earthquake or alien invasion and you should probably take cover because immediately because, let's face it, either scenario has a better chance of happening. Nevertheless, if you're still following the micro-console scene and are a fan of these systems, here's a heads up that Ouya has a new model available. Ouya now offers two SKUs, the original version for $99 and a new matte black model with twice the amount of storage (16GB versus 8GB) for $129....
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Ouya figured out a way to squeeze a few more dollars out of its $99 Android game console.Offer it up in white, make it a "Limited Edition" SKU, double up on storage, and then charge a little more. That's the not-so-secret formula behind Ouya's newly unveiled "Limited Edition White Console" with 16GB of internal storage. It's available to pre-order for $129 directly from Ouya, and if you order one by December 8, the company promises to deliver it to your doorstep by December 25, just in time for Christmas. That's a $30 premium over the regular Ouya, but again, it has twice as much storage (further expandable via USB) and a unique look. As a refresher, the Ouya sports an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core...
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A mere week after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' acquisition of Washington Post comes one of the tastier rumors that has surrounded the company. According to a source close to Game Informer, Amazon is currently knees-deep in the production of its own game console, which, given the price point of the company's Kindle tablet offering, we'd imagine will share OUYA's goals of being affordable. There's little information on the console at the moment, but somewhat unbelievably, it's apparently set to launch before the end of the year - potentially by Black Friday (November 30). If that's the case, then this has to be one of the best-kept secrets in the industry. Somehow, Amazon has managed to build up...
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OUYA was a rousing success on Kickstarter, and in a very short time, the project developed into an actual commercial offering with a real product on store shelves and a host of developers working on games for the $99 gaming console. OUYA even raised enough money to fund a million-dollar game-seeding award. However, not everyone was happy, a fact that OUYA CEO Julie Uhrman has acknowledged in a letter to Kickstarter backers in which she wrote, “It wasn't OK that some of you-our most loyal supporters-didn't get your OUYA until after it was on store shelves. Others had an issue with our still-new customer service.” Other didn’t receive controllers they ordered. In order to...
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What a difference a year makes. Early last July, OUYA didn’t exist; fast forward through an astonishing Kickstarter campaign, successful hardware and software development, another round of funding, and a retail launch, and OUYA has suddenly evolved from merely a cool idea for an Android-based console to a highly sought-after product that sold out at online retail outlets. Suddenly, the OUYA gang has a success on its hands and is already in the position to be a patron instead of a supplicant. OUYA founder Julie Uhrman wrote in a blog post that OUYA is launching the “Free the Games Fund”, a program wherein it will support game developers by matching the funds they raise on Kickstarter...
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BlueStacks, maker of the GamePop console, offers users the ability to play Android and iOS games on their TVs for a $6.99 per month subscription fee. They’ve been running a promotion where you can get the console and its included gamepad (you can also control games with your mobile device) for free with a subscription, but that ends in a few days. After that, you’ll have to pay $129.99 for the console and controller. However, BlueStacks is trying something to keep subscribers who otherwise aren’t too keen on dropping that kind of cash on an Android/iOS console: The company has developed a GamePop Mini console, which is about the size of a pack of gum and will be free with a...
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Google is looking to disrupt yet another market by developing an Android-based game console. Citing “people familiar with the matter”, the Wall Street Journal said that this might be a tactical move by Google--an effort to get the jump on Apple, which may also be planning to build some sort of game console with its next Apple TV update. What such a console from Google might look like is anyone’s guess, but the most obvious comparison would be the OUYA console, which runs on Android and has been met with a groundswell of support since it became a Kickstarter darling last summer. It’s far more likely that Google would try and develop something similar to OUYA rather than...
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Kids, avert your eyes; Leisure Suit Larry is back, and he’s as filthy as ever. First released in 1987, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards followed a 40-year-old virgin as he sought to win the heart of a woman--any woman, really--through a variety of after-hours sorts of locales. Originally created by Sierra and now remade by Replay Games as Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded, the game’s creator, Al Lowe, and Josh Mandel were tasked with bringing the a revised version of the game to life, which they did in part via a Kickstarter campaign. The new version sticks with the original’s plot, but it features a new score and all-new handpainted backgrounds, characters, locations,...
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In the 3D printing world, MakerBot is as strong a brand name as there is on the desktop side of the industry, and now it’s been acquired by Stratasys, a company that’s made its mark on the heavier-duty side of things such as additive manufacturing. The deal is worth $403 million in a stock-for-stock transaction. MakerBot will become a separate subsidiary of Stratasys, and CEO and nerd quasi-celeb Bre Pettis will remain head honcho of the MakerBot group. Even better, the company will retain all of its exciting partnerships with the likes of Autodesk, Adafruit, and OUYA, as well as industry behemoths Nokia and Amazon, and Thingiverse.com will continue to thrive under the new ownership....
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Following a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign in which OUYA was able to raise nearly $8.6 million in funding from over 63,000 backers, the company behind the Android game console announced today that it's secured another $15 million from new investors. That's a total purse of around $23.6 million for a project that originally set out to raise just $950,000. The $15 million funding round was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. If that firm sounds familiar, pat yourself on the back for your precocious game history knowledge. It's the same firm that originally backed Electronic Arts and includes investors such as Mayfield Fund, NVIDIA, Shasta Ventures, and Occam Partners. What will...
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Ouya yesterday began shipping its $100 Android console to early backers of the project that took Kickstarter by storm, blowing past the initial $950,000 goal and raising nearly $8.6 million by the time it was all said and done. Everyone else has to wait until June 4, which is when it will be on store shelves, real and virtual (Amazon.com, Best Buy, GameStop, and Target). Alternately, you can pre-order an Ouya for a Benjamin along with an extra controller for $50 more. Either way, June 4 is the console's big day. In case you need a refresher, Ouya wields an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage expandable via USB. It has built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth support, and...
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There’s been speculation floating around (including in our own comments sections) that OUYA, the $99 open source gaming console, will also eventually offer media streaming capabilities, effectively turning it into a set-top box. According to notes from Gizmag on OUYA co-founder Julie Uhrman's talk at SXSW, that’s pretty much what’s going to happen. Uhrman said that she’s pretty confident that OUYA will have a native app for streaming video; presumably, that would include the big names such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Google. OUYA has previously announced partnerships with OnLive, TuneIn, and XMBC. Further, she indicated that OUYA is in talks to potentially partner with...
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The time for OUYA’s official release in June is coming, but in the meantime, backers of the project (when OUYA was just a Kickstarter darling and nothing more) are getting their consoles early. We knew that it would be sometime in March, but the official word from the OUYA blog is that consoles will start shipping on March 28th. In the post, co-founder Julie Uhrman did note that it could take a few weeks for everyone in the queue to receive their consoles, but that’s probably because there are “tens of thousands” of backers that are getting an early device. Screengrab from "The Ball" The post included some news about upcoming games, too. Airtight Games and Tripwire Interactive...
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If Ouya fails at revolutionizing the gaming industry, it won't be from a lack of effort or ingenuity. In keeping with the open platform theme, Ouya chief Julie Uhrman reiterated that developers will be able to release whatever types of games they wish, so long as they adhere to a free-to-try format. In doing so, Uhrman envisions a less cluttered and confusing app store. Her insistence on a free-to-try model also puts the consumer first, lessening the risk that a gamer will feel burned for having spent money on what they might consider to be a dud. "It cleans up the app store," Uhrman told GamesIndustry International at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas. "It removes the confusion between a paid app...
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When we first caught wind of the OUYA gaming console raising a startling amount of money on Kickstarter (which eventually reached almost $8.6 million) in July, we noted that the console and its small development team had a major mountain to scale to compete in the market. On June 4th, OUYA will accomplish its most impressive feat to date by landing on store shelves. Those who backed OUYA on Kickstarter will receive their consoles in March, but everyone else can already preorder an OUYA console at sites including Amazon, Target, and Best Buy. The console plus one controller will cost $99.99, and a second controller will run you another $49.99. All of the console’s games will be free. Note...
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Now that Ouya open source gaming consoles have shipped to developers, we’re getting a look at what the Ouya interface looks like and how the little unit performs. Developer Codezombiegames posted some videos on YouTube unboxing the package, looking at the parts, and fiddling with the interface. Ouya has already done a video unboxing, but we haven’t seen the UI in action just yet. Here it is below: The interface is nice and clean, with simple but colorful backgrounds and simple white text with a pleasing font. There are no games built in, but there there is a Web browser, a settings area, and a downloads button. The browser seems fast enough and played a low-quality YouTube video...
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We’ve been following the Ouya open source gaming console ever since it raised an astonishing amount of money in a very short amount of time. The latest development is that Ouya has 1,200 developer consoles on pallets ready to ship as promised, which is a good sign for the future viability of the ambitious project. Ouya says that the consoles will be on devs’ doorsteps within days. The contents of the package include a welcome letter, a pair of D-pad controllers, the console itself, HDMI and micro-USB cables, and a power adapter. (Batteries are included.) The D-pads and console are both transparent to show devs the guts inside; the final product will look different. The console now...
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Crowd funding site Kickstarter has been host to some compelling endeavors, and the site offers a beautifully democratic way for people to back the kinds of products, technologies, and services they care about. The fundraising portion of these projects can be thrilling, as we saw with the open source gaming console Ouya, but of course once a project has enough cash raised, the originators still have to execute their plans. Thomas Edison would say that the post-idea, post-fundraising phase of a project is about 99% of the work. There have been some rumblings about what happens to backer money if a developer fails to deliver on a promised project, and Kickstarter has clarified its position on some...
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When the team behind the Ouya open source gaming console was soliciting startup funds on Kickstarter, we all took notice, and despite asking for just $950,000 in cash, the group found itself flush with nearly $8.6 million in cash. Apparently the prospect of a $109 gaming console that was built specifically to be hacked and tweaked by basement geniuses everywhere and could maybe someday contend with the industry heavy hitters was just too hard for grassroots donors to resist. Those donors who forked over enough cash to qualify are getting a slightly belated Christmas present: The Ouya team announced that it will be shipping its advance consoles this month. They’ll leave the factory on December...
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