I think I mentioned this console a few times, but I never really gave it its own spot under the spotlight. If I forgot to do this, I apologize since I had my College Finals and it’s been sort of hectic. OUYA, in lament’s terms, is sort of like an Xbox console that runs Android. It is one of the first, if not THE first console that was created to use the Android Operating System. The creators of OUYA thought that it would be nice to get Android to the big-screen TVs for all the “gamers” ( those people that only play Xbox or PS3 on the PC – and they mostly play Call of Duty – and have the audacity of calling themselves gamers ).
This console was a Kickstarter project that was quite recently fully funded ( over-funded really, considering they asked for around 900 thousand dollars and got around 8 millions more than that ). And if you think that this small box with a controller is just something that plays Android games, you’re terribly wrong. OUYA can do so much more and has so many features implemented into it, one can hardly believe it. The price for it wasn’t so big as you could get an OUYA console for a mere 100 or so dollars. If you ask me and if you’re to compare it to the large prices demanded by Android devices and other gaming consoles, this is a pretty good price. Also, if you ask me, I think this price is overly too low for such a great value, but then again I tend to be brutal on such things.
OUYA’s features are listed below:
- Tegra 3 quad-core processor
- 1 GB RAM
- 8GB of internal flash storage
- HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth LE 4.0
- USB 2.0 (one)
- Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
- Android 4.0
- Ethernet
Apart from the obvious “Being able to run Android games on your TV” thing, OUYA also comes with a dedicated Android market to which all of its games and apps will be uploaded ( more games than apps ). They have been working, and are still working on it as you are reading this, on establishing long-term links with game manufacturers. They currently allow anybody to add content to their dedicated market, and if I’m not mistaken, most if not all of the content found there is available for Free download.
If you think that isn’t enough ( although if you take the word of big manufacturers of Android devices, that would pretty much justify the value of 100 dollars – fact which is sort of unfair towards the common man ), OUYA also has a ton of other stuff installed on it. One of them is, for instance, the OnLive Streaming support. If you’re not aware of what OnLive is ( as few people are, really ), let me enlighten you in a few short words. You know how for Xbox live you can find all the games in one place and you can just click Play. This is pretty similar but it does so for the PCs. Many is the PC gamer who doesn’t have the cash to buy a powerful rig with thousands of dollars worth of components. OnLive allows you to play the latest of titles on their PCs and they stream you the image. It has a very small latency. It is similar to checking out walkthroughs of games on YouTube. It has the same quality ( image-wise ) as the HD from YouTube games. Of course, they need to be bought in order to enjoy fully, but as opposed to Steam or other programs, you have the assurance that if you purchase it, you WILL be able to run it on all machines. To implement this feature into this console sort of turns it into a PC-like creation that can run a wide-array of games.
Also, the manufacturers of OUYA encourage you to play around with it and see what happens. The console is easy to root ( and doesn’t void the warranty ) and it is easy to mod in both software and hardware. It’s a sturdy design but it’s pretty easy to take apart and fiddle with its components.
Also, deals are underway with VEVO to upload their content to the OUYA videos. Personally I don’t like VEVO as they censor everything and the songs I usually listen to end up sounding like “Lyrics, Lyrics, BLANK SPACE, Lyrics” and it is really annoying. But, if it must be done, so be it.
As of yet, OUYA is in full mass-production and it offers to bring a lot of promising things to the table. In the meantime, while you decide whether or not you want one, here is the video they used for their Kickstarter project:
