Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Ouya


I thought some of you might be interested in this, whether it be from the standpoint of a gamer, developer, or both. It's called Ouya, and it's a new game console currently in development.


What it is, essentially, is a stand-alone gaming console that runs on an Android OS. This means that any existing games or apps for Android can be played through a TV or monitor, in HD. Since it can run apps, this also means that it will be possible to emulate many different consoles, simply by downloading the apps for it. Most are available online for free, and can be installed without any modification.

However, what this really does is take Android, which has primarily been a mobile platform for casual games, and bring it to non-casual gamers, opening the doors for Android developers to develop console-based games whilst still benefiting from the same framework which has made mobile games so successful. 

The Ouya development team has made it clear that one of their primary goals is to make it as simple as possible for independent developers to sell their work. Unlike The Xbox market place or Steam which have harsher terms and requirements and SDKs that must be integrated, it will be possible for nearly anyone to create and publish their work. 

Game Maker Studio has the ability to export a game for use on Android, meaning at any time I could publish a game and sell it parallel to the PC version. For existing developers, it may also mean a shift away from casual games, and a return to smaller teams working on console based games. We'll see, I suppose.

 And who knows? Perhaps they'll have a thriving adult section, the controller does have a touch pad after all..*cough*

Anyhow, I probably don't do it justice, so you can check out the kick starter page for more info. For $99 you get the console and a controller, so even if you just want to support the project you're still getting the  system once it's released.

24 comments:

  1. That should be OuYeah!!
    Then Ouya~

    Hopefully there's an adult section for sure

    It's quite cheap for 100$

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  2. How about remake/remade KuroVadis with bigger Pixel?
    On HD???


    Sure looking good~

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  3. That'd be excellent. I'm developing an adult flash game that's a platformer right now and it shouldn't be hard to change it to iOS standards. It'd also be good for games like the old Clock Tower series. Should be impressive to see where it goes and if it's picked up by the public.

    I'll certainly be following this.

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    1. iPhone Operating System. It's the only OS that Apple doesn't license, which makes me almost positive it'll be incorporated. Most of your iPhone (and Android) games are programmed in something incredibly similar to Flash.

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    2. I know that it's the iPhone OS, that's I didn't know what you meant lol.

      It's not going to have two operating systems, so you're not going to see any support for iOS games. Sure, if you hack it you may be able to put it on the system, but it's never going to be integrated into the system itself, and certainly not sold over the official marketplace.

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  4. The console was released in 2013, we have time ...

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  5. I appreciate the heads-up. This is definitely something that interested me.

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  6. I remember reading about this from somewhere. I think it also said something about making the console itself hackable so people can change it to suit other needs. It's a very interesting prospect. I'm just hoping that if they do indeed make it hackable, some jackass doesn't make it so it steals money from your account or some shit. If that happens they might have to lock it back down or something.

    I really hope this is successful though. Atleast we won't have to deal with every game being $60 anymore.

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    1. What they mean is that it can be rooted without voiding your warranty. It's the same as softmodding a wii, or jail breaking a phone, it's so you can bypass limitations of the Android OS.

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    2. That's great. Shame we can't do that with the phones unless you unroot. Really looking forward to when this comes out.

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  7. Sorry, I don't mean to be multiposting, but I forgot to ask something about sprites. When you have two sprites interacting with each other, (such as grappling) are the two sprites separate images layered over each other, or both of them combined on one image? If it is the former, how do you get certain parts to be behind or in-front of each other? Also, which is better making a sprite sheet or just using animated .gifs? I can make animated .gifs, but sprite sheets still confuse me when I read up on them.

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    1. Don't need to worry about multi posting.

      As for the gif question, I make gifs, technically, since I use Game Maker's built in editor which allows you to toggle which frame you're on. It's not really the same as making the files on their own, though, because all the animations can be made within game maker, and the speed of the animation and whatnot is handled in-game.

      With grappling, I just do one sprite, but it all depends on what the game is like. If there is equipable clothing, alternate costumes, or anything like that, then sprites would be separate. With multiple sprites, the depth is handled by, well, the depth, a variable that dictates drawing order.

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  8. System looks interesting, sounds like its a game console made by gamers for gamers. They seem to have a lot of support... hopefully they don't crash and burn early due to red tape & bullshit

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  9. I really hope the Ouya doesn't become big. I know this sounds harsh, but it would destroy what's left of gaming. The Ouya runs Android, so people are basically paying $99 for a phone with an HDMI cable.

    Mobile gaming is what's slowly killing the handheld gaming market. I remember reading an article from a former Sony dev saying the reason the PSVita is doing so badly in sales is because people would rather play $1 games like Angry Birds instead of traditional $40 games.

    There's also no quality control. Anyone can release any game. Ouya will be FLOODED with shovelware. There will be so many mediocre games released on a daily basis that it'll be impossible to find good games, and any game that becomes popular enough will eventually overrun all the other games. Right now the majority of app sales are controlled by a minority of apps. Something like 1% of apps control 90% of the sales.

    Yeah, modern games like Call of Duty and Skyrim are awful. But what are people getting with Ouya? They're trading Call of Duty and Skyrim for Angry Birds and Temple Run. Ouya claims it will save gaming. No, if it gains enough momentum, it will be the last nail in the coffin.

    Know why the first gaming crash happened? A market flooded with shovelware games like E.T. and Atari Pac-Man. That's exactly what Ouya will be.

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    1. Also it's a terrible thing to see when something generates this much sales based on hype alone. People know barely anything about this 'console' or the company making it, yet they're already throwing their money away.

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    2. I disagree with you. The problem is that right now the economy is not the greatest and people can't afford expensive ass games. I remember how games used to be like $40. Nowadays games cost $60+ (including dlc.) Worst part is that companies try underhanded tactics like locking on-disc content until you pay. I payed $60 for this game and I want a full game experience. Not something that will have silly crap in dlc. (I'm not saying all dlc is bad just ones that don't add much or was already on the disc in the first place).

      We also have the rumors that next gen they may try to prevent all used games from being played unless you pay to unlock it. I'm sorry but if this turns out to be true then pretty much just shot themselves in foot. I don't want to be stuck with a $60 game that turned out to be crap because of no resale value. I will say that if they can do like a hybrid type sale (such as either downloading or buying the disc) then they need to make downloading it cheaper then buying it physically.

      Another thing is that as graphics keep on improving it becomes harder for modelers to make the gourgeous graphics that people keep pining for. As such development cost rises and the cost of the game rises. I wouldn't mind having ps2 graphics if they can make a huge expansive game that doesn't just last 8 hours with tacked on online multiplayer to try and increase play time. Give me a fun game not just something that is pretty to look at. In all honesty GTA: San Andreas was 100X more fun than GTA4 because their was a lot more to do.

      I will say I applaud Treyarch for trying to do something different with CoD. That series has been stagnated for a while. Also, Skyrim is fun, but they seemed to have taken some great stuff out of oblivion that I miss a lot. Atleast mods can fixed that though.

      Now as for Ouya, I do not believe that it will have a huge impact on the market. If anything it'll just bring more casual people who want simplified crap or want to play it because it's "popular". If anything Ouya could be overflooded with shovelware and quickly lose it's appeal to actually gamers. I just hope that we can have some fun games with some fresh ideas without worrying about having to have "amazing graphics".

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    3. I think we should wait and see what happens, even though you have a point about hype usually = a failed idea, but you never know, great games emerged from all those "trash" games. if you ask me the game industry is in a dire need for a reboot anyway, if it is that fragile and breaks, then it was bound to happen sooner or later.

      Right now IMHO the game market has gotten too big and specialized, its now involving big "money" and with that comes big problems, big suits that run the show only think about the bottom line and forget about fun, innovation, sharing, playing and just plain having a good time without all the red tape and bull that comes with big names of today, as they refuse to go into uncharted waters for fear of not selling. So they just end up cloning, beautifying then hype hype hype.... Now they are trying to capitalize on second hand trades and pretty much keep "ownership" of the game you bought, a game where one person monopolizes all the playing pieces quickly gets boring....

      I wouldn't worry too much about good games being burred by crap games, that's why there are rankings usually on dl sites, a good game will emerge victorious if its distributed/sold properly, once you get a few social "elites" to "love" your game then it pretty much sells itself, bad news travels fast but good news sometimes can rival it. What I'm thinking about is something like the Never Winter Nights vault, good mods got award rankings and makers got prestige and recognition for their mods, thus any mod made by them after that was pretty much a "sell out".

      I'll give it to ouya for at least trying, I personally think that the age of indie game devs is at hand, it may take a wile for good games to come as the trend is just starting, but eventually I think well see other games that will become a timeless classic. On top of that I think we will also see some creative merchantal skills and ideas come into play that may be more user friendly and tailored for the new generation of gamers

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  10. >I disagree with you. The problem is that right now the economy is not the greatest and people can't afford expensive ass games. I remember how games used to be like $40. Nowadays games cost $60+ (including dlc.)

    Wrong, wrong, wrong. Do you even remember the SNES and Genesis? At that time, new games costed anywhere from $40 to $80. Chrono Trigger costed $80 and FF6 costed $70.

    In America. At a time when the dollar was worth more. So, in today's money, Chrono Trigger would have costed upwards of $100.

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  11. @A few people

    Games were more expensive because they were cartridges, the common price was $45-50, but higher for games that were a bit more intensive. Keep in mind that there was literally hardware in the games themselves, so it cost more to produce them. Game's like Starfox had graphics chips on the game itself.

    Shovel-ware isn't an issue now, and it wouldn't be with the Ouya. There are tons of shitty games for Xbox, PS3, Wii and PC, but the only ones that get attention are the well known franchises and the exceptional. Crappy games just fade into the background as superior game's come to the forefront, that's what scores, reviews, demos, and gameplay videos are for, knowing what the game is like before you buy it. Comparing it to the video game crash makes no sense.

    Also, the point of the Ouya is not to bring mobile games to the TV, it's to bring indie developers away from mobile platforms and the PC, back to consoles. It's not meant to replace other markets like the Xbox, it's simply meant to be an alternative.

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    1. Wow, looking at this post's beginning and seeing something i didn't know brought a thought into my head... and this post is quite old,lol. Seeing you talk about how the games themselves had hardware in them back in the day, would you see a developer challenging that again with the ouya, that can be taken apart and changed at will? i could see someone being capable of making games themselves the hardware like they used to for Starfox, it'd be cool to see for the ouya.

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    2. Well, the Ouya doesn't use physical games. And the Ouya is fast enough to play Star Fox 100 times over as it is. Though the concept of commercial hardware add-ons is a possibility.

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    3. Yea, i understand that, i was just stating that if a game like, say, Crysis 2, were to be run on the ouya, it'd have a hard time running on there. I have 4 cores, 4 GB ram, and a pretty powerful video card, 5670 1gb (not THAT great, yea), but i could barely run Crysis 2 on medium with occasional hiccups, trying any higher meant low frame rate and unplayable over all. What i was thinking was that a game could be sold with hardware of its own, at 60 dollars, what most people steal with sub-par games anyways, and the game would run fantastic on a system normally not capable of it. Just stating my two cents, anyways. I also understand that the ouya isn't being developed for these powerful games, but having the possibility to edit it so would be amazing for a leap forward in terms of console gaming.

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  12. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-07-14-saturday-soapbox-the-trouble-with-ouya

    Found this interesting critique of the Ouya, and I agree with the fact the marketing reeks of something meant to sell to people desperate for something different. I don't agree that making the Ouya is impossible with the capital they've accumulated (they seem to have chosen a set of hardware parts that are inexpensive and readily available), but it seems suspicious enough not to support until there's an actual, finished product.

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