AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Yes, but downloading a high-end game to the console will take up a large amount of space. Unless it's going to use cloud gaming, that is.

I don't get why you would prefer this over an actual console or PC unless you're poor.

I've been reading more about it, and from what I can tell, the benefits of OUYA would be that it gives indie game developers much more exposure than Steam or Xbox Live (which has a... less than suitable indie game marketplace) could. That, and the chance to develop console games without being bought out or obstructed by big-name publishers.

Although, if this project does get off the ground, I hope that there will be indie developers out there that will stretch the limits of the hardware rather than developing casual games or 2D artsy pixel games and the like.

well obviously everyone has at least $200 plus expenses for games and or accessories just burning a hole in their pocket

and i guess everyone doesn't care for new, different, unique, and or independent game developers or an open source goddamn console

you're totally got this one in the bud there

I meant poor as in can't afford. Because that's the one big advantage this does have, that it's dirt-cheap. And for indie games there's this thing called a PC.

Yes, but the indie games often don't get as much publicity as the triple-A console titles. If this console were properly funded and publicized, it might be able to put indie devs on equal footing, at least in terms of exposure. Well, maybe not equal, but it would still make a big difference.

That's fantastic for indie devs, but my question was why you, as a consumer, would buy this.

It's a cheap console that would open up a new library of games.
I mean, I personally wouldn't buy it. I can't even see anything good coming out of this console for a good couple of years if anything. For the first while, I can imagine the only thing the console would have would be games like Angry Birds HD, and whatever other Android flash-style games there are. That and Minecraft. Not really enough to warrant a purchase if you already own a PC.
I just see the console as giving a better platform for the Indie developers. This is a fairly powerful system, and since it has standard specs, unlike a PC, it gives the devs a range to work in. Unfortunately, it'll be hard to imagine a lot of those devs would really push the boundaries. So yeah. Not worth a buy yet, unless you really love to say you're supporting indie devs.

The biggest problem that I see this console facing is establishing itself. Other consoles are made by companies with track records and IPs. Microsoft may me the newest of the big three, but even then it had its fingers in gaming quite awhile before the Xbox even came out. If indie publishers don't see this as being a viable platform, they might not go gungho into it, and even if they release a game for the console, they might also try to push it on steam, so it can get publicity. On the flipside, without "big must buy exclusive games", consumers aren't going to buy the console, even if it's "only $100". This in turn will hurt the viability of the console and you're right back to the start of the problem. Having Minecraft back the system is good, but Minecraft is also a PC game that a lot of people already own.

So right now, it seems like consumers are throwing their hopes and cheddar into this kickstarter to generate interest for the indie developers to notice and try their hands at making games, which is a risky gamble on their part, considering there's not much in the way of actual tangible games in order to make a fair assessment of what to expect.

This console is going to be the biggest chance for innovative games the industry is going to have. Right now creativity is being stifled in the name of the almighty dollar, resulting in endless variations of Modern Duty Shooter X With Ironsights among other things. The higher-ups believe that no one will buy something completely new, so they don't risk cheddar on it.

That's where the developers come in here. If they make new and original games for this console, and they sell well, it may open up the opportunity for other studios to do the same thing. In the end, it could help this industry loosen its collective booty.

The issue is the type of games these developers will make. The memory of the system is only 8 GB, so that sort of limits how many games and the size of the games that you can download. The average consumer would not want to (or lack the knowledge to) properly mess around with the internals of the console (given that the creators said that doing so would not void the warranty) to get more memory out of it, so they will either buy small casual games like Angry birds or 2D games that are stereotypical of the word "Indie", such as Limbo or Fez.

I am also skeptical about how widespread the initial release of the console will be. So far, they have raised 3.7 million dollars. I am unsure how many consoles they would be able to manufacture using that amount of cheddar. I am also unsure about how they would pay for servers to host the content available to download with that amount of cheddar, either.

From what I read, you can break into the console without voiding the warranty.





Besides which, they're still asking for improvement ideas from people. I'm sure they can make it to where you could plug in an external USB harddrive for storage. If not, I'm sure there will be a simple install that will allow you to use that.

Also, I'm not sure how big the games would be. Triple A games take up tons of gigabytes, but many of them are also running very complex models, shading systems, lighting, and stuff like that. I think indie developers will probably be a little more laid back on stuff like this, mainly because they don't have the man power (or resources) to match the AAA games like this. I don't think this means the games they can make will be micro games and pixel art (though I'm sure plenty of companies will try to jump in with this stuff), but more that they won't be directly competing to be like the AAA titles. I'd imagine an Indie game on this to look something like Crush3D, if not maybe somewhat better. I wouldn't however, expect a game to look like Skyrim.

So maybe the games will be easier on your memory without being "less" game.

Morrowind required 1GB Hard Disk Space and looked like horseshit (still an amazing game). Amnesia: The Dark Descent, the type of indie game we'd like to see more of, required 3 GB. UT2004, which graphics only look descent because the game is too fun to pay attention to them, takes 5.5 GB with all it's maps and player models. With improved compression magic, you might be able to shave a few off of that. Still I'd estimate that at the most 8 actual games could be stored on there.

So you'd need to add a hard-drive. Nothing new for consoles.

But you'd have to do it yourself, and 90% of console gamers have never done that before. This is important because if there's no audience for proper games on this, no one will make them or at least go cross platform to PC.