Pixelation

General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Ryumaru on July 11, 2012, 10:54:36 am

Title: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: Ryumaru on July 11, 2012, 10:54:36 am
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console

I'm cautiously impressed and excited by this. Backers have already doubled the original goal, and with nearly the rest of the month to go there is time for a good deal of extra funding that will serve to better the product.

I'm also optimistic of what this could do for pixel art games, as well as well designed games in general.

What do you think, pixelation? ;D
Title: Re: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: Seiseki on July 11, 2012, 12:16:47 pm
Seems like android/PC is definitely the way to go for Indie Devs!
I'm positive to this, especially since it means more android games as this might counter the current mobile bias toward iOS.

What I'm most excited about though is the indie love that this console is bound to receive, I play a lot of indie games for both PC and Droid, and there are quite a few android games I wish I could play on a TV with a controller.
Title: Re: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: rikfuzz on July 11, 2012, 12:38:18 pm
I'm cautiously optimistic about it. Not sure if anyone here knew about the Phantom, but it was a kind of similar project that ended up being cancelled / vapourware. This one seems a bit more realistic, and the Pandora (http://"http://www.gp2x.de/shop/product_info.php/cPath/34/products_id/223) actually made it into production without this kind of funding, so why not? 

I think my biggest concern is production will take so long that the interest has all but evaporated by the time the units ship. 
Title: Re: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: Ashbad on July 11, 2012, 12:49:03 pm
This definitely sounds similar to previous vaporware projects, but it already seems to be much further along than any of those ended up to be.  Either way if it makes it, I'd definitely develop for it!
Title: Re: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: Danik on July 11, 2012, 03:05:59 pm
I was reeeally close to pledging yesterday, but I ended up not doing it. You don't really know what you're paying for, so I decided to wait.
I think if it does what it says well, if they can ship the product within reasonable time and it's of reasonable quality it could be really successful for smaller/indie games.
Title: Re: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: blumunkee on July 11, 2012, 03:07:20 pm
Huge Hacker News discussion here:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4223627

I'm more interested if Valve ever comes out with their rumored SteamBox.
Title: Re: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: Carnivac on July 11, 2012, 04:10:13 pm
No thank you.
Title: Re: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: PypeBros on July 17, 2012, 11:19:26 am
I love the 'hackers welcome' part of it... My only doubt is about the sound & video hardware. I do games for the Nintendo DS because I love the "Amiga on Steroïds" feel the hardware has... if it's just for a big framebuffer and mp3 playback ... well ...
Title: Re: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: crab2selout.png on July 18, 2012, 02:04:28 am
An interesting article I found casting doubt on the console.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-07-14-saturday-soapbox-the-trouble-with-ouya

Brings up a lot of points the HN guys hit on. There's no guarantee this console will even have access to Google Play(Actually a VERY likely chance it won't). They'd be unplayable anyways since they use the touch screen.

I've been making some Android games since Spring, and Android is a pretty fantastic environment (especially for Indies) to develop for. It has a top notch development environment(using Eclipse) that I find every bit as comparable to working with Visual C# for Xbox Live Arcade Game back when I was trying that out. Android is well documented with lots of reference material. My first game was a Tetris clone that was up on the market within a day of submitting it, so there are low barriers to being published. Even without the Market route, it's trivial to share your games with people as well since you can just email/web link the APK setup files to whoever you want to share your game with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5zGKEEWXQs&feature=related
And there are ways(that will probably become standardized before too long) of using an android device with a TV
Title: Re: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: Ryumaru on July 18, 2012, 02:46:21 am
crab: that article was needlessly skeptical to the point of missing information.

Firstly, it's been merely 10 days since the Ouya has been public, and you're already expecting a full line up of launch titles? The console will already be compatible with a lot of games that already use the Tegra 3 and Julie Uhrman has said to site the Tegra 3 video that has been posted to see what games on the Ouya will be capable of, and titles that will be an easy fit for Ouya.

While it is not shown in production art currently, the Ouya controller is planned to have a touch screen on it to enable such functions. While it won't be as natural as using an actual mobile touch device, Julie believes that the experience of being immersed into a game via a large television screen, and all the nostalgia that comes from consoles will make up for that bit of unnatural-ness.

The article then goes to accuse that the kickstarter campaign is most likely just to impress investors, which is simply untrue. Julie has said in her interviews that "friends and family" have already invested money into the project and that was enough for the prototype and to assemble the team. Rightfully she hasn't released every explicit detail about their finances, but she has said that the 950,000 that was the kickstarter goal would be all that is necessary for the console to be a reality.

On the google play point:
Nothing is set in stone on that either way, I would at least wait till the project is funded before dismissing it's possibility.

The idea behind the Ouya is to give a new business model for console gaming. The "$99 console for the 99%" quote I think works well to explain their intentions. Not all casual gamers have the knowledge, or the devices to hook up a $400 dollar ipad or other tablet with a controller ( Ouya is also of course looking to have accessories such as wireless headsets), but every casual gamer does know how hard a $60 game hits their wallet, without them even being able to try it first.

I don't mean to harp on you, but I've seen a lot of undue, and uninformed skepticism about the Ouya ( the linked article being one of them) that as best as I can see, are just some trolls that have nothing better to do with their time than to try and flaunt what little knowledge they have and base the entirety of their points on flagrant assumptions.



I would rather listen to someone who is actually part of the project and doing the work than a sceptic that hasn't even gotten the facts straight. Here you can find the interviews that my information above can be found:

Latest & best articles:
Julie Uhrman interview 'console concept to reality'http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/17/interview-ouya-ceo-julie-uhrman/
Yves Beyar interview 'designing the Ouya' http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/16/yves-behar-interview
Julie Uhrman interview 'responds to skeptiscism'http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-07-16-ouya-responds-to-skepticism
Various indie devs 'thoughts on Ouya' http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/16/influential-indies-on-the-brouhaha-around-ouya/
Keep up on the latest snippets:
-on twitter https://twitter.com/playouya
-on kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/ouya
Title: Re: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: crab2selout.png on July 18, 2012, 03:58:31 am
crab: that article was needlessly skeptical to the point of missing information.

Firstly, it's been merely 10 days since the Ouya has been public, and you're already expecting a full line up of launch titles? The console will already be compatible with a lot of games that already use the Tegra 3 and Julie Uhrman has said to site the Tegra 3 video that has been posted to see what games on the Ouya will be capable of, and titles that will be an easy fit for Ouya.

It wasn't that i was expecting a full line up, just skeptical about them being given access to Google's market. But that's a hard thing to predict as you said below. And that hasn't stopped  developers/publishers to date from submitting to separate. but compatible markets like Amazon or Nook.
While it is not shown in production art currently, the Ouya controller is planned to have a touch screen on it to enable such functions. While it won't be as natural as using an actual mobile touch device, Julie believes that the experience of being immersed into a game via a large television screen, and all the nostalgia that comes from consoles will make up for that bit of unnatural-ness.
My bad, I was looking a little too closely at he controller mockup.
The article then goes to accuse that the kickstarter campaign is most likely just to impress investors, which is simply untrue. Julie has said in her interviews that "friends and family" have already invested money into the project and that was enough for the prototype and to assemble the team. Rightfully she hasn't released every explicit detail about their finances, but she has said that the 950,000 that was the kickstarter goal would be all that is necessary for the console to be a reality.

On the google play point:
Nothing is set in stone on that either way, I would at least wait till the project is funded before dismissing it's possibility.

The idea behind the Ouya is to give a new business model for console gaming. The "$99 console for the 99%" quote I think works well to explain their intentions. Not all casual gamers have the knowledge, or the devices to hook up a $400 dollar ipad or other tablet with a controller ( Ouya is also of course looking to have accessories such as wireless headsets), but every casual gamer does know how hard a $60 game hits their wallet, without them even being able to try it first.

I don't mean to harp on you, but I've seen a lot of undue, and uninformed skepticism about the Ouya ( the linked article being one of them) that as best as I can see, are just some trolls that have nothing better to do with their time than to try and flaunt what little knowledge they have and base the entirety of their points on flagrant assumptions.
No harping felt. I guess it's partly a reaction to other attempts(Phantom) to break into the console market and a sense of the impossibility of it if others have failed before the Ouya. I kind of have a tendency towards negativity, so it figures the skeptical articles would jump out to me at first. It's a bold move to try and throw yourself into the console race, but I think there is a very real danger of irrelevancy should the current players start hyping their next generation hardware.

I would rather listen to someone who is actually part of the project and doing the work than a skeptic that hasn't even gotten the facts straight. Here you can find the interviews that my information above can be found:

Latest & best articles:
Julie Uhrman interview 'console concept to reality'http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/17/interview-ouya-ceo-julie-uhrman/
Yves Beyar interview 'designing the Ouya' http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-07/16/yves-behar-interview
Julie Uhrman interview 'responds to skeptiscism'http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-07-16-ouya-responds-to-skepticism
Various indie devs 'thoughts on Ouya' http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/16/influential-indies-on-the-brouhaha-around-ouya/
Keep up on the latest snippets:
-on twitter https://twitter.com/playouya
-on kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/ouya
Thanks for these. The joystiq article was probably the most interesting for me. It hits so many good points, but I think the quote by Brian Provinciano about the low barriers to indie publishing on PS3 is what struck me the most. It's an interesting place for an Indie dev these days
Title: Re: OUYA- The indie developer's dream
Post by: Ryumaru on July 18, 2012, 06:00:11 am
I may be mistaken, but I believe the Ouya will completely remove any licensing fees to be  a developer, which from what I'm reading is not the case with the playstation and other console networks, correct?

While all consoles do have this aspect I think the Ouya has the possibility of shining with it as it is the core of it's games. Redundancy and irrelevancy are already hampering the big 3 consoles, with big name games such as call of duty etc basically releasing new maps and an improved mechanic or two with no real motivation. While I don't think the console is dramatically dying like some may claim, I think any redundancy that the Ouya will face is of a similar kind that all the current consoles share. It is already known that this console will not be about the hardware itself, but the games and openness of it. It may seem trivial, but Just it's newness alone will attract customers, and it's price will be a very positive factor as well I think. There may be other products doing similar things, but not at the level and price that the Ouya would be able to, if it were made.