If you haven't already heard the news a new KickStarter campaign for a $99 Android console has been fully funded in a day. Ouya originally asked for just shy of $1 million, and as I write this post it will be pushing the $3 million mark. With 28 days to go in the fundraiser we will now have an interesting competitor in the market for console dominance.
Here is the issue. We all know that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are the current kings of the console wars and while I want Ouya to succeed we need to understand what this device should be aiming for. This device is not meant to kill the current console kings, but to allow indie developers with a tight budget to continue development on consoles without fear of paying for licensing and developer consoles. Have you noticed that most of the indie games are not on the console but and iOS and Android? It is because if you had the drive to make a game you could do it on a shoestring budget and a group from 1 to 10 people.
Ouya has already noted that all games must be partially free to play (demos, in game payments for items, subscriptions to higher level areas) and this is a good thing, but what the developers must keep in mind is that people will not want to play a game that is pay to win. Games like League of Legends and Guild Wars do free to play well. Stuff that can be bought with real money does not make the player automatically better, they can only help the player with things like more item storage (rune slots, and chests) which could be bought with in game currency. The other thing you can buy (that you can not with in game currency) are only cosmetic (skins and costumes). The moment that a developer on Ouya breaks this standard they will become a pay to win game, and no one will want to play it.
Now, this rule that Ouya put up means that bigger companies might not want to venture into this hardware because it might not get the full investment back that it put into the game. This is not a bad thing. I would not mind seeing more developers that don’t have much to lose and do something interesting that would normally not get funded (examples being games like Minecraft, Flower, Cave Story, Amnesia, and World of Goo). I can also see this turning into a service like Steam with all my favorite games on there (with free demos) that I could buy (TF2, Half Life, Portal) if I so choose.
But, the reason I think that the Ouya will work well? It is all open. Every system can be rooted (rooting: allowing a system to gain "root" or privileged access), every screw is standard (you can open the box by yourself), you can create peripherals that connect to USB or Bluetooth, and they might even give you the hardware design. You know those old plastic Rock Band/Guitar Hero controllers that are in your attic? Wouldn't it be awesome for a game developer to create the drivers and a game that allows you to control some aspect of the game with them? I think it would.
Cheers Ouya, and let us hope that you can bring back the fun of the living room.
P.S. I already put in some names of games I want on the system. Read more about that on their latest update here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console/posts
