condition they can get it published on the consoles marketplace. So, having made access to a console market possible for lone developers, the primary condition for access takes a hefty swipe at one of the foundations of the current gaming market. They are changing the way games are bought. Every game must have a free to play element, be it a limited-time trial or totally free to play with micro transactions. The free to play model means that the games will have to be good enough to make people who are playing for free want to spend money. This could be considered a quality control measure in itself. No more paying out €50 or more for a game, only to discover it sucks! Games are also only distributed digitally. No more stores. There has been some concern about the quality of the games that will be available, due mainly to a jaundiced perspective of the free to play system. However Onlive will be distributing their substantial catalogue through it, as will many other media streaming sites such as e-sports specialists Twitch. Square Enix are giving Final Fantasy 3 a makeover for release on the OUYA and Robert Bowling of Call of Duty fame has confirmed an exclusive title for the console, Human Element, due: 2015. That’s just a tiny sampling of the prelaunch line up so far. So, not satisfied with merely changing the way the whole console gaming market works, the console has a price point of just $99. That’s cheaper than every other console on the market and is what has really stuck in the craw of many pundits, some of whom claim it was simply impossible and spread rumours that it was a big scam. I’d like to see the
employment records of some of those people, if you know what I mean. (Turnabout is fair play after all) The people behind OUYA did address all of the reasonable concerns raised in short order. All of the current consoles use customised chip sets which raises production costs, the OUYA uses a generic, mass manufactured one. They use a Tegra 3 graphics card which is going to be one behind by the time it launches in March, but it can do all it is needed to. It has a small hard drive but any generic USB hard drive can be attached to it if you need more memory room, instead of paying through the nose for proprietary hardware that does exactly the same thing!
“
The free to play model means that the games will have to be good enough to make people who are playing for free want to spend money.”
The full specifications are: • sor
Tegra 3 quad-core proces-
•
1GB RAM
• age
8GB of internal flash stor-
• 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.
Aside from the reasonable responses to concerns, there is another reason that I don’t believe that the OUYA is an elaborate scam. In the Kickstarter article, last issue, I said that in the end, backing any project was a judgement call. What has sold me on the OUYA isn’t the fact that it’s a solution to a lot of the problems I have with the industry, but instead it’s the people involved. This isn’t a team of fresh-out-of-college kids with more ambition than sense. The team behind the OUYA are well known in the industry and have a track record of delivering on their promises. Take a look at the top three names attached. Muffi Ghadial: Just prior to joining the OUYA project, he worked on a little thing called the Kindle, you may have heard of it. He has established a reputation for delivering the goods over the last 15 years, on everything from set-top boxes to hand-held devices. Yves Behar: Designer and entrepreneur, his work with Fuseproject has garnered over 50 industry awards, he has designed everything from condom vending machines in New York to JAMBOX, a completely wireless, Bluetooth compact audio speaker. He has chaired the Industrial Design Department at California College of the Arts