Why I'm coming back to java and sticking with it: Ouya

General Discussions
#1

I’m always switching and trying out new languages and platforms. Sometimes, I’ll switch the programming language I’m using for a project two times in one week (I don’t finish projects very often.) I know the Ouya is kind of old news and that there is already a couple threads about it, but I suddenly got really excited for it. They got me by appealing to the fact that all my best gaming memories were on consoles.

I know there’s some things they could of done better, but I’m not excited about it because the technology is amazing or something. I’m excited because it has 45,000 backers, raised 8.5 million dollars, and is selling it at a very low price compared to most consoles. So it actually has a chance at getting big. Maybe not mainstream, but big enough that I’d have a nice audience for any Ouya games I made.

So anyways, I’m going to try to stick with java for the Ouya. Glad to be back! :slight_smile:

#2

The Ouya is interesting. Unfortunately it’s looking like the early devkits will be $800. I’m assuming once the consumer version is out developers will just be able to buy that, but they’re not really encouraging indies to get on board early with that price tag. It could be they’re looking to court more ‘premium’ developers for a stronger launch line up, but I doubt any will bother until the audience is there.

Compare that to the (relatively) cheap Oculus Rift devkit, which was priced knowing full well that indies are the ones will jump in and make great stuff. It just seems like the wrong approach to me.

EDIT: Wow, that all came off really negative! The console is a great idea and I hope it will be a success.

#3

Great idea but some pretty strange execution so far. The $800 dev kit is just … bizarre. It’s a total unknown. Even Microsoft give away their dev tools. Come to think of it so do Oracle, Apple, and mostly everyone else except Sony, and the funny thing is, the whole point of Ouya was to … not be like Sony.

Cas :slight_smile:

#4

That’s $800 for an early dev kit (which just means an Ouya and two controllers.) As in, you get an Ouya before it’s released. The actual price is $99 dollars, and that’s everything you need to play and develop for Ouya! :smiley:

#5

The only thing where i can think about is, how are graphics processed?
Now it looks awfully alot like they gonna render evrything on the cpu, maybe good to keep it small, but it will hardly surpass mobile phone gaming.

#6

Where did you get that impression from? It’s Android, and running on a Tegra3; it’s OpenGL ES 2.1 (2.0? I forget)

Cas :slight_smile:

#7

Android is just an os :slight_smile:
Im talking about the graphic hardware.
It seems like its integrated, good for low power, not good for hd :slight_smile:

#8

Er… Tegra3? Pretty decent.

All ARM based stuff is integrated - they don’t use discrete hardware. It’s actually more efficient for SOCs in general.

Cas :slight_smile:

#9

Might give me something to design for :slight_smile:

#10

I mean, with what console (computing power / graphics) does it compare to?
Im not an expert, but i think it wont compete with the current or the next gen consoles (not including wii).
But the open console concept is awsome nevertheless.
I just wish they added some more power.

#11

It’s not especially powerful, no.

Some interesting reads:


Cas :slight_smile:

#12

A thing like the Ouya would not compete on having the fanciest graphics, but on offering the most fun. Plenty of processing power there for a lot of fun.

#13

It’s like a more expensive toy like raspberry-pi :smiley:

#14

Aye. The RPi is aimed at geeky nerds though (whether they realise it or not…) and this is a machine for the other 95% of the population.

Cas :slight_smile:

#15

different target, but doesn’t mean we can’t do the same things.

#16

You can’t; the Ouya is vastly more powerful than the Pi.

Cas :slight_smile:

#17

The whole way the Ouya team behaved so far is very strange. Their entire marketing spin was “indies, indies, indies”. However, when indies approach them, all they get is a “ya, we are busy, try again once we released”. This not only happend to us libgdx folks, but also to a couple of other friends i have in the “industry” so to speak. Appearently they now have a kind of SDK, but don’t give out any information, which is pretty much the oposite of “open” to me.

#18

I think everyone’s clear that the price will be $99 once it’s released. But the fact is that until that point, the $800 price for early access essentially blocks your average indie from having anything ready when the Ouya launches. That’s a bit silly.

#19

On the other hand, releasing a console before its released for the same price as it would be once it’s released is a bit silly too, don’t you think? At least, I suddenly see a LOT of “indie developers” wanting early access…

#20

I’m quite sure Ouya is dead. It will fail on so many levels commercially (unfortunately).

Another thing to consider is… the market is quite saturated… you dont need another console in your living room which isn powerful and offers nothing special… the market will simply reject it.