OUYA to Go Retail on June 4 at $99

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

It's almost here, Android gamers. Time to build another library.

As promised by OUYA CEO Julie Uhrman during Nvidia's GPU Tech Conference, the team behind the Android-powered console revealed the retail version at a special event Thursday night during GDC 2013. Uhrman said this model will go on sale in stores nationwide on June 4.

Meanwhile, shipments to early Kickstarter backers have already begun, so project funders should see the console appear in their mailboxes soon. "This is only the beginning," Uhrman said. "Today begins an exclusive preview period as we gear up to launch in June. We’ll continue to add features, refine the user interface, and keep building the software as we head toward our retail launch."

She added that as of 8pm Pacific Thursday, the OUYA console has 104 published games available, all of which are free to try including Final Fantasy III, Beast Boxing Turbo, Stalagflight, Knightmare Tower, Save the Puppies and more. Entertainment apps include Flixster, XBMC and TwitchTV. Eight thousand developers have created developer accounts with OUYA, she said.

Based on Uhrman's updated blog, this first wave of units shipping out to Kickstarter backers are "beta" units much like Google is dishing out "Explorer" units of its Glass wearable tech. Feedback based on these first waves will help shape the final retail units before they arrive in the hands of consumers. Based on the Kickstarter OUYA numbers, that's roughly 63,416 streams of feedback. Google is only offering 8,000 Glass preview units.

"We want your feedback on these first units," she said.  "We are also creating forums keep the [conversation] going.  In fact, we are planning an “AMA” (ask me anything) on Reddit to get your ideas. We’ll do this in April (date still TBD), after you’ve had time to give OUYA a whirl."

Earlier this week MakerBot said that it has partnered with OUYA to let customers create their very own 3D printed OUYA console case. The company worked with the OUYA team to create a 3D Printing Development Kit, provided on Thingverse.com, optimized for the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer. Console cases are printed with custom colors and patterns in rugged PLA.

"OUYA is all about being open – from allowing any game developer to make games for the TV to being able to literally open the console with a standard screwdriver," Uhrman said. "It was a natural progression to extend our openness by partnering with MakerBot. What better way to bring OUYA’s console to life than letting anyone print and modify it."

Is the OUYA platform truly open? As it stands now, OUYA is a closed ecosystem that doesn't support Google Play apps. That means all Android games purchased through Google's storefront will need to be purchased again through OUYA's own market. It's unknown at this point if OUYA owners will be able to side-load Amazon's Android-based Appstore… which is what you have to do on Android devices anyway unless it's a Kindle Fire tablet.

Still, if side-loading is possible, there's speculation that games supporting the Xperia PLAY and the two MOGA Android controllers should work to some degree with the OUYA controller. We'll find out this June.

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Kevin Parrish
9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • shikamaru31789
    Is that the official Ouya controller in that picture? Looks kind of uncomfortable to me. Also, I see convex sticks, not a fan of those.
    Reply
  • abbadon_34
    means all Android games purchased through Google's storefront will need to be purchased again through OUYA's own market.

    Great, yet another "console" that's needs hacking
    Reply
  • damianrobertjones
    If this takes off I have a feeling that the, 'OUYA 2', wouldn't be $99... Such is the way of things.
    Reply
  • shikamaru31789
    damianrobertjonesIf this takes off I have a feeling that the, 'OUYA 2', wouldn't be $99... Such is the way of things.Supposedly they'll be puttng a new Ouya out every year if it does well. Assuming they keep using Tegra, I don't see how they could afford to give us a Tegra 4 or even a Tegra 4i (cutdown Tegra 4) for $100 in June 2014.
    Reply
  • teh_chem
    I was never enthusiastic about OUYA from the get-go. A handful of tweakers/hackers are going to buy this thing off the store shelves, but a majority of consumers are probably going to be thinking, "why...?"

    Don't get me wrong, I think the IDEA of this has potential, but it's not implemented in a way that makes sense.

    An "open" platform that makes you stay within its own ecosystem (and moreover, makes you pay again for literally the same apps you already paid for on Google Play)? Isn't that a bit oxymoronic? "Sorry, you can't use their ecosystem...come and use ours, but you have to pay for the exact same apps you may have already paid for..." (not that you couldn't just side-load whatever paid-apps you've already gotten). I know, it probably has more to do with licensing than what the OUYA creators would have wanted, but still, it speaks volumes.

    Sadly, the future of "console" gaming isn't in the living room running games natively on a mobile processing platform. It's in the cloud. If OUYA is used for cloud-gaming-deployment, ok. But for running games natively? I don't think that's the path the gaming market is going.
    Reply
  • bustapr
    teh_chemI was never enthusiastic about OUYA from the get-go. A handful of tweakers/hackers are going to buy this thing off the store shelves, but a majority of consumers are probably going to be thinking, "why...?" Don't get me wrong, I think the IDEA of this has potential, but it's not implemented in a way that makes sense.An "open" platform that makes you stay within its own ecosystem (and moreover, makes you pay again for literally the same apps you already paid for on Google Play)? Isn't that a bit oxymoronic? "Sorry, you can't use their ecosystem...come and use ours, but you have to pay for the exact same apps you may have already paid for..." (not that you couldn't just side-load whatever paid-apps you've already gotten). I know, it probably has more to do with licensing than what the OUYA creators would have wanted, but still, it speaks volumes.Sadly, the future of "console" gaming isn't in the living room running games natively on a mobile processing platform. It's in the cloud. If OUYA is used for cloud-gaming-deployment, ok. But for running games natively? I don't think that's the path the gaming market is going.
    Ouya is announced to support Onlive cloud gaming.

    What they mean by open console is that anyone can develop games that support Ouya and you can hack it to run any form of android or linux(ARM) you want. you can install vanilla jelly bean if you want on it, but you wont have access to the Ouya store which is only available through the Ouya version of android. it certainly may have to do with licensing issues that they cant use google play natively, or it might just be that the ouya store has different Ouya versions of games not available in google play. itd be great if google let you transfer your already paid apps to ouya, but thats entirely up to google, the developers, and the ouya team to agree on.

    I also think the main focus for this console is to be indie developer paradise. no licensing costs, cheap developement, large customer base, and creative freedom. that is what indie devs want, and that is what they can have through this console. its also a pretty decent htpc with its netflix(and other video/music streaming apps) support and cloud gaming through onlive. also can be raspberry-pified. alot of possibilities with this.

    I wouldnt give on up it until I see the actual console after a few months on the market.
    Reply
  • ddpruitt
    It's unknown at this point if OUYA owners will be able to side-load Amazon's Android-based Appstore… which is what you have to do on Android devices anyway unless it's a Kindle Fire tablet.

    Either this statement is backwards or you're referring to the wrong app. Be nice if a wee bit of proofreading were done.
    Reply
  • samwelaye
    I pre-ordered this to use as one thing: a media streamer. A device that can network stream with XBMC and is compatibille with nearly everything except 10bit? Count me in! Nothing else out there will work with my .mkv anime with advanced subtitle scripts (the kind where words can hover in the video, eg putting subtitles on signs and stuff)
    Reply
  • Johmama
    Whoa, so this has closed ecosystem? Why? It was barely a marketable "console" even with open Android, now it won't even do that?

    samwelayeI pre-ordered this to use as one thing: a media streamer. A device that can network stream with XBMC and is compatibille with nearly everything except 10bit? Count me in! Nothing else out there will work with my .mkv anime with advanced subtitle scripts (the kind where words can hover in the video, eg putting subtitles on signs and stuff)
    This is the only reason I would ever consider buying one. I already have 2 Rokus but if this can easily stream other ways like through my network, that would be kind of cool. Plus, I'm always down to buy cheap pieces of hardware to tinker around with, both hardware and software-wise. If I brick it or burn it up, oh well. It's 100 bucks. I've done that with cheap tablets and stuff in the past.
    Reply