Ouya Pushing to be a Media Center Too

The Ouya team is working with XBMC to bring the open source media player and entertainment hub to the Android device. XBMC Community Manager Nathan Betzen says the marriage was inevitable thanks to the hundreds -- if not thousands -- of demands on Twitter, in blogs, on Facebook, in Reddit, and in Kickstarter comments.

"We are delighted to announce that XBMC will be working with Ouya to ensure that XBMC works well on the Ouya platform. Ouya's Android underpinnings and XBMC's work on Android (soon to be merged into master, pending final sign-offs!) will dramatically speed up that effort, as will early XBMC dev access to Ouya prototypes," Betzen said.

In addition to the XBMC negotiations, the Ouya team has also partnered with TuneIn Radio, a free service that pipes in over 60,000 radio stations and two million on-demand programs. This will be a handy service for Ouya owners who want to listen to their local radio stations without having to worry about spotty reception. Typically TuneIn offers two Android apps on Google Play: the free version and the $0.99 Pro version which allows users to record stations and on-demand content to a smartphone or tablet.

Previously the Ouya team announced a partnership with iHeartRadio which also streams local radio stations in addition to stations scattered across the nation.

"iHeartRadio brings users the only 'all-in-one' free digital radio experience – the best live radio stations from all over America, PLUS user-created Custom Stations, like a playlist, inspired by favorite artists and songs. And the iHeartRadio HTML 5 App is a perfect fit for OUYA because it’s built for a large screen format and provides an intuitive and engaging audio and visual experience," Clear Channel Media said last week.

Finally, the Ouya team has partnered with VEVO to bring the "world's leading all-premium music video and entertainment platform" to the Android console. Users will have access to favorite artists like JAY Z, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Shakira, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Big K.R.I.T., Florence + The Machine, John Mayer, P!nk and more on their HDTV.

"At VEVO, our mission is to bring high quality music experiences to users wherever and whenever. We have always strived to embrace new platforms that developers, creative communities and consumers are excited about. Ouya is just that—it’s one of the most exciting new entertainment platforms we’ve seen and we think it’s a natural fit for VEVO’s premium music videos and original music programming," VEVO said.

Of course, we can't talk about an Android gaming console without actually covering a few games. That said, here's a list of titles currently slated to launch on the gadget:

AR-K: A Dark Acid Adventure Comedy
Armored Tank Assault 2
Aura Tactics
Auro
Castle Conflict 2
Echoes of Eternea
Final Fantasy III
Gish (and more!)
Gravestompers
Gunblitz
Heroes Call and Ski Safari
Ittle Dew
Kaiju Combat
Kitaru
Legends of Aethereus
MANOS: The Hands of Fate
Megatroid
Mutant Mudds
OnLive's Streaming Service
Orbital Blaster
Quest for Infamy
Reincarnation: The Root of All Evil
Rival Threads
Rush Bros
Saturday Morning RPG
Spinferno
Super Retro Squad
Volgarr the Viking
Xenonauts

  • Pennanen
    Better to buy this console. It will be like dreamcast. Something collectors keep because it killed a company and many people lost their job because of it.
    Reply
  • benikens
    PennanenBetter to buy this console. It will be like dreamcast. Something collectors keep because it killed a company and many people lost their job because of it.Because Sega doesn't exist anymore right?
    Reply
  • Pennanen
    benikensBecause Sega doesn't exist anymore right?And what is sega nowdays? 3d sonic games, thats pretty steep downhill.
    Reply
  • ltdementhial
    if i can attach an usb dvd (or even better BD) drive to this...i will buy it blindfolded...it plays games, runs on android, will have xbmc and mostly will be very affordable.

    i remember when i was very very little...18 years ago maybe...my dad used to be a DIY-geek he passed it on me...really those good ol' days making autorun.bat's and stuff like that on software and even having proyects involving "low" end pc as amstrad pc's...damn 20 years full of corporative products dependency and now we are back to those DIY solutions...and all started with the little spark that was the Raspberry...


    (excuse my inglish is not my main language)
    Reply
  • taurine
    PennanenAnd what is sega nowdays? 3d sonic games, thats pretty steep downhill.
    SEGA's published a TON of games. A search on steam gives you 187 results.
    Reply
  • killabanks
    taurineSEGA's published a TON of games. A search on steam gives you 187 results.Sega got screwed after dreamcast sorry to break it to you... even though in my opinion it was the best system at the time
    Reply
  • lpedraja2002
    I never thought of the OUYA as a home theater but given that the option is now available I can see it having a better chance in penetrating t he market. It would be an excellent competition device to the Roku and other similar devices, plus it can play games. I hope this thing does well.
    Reply
  • alidan
    PennanenBetter to buy this console. It will be like dreamcast. Something collectors keep because it killed a company and many people lost their job because of it.
    dreamcast didnt kill sega, they were making 8 systems concurrently world wide and not going for a unified front. it would be like if nintendo still made every system they ever made, and still pumped games out for each too, dreamcast didnt kill sega, management did.

    but beside that

    if this console can play a 1080p bluray rip encoded into mkv, without lagging the video, i will buy this for the living room. as it would be a decent access point to the internet, play my movies, and be a console that is fairly capable.
    Reply
  • This console is larger than a tablet,so they to put more power into it,like a hex core processor
    Reply
  • mmstick
    PennanenAnd what is sega nowdays? 3d sonic games, thats pretty steep downhill.
    Oh my god, have you not seen the Total War series!? One of the best game franchises on PC.
    Reply