Ouya On Sale for $99 in June, Already Up for Pre-order

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By Jane McEntegart
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Ouya is officially on the way, just in time for E3.

This past summer, the gaming world was buzzing with talk of Ouya, the $99 gaming console that runs on Google's Android operating system. What started off as a Kickstarter appeal blossomed into a movement, with over $8.5 million in donations from gamers around the world. Over the holidays, the system starting shipping to developers and Ouya revealed that it planned to ship over a thousand units to developers all around the world. Now we have an update on a release for the consumer version of the system.

 

The news was first confirmed to the Wall Street Journal by CEO Julie Uhrman. Uhrman told the Journal that the console would go on sale for $99 in June of this year, adding that Amazon, GameStop, Target, and Best Buy would be stocking the device. During her interview, Uhrman said pre-orders for Ouya would kick off today, February 5. Sure enough, at time of writing, the console was already listed on Amazon.

 

Pricing is set at $99, with extra controllers ringing in at $49.99. Your initial $99 purchase will net you the Ouya and one controller, so it's likely you'll want to add a second one to your cart from the get go. The $99 package contains one Ouya game console, one wireless controller with removable faceplates, an HDMI cable, two AA batteries, and a power adapter.

Ouya has certainly come a long way since it launched on Kickstarter last summer. The project is a perfect example of the Kickstarter model, which involves individuals backing projects they want to see come to fruition.

Ouya boasts Nvidia's Tegra 3 processor clocked to 1GHz, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of internal flash storage (expandable via USB), MicroUSB x 1, USB 2.0 x 1, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Ethernet, Bluetooth, and HDMI out.

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Jane McEntegart
22 Comments Comment from the forums
  • casualcolors
    Ouya? Ewwno. For all the namedropping going on with this console and the upcoming Steambox, neither company has yet to justify the existence of either product to me as a consumer. Why is it that I am supposed to want these things? At the moment, roughly understanding the hardware and software platform of each console, I don't have any desire to use either.
    Reply
  • hixbot
    The D-pad looks to be similiar to the Xbox 360 D-pad (terrible).
    It's too bad, because when playing retro games on emulator, a good D-pad is critical.
    Reply
  • I am actually looking forward to this.

    I wonder how well this runs a linux distro, would be great as a Steam For Linux Box
    Reply
  • brizzelsprout
    casualcolorsOuya? Ewwno. For all the namedropping going on with this console and the upcoming Steambox, neither company has yet to justify the existence of either product to me as a consumer. Why is it that I am supposed to want these things? At the moment, roughly understanding the hardware and software platform of each console, I don't have any desire to use either.
    Well first and foremost, the manufactures have not need to justify the existence of their product other than their desire to create them. If you don't want one then don't buy it. This doesn't mean that other people don't want one or that the device shouldn't be created.

    To be more specific, the Ouya is important because it is the first ever open source console platform. This probably doesn't mean anything to you but to us aspiring developer types, that is very exciting.
    Reply
  • anonymous_user
    brizzelsproutWell first and foremost, the manufactures have not need to justify the existence of their product other than their desire to create them.Well if a company hopes to sell and make a profit off a product, they need to define their target audience and then convey the benefits of their product to them.
    brizzelsproutIf you don't want one then don't buy it. This doesn't mean that other people don't want one or that the device shouldn't be created.So who is the target audience for the Ouya? Is it only for developers?
    Reply
  • sundafyllir
    anonymous_userSo who is the target audience for the Ouya? Is it only for developers?
    The OUYA, being an open source platform, will have a ton of games. They may not all be high-quality, but the point is that ANYONE can program for a TV-attached console. This is the draw of OUYA. For someone like me who has been programming for years, but hasn't ever gotten into game programming, this is a dream come true.

    I have friends that aren't programmer that are excited about OUYA as well. First, it's a fairly beefy system. They have figured out how to mass produce and sell these things for $99. That means more people can afford them.

    Another exciting thing about the OUYA is that they are REQUIRING that all games be FREE to download. To be in the OUYA store, at least some playable part of them game must be FREE. This is not to say that there won't be unlockable content that must be paid for, but at the very least every game will have a demo. (Getting a little nostalgic for the DOS shareware days here...) I don't know about you, but I really hate when I go and spend $60 on a console game, find out it's a piece of crap, then get $15 when I try to sell it.
    Reply
  • the1kingbob
    Not to bad, I am interested in it as a HTPC. 1080 playback and XBMC has started work. Not to mention rootable with android so yeah... can do mild gaming, emulators, stream from my computer, netflix, noiseless, tiny, and only 100 bucks.

    If you don't have interest in the product then that is fine. If you do that is also fine. I don't really care for the original wii, but they sold a ton of those things. I doubt this thing will sell a ton, but it does have some awesome hardware for cheap.
    Reply
  • DRosencraft
    brizzelsproutWell first and foremost, the manufactures have not need to justify the existence of their product other than their desire to create them. If you don't want one then don't buy it. This doesn't mean that other people don't want one or that the device shouldn't be created. To be more specific, the Ouya is important because it is the first ever open source console platform. This probably doesn't mean anything to you but to us aspiring developer types, that is very exciting.
    It is absolutely necessary that a company justify the existence of their product. If not, then the product is simply out there with no definition. In that vacuum others will assign a definition to that product, and that usually doesn't turn out well. In the area of gaming consoles, which is notoriously difficult to find success in, a small company like this can't afford to let their product just sit out there and hope everyone understands what it is and why they should buy one. Their goal shouldn't be just to make a product, but promote it. So far the vast majority of the information on the Ouya has been through word of mouth, which while effective in come cases has not not really presented the case for this device. It sounds great if you're an Indie developer and want something to put your stuff on, but at that rate you'd be better off making something for the already existent Android platform or for PC.

    For gamers neither the Ouya or SteamBox come off as all that impressive since the games are likely to be either crappy shovel-ware or otherwise available on the PCs they've already spent time and money building and up-keeping. Neither company has answered this question - what is special, unique about these devices other than they aren't a console by Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft, and costs only $99. Why buy this thing for $100 and not just upgrade my PC graphics and/or CPU to play a wider range/better games? Why isn't this just a "me too" device? That what this seems like right now, me-too devices. Unless they tell the public otherwise, and convince us otherwise, that's the label they'll end up getting with he the broader public.
    Reply
  • mclovin2
    Saweet! I just got my order in on Amazon.
    Reply
  • hajila
    MrInterestedI am actually looking forward to this.I wonder how well this runs a linux distro, would be great as a Steam For Linux Box
    The D-Pad has recently been redesigned you'll be happy to know. I'm reserving judgement until I get my console. Even if this console sucks, it was worth me spending $90 on kickstarter just to stir up competition and support innovation, but I'm really hoping it's good.
    Reply