by Its appearance may not be the most exalting visual experience any of us have had the fortune to take in, but clearly that is not what Ouya founder Julie Urhman had in mind for the experimental game console. No larger than a Rubix cube (perhaps just a little big larger), the Ouya console lays as a translucent cube, with easy internal access for any developer.
You probably heard quite a bit about Ouya a few months back during their overwhelmingly successful KickStarter campaign. It is clear that the idea of an open source video game console that would allow developers to design their own games was quite a popular proposition. Though the target amount of money that Urhman wanted to raise was $950,000 (according to DX3 Tech), the total amount raise was close to $8.6 million.
So when can you experience the still somewhat mysterious console? Well it depends on the contribution that you made to the KickStarter campaign – if you made one at all. Developers who made a contribution of $699 or more have already received – or are going to receive – the console. It has been made clear by the people being Ouya that the console really is not to the point yet where gamers can actually play it.
According to The Verge, Ouya still has a lot to be worked out, but this will come as no loss just yet. Ouya isn’t expected to be out fully until April, and the founders wanted developers to get a chance to mess around with it first. The thing about Ouya is that while gamers are the ones who experience the games, developers are the ones that drive the console.
There have been limited viewings in screenshots of the home-screen could look like, which looks to be pretty standard in terms of interface. Android Authority made the mention in one of their articles that it appears that there will also be the chance to develop apps on top of gaming as well.
From the sounds of it, developers are free to do with the console as they wish, even to the point where they can take apart the tangible console. This is encouraged by the founders of Ouya, as it will allow new games to be created on a larger scale than usual. There is one catch for the developers however. They have to make a certain percentage of their creations free to the public at first for a more communal atmosphere. Eventually, they can start collecting revenue.
Though some work needs to be done still, there is still a great level of interest in Ouya by gamers. It isn’t very often that developers get the chance to show off their work on a large scale, but similar to how Android (which Ouya is based off of) and iOS developers do their work for the public, Ouya will be on the same level. The price of Ouya is very cheap compared to other consoles as well.
The console is available for $99 right now, and according to Geeky Gadgets, they are expected to be publicly shipped in April.
