New Android powered console arriving soon – Video Games Update
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are about to face more competition as an Android powered console, Ouya, is about to hit the market.
The project was started by Julie Uhrman and Yves Behar and the aim is to develop a low end console, much like the Nintendo Wii, which will feature free to play games. The project developers believe that games should become cheaper because of advancements
in technology.
The team behind Ouya has noticed that many developers are moving away from high end console game development because of the long production time and the high development costs. Also because of the majority of companies aiming for high profit margins as developers
lose their freedom to create what they want and are forced to create sequels for popular games.
The team behind Ouya launched a Kickstarter page to gather funds for the upcoming console. The amount required was $950,000 and the time available for the project to be funded was a month. In just three days the project has received over $2 million in donations
and with 28 days to go there is no telling how much more the team will raise.
It seems that there is a lot of demand for a simplistic video games console without media centre capabilities which are considered compulsory these days in high end consoles like the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.
Ouya will only cost $99 and the majority of the games on it will follow the free to play model. The Kickstarter page states that the console is powered by the nVidia Tegra processor and has 1 GB ram with 8 GB internal memory. The team claims that Ouya will
support up to 1080p HD resolution.
The best part about Ouya is that it’s not locked. Every console will be a dev-kit and anyone can develop games for it without having to worry about licensing, distribution or publishing. The team also encourages hackers to play around with it as rooting
the console does not void the warranty.
The idea is remarkable and if it does take off, the current big three will be in trouble. Ouya will tempt a lot of developers to avoid hurdles and development h**l by ditching game development for Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo and just take their chances
on the Android platform. Ouya might very well be the game changer the stagnant gaming industry needs right now.
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