Our thoughts on the Ouya System

Krogenar and I had a little discussion regarding the Ouya System. Here's what we had to say about the little kick starter project that might...

K: What do you think if the Ouya system? 

W: Normally I would say the industry doesn't need another console, but in this case the Ouya might be just what the industry needs. I like the idea for a 90% open end console...true power to the players! I've read the info on the kick starter home page and I actually hope this little box can get some more support from third party devs. And the controller is pretty sexy...so is the price point. What about you? What are you're thoughts about Ouya?

K: I'm waiting to hear of a kickstarter project that actually worked. Someone in industry pointed out that tv makers could internalize something like it much more cheaply. I think age of console coming to an end. I don't think of Android games as very good... I think gaming will go SaaS route within our lifetimes. 

W: Saas? 

K: Software as a service. No software on user end. Just log into the system from anywhere. Lots of software companies planning on this. Gmail best example of SaaS. 

W: With Sony's purchase gaikai cloud services that is most likely going to happen eventually but I don't think the next gen consoles will go full Saas. Surprisingly many people still want the tangible....myself included. 

K: Might mean segmentation of market... Casual handed go SaaS route... Old slippers keep console. But lots of benefits to SaaS route. 

W: Most likely all old PS games will be avail. via the cloud But getting back to the Ouya, from what I've read it works on the android OS but the system will support more than just mobile games, in fact Jenova Chen (that game company) apparently will be developing games for the Ouya.

But getting back to the Ouya, from what I've read it works on the android OS but the system will support more than just mobile games, in fact Jenova Chen (that game company) apparently will be developing games for the Ouya. 

K: They won't be able to compete in longterm versus major manufacturers. And any games created for ouya would be available to competitors.... 

W:That's a good point...whatever the company that's building the ouya they probably don't have any in house studios, thus the need to make the system open to hackers And user generated content. But I just realized the ouya specs are no where near as powerful as what Nintendo Sony and Microsoft have coming. So games made for ouya may not show up on Wii U, PS4 and Xbox 720... Perhaps Ouya will find a new niche market that the other 3 haven't. One of the biggest reasons I want the Ouya to succeed is I haven't seen many new original IP's from the major game studios this generation! So many sequels and abuse of DLC. The creative juices are being damned due to the skyrocketing costs of game development! And in the end it's us that have to pay

K:If the licensing for games is truly 'open' then games might be free to everyone ... Including competitors! Future will be steamlike SaaS with widest available g ame library. Like instant watch for netflix... But games! Plus how many game developers will work for free? 

W:Maybe they'll be paid less but perhaps get a larger percentage of the sales, so the incentive to make great games is in their hands vs cookie cutter shooters and sequels.

So what's your feelings on the Ouya? Will it change the course of the games industry or just be another vaporware console?