Just about every gamer has memories of playing video games in the comfort of his or her living room, sitting in front of the TV trying to save a princess or racing with friends. But nowadays, it seems that all the focus in the gaming development world is on mobile and social gaming, because the platforms are more developer-friendly than consoles. With a majority of the head-honchos of gamemakers focused on social and mobile gaming, those who are focused on console gaming may not be able to be creative as they’d like to be.
Well, one project hopes to change this: the OUYA. The OUYA is a console that is for the TV and powered by android. The developers of OUYA want to create an inexpensive console that is easy for developers to create games for, and allows hackers to tweak without voiding warranty all from right in front of your TV.
OUYA hands the reins over to developers with just one condition: some of the gameplay has to be free, if not all of it. That means that every, single game featured on the OUYA will at least include a free demo, or completely free gameplay with the option to subscribe to the game, or buy expansions or special features. OUYA gets their inspiration from free-to-play games such as League of Legends and Team Fortress 2.
With access to OUYA‘s open design, developers can create games from the comfort of their living room. The OUYA is basically a developers kit in itself. There is no need to buy a license or a SDK, nor will there be pesky licensing, retail or publishing fees.
All that OUYA needs now is the help of fellow gamers and developers. Their Kickstarter campaign still has 29 days to go, but already they have surpassed their goal of $950,000, and have raised $1,436,089, making the OUYA project the 8th Kickstarter project to break the million dollar mark! A pledge of only $10 will allow you to reserve a username before the launch. $25 will allow you to reserve a username, plus there will be a ‘founder’ emblem adorned next to your username. Pledges of $99 will get you all of the above, plus there will be one console and controller available to you before they hit shelves, and $225 will get you your very own console and two controllers, each etched with your username. Bigger pledges include goodies especially for developers.
To learn more about the OUYA or to make a pledge, visit their Kickstarter.
