In the world of game consoles, there’s no place for a small fry to compete against the Big 3. Mostly because it’s very costly and time-consuming to develop a game that will sell, and these big game publishers will stick to what’s working and not bother with upstarts.
But what if an open-source, entirely hackable game console arrives? One that runs in Android where a lot of games are already available, not to mention free and those that are not are dirt cheap. Imagine playing Canabalt, Shadowgun, and other action games that’s difficult to play with touchscreen controls, on your TV with an actual gamepad.
That’s Ouya (rhymes with booyah), a revolutionary open-source game console that indie game developers would love to build games for. The catch? It’s still a Kickstarter project, meaning it’s still in the concept and development stage and requires crowdfunding. As of this writing though, the project already received over $5 million in funding when their goal was just $950,000.
Ouya will run on the following specs:
- Tegra3 quad-core processor
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB of internal flash storage
- HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth LE 4.0
- USB 2.0 (one)
- Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad
- Android 4.0
It’s entirely hackable though. You can flash your own custom ROM, mod the UI, even create a different piece of game control or probably make those weird gadgetries from the Nintendo Wii work with it.
Check out their demo video:
And how much you ask? For those who will be pledging via KickStarter, you can get an OUYA console and a gamepad for just $99 with estimated delivery by March 2013. It’s bound to be a bit more expensive when it goes to market.
If you want more info about this product, head over to the Ouya KickStarter page.
