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May

Bluestacks Announces GamePop, A Free Gaming Console With A Monthly Subscription That Plays Mobile Games On Your TV

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

Guys, stop talking about the Ouya for a second. Bluestacks has a different console it would like you to pay attention to: GamePop. The company that has previously worked on interoperability between Android software and other platforms, is now launching a console of its own. The hardware—including a console and physical controller—will be entirely free for people who pre-order. The catch? You have to pay for a subscription to play games.

The entire package will come with one console and one physical controller, though you'll also be able to use your smartphone as a controller as well. If you pre-order by in May (which you can do starting now) the service will cost $6.99 per month and the hardware will be free.

Mar

Ouya Hitting The Retail Scene On June 4th For $99, Will Be Available From Amazon, Best Buy, And More

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Ouya

We've watched this project grow from a once-unfunded Kickstarter campaign to a highly-anticipated beast of a gaming console. If you've been kicking yourself over the last several months for not getting behind the Kickstarter campaign and are counting the days until you can grab this Android-powered box-o-fun from a retail shop, the day is drawing near. According to tonight's announcement from GDC, the device will hit shelves in virtual and physical stores across the country on June 4th.

As promised, the built-for-gaming rig will hit the scene for $99 at outlets like Amazon (where it's already available for pre-order), Best Buy, GameStop, Target, and of course, on Ouya's site.

Mar

MakerBot And OUYA Team Up To Let You 3D Print Your Own Console Case

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

We don't get to talk much about 3D printing here at Android Police because it's not a technology that's terribly mobile-focused (nor is it even that commonplace yet), but suffice to say, it's amazing. While this may not be about making prosthetic body parts, vehicles, or bikinis, MakerBot and OUYA are partnering to allow users to print their own enclosures for the hackable console. This may be the coolest way to customize a game system yet.

Console customization isn't anything new to hardcore gamers. There have been kits, accessories, and tools to make your hardware your own for ages.

Feb

Ouya Create Contest Winners Announced: Laser-Breathing Dinosaurs, 8-Bit Zombies, And Sharing Controllers

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News, Roundups

Last Updated: May 13th, 2013

Last week, we took a look at the nominees for Ouya's 10-day developer competition, Create. Today, we have the winners! These game devs will receive some undisclosed amount of money (out of a pot of $45,000) and almost certainly end up on the launch version of the Ouya console. So, what are they? Well, let's break them down by category.

"Pop Your Eyes Out" Award: Pipnis

We covered this one in our roundup last week, though we're at a loss to explain how it didn't win the "Best Couch with Friends" Award. This is the game that requires two players to share a single controller.

Feb

Ouya Announces Finalists For Its 10-Day Create Competition And Some Of Them Look Fantastic

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

We're all eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Ouya and the one question we need to have answered is whether or not the platform will be able to acquire enough interesting games to be worthwhile. One of the ways the company is generating interest and content is with a 10-day developer competition. Keeping in mind that the entire programming process occurred in a little more than a week (and in some cases, less than that) and all the titles are unfinished, here's a look at some of the games that may end up on the console.

Avner

This might just be one of the most visually-polished games to come out so far.

Feb

OUYA Plans To Buck The Game Console Trend And Release New Hardware Every Year

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Android OS, News

Yearly releases of flagship hardware are a staple of the smartphone world - in fact, we're generally pretty pleased if twelve whole months can pass before we get a "+" or "HD" slapped onto our formerly cutting-edge phone. But in the console world, it's a different story, with at least five years between major releases being the norm. Android-powered gaming console OUYA intends to take the mobile approach, according to Joystiq. OUYA CEO Julie Uhrman had this to say:

As it relates to iterating the console and refreshes, our strategy is very much similar to the mobile strategy. There will be a new Ouya every year...

Feb

Ouya Will Be Sold At GameStop, Best Buy, Target, And Amazon, Controllers Will Cost $50

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News

We've only got about a month left before Ouya units start landing in the hands of backers and a few months before the full-blown retail launch. A retail launch that we now learn will include GameStop, Best Buy, Target, Amazon, and an undisclosed number of other sellers. Yes, including brick-and-mortar stores. Things are starting to look pretty good for the little console that could.

Speaking in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Ouya's CEO released a few extra details, including the price: $100 for the console, which we knew. However, controllers will also be available for $50. Note the distinct lack of the word "extra" before "controllers." You see, the touchpad-enabled handheld can be adapted for use on other devices.

Jan

OUYA Manages To Wrangle 166 Game Prototypes In Its 'CREATE' Game Development Competition

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Games, News

Back on January 17th, OUYA announced a new contest called CREATE to motivate game developers to get their hands dirty and spend a little time (read: a lot) working on a some prototype games for the console. The entries are in, and there's a staggering 166 videos worth of alpha-esque gameplay for Kill Screen – who partnered with OUYA for this promotion – to sort through.

Among those titles, you'll find platformers, dungeon crawlers, action RPGs, brawlers, shooters, word games, puzzles, and more, according to OUYA. That's quite the impressive list.

So, how are the winners chosen, what do they win, and some other third thing?

Jan

OUYA Controllers Get Some Tweaks For The Better, Thanks To Developer Input

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

Remember when developers got their pre-release Ouya kits and started showing them off? In those videos, the controllers looked kinda crummy. Thankfully, the company said those were absolutely not indicative of the final design that will go out to consumers. Turns out, they really weren't! The company has detailed some changes and they sound pretty good.

For starters, the D-pad design has changed from a disconnected disc to the typical cross style that we've all gotten used to since the NES. The control sticks are more grippy as well. Also, the universally panned trigger buttons have been improved to have better mechanics and be more flush with the controller.

Jan

Ouya Announces CREATE, A 10-Day Game Development Competition With $45k In Prizes

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

Time to grab the closest energy drink, sit down at your biggest, baddest, multi-monitoriest coding rig and get cracking on some game ideas, devs! Ouya has announced a 10-day competition that will challenge contestants to come up with an Ouya-compatible app from scratch. The shindig gets started on January 14th and from that point, participants will have until January 23rd to submit a playable demo of their original game.

The contest is being put on in partnership with Kill Screen, which will be reviewing the entries. After the initial reviews, some entrants (not all) will even be played by a "team of industry pros" that includes Ed Fries (co-creator of the Xbox) and Felicia Day (no intro needed).