Is This App-crazed Market Strong Enough to Make OUYA a Success?

             In the gaming world very few people have not heard about this new console system that is called Ouya. Even outside of gaming circles, and without having been released yet, Ouya has already made pretty noticeable headlines. This console project was started on infamous project-funding website called Kickstarter.com. While on Kickstarter, they originally had a goal of $950,000 in order for the project to go through and receive the money pledged. For those who may not know, Kickstarter.com is a website where people or companies present projects they would like to work on to the website’s audience. After pitching their idea they wait for people to donate to their initiative. Each project has their monetary goal that needs to be at least reached, if the amount pledge to donate does not meet or exceed the threshold the pledgers do not get charged and the project receives no funding. In Ouya’s case, their $950,000 threshold was not only achieved, but rather they surpassed their expectations and by the end of the pledging cycle, roughly 63,500 people backed the idea by pledging almost $8.6 million dollars.

OUYA Gaming System & Controller

The majority of their success can be attributed to, in my opinion, two things the system has going for it. The first thing is the price of the system; with a donation of just $99 one could have easily been guaranteed an Ouya console. That same price is also the retail price of the system and can still be pre-ordered through their website. So, not only will this system be released at a lower price point than practically every portable gaming system even, but it also allows owners of the system to open up the hood. And that is the second thing this system has going for it, the fact that it already comes fully equipped with a developer kit built into the system so that anybody that knows how to create apps, like those that we play with on our phones, can create games for this system. The developer specifics page tells us that this console is built using Android programming. App gaming is not only cheaper to produce than current console models, but it also opens the playing field as to who can create these games. If you can create an app you can potentially build a game for Ouya. For those that do end up creating games for this console, Ouya will come with its own marketplace, since all their games will only be sold digitally, allowing you to sell your game without any hurdles or red tape.

Even though there are many questions that still await answers with this system, by the amount of support the project has received states the potential success it may have within their market. Will this system beat out mainstream consoles, or will this system revolutionize the video game industry? To answer both, probably not; but what this game system can do is open up the app market to console style gaming. In the long run it will probably act as a stepping stone to more mainstream console gaming not only for gamers but developers as well. Who knows, maybe the next best gaming sensation can come from a seven year-old.