Ouya Project Update 12

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Aaron Gould

 The big hardware update (and more)
Posted by OUYA

It’s that time again to update you on our progress. We’ve been focused on two things — making OUYA, and talking with great game developers who are excited about OUYA.

GAMES, GAMES, GAMES:

I’ve done a lot of globetrotting lately to talk to developers. Since our last update, I bounced from IndieCade in Southern California, to GDC Online in Austin, Texas, then over to London (via video chat) for DroidconUK!

I’ve met a ton of talented developers who are just as excited about OUYA as you and I. In fact, some of you have recognized me (and, at times, my twin sister) on the street!

LET’S TALK HARDWARE:

We’re still going full-steam ahead. We’ve been refining OUYA’s hardware design (cosmetics, mechanicals, electricals, thermals etc.). We’ve spent most of this time in the design phase, as getting it right up front saves us a lot of redesign and iteration later. We’ve had some of the best engineers and designers take a look at every design element and fine tune it. Our CAD models and SLAs (plastic prototypes that provide us with a physical look and feel of the product) are finished, and we moved out of the design phase and into development a couple of weeks ago.

Last week was a huge milestone for us — we received our first development run of PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards) for the console. This is the heart (and we believe the soul) of the OUYA experience. It’s pretty amazing how our engineers have packed in Quad-Core awesomeness into such an unbelievably small package (any guesses on how small the PCB actually is?). All the hard work in refining the design has paid off in spades — the first boards came to life without any hitches, and we’re now fine tuning software and hardware performance for graphics, wireless, and user experience! W00t.

We are now in what’s referred to in the industry as the EVT (Engineering Verification Testing) phase.

Have a look at our PCB:

During the EVT phase, we’ll be testing both the console and the controller with our OUYA software. We’ll continue to verify our design and push the performance limits of our software. We’ll go through a couple more EVT build phases, as we weed out issues and refine the design for optimal performance and large-scale manufacturing, before we start cranking out OUYAs.

So, awesome news: we’re set to complete this EVT phase on time, and we’re in sync with our December target for developer kits. Since these dev kits are still in pre-production phase, we’ll build a limited quantity. Each one will be a collector’s item — unique in design, build and appearance. (So, they’ll look different from the consumer-ready units.)

SO LONG, ICE CREAM SANDWICH:

I’m happy to announce OUYA will run on Android Jelly Bean, the newest version of the Android operating system. We’re making the jump from the old version, Ice Cream Sandwich, to ensure that we’re running on the most up-to-date software available. You asked if it could be done, we looked into it, and we made it happen.

SPEAKING OF DEVELOPER KITS:

If you’re a game developer and you want to start making games for OUYA, our OUYA Software Developer Kit (ODK) is coming soon, but in the meantime, there’s a lot you can do to get started. We’ve posted some information for developers that should help you prepare for the launch of your new game or app on OUYA.

If you missed the Kickstarter drive, but you’re still interested in an early version of the console that you can use as a Dev Kit, you’re in luck. We’re making a few extra. Please visit www.ouya.tv in the near future and order one (we’ll let you know when it’s available). Of course, they won’t carry the same rewards as the Kickstarter Dev Kits, but you will receive a console, two controllers and early access to test your game on OUYA! These units will start shipping in the new year. Note that these kits will not include the final console user interface or any games, they’re purely for game developers who want to test their games on real OUYA hardware.

USERNAMES ON THE HORIZON:

WOW, over 60,700 of you provided us your username by October 12th (the Kickstarter survey deadline). Thank you! Within the next few weeks, we’ll start sending out links so you can login to the upcoming OUYA user portal, review your username, verify your account info, change your shipping info and more.

If you had a username issue (like you didn’t read the rules or you picked the same username as someone else who backed earlier than you), or you didn’t reserve your username within the two-week reservation window, don’t worry. You’ll still get early access to reserve your username before the general OUYA populace. :)

INTERESTING FACT:

While we’re on the subject of users and backers, I thought it would be cool to give a shout out to our very first Kickstarter backer.

Robert Gaal — are you in the house!? I just learned that you, and not anyone from my team, friends, or family, were our FIRST BACKER. Rock on! Thanks, Robert. :)

As always, if you have any questions, comments or props (props are always good), please reach out to us at support@ouya.tv, or through Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, G+ or the Kickstarter comments board.

Until next time, take care, keep calm and OUYA on,

Julie

P.S. Happy Halloween. And if you want to dress up as a Ruby on Rails developer this year, and you want a job at OUYA — we’re still hiring. Hit us up at jobs@ouya.tv.

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Ouya Update #11

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Aaron Gould

Ouya Update #11: 2 hours to go…

We’ve made it! We’re counting down our final hours on Kickstarter, and at 10 p.m. PT tonight, we’ll be celebrating. But until then, it’s business as usual. We’ve got jobs to do, people! And the first order of business is updating you on some new developments.

—

GAME NEWS

Lots of you have asked for more details on the games that OUYA will support at launch. After all, we are a game console, it makes sense that we’d be talking games!

We’ve purposely been pretty tight lipped about our launch slate, but throughout our Kickstarter run, we’ve been having some exciting conversations behind the scenes. We’d love to fill you in on everything, but it’s just not possible. (And we’d have some legal teams coming after us!) That said, we’ve got great news from NAMCO BANDAI to share:

“NAMCO BANDAI Games and OUYA are currently in active discussions to bring some of the world’s biggest gaming properties to the exciting new open gaming platform. NAMCO BANDAI brings with it a rich history of iconic gaming franchises, from classics like PAC-MAN and GALAGA, to seminal franchises like TEKKEN and Ridge Racer, and we’re excited to explore how we can work with OUYA to bring some great titles to the forthcoming console.”
– Carlson Choi, Vice President of Marketing, NAMCO BANDAI Games America, Inc.

I know what I want from Namco Bandai on OUYA but we want to hear from you. Head to the Namco/OUYA Facebook page, and cast your vote for any games you’d like to see.

—

FOUR CONTROLLER SUPPORT

In response to a lot of the feedback we’ve received: OUYA will officially support up to four controllers. After all, what’s the point of playing in the living room if the other folks on the couch can’t join in?

IMPORTANT: If you want your four controllers to arrive in March when your console ships–and this is particularly important for those of you ordering the limited edition–please make sure to update your pledge today so that everything arrives at the same time. (For example: Those who pledged $99 for a console with one controller, can add on another $90 to receive an additional three controllers in March, rounding out the set of four. And–because we know you’ll ask–if you’ve got your heart set on the limited edition version, we’ll make sure that the controllers are matched.)

—

PLEX

In addition to this gaming news, we at OUYA want to acknowledge that there are two sides to every coin. You’re either a morning person or a night person. (But not both.) Celtics fan or Lakers fan. (Maybe neither.) Horde or Alliance. Superman or Batman. Sith or Jedi. (You see where this is going.)

So, while tons of you were super psyched yesterday to hear that we’d support XBMC, many Plex loyalists clamored for Plex support on OUYA. We think they’ll be happy to hear that OUYA will support Plex. Why not try to please everyone?

–

WRAP UP

Lastly, we have some final statements as we close the curtains on our last Kickstarter update.

We’re in the final stretch. Yesterday was a big day. In fact, we sold out of the $225 reward level entirely. There will be 2,500 people (Only. Ever.) with their own names carved into these puppies. Pretty cool. The personalized name etching might as well read: Big Spender. Because that’s what we’ll be thinking when we see it in your living room!

It’s worth noting that we’ve also sold out of the Developers Special reward ($699). That means 600 developers can look forward to receiving a first-run OUYA (already rooted) in December. With that comes EARLY SDK ACCESS, an extra controller, and we’ll help you get started. On top of that, gamers will know you because your games will be marked with a FOUNDER EMBLEM and we’ll be helping you on the promotional side for a year.

When Kickstarter ends tonight at 10 p.m. PT, the OUYA team will be celebrating together. It’s been a lot of work, and a wild 29-day ride, but we are so grateful for the support. Our first toast will be dedicated to you, the backers who made OUYA possible.

After that, it’s back to work. We’ve got aggressive goals and we’re going to deliver. We’ll continue to push for the best content and coolest features we can bring to our little magic box. We’ll keep you apprised of the controller as it takes shape. We’ll continue to interact with you via Facebook, reddit, Twitter, Google+ and of course, our soon-to-come homepage at www.ouya.tv. And we’ll continue to listen to your requests, and answer your questions.

We cannot emphasize enough how much your actions and attitudes have influenced us. You’ve taken our dreams and made them your own, and together we will make them real.

With that, I tip my hat to you, our backers/founders/friends.

Thank you.

–Julie

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Ouya Update #10

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Aaron Gould

With fewer than 24 hours remaining in Ouya’s Kickstarter campaign, it’s still business as usual at OUYA headquarters. We continue to jam on the task at hand, but we’ve got four quick announcements to share with you in this update.

First: We’ve been hearing requests from all over the Internet for a media player. Well we’re proud to announce that we just partnered with XBMC.

That’s right. The award-winning, open source media player and entertainment hub is coming to OUYA. We’ve heard many of you buzzing about a potential OUYA-XBMC partnership since Day One of launch. (Something of a match made in open source heaven!) Now, with a few hours left in our drive, we’re delivering.

Believe it, friends: XBMC, on OUYA, on your TV, legit.

Here it is, straight from the XBMC team:

Maybe it was inevitable. Maybe it was because of the hundreds, if not thousands, of demands on Twitter, in blogs, on Facebook, in Reddit, and in Kickstarter comments. Maybe it’s because many of Team OUYA support XBMC, and nearly a third of Team XBMC members are OUYA backers.

Regardless, we are delighted to announce that XBMC will be working with OUYA to ensure that XBMC works well on the OUYA platform. OUYA’s Android underpinnings and XBMC’s work on Android (soon to be merged into master, pending final sign-offs!) will dramatically speed up that effort, as will early XBMC dev access to OUYA prototypes.

The conversation between our two teams is young, but talk is ongoing and positive. We look forward to providing more exciting news on this front as it develops.

- Nathan Betzen, XBMC Community Manager

And to our friends outside the US: we hear you. XBMC runs in over 40 different languages.

But that’s not all.

We’re boosting our radio reception around the world. We’ve partnered with TuneIn, a free service that lets people listen to the world’s music, sports and news from wherever they are. With over 70,000 stations and two million on-demand programs, TuneIn offers unmatched variety for listeners across 230 countries and territories.

Enough of the tell and tell, we’ve also got some show and tell: That’s right! New renders for you. Eager to answer your questions about the size of OUYA, the team at fuseproject created some images to demonstrate the scale of the console and controller. Scroll down to check them out.

So with that, I’d like to thank you all once more for believing in this project and supporting it from the beginning. Again, we only have a handful of hours remaining, so please tell your friends about what we’re trying to do here. It’s your support that makes OUYA possible.

-Julie

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Ouya Update #9

Posted on August 7, 2012 by Aaron Gould

50 hours to go…

Backers,

With 50 hours left in Ouya’s Kickstarter campaign, this is a note to you and you only. It’s you–more than 50,000 of you around the world–that will get the credit for bringing OUYA to life.

You guys embraced OUYA early and believed it was possible. You didn’t sit on the sidelines. It’s something I will never forget.

Our goal now is to end strong. I realize that we reached our target (and then some!) — but we also know that to truly enact change it would sure help to max out our Kickstarter.

Each reward of $99, or developer reward in a higher tier, represents an order for a console. All funds beyond that will go toward making OUYA better.

Whether it comes through new backers eager to get in before the deadline, or from folks like you who decide to ante up and increase your pledge, that money will go toward game developers and game players. (It all goes into OUYA, and not a dime of this money will go to profits or salaries.)

For developers, we will continue to build out features that you will love.

For game fans, we will continue to add new games. In some cases, we may even help fund unique games for OUYA — an effort that would actually benefit both gamers and game makers.

Guided by our goal of using additional money to make OUYA better, we chose not to offer “stretch goals” through Kickstarter. Many of you requested them, but we wanted to be true to ourselves and to the project. We felt stretch goals were too gimmicky. We didn’t want to say, “Hey if you give us X more, or if we hit X many more backers, we’ll throw in X for you.”

We want to make the best game experience possible, and the extra funds will go to that. We will continue to deliver for you and make you proud to be an OUYA founder.

We hope that in our last few days, you continue to cheer us on, share our story, and encourage your friends to support us as well. As we sprint toward the finish, every step reminds us of how far we’ve come. Together.

Yours (and I really mean that!),
Julie

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Ouya Update #8

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Aaron Gould

Project Update #9: iHeartWeekends
Posted by OUYA

Today–our last Friday on Kickstarter–we have some quick updates. Consider it a one-two punch. And, I’m going to get all “stream of consciousness” on you. Why? Because we’ve been talking a lot about streaming recently. First we announced that in addition to offering downloadable games through the OUYA store, we’d be streaming hundreds of games on demand through our partnership with OnLive. And today, we’re announcing streaming radio courtesy of ClearChannel’s iHeartRadio.

Here’s what iHeartRadio has to say:

We are excited to share that Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio is coming to OUYA! Now we’ll be able to take the experience to a whole new level, enabling OUYA to go beyond gaming and become a full service, affordable destination for people seeking great entertainment.

iHeartRadio brings users the only “all-in-one” free digital radio experience – the best live radio stations from all over America, PLUS user-created Custom Stations, like a playlist, inspired by favorite artists and songs. And the iHeartRadio HTML 5 App is a perfect fit for OUYA because it’s built for a large screen format and provides an intuitive and engaging audio and visual experience.

Brian Lakamp, President of Clear Channel Media and Entertainment Digital also adds, “We are excited to be the first radio app on an up-and-coming platform like OUYA, and we share their enthusiasm for offering users an innovative and customized product experience. Our HTML 5 application enhances the listening experience by incorporating a rich and intuitive visual component, and is a perfect fit for OUYA.”

What does this mean for OUYA users?

On OUYA, iHeartRadio allows you to FIND: The Best of Live Radio – Listen to more than 1,000 Live Stations from coast-to-coast including pop, country, urban, rock, sports, talk and college. Browse by music genre and location then hit the scan button to move from station to station within a format. Or check out our exclusive digital-only, themed stations.
On OUYA, iHeartRadio allows you to CREATE: Custom Stations with Unprecedented Control – Simply pick a song or artist to create your own commercial-free, uninterrupted Custom Station featuring music from your favorite artists and similar ones. Choose from our catalog of over 14 million songs and 400,000 artists. And you can use iHeartRadio’s exclusive Discovery Tuner to control how much variety you want in your station.

Ouya iheartradio
On OUYA, iHeartRadio allows you to PERSONALIZE: Take Your Favorite Stations Wherever You Go – Log in to iHeartRadio through email or Facebook to make iHeartRadio uniquely yours. Create, save and share your stations from wherever you access iHeartRadio
*** We realize that some of you reading this from outside the US are probably saying, “Well that’s great for Americans but what about the rest of us?” Please know that we are actively reaching out to international partners as well. We won’t leave you in the cold.***

As many of you know, stream of consciousness refers to a literary technique that presents the thoughts and feelings of a character as they occur. And what’s occurring to me now is that you might like to hear something game focused too.

To that end, we’ve been overwhelmed by interest from developers eager to bring their titles to OUYA. Not all of them can act quickly enough (ahhh lawyers!) for us to announce their partnerships during our Kickstarter campaign. But that’s not slowing down the folks at U4iA. That’s right, the game industry vets who brought you Guitar Hero and Call of Duty will bring us OUYA’s first confirmed first-person shooter, Offensive Combat.

U4iA’s Founder and CEO Dusty Welch sums it up:

“Everyone here at U4iA Games is excited to bring our titles to OUYA! Given that consoles are so expensive and face an uncertain future, OUYA stands out as the perfect example of an affordable home-entertainment platform created specifically for core gamers like us. We’ve used our profound wisdom to create a cheeky, free-for-all shooting mash-up called Offensive Combat. Moving forward, we can’t wait to bring all-new games in the Offensive Combat universe to the OUYA platform.”

I don’t know about you but they had me at “cheeky, free-for-all shooting mash-up.”

With that, I’m going to wish you a happy Friday from your OUYA faithful. We’ll be working through this last weekend of our Kickstarter campaign, continuing to focus on bringing you the best gaming experience we can deliver. Some of the things I’ll be doing this weekend: thinking about the dpad design, continuing to respond to developer inquiries and prepping our new website.

And, in the spirit of James Joyce, master of the “stream of consciousness” narrative, I think I might have a Guinness as well.

- Julie

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Ouya Update #7

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Aaron Gould

We’re counting down: This is the last week on Kickstarter! With 47,389 Backers, $6,154,561 in pledeges with an intial goal of $950,000 and still 7 days to go Ouya is definitely history in the making. Julie had this to say :

Until now, we have been all about games and gaming, but–as many of you have noted OUYA can go far beyond that. Because it’s based on Android, it can support anything built on Android–the sky is the limit. It’s with that dramatic preamble that we say this:

We’re bringing the party back to the family room! OUYA is partnering with VEVO
-the world’s leading all-premium music video and entertainment platform.

Not only will VEVO and OUYA bring high definition music video programming back to the TV — we’re turning control over to you. Access music videos from your favorite artists like JAY Z, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Shakira, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Big K.R.I.T., Florence + The Machine, John Mayer and P!nk when you want them and where you want them: on your big, shiny television!

For OUYA, this means entertainment beyond gaming. Browse through the most-viewed music videos on the web, explore full video catalogs of top-selling artists, or venture into the realm of new staff picks, live concerts and original music programming. Getting ready to do some level grinding? Watch one of your favorite videos to get in the mood.

But enough from us, here’s the full scoop from VEVO:

At VEVO, our mission is to bring high quality music experiences to users wherever and whenever. We have always strived to embrace new platforms that developers, creative communities and consumers are excited about. OUYA is just that—it’s one of the most exciting new entertainment platforms we’ve seen and we think it’s a natural fit for VEVO’s premium music videos and original music programming.

This is why I am thrilled to tell you today that VEVO is committed to launch with OUYA when it comes to market in March 2013. Through this partnership, we will bring our rich catalogue of over 50,000 high definition music videos and new, original programming from more than 11,000 artists to OUYA’s groundbreaking new gaming console. We support and share OUYA’s vision that the future lies in being open and accessible for users looking for high quality entertainment experiences.

Our partnership with OUYA is grounded in our tireless effort to bring VEVO to every connected living room and home and we will continue to deliver our premium music video programming to the rest of our platform consisting of VEVO.com, mobile & tablet apps (including Android, iOS, Windows Phone), connected TVs like Xbox and partner sites such as AOL, CBS, Facebook, Viacom Media Networks, Yahoo! Music and YouTube.

Stay tuned for more news on our partnership with OUYA – and what it will look like for consumers – as we get closer to launch. We hope you are as excited as we are!

-Michael Cerda, SVP of Product and Technology, VEVO

We’re excited to bring the #1 music video platform to OUYA!

In addition to the VEVO news – we have something else to share with you as we count down to next Wednesday:

Our Kickstarter crew is unique. You guys have been here since the beginning and we wanted to honor you by acknowledging one of your most frequent requests: a special limited edition console and controller available only during our last week of Kickstarter.

Ouya Limited Edition

Behold the limited edition OUYA and controller! Yves Behar personally selected the color for this special console and controller, and it will only be available NOW, through the end of Kickstarter campaign. (Scroll down to view.)

To collect one of these rare drops, stretch your donation to $140–the additional cost will cover the small production run.

Also note, the buttons now officially read “O-U-Y-A”! (<–we heard you!)

-Julie

Ouya Limited Edition Control

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Ouya Update #6

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Aaron Gould

 

We’ve been saying that OUYA will offer all kinds of games.

This morning, we are honored to announce that OUYA is partnering with Square Enix to bring you one of the most beloved franchises in gaming — Final Fantasy. We will kick this off with Final Fantasy III, which will be a launch title on OUYA. This will be the first time gamers outside of Japan can play FFIII on their televisions through a console.

But that’s not the end of it: We’re promising to deliver Final Fantasy III like you’ve never seen it before – Hironobu Sakaguchi’s third installment in the role playing game franchise will be updated to exploit OUYA’s high-definition resolution in glorious graphic detail. For those of you who are new to Final Fantasy, we’ll offer a free demo so you can give it a go!

Final Fantasy 3

Previously unreleased in the U.S. until it appeared as a 3D remake for the Nintendo DS in 2006, Final Fantasy III was widely referred to as one of the “missing pieces” in the FF series. OUYA players can now proudly claim this piece of the puzzle.

We’re thrilled to bring this storied franchise to OUYA.

Julie

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Ouya Project Update #5

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Aaron Gould

Here’s  an awesome update to kick off the weekend.

We know you’ve been dying to see more of OUYA and its controller — and today, you just got lucky. ;)

But first, we have some big news… we have been telling you that OUYA can deliver a great gaming experience, and some of you asked about one app in particular. Well, we are proud to reveal…

ouya game console

OnLive is coming to OUYA!

Through OnLive, OUYA will offer hundreds of playable titles from great publishers. Hundreds of games, streamed right to you, on demand. Pretty sweet.

When OnLive first heard about OUYA, we were excited to see console gaming becoming more available and open. Like OUYA, we came to gaming with a new vision for making top-quality gaming accessible to more people, and we continue to look for ways to expand on that vision.

OUYA is rethinking the console business, making waves by using standard technology to make gaming for your living room accessible, affordable and more innovative than ever. In OnLive’s case, we pioneered a groundbreaking, cloud-based system that instantly delivers games to any device on demand.

We are pleased to announce that OnLive will be available on OUYA at launch, extending and building on our commitment to make the best games available to everyone, everywhere.

Ouya OnLive

What does that mean for OUYA backers?

OnLive will deliver a full console-class experience, bringing hundreds of top-tier games from more than 80 publishers to the OUYA console for play on demand.
OUYA owners will be able to jump in and play any of these games both at home on their OUYA console, and on the go on PCs, Macs, tablets and phones, never leaving a game behind.
Instant demos will be available for nearly every game in our ever-growing library—from eagerly anticipated indie titles like Ravaged, to hot blockbusters like the upcoming Darksiders® II. Players can experience up to 30 minutes of each game for free before deciding what to buy. If they like it, they can continue playing where the demo left off.
OnLive already delivers a premium gaming experience to tablets, smartphones, PCs, Macs, connected TVs and HDTVs via the OnLive® Game System or dedicated streaming devices like the VIZIO Co-Star. We’re pleased to deliver the same OnLive experience on the OUYA console when it launches next year.

—Bruce Grove, General Manager, OnLive

ouya game console

————-
We know some of you guys will like this news. People like Marios Santos Ramos, Thomas Iwancio, and Phil (That’s right, he wants to be known as Phil. Just Phil.) took to the keyboard to suggest an Onlive partnership.

“Having a dedicated and open console and being able to log into your OnLive account would make this machine a dream in the living room. ” -Marios Santos Ramos

“Any chance you could talk to OnLive about supporting their service through this box?” -Thomas Iwancio

“This is awesome. Let’s get an OnLive app here.” -Phil

Well, I guess that about wraps it up–what’s that? Oh yeah! The controller! Silly me.

Scroll down, my friends. Scroll down. Feast your eyes upon the latest images of the OUYA controller and console. Please note that the design is still in progress–but we couldn’t hold out any longer. We needed you to know that the controller has two handles. You can hold it in both hands. For more on the Ouya check out their kickstarter.

ouya controller

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Ouya Project Update # 4

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Aaron Gould

Update #4: Ouya’s first exclusive game


We’d like to introduce you to Robert Bowling, president of the game developer Robotoki, and an early backer of our Kickstarter. You might recognize Robert from his work with the Call of Duty franchise.

Well here it is: OUYA gamers will get FIRST access to the ravaged world of his post-zombie-apocalyptic game, Human Element.

Robotoki is the first studio to commit to building a game exclusively for OUYA: an episodic prequel that will set the stage for his eventual release of Human Element in 2015.

Julie

Check out Robert’s exclusive OUYA – Human Element video and photo below!

OUYA - Human Element

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Ouya Project Update #3

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Aaron Gould

Ouya Project Update #3: Welcome Muffi!

So it’s time for us to reveal our secret weapon, someone who has been working with us tirelessly behind the scenes to bring OUYA to life, and today we’re pulling back the curtain.

Meet Muffi Ghadiali from our team, who is in charge of making the OUYA product, hardware and software.

Muffi joined OUYA from Lab126, a part of Amazon, where he worked on the Kindle line of products.

I thought it would be best if you heard directly from him, so he wrote to you…Ouya Games

___

Kickstarters!
I’m Muffi, and I want to tell you a little bit about what we’re working on at OUYA.

I came out of Lab126’s product team where I worked on the Kindle line — hardware and software. I worked every day with engineering, product design, industrial design, operations, supply chain, and QA teams.

I joined OUYA because I saw–early on–the potential for an open technology to change how gaming works. Gamers are unique. They are sophisticated and they follow products from the first idea all the way to market. For a product guy like me, that’s exciting. We’re getting a lot of feedback, great support and lots of questions. Sometimes those are tough questions but they keep me at the top of my game. It’s pretty cool that Kickstarter facilitates a direct dialogue with future users.

My job at OUYA is to ensure that we meet the needs of gamers and developers.

In short, I’m here to deliver OUYA.

I know from experience that this can be done:

I’ve built consumer technology products for more than 15 years–both hardware and software. I’ve worked on set-top boxes, media streaming devices, handheld devices, content services, and other big consumer products.
I’ve been playing a key role in designing the path that will take OUYA to market, from technology to production.
And while it may seem aggressive, the technology here is actually fairly standard. We’re not building a hovercraft or a nano-bot.
If you look online at the teardowns of other devices with some of the same components, you’ll see that our device can be built for well under $99.
What IS innovative is the beautiful design from Yves Behar, and our model for working with game developers. From my perspective, I’m tackling the easy part.
So here’s what we’re doing now…

Developers, we’re working to get an SDK in your hands as fast as we can, please be patient. It will be pretty simple to start, using the existing Android SDK and adding the ability to promote your game, and to charge OUYA customers. We’ll add to it as we go.
We’re getting our ducks in a row on the hardware production. NVIDIA is helping us with production designs, and selecting the right device manufacturer. We’re in talks with a few manufacturers. I was just playing with our circuit board yesterday.
NVIDIA is also helping us maximize the performance of our Tegra 3 chips — they’ll work even better than the demos you see online. We’ll be able to support some intense games.
And we heard your feedback: yes, yes, we’ll add an Ethernet jack. We have a lot of consoles to make, so I wouldn’t expect too many more changes to the spec.

Please keep sending your comments. We are doing everything to deliver for you.

Thanks!

Muffi

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Again, thank you to the almost 40,000 of you (!!) who are backing OUYA — we can’t wait to get it in your hands.

Julie

P.S. Muffi is also hiring some engineers to join our team. So if you know the Android OS well, and want to help us make OUYA, hit us up. (We bet you can figure out a way to get in touch with him…)

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