I got my Ouya, and I like it!

The Game Room
1

I know there were some other Ouya threads around the board but didn’t see any recent ones.

I got my Ouya today from Amazon (Ouya - Wikipedia for those unfamiliar).

I got it up and running, set up, updated, within about 15 minutes. It’s fast, responsive, and to put it simply, I love it! You register account and put in a Credit Card that the system ties to your account (like Apple or Google does).

I managed to get it rooted, get the Google Play store installed and Google Music and a number of other apps running on it with very little fuss. I even tried Angry Birds and was able to play it using the track pad on the controller (would probably be a lot easier with a mouse and keyboard which I don’t have access to at the moment).

Even if you aren’t interested in doing all the power user type stuff, the main experience of the Ouya was great! I got into the market and downloaded a few random games. They downloaded pretty quickly, and they start up fast and shut down quickly. I got to play Canabalt on my big screen tv with my Dad which was just awesome.

I like how the “market” isn’t really a market at all. You just download a game that looks interesting, and then choose to buy it or buy the full version or buy content for it, or whatever, after you’ve already tried it.

I like the way the controller feels in my hands. The track pad is quite usable, as good as a laptop trackpad anyhow. The buttons feel nice and everything was very responsive. I heard in early units there were issues with things being sluggish and unresponsive, but I didn’t experience any of that so far.

The console boots up quickly when it is all-the-way-off (after being plugged in), probably under 30 seconds, and when turned off really just goes into a sleep mode, which comes back almost instantly when you “turn it on” again.

Overall I just really enjoy it and hope it does well. :slight_smile:

If anyone has any questions I’d be glad to answer them. And of course if anyone else would like to share your Ouya experience, please do!

2

Aside from ultra low end gaming, or a console for a very young kid, or someone that’s just a completioninst-type gamer that wants to have everything video game, I’m not sure what the allure of it even is. Can you tell me what made you make the purchase?

3

I’m glad you like it.

From what you’ve said, I do wonder about one thing: Are there games which are or will be available on that console which are or will not be available on smartphones or tablets?

4

Right. Do I need to spend a hundred bucks on something that can’t play online/can play Angry Birds (again)?

5

Yes there are Ouya specific games, and certain games on the Ouya are just better than their smartphone counterparts. One example I gave in the OP was the Canabalt game, which I loved on my tablet/smartphone. It now has a bunch of extra modes on Ouya and a two player mode as well, and my dad had fun playing with me, which was a unique experience.

I got the Ouya because I like tinkering around with things. I also plan on trying my hand at a bit of development for it (though doubt I will ever come out with a full-fledged app).

I like the way the market works. It’s unlike any other sort of market experience, in the sense that you don’t ever pay for a game before you download and get to try it to some extent. It’s fun to just browse the store, queue a bunch of games to download, and then try them one at a time.

I also got it because it is very small and easily portable. I do tons of traveling and can easily lug it around to do console-type gaming when I’m on the boat or traveling to friend’s houses or family or whatever. It’s definitely a multiplayer-focused console, with fun local multi-player, sort of like how the Wii had that strength.

I also wouldn’t consider it to be “ultra-low” gaming. It’s certainly better than my smartphone or tablet I have, and those play a lot of games just fine.

I’m definitely not a completionist in owning every console. Never owned a PS3 and really don’t plan on getting a PS4 or XBone either. Mostly a PC and handheld gamer. Might get the WiiU for smash bros and a couple other games possibly, some day. I didn’t get the Ouya to play specific Ouya titles.

6

I’ve got one on my wishlist, probably will buy it sooner or later.

7

Does rooting it require changing the device ID and tricking Google Play or will Google Play work with the system knowing that it’s an Ouya?

8

I wanted to say that this made me laugh, a lot. Also, how do you pronounce “Ouya”? Is it supposed to be a pun on “oh yeah”? I haven’t heard any verbal advertisements for it yet, so I’ve never heard anyone say the thing.

9

If it can streams video from my PC/control media center devices on my PC, I’m sold.

10

Not sure, but, I have been mentally saying “Wee-yuh”

11

I wonder if that’ll cause confusion in the retail space…

Grandma: “My grandson wants one of 'em Wee Uhhs, you know, for playing video games”.

Wal-mart employee: “Uh, sure, that’ll be $99.99”

Grand-kid: “WTF is this Grandma? Where’s my mario?!”

12

Thanks for the review!

I’ve thought about getting one of these for running XBMC. I’ve heard it’s really good for home theater purposes.

13

Here’s the link to the Kickstarter video:

They pronounce it “OOH-ya”

14

I used to say “wee-yah” too but yes it’s definitely OOH-yah, and the system chants it every time it starts up.

Plex has an app in the official Ouya market and it works VERY WELL. No need to do any rooting or custom launcher or sideloading for that. So yes, if you’re running a Plex server, it’s a great way to play your media. If you’re not using Plex but something else, you are doing home media streaming wrong! :slight_smile:

By sideloading apps, you can also install regular media players, and play things off of a USB harddrive or thumbstick that can plug directly into the back of the Ouya.

The Ouya gets recognized as an Ouya by the Play store, so you do NOT have to trick it into thinking it is some other device. So far, every single app I’ve tried to download directly from the store has said it was compatible for the Ouya (although some have not been very compatible in practice), but at least the store isn’t blocking you from even trying to download apps to the Ouya. Specifically, the Play Store registered it as “OUYA OUYA Console” and I can push apps to it from the PC just like my phone and tablet.

All the google apps work just fine on it, however there is a bit of a process to getting them to work. The Play Store, Google Music, etc will not just work by regular sideloading processes. XDA Forums have some pretty idiot-proof guides but I would definitely say you need to be comfortable and willing to spend a few hours “unlocking” everything on the Ouya. It’s all open source and not bootlocked though, so you aren’t relying on any exploits or hacks or whatever. But it’s still not for the faint of heart, yet. I’m sure soon people will have some full fledged GUI windows programs that will do everything automatically.

I too have thought that Ouya and Wii U sound way too similar and it’s unfortunate, and I hope kids don’t get confused with grandparents and whatnot. I think that it’s a valid criticism. Even if you know for sure how to pronounce each system correctly, it’s still a little too close.

I’ve had more of a chance to play official Ouya games from the market and so far my Dad and I have had a lot of fun. My dad is a pretty serious console gamer (for someone in their mid 50’s anyhow), and he seems to really dig it. He was impressed how I could browse to www.grooveshark.com and pull up random Elton John songs he wanted to hear. Or play things from my Google Play library. Or stream things via the Plex server. And he also liked the games and market place.

It’s definitely a fun console for multiple people to play local games.

15

I am intrigued by the possibilities of Plex, but surely there’s a fully open source equivalent…

16

Wow, never heard of Plex. But it looks awesome.

17

I’ve been interested in getting one of these as a retro emulator, but I’ve heard that the controllers are very iffy about accepting more than one button press at a time - can you comment if that’s true or not?

18

No issues with this at all. I’ve tried every single major emulator out there and had no problems with this (such has holding the button that lets you run in Super Mario and also jumping with the other button).

The controllers look and feel fantastic to me, and work quite well.

19

great now I have the Kool-Aid man in my head… they need a commercial with this console breaking through a brick wall now! :smack: