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I thought Android 4.0 (ICS) had gamepad support. During ICS launch last winter, they demoed it with XBox controller.

by sciwiz 14y ago

eropple 14y ago
Yeah, I went back and edited that--Android 4.0 does have gamepad support, but that doesn't mean it supports Ouya's and I want confirmation that it does, as well as details about a lot of other developer-specific stuff. The Kickstarter feels very consumer-focused, which is great but they still need to have games to sell to people.
- waterlesscloud 14y ago
  You make a good point in your posts, but... It raises the question of how this kind of project should be handled. Should they have developer docs ready before fundraising? In the end, that's what it would take to answer your questions. I'm not taking a side on that, it's quite possible that the answer is "Yes, they should have that level of documentation ready." Just thinking about what's best for this kind of Kickstarter.
  - ChuckMcM 14y ago
    I think it would help them avoid some common problems if they did have developer documentation prior to the kickstarter launch, that said though it wasn't clear from their page what they were seeking the funding for exactly, and that is where i decided I couldn't participate. Either the funding is "to develop the platform and make it available for developers to write games" or "to get the platform we've developed into production so that games written for it will have a wide audience." If its the former then there is a much bigger gamble here, they may not be able to make it compelling enough to actually be a competitive game platform. If its the latter then they should have the 'big' pieces in place software wise and the remainder might be just refinement. Reading their collateral and listening to their pitch I think it is more if A than it is B but I would love to hear differently. I keep trying to remember the DirectX guy who created a company to make 'game develoment for the masses' and then faded away, damn my aging neurons.
    - eropple 14y ago
      I think you're thinking of Alex St. John, who founded WildTangent. (They still exist, but they're basically a spyware company.)
      - bobds 14y ago
        Took a look at WildTangent's wiki page: "The company recently announced its upcoming Android games service launching at the end of 2011"
        ChuckMcM 14y ago
        This is the guy I was thinking about, and reading WildTanget's material it looks like Oouya should take its Kickstarter proceeds and buy WildTangent to get their Ad patent portfolio and a an implementation of their business model :-)
  - eropple 14y ago
    They're looking at what seems to be an early 2013 release. So, yes, I'd definitely say they need a decent level of developer documentation like-now. I would bet that to a large extent this could be called a land-grab platform--"get in early or don't get in"--and that makes them particularly important to have well in advance.
  - cube13 14y ago
    I think it's more of how far out the release date is, honestly. If they were pitching this for, say, Q1 2014, this wouldn't be that much of a red flag. That's plenty of time to get a dev SDK out for developers to have enough time to make something. However, with less than 9 months to launch, they absolutely need an SDK ready, unless they're serious about only getting ports of existing android games. A 6-9 month dev cycle is on the short side for most quality indie game releases, but it's very possible to get good games made in that time.

I thought Android 4.0 (ICS) had gamepad support. During ICS launch last winter, they demoed it with XBox controller.

by sciwiz 14y ago

I thought Android 4.0 (ICS) had gamepad support. During ICS launch last winter, they demoed it with XBox controller.

Yeah, I went back and edited that--Android 4.0 does have gamepad support, but that doesn't mean it supports Ouya's and I want confirmation that it does, as well as details about a lot of other developer-specific stuff. The Kickstarter feels very consumer-focused, which is great but they still need to have games to sell to people.

waterlesscloud 14y ago
You make a good point in your posts, but... It raises the question of how this kind of project should be handled. Should they have developer docs ready before fundraising? In the end, that's what it would take to answer your questions. I'm not taking a side on that, it's quite possible that the answer is "Yes, they should have that level of documentation ready." Just thinking about what's best for this kind of Kickstarter.
- ChuckMcM 14y ago
  I think it would help them avoid some common problems if they did have developer documentation prior to the kickstarter launch, that said though it wasn't clear from their page what they were seeking the funding for exactly, and that is where i decided I couldn't participate. Either the funding is "to develop the platform and make it available for developers to write games" or "to get the platform we've developed into production so that games written for it will have a wide audience." If its the former then there is a much bigger gamble here, they may not be able to make it compelling enough to actually be a competitive game platform. If its the latter then they should have the 'big' pieces in place software wise and the remainder might be just refinement. Reading their collateral and listening to their pitch I think it is more if A than it is B but I would love to hear differently. I keep trying to remember the DirectX guy who created a company to make 'game develoment for the masses' and then faded away, damn my aging neurons.
  - eropple 14y ago
    I think you're thinking of Alex St. John, who founded WildTangent. (They still exist, but they're basically a spyware company.)
    - bobds 14y ago
      Took a look at WildTangent's wiki page: "The company recently announced its upcoming Android games service launching at the end of 2011"
      - ChuckMcM 14y ago
        This is the guy I was thinking about, and reading WildTanget's material it looks like Oouya should take its Kickstarter proceeds and buy WildTangent to get their Ad patent portfolio and a an implementation of their business model :-)
- eropple 14y ago
  They're looking at what seems to be an early 2013 release. So, yes, I'd definitely say they need a decent level of developer documentation like-now. I would bet that to a large extent this could be called a land-grab platform--"get in early or don't get in"--and that makes them particularly important to have well in advance.
- cube13 14y ago
  I think it's more of how far out the release date is, honestly. If they were pitching this for, say, Q1 2014, this wouldn't be that much of a red flag. That's plenty of time to get a dev SDK out for developers to have enough time to make something. However, with less than 9 months to launch, they absolutely need an SDK ready, unless they're serious about only getting ports of existing android games. A 6-9 month dev cycle is on the short side for most quality indie game releases, but it's very possible to get good games made in that time.