5 ms·

No console out there failed because it wasn't #1, it failed because it takes money to support hardware, lots of money, and the companies behind those consoles c

by JVIDEL 14y ago

No console out there failed because it wasn't #1, it failed because it takes money to support hardware, lots of money, and the companies behind those consoles couldn't keep losing money and had to cancel it. The first Xbox lost about $4 billion, but with MSFT behind it money wasn't a problem. Even before the Wii Nintendo had been either #2 or #3 for the past 3 generations without a problem, because it was still making more than enough money to even make their own games and design new hardware. The new corner restaurant you mention is not going to beat Applebees, but is not going to stick around for too long if nobody goes there to eat either.

SoftwareMaven 14y ago
Designing your own hardware (and the entire OS on top of it) is expensive. Using off-the-shelf components and an Android base will help that immensely. If Ouya can manufacture its console for slightly less than its $100 price (assuming the kickstarter pledge level to be the price goal), it can build its profits off the game store. If they can make it reasonably easy to Ouya-fy an existing Android game, there will be reasonable incentive to add games to the store. In my mind, this is the riskiest part. Tablet and phone games are designed around touch. Many of them won't convert to a controller well, which will limit the number of games ported and make them more dependent on made-for-Ouya titles. They'll need to be a good-sized market for that.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- slantyyz 14y ago
  That they made the system hackable and open, however, means there's the possibility that the Ouya can use a smartphone or tablet as a controller in a similar fashion to the Wii U. I think that the creativity from the side projects that come out of Ouya have more potential to be disruptive than the console itself.
  - JVIDEL 14y ago
    Why not play the game on the smartphone/tablet then? And you could get the same deal with XLIG and Smartglass
    - SoftwareMaven 14y ago
      Having hooked my iPad up to the tv so my boy and I can use our iDevices to play Fifa Soccer, I can attest that the differences between playing on the tv and playing on device are significant.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
stcredzero 14y ago
> The new corner restaurant you mention is not going to beat Applebees, but is not going to stick around for too long if nobody goes there to eat either. It takes a lot more money and marketing to start a franchise restaurant chain than it takes to start a restaurant, or even a local/regional chain. Ouya is more like the latter.
- JVIDEL 14y ago
  You don't get the analogy do you? see Jerf's post: the restaurant was never meant to be like applebees, but is not going to stay open if they don't make any money, same as the Ouya: odds are it wont beat the X360, but if it doesn't make enough money then how is it going to survive?
  - slantyyz 14y ago
    For some reason, I think the Ouya's more analogous to the Boxee Box than it is to something like the XBox 360. At ~$100, the Ouya's throwaway technology. If the platform fails, you can always root it and make it a media player. It's a low risk purchase compared to something like the Dreamcast or 3DO (remember that one?). If they keep the games cheap, casual and social, they might actually develop enough of a base to reach sustainability. In any case, I hope they succeed, because I've bought way too many $60+ games that I only ended up playing for 5 hours.
    - JVIDEL 14y ago
      The Dreamcast went as low as $50 and even that didn't save it, price isn't everything when it comes to consoles. And casual gamers are already migrating away from consoles because they can play those social games on the smartphones and tablets they already own, why would they buy another console that plays the same games?
      - slantyyz 14y ago
        For any game that I want to play for more than 15 minutes, I'd rather relax on my sofa with a proper controller and play it on a screen that is not on my lap requiring an uncomfortable neck position.
slantyyz 14y ago
In Nintendo's case, you might make the argument that it's their exceptionally good first party software that allowed them to survive those years of not being number one. First party software is also the reason (in my opinion) that the Wii was so successful. There were only a handful of titles that were actually good, with the free pack-in (Wii Sports) being arguably the killer app.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
drivebyacct2 14y ago
>The new corner restaurant you mention is not going to beat Applebees, but is not going to stick around for too long if nobody goes there to eat either. See: >Since they're building on the Android base, their "success" or "failure" won't look like a conventional console. If the entire thing is a miserable failure, games will still be made for it, because there doesn't need to be Ouya-specific games. If the company ships hardware, then blows up, it'll probably still have games coming out for it, if for no other reason than the fact you can probably root it. Conventional consoles don't have that characteristic. It changes things a lot. I and others have already ordered this that have no intention of ever using it for gaming. But then again, there's also the raspberry PI, Cubox, ODROID-X. This is easily the most consumer friendly so far.
- JVIDEL 14y ago
  You would still need to adapt the game for the Ouya's controller which is not that simple. BTW there are some devs still making games for "dead" consoles since the manufacturer no longer cares and they wont get sued for not having a license. >I and others have already ordered this that have no intention of ever using it for gaming So you are pretty much betting on it to fail? because at that price they probably depend solely on game sales for revenue, perhaps even to pay for some manufacturing costs. If you root it and use it for XBMC (to name one) Ouya wont see a penny from it, and if too many people do the same like you are implying then they'll go bankrupt. And for the people behind the Ouya I bet going bankrupt, losing their jobs and equity is an unmitigated failure.
  - drivebyacct2 14y ago
    >I and others have already ordered this that have no intention of ever using it for gaming So you are pretty much betting on it to fail? How is that at all what I said? I own an Xbox and use it for Netflix (ok, and Halo). I own a Raspberry Pi and use it for DLNA, not for education purposes. I own a Macbook Pro and run Ubuntu on it.
    - danso 14y ago
      You do realize that you're in the minority, right? Not too many people would buy an Xbox and use it for Netflix and though Microsoft is happy to have your money, they probably were not betting the farm that many consumers would have your spending profile.

by JVIDEL 14y ago

SoftwareMaven 14y ago

Designing your own hardware (and the entire OS on top of it) is expensive. Using off-the-shelf components and an Android base will help that immensely. If Ouya can manufacture its console for slightly less than its $100 price (assuming the kickstarter pledge level to be the price goal), it can build its profits off the game store. If they can make it reasonably easy to Ouya-fy an existing Android game, there will be reasonable incentive to add games to the store. In my mind, this is the riskiest part. Tablet and phone games are designed around touch. Many of them won't convert to a controller well, which will limit the number of games ported and make them more dependent on made-for-Ouya titles. They'll need to be a good-sized market for that.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
slantyyz 14y ago
That they made the system hackable and open, however, means there's the possibility that the Ouya can use a smartphone or tablet as a controller in a similar fashion to the Wii U. I think that the creativity from the side projects that come out of Ouya have more potential to be disruptive than the console itself.
- JVIDEL 14y ago
  Why not play the game on the smartphone/tablet then? And you could get the same deal with XLIG and Smartglass
  - SoftwareMaven 14y ago
    Having hooked my iPad up to the tv so my boy and I can use our iDevices to play Fifa Soccer, I can attest that the differences between playing on the tv and playing on device are significant.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

stcredzero 14y ago

> The new corner restaurant you mention is not going to beat Applebees, but is not going to stick around for too long if nobody goes there to eat either. It takes a lot more money and marketing to start a franchise restaurant chain than it takes to start a restaurant, or even a local/regional chain. Ouya is more like the latter.

JVIDEL 14y ago
You don't get the analogy do you? see Jerf's post: the restaurant was never meant to be like applebees, but is not going to stay open if they don't make any money, same as the Ouya: odds are it wont beat the X360, but if it doesn't make enough money then how is it going to survive?
- slantyyz 14y ago
  For some reason, I think the Ouya's more analogous to the Boxee Box than it is to something like the XBox 360. At ~$100, the Ouya's throwaway technology. If the platform fails, you can always root it and make it a media player. It's a low risk purchase compared to something like the Dreamcast or 3DO (remember that one?). If they keep the games cheap, casual and social, they might actually develop enough of a base to reach sustainability. In any case, I hope they succeed, because I've bought way too many $60+ games that I only ended up playing for 5 hours.
  - JVIDEL 14y ago
    The Dreamcast went as low as $50 and even that didn't save it, price isn't everything when it comes to consoles. And casual gamers are already migrating away from consoles because they can play those social games on the smartphones and tablets they already own, why would they buy another console that plays the same games?
    - slantyyz 14y ago
      For any game that I want to play for more than 15 minutes, I'd rather relax on my sofa with a proper controller and play it on a screen that is not on my lap requiring an uncomfortable neck position.

slantyyz 14y ago

In Nintendo's case, you might make the argument that it's their exceptionally good first party software that allowed them to survive those years of not being number one. First party software is also the reason (in my opinion) that the Wii was so successful. There were only a handful of titles that were actually good, with the free pack-in (Wii Sports) being arguably the killer app.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

drivebyacct2 14y ago

>The new corner restaurant you mention is not going to beat Applebees, but is not going to stick around for too long if nobody goes there to eat either. See: >Since they're building on the Android base, their "success" or "failure" won't look like a conventional console. If the entire thing is a miserable failure, games will still be made for it, because there doesn't need to be Ouya-specific games. If the company ships hardware, then blows up, it'll probably still have games coming out for it, if for no other reason than the fact you can probably root it. Conventional consoles don't have that characteristic. It changes things a lot. I and others have already ordered this that have no intention of ever using it for gaming. But then again, there's also the raspberry PI, Cubox, ODROID-X. This is easily the most consumer friendly so far.

JVIDEL 14y ago
You would still need to adapt the game for the Ouya's controller which is not that simple. BTW there are some devs still making games for "dead" consoles since the manufacturer no longer cares and they wont get sued for not having a license. >I and others have already ordered this that have no intention of ever using it for gaming So you are pretty much betting on it to fail? because at that price they probably depend solely on game sales for revenue, perhaps even to pay for some manufacturing costs. If you root it and use it for XBMC (to name one) Ouya wont see a penny from it, and if too many people do the same like you are implying then they'll go bankrupt. And for the people behind the Ouya I bet going bankrupt, losing their jobs and equity is an unmitigated failure.
- drivebyacct2 14y ago
  >I and others have already ordered this that have no intention of ever using it for gaming So you are pretty much betting on it to fail? How is that at all what I said? I own an Xbox and use it for Netflix (ok, and Halo). I own a Raspberry Pi and use it for DLNA, not for education purposes. I own a Macbook Pro and run Ubuntu on it.
  - danso 14y ago
    You do realize that you're in the minority, right? Not too many people would buy an Xbox and use it for Netflix and though Microsoft is happy to have your money, they probably were not betting the farm that many consumers would have your spending profile.