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Ouya’s $99 Android-based video game console finally hits store shelves
- Nursie 13y agoLooking at the specs - Quad core tegra 3 at 1.7 GHz, and the price ($99), I might have to get one of these just on principle, for hacking... --edit-- just noticed the £23 premium (after accounting for 20% VAT) for UK purchasers. Never mind then. I'll look for something else.
- andybak 13y agoYep. Every damn time I do a dollar to sterling conversion in my head and think "yeah. I'd buy that" I find out the UK price is higher and my desire to purchase usually evaporates. (cue a bunch of Aussies saying "you think you've got it bad?")
- MrDOS 13y agoAussies? What about Canadians? Sure, we don't pay the same dollar markup either of you do, but there's some goat to be got in finding at least a 10-15% markup on unit pricing before shipping and import taxes when the destination is on the same continent.
- soundgecko 13y agoSerious question, who would you blame for that? The government for the high tax rate? Or the companies for not including VAT into the advertized price?
- Nursie 13y agoI think you misunderstand - after applying the current exchange rate ($99->£64) and 20% VAT (£64->£76.80) we are left with £22.20 difference between the US and UK prices - a 29% hike after taking taxes into account. This is most definitely down to the seller setting prices higher in the UK, and significantly so. It makes me feel ripped off, so I won't buy one.
- DanBC 13y agoWhat are the import duties?
- Nursie 13y agoI would be interested to know this myself. Some insight into the $->£ 1:1 conversion would be nice. I'm not saying there isn't a justification here, it's just I've never heard of one. There may not be one as we all know that price is often best set at what the market will bear, and someone probably decided that it was a good price point for the UK market.
- Nursie 13y agoI'm not sure the business rates. According to what I can find, as an individual, I could buy one of these from the US and only be liable for the 20% VAT I've already accounted for, as the electronics->consoles category seems to be exempt from any duty. I'm not sure if this is true for businesses, finding that info seems to be non-trivial. --edit-- So far as I can tell (from gov.uk) "The commodity code for importing is 9504500000. Importing from outside the EU is subject to a third country duty of 0.00 %."
- DanBC 13y agoWow, okay. You're right about it being non-trivial. I also agree about feeling ripped off on many products.
- ValentineC 13y agoIf it's handled via Royal Mail, they'll charge an additional £8 processing fee on top of VAT. [1] That's still £14 savings, of course. [1] http://www.royalmail.com/business/help-and-support/I-need-advice-about-customs-requirements http://www.royalmail.com/business/help-and-support/I-need-ad...
- Nursie 13y agoHeh, and I'm sure we could swallow some or all of the rest of it in postal costs in general, were I to order one for personal import from the US. BUT if we're examining the £99 price point, I'd assume there would be economies of scale for the importer that's shipping to (for instance) amazon.co.uk, in terms of US->UK shipping. And that's if it is all shipped from the US to the UK, rather than coming from the Chinese manufacturer via the Hong-Kong distributor straight to Britain, in which case the costs should be comparable. I probably couldn't personally import one from the US for much cheaper than the UK price, but that doesn't mean I can't still feel a bit miffed!
- sami36 13y agoI really really don't get the part where some early kickstarter backers still haven't seen their consoles shipped...all the while it's selling on Amazon on other retail channels. I just don't get it.
- Nursie 13y ago--edit2-- Comment removed, unhelpful speculation on my part.
- jzwinck 13y agoIn other words they are insolvent?
- williwu 13y ago$8,596,474 is not enough to ship to Kickstarter backers first?
- rocky1138 13y agoSee the other comment in this thread. It's basically down to the fulfillment company failing. OUYA sent the last of the backer units shipping weeks ago.
- smalter 13y agoIn addition to the $8.5M Kickstarter, they raised $15M from Kleiner Perkins. http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/09/ouya-raises-15m-from-kleiner-perkins-and-mayfield-delays-launch-to-june-25/ http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/09/ouya-raises-15m-from-klein...
- moron4hire 13y agoThey explained that their shipping fulfiller is at fault. They sent the required number of units to the warehouse, they just haven't left the warehouse yet. So that's how to get it.
- Dylan16807 13y ago
- aeurielesn 13y agoSomeone mind explaining why its price is £99? I am failing to see the math there. (But, I have noticed this tendency quite often by the manufacturers themselves.)
- kristaps 13y agoYou don't mention what you find unusual about that price, is there anything obviously wrong with it?
- Nursie 13y agoThat it's 29% higher than the US price, even after accounting for sales tax. Not that it's necessarily unusual, I suppose. Sad though.
- aeurielesn 13y agoAs Nursie said, £1 is not exactly $1. I can't believe that taxes inflate that much the price.
- jasonlotito 13y agoIn another thread it's mentioned that there are different rules selling in various locations. For example, longer warranties. You can't just take a standard US warranty and use it everywhere. That will increase the cost. I lived outside the US for 10 years, and I had to deal with the same thing. You can't just look at duties/taxes/exchange rates, etc.
- grecy 13y agoI've lived in Australia, Canada, the US and various Central and South American Countires. With all that experience, I've learned a very valuable lesson. Stuff in the US is cheap. Their consumer culture and lack of public services keeps taxes very low, and prices low to encourage purchases. Don't be shocked, just think of all the good stuff you have in your country for the taxes you pay.
- 13y ago
- dedosk 13y agoUnboxing gif http://i.imgur.com/64MZee6.gif http://i.imgur.com/64MZee6.gif source:http://twitter.com/zqsdfr/status/343030858795601920 http://twitter.com/zqsdfr/status/343030858795601920
- loupeabody 13y agoWoah, funny twist ending. I'm excited to get to play Towerfall[0], one of the console's "launch titles", having been released only a couple days ago. Action games focused on local multiplayer like Towerfall and 0space[1] are the most enjoyable experiences I've had with video games. In my mind, it's games like these which can attract people who otherwise wouldn't be interested in buying a console. That is, when you see games like those being played, it's easy to see who's winning and how, making it much easier to access. [0]http://www.towerfall-game.com/ http://www.towerfall-game.com/ [1]http://teknopants.com/games/0space/ http://teknopants.com/games/0space/
- adam-a 13y agoI totally agree, this is hopefully going to be a platform where arcade multiplayer can shine, and I'm looking forward to all the indie games in this area. Especially 0space, that game is amazing. Samurai Gunn, from the same developer is also very good. Although I haven't heard any rumours of Ouya, I think Gunn is now being ported for Vita (and possibly PS3/4 I suppose)
- camus 13y agoreally good laugh ! thanks for the gif.
- knodi 13y agoI got one through backing them in their kickstarter campaign and sadly I must say its not worth the $99 yet. Software is really bad and lacking apps/games.
- mathnode 13y agoYou are not the intended audience for the Ouya Kickstarter, because you don't want to create content. You only want to consume. And that's a great shame, that you took a potential developers place in that order queue (the Oculus Rift suffers this same issue), a developer that is having to wait until retail release to get their hands on a platform they want to publish for. Kickstarter != Amazon. An audience of consumers, and bedroom-youtube-reviewers with a short attention span are passing (generally) negative judgement on device that was not meant for them.
- kayoone 13y agowhile this is certainly true, if you would limit kickstarter-orders to serious developers only, many of the projects would reach far smaller funding amounts or might even fail their funding targets. In the end this is a device for consumers and it needs to create hype to be successfull, so letting anyone in on the action is the only way to go.
- nhangen 13y agoIt's actually not true, because they had tiers for developers: "Developer Special. A first-run OUYA (already rooted so you can just get going), EARLY SDK ACCESS, an extra controller, and we'll help you get started. We'll also help you promote your game for ONE YEAR, and your games will be marked with a FOUNDER EMBLEM."
- RHSeeger 13y ago> Kickstarter != Amazon. Kickstarter != Pre-order, even for devs Giving the money on Kickstarter is contributing to their development, giving them a gift in the hopes of helping them succeed. If they wanted only devs to get the device early, then they should have setup pre-orders somewhere else.
- Swannie 13y ago"with the holiday season fast approaching"... really?
- DGCA 13y agoTechnically, it's always approaching, and 'fast' is subjective.
- RobotCaleb 13y agoIs there a time at which approaches any faster?
- jabbernotty 13y agoI presume they are referring to the summer, a time when people traditionally plan a holiday.
- andrewparker 13y agoWas thinking of getting one for the purpose of building a MAME cabinet. Does it run MAME out of the box?
- notdarkyet 13y agoYes, and plenty of other emulators: http://dayoftheouya.com/a-list-of-all-known-emulators-for-ouya/ http://dayoftheouya.com/a-list-of-all-known-emulators-for-ou...
- kayoone 13y agoYes, like any other modern android smartphone/tablet/whatever
- kayoone 13y agoOuya could have a chance if the hardware and software was flawless, but reviews suggest it isnt. I can run anything (and more) the Ouya can run from my Smartphone, granted its alot cheaper but its also an extra device while i own a smartphone anyway. I cant really see this being so successful that developers target the ouya as an independent device as opposed to the android platform as a whole, but i hope i am wrong.
- _pmf_ 13y agoNow, if there only were Android games that did not completely suck. Unfortunately, even emulators (SNES as opposed to NES) work like shit on Android, so it's not even useful for emulation.
- GotAnyMegadeth 13y agoGBA one works well on my Nexus 7
- slantyyz 13y agoThe PS1, CPS1/2/3 and Neo Geo emulators work well too.
- andybak 13y agoI've got some flawlessly working emulators and unless my definition of 'suck' wildly differs from yours, then your other statement is equally dubious. Having a bad day, are we?
- _pmf_ 13y agoIt might well be that my tablet is crap. In fact, it most certainly is (it's a Sony).
- kayoone 13y agoIt seems wrong that an extra controller is half the price of the console itself (including a controller). Even an original Xbox360 controller is cheaper than that.
- talloaktrees 13y agoI've heard you can use a PS3 or Xbox controller, and they are actually better than the Ouya controller
- kayoone 13y agoyeah but that kind of defeats the purpose, doesnt it ? I can do the same with my android phone, hook it up to the TV via Hdmi (or wireless via Miracast) and basically have the Ouya experience. All thats different is their dashboard software which also happens to be not very good.
- freehunter 13y agoIt's hard to get an Android phone for $100 though.
- kayoone 13y agotrue, but many people interested in the Ouya probably have one anyway. I might still get one as media box, $100 is dirt cheap, sadly its not available in germany yet and more like EUR 100 (=$130) here :/
- chipsy 13y agoThere are companies doing "Android-on-a-USB-stick" too, which I personally believe is a more straightforward option than how Ouya did it - a big part of the "microconsole" concept is that things get deverticalized, so that the processing hardware, the display, and the controllers can all be sourced from different companies. Ouya has managed to get people a lot more hyped by being an integrated solution, though, so I guess they have that going for them.
- 13y ago
- AndrewDucker 13y agoOnce XBMC is running on it, I'll have one plugged into my TV. Hopefully that won't take too long...
- chromex 13y agoI sideloaded xbmc and it already works pretty great on the Ouya. They are working on making it a bit more functionally native as I understand but its already a good experience. Highly recommend it.
- ripter 13y agoI got XBMC running on mine but it crashes every time I add my network drive with my videos. Right now my Raspberry Pi is a better XBMC server
- tracker1 13y agoI was having the same issue... I've had fun with the classic platform emulators so far.. but really hoping for more... would have expected a "Media" section, not just "Apps" for media streaming as well. I also am not as nearly impressed as some with the controllers... really stiff buttons.
- Glyptodon 13y agoI got XBMC (libstagefright version) running, but it's really choppy with video even compared to my 5+ year old AMD chip with a bottom of the line (but somewhat recent) nVidia card. UI is also a bit laggy. I'm hoping there will eventually be a more stable and optimized release. It's also possible maybe I should have used a different version, I guess?
- john_w_t_b 13y agoSold out on Amazon already. That's a nice start to their retail launch. I just ordered one from Best Buy.
- nhangen 13y agoI backed this project and received my Ouya a few weeks ago. We played it as a family a few times, and then forgot we had it. Overall, decent quality hardware, but the OS was a little slow and awkward. Also not a fan of the way games are presented. It's like downloading demos for XBox Live. Once I get some more free time I'll play around with it as a developer. Perhaps that's where the true value lies.
- tjdetwiler 13y agoI was disappointed they didn't make it easy to leverage existing Android apps. I was looking forward to using some of my favorite android apps on my TV using Ouya (Netflix, TuneIn, podcasts, etc) but since it doesn't come with the Android Market the only solution is to try side-loading (which I just haven't gotten around to trying).
- Pxtl 13y agoI imagine we'll be seeing a way to hack in a proper app store into the thing in a matter of weeks, if not days.
- moeffju 13y agoSo I do this whole kickstarter thing and now my console is – well, I don’t even know where. DHL’s tracking is useless, as usual. Then there’s trouble with customs, apparently, that OUYA didn’t seem to have though about. But hey, at least I get a nice apologetic e-mail offering me zilch for compensation. So basically I am no better off than the people who waited and bought it off Amazon, except they got their consoles! This is hugely frustrating. (And not very constructive, I know, please excuse the rant.)
- nilsimsa 13y agoI've funded 3 kickstarter projects (not OUYA however) and none of them have even delivered yet. One of them was due last Sept and another in Nov. The third one was due this month but got delayed for another two more. These being hw/sw engineering projects from scratch I can somewhat understand the delays but I'm getting a little impatient.
- moeffju 13y agoAbsolutely. And I would still be waiting patiently except for the fact that this thing is actually being sold in retail now. I don't mind waiting. But I'm annoyed at being "worse off" as a backer.
- brazzy 13y agoYou and the grandparent apparently still haven't fully grasped what being a backer means: it means you gave those people a gift of $XX to spend on the project, because you think it is cool and hope that they manage to finish it. You should fully expect to be worse off than the people buying the finished product.
- moeffju 13y agoNo, see, there’s a trade here. I back a project, and they promise me a reward. In this case, it was pretty specific: “You will get your console before the market does.”
- Tistel 13y agoI gave Kickstarter 150 bucks on August 9th. Still don't have the Ouya. I am a game developer too. If I had it a couple months in advance of the store drop, I might have been able to make something. Grrr.
- Tistel 13y agoAugust of last year.
- programminggeek 13y agoOUYA isn't perfect, but it's really neat and interesting in general. The idea of a $99 console that plays mobile apps with a decent controller is going to have an impact for sure. It won't likely sell 100 million units, but it will evolve as a platform. It's what the Google TV should have been and it makes me excited for Apple TV + apps.
- philliphaydon 13y agoAnother user who hasn't received his console :( Pretty unfair they can't even deliver to the people who got their project off the ground, before they deliver to the public.
- kclay 13y agoThis is sad, I got mines about a month ago and backed it with like 24hrs left( think I was in the 6k range). I got an email today about how some backers still don't have there's and now they are blaming DHL, Germany imports and everyone else. I'm not as mad since I lucked up (still haven't played but 10mins since I got mines), but the really need to fix this issue ... it was the backers that made this device any possible.
- ww520 13y agoThis looks cool. The hardware price is reasonable. Recently I got a GoogleTV stick (MK808) that turns a TV into a computer. It can run most of the Android apps and games. The price is about $45, plus a remote keyboard/mouse about $25. The total price is in the ballpark of Ouya. I'm curious on how its controller handles touch and mouse-related actions in games.
- Pxtl 13y agoIf you mean physically how it handles it, iirc the black space in between the left and right hand controls on the Ouya pad is a touchpad. It's meant as a fallback controller for cases when an app doesn't support gamepads, so I doubt it's actually comfortable or practical to use.
- ww520 13y agoOh I see. Didn't realize the touchpad is just the background plate. Neat.