60°

The Indie Game Console May Already Be Dead

Sean Hollister of The Verge writes: "Last year, I predicted that the rising tide of Android gaming would raise all boats — that indie game consoles like the Ouya, the Shield, and the Gamestick could mount a challenge against Xbox and PlayStation because of all the attention they were getting as a whole. Sadly, it looks like I was wrong. This week, the leader of the indie console charge is standing down."

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theverge.com
caseh4131d ago

'Ouya sought to bottle the magic of indie game development'

Instead they took a stack of cash then took a dump on it. Game Over, insert credit to continue.

Paulie_gualtieri4131d ago

Should of released around 2011/2012 at the peak of last gen console fatigue.Why they decided to quietly launch during the mad frenzy of xbox one/PS4 is something i will never understand.

curtis924131d ago

I think what sold a LOT of people, including myself, is how they emphasized the importance of a controller & a TV. When the kickstarter launched for OUYA, at that time I was convinced next gen was going to be a gimmicky mess with far more emphasis on motion controls and casual gaming than ever before so they sold me on the idea of OUYA with their pitch. Problem for me was the hardware was far too weak, even for small indie games, and that Sony came out and announced the PS4 which totally won me over instantly. Making OUYA irrelevant.

Double_O_Revan4131d ago

What sold me was it could be a $100 XBMC Media Streaming device. But like you said, the hardware is too weak, many movies won't play. And there are some audio formats it can't handle, causing another chunk of my library to not play.

I'm ready to get rid of it.

SteamPowered4131d ago

It was a terrible idea from the start. Playing Cell phone games on your TV wouldnt appeal to very many people.

MatrixxGT4131d ago

Good read. Some people like to hate on certain brands for whatever reason but reality it the console business is a very hard business to break into.

Imo I knew this would flop from the get go. I'd also like to stop hearing how mobile chipsets are going to become sooooo powerful that it could make consoles redundant. Hasnt that been the case since tegra 1 was announced, yet here we are 4 years later still singing "wait till x chip comes out" tune.

They just don't get it. The money from android gaming is from the extremely casual players that probably don't own a console or have interest in it, they like candy crush etc. The hardcore isn't going to spend 10-15 $ on a console quality game for their phone that still doesn't have physical buttons. Maybe mobile controllers will fix that but that remains to be seen.

ShowGun9014131d ago

i have one of the moga pocket bluetooth controllers for my s4, and it makes my snes and n64 games AWESOME! buttons are too small, but now im just being picky lol. being able to just throw it in my bag and play snes anywhere is just too awesome. i havent tried it with any android market games, although it says that it will work with GTA san andreas... really need to let go of that $6 and try it LOL!

MatrixxGT4131d ago

If a mainstream mobile controller was released I could get into more mobile games. I will wait for an official google play controller or whatever apples got cooking with their rumored larger iphone screen. I just don't want a hodgepodge of workarounds. I have a expired S4 im holding onto just for this.

ShowGun9014131d ago

EXACTLY! they need one controller that will be MANDATORILY compatible with ALL google play or AppStore games! if you put it on our store, it'll work with this controller. like the steam controller. good luck with that though LOL!

I'd buy it!

HighResHero4131d ago

People that say that (your second paragraph) don't understand the limitations of "mobile" tech or the fact that PC/console tech continues to evolve too without as many restrictions.

I give the author credit for admitting he was wrong while so many other people are just jumping onto the next hype train.

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120°

10 Weirdest Game Consoles of All Time

From systems that could keep your beer cool, to oddities trying to get in on the popularity of VHS and laserdisc, you’ve got some very, very weird video game consoles out there.

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culturedvultures.com
darthv72452d ago

I had the LaserActive... it was a nice collectors piece but not very practical. Especially when it came to needing recapping. I think i paid all of about $50 for the floor model from an incredible Universe back in the day. I ended up selling it many years later for $300 at the time due to it needing a new laser and the aforementioned recapping.

An honorable mention not on the list would be the VM Labs Nuon. It basically looked like any regular DVD player but it had ports on it for controllers to play specific games. one of which is still exclusive to it with Tempest 3000. It also offered nuon enhanced DVD movies with extra content not accessible by regular players.

_Decadent_Descent452d ago

Wasn't there some KFC console, or am I mistaken?

CoNn3rB451d ago

It was announced but it never actually came out as far as I know

90°

History Lesson: The consoles that ‘failed’

Virtual Boy, Sega Nomad, Ouya and the other troubled game systems that nobody bought.

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videogameschronicle.com
Wasabi2011d ago

How has this article missed out Sega's Dreamcast and Nintendo's Wii U, two consoles that were actually superb devices in their own right, but were seen as failed due to lacklustre sales at the time of release?

Knightofelemia2011d ago

Wonder how long before Stadia appears on the list surprised the Ngage is not on that list

william_cade2011d ago (Edited 2011d ago )

I enjoy these kinds of articles.

rlow12011d ago

Talk about a blast to the past.......I remember trying the virtual boy at Toy R Us and it was cool but I did feel slightly disoriented afterwards......good article.

110°

OUYA marketplace revived from the dead by internet archivists

The Ouya, a failed Android gaming console from early in this generation, is getting a second lease on life thanks to Internet archivists and some new software.

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gamerevolution.com
Double_O_Revan2043d ago

That's pretty cool they were able to bring it back. It sucks when something online only gets killed.

I got mine when it first launched, however it wasn't good for anything other than retro emulation. I couldn't sell the thing fast enough. Managed to get almost all my money back selling it on eBay.

Xaywhat2043d ago

Just let go homies. It was DOA

JEECE2042d ago

I guess the Stadia launch is bringing back memories of other failed consoles/services.