The Ouya (pronounced ooo-yah) Android gaming system is one of the most talked about technologies in recent memory. Since it’s announcement back in July of last year it seemed everyone wanted in on the action and the initial kickstarter campaign was nothing short of spectacular as it raised the fundraising goal in a quick eight hours. According to kickstarter that is a record for the first day of any project they hosted.
Sporting above average specs and running a modded version of 4.1 Jelly Bean, the Ouya and its Play Station like controller (with a centered touch pad) next turned it’s focus on content by getting a commitment for Final Fantasy III to be available at launch. But what’s an android platform without independent developers so they most recently hosted a “Game Jam” worldwide.
Over the course of ten days and all across the globe, developers created a whopping 166 games. This was of course made possible because they were able to get their developer consoles out on time, something that a lot of the larger companies often have trouble with. Thus far, the developer software package has been downloaded a total of 22,000 times.
They are currently in the process of picking the best most creative games and will be awarding prizes. It appears as though there are two different ways to win with the first being the more conventional as they have gotten well known people like Phil Fish of Fez and Felicia Day of The Guild to judge. The other way is typical of a startup trying to generate buzz, even though at this point any more word of mouth is gravy, they are giving the general public a say. All 166 entries can be seen here and people are being asked to “let your friends know. Sharing your favorites will help developers win recognition, prizes and get them one step closer to finishing their OUYA game.” Winners will be announced in a couple of weeks
With a healthy developer community along with partnerships including XBMC, Plex Media Center, Namco Bandai, and OnLive (about 300 games), the Ouya gaming console should be a force to be reckoned with. Is anyone out there planning getting one? Maybe you yourself submitted a game…Let us know in the comments.