After being greenlit on Kickstarter, OUYA continues to impress as more and more evidence shows that the console has the potential to truly deliver what was promised. In a particularly unexpected turn of events, it appears that key retailers are planning on carrying the OUYA in their brick and mortar stores. Namely, Gamestop, Best Buy, Target and Amazon will all be selling the $99 console. In case you weren’t aware, that’s a big indication that the device has gained mainstream attention. It will also ensure that the console makes its way to a number of consumers, instead of just those who are currently in the know.
Then again, how anyone could have missed all recent coverage of the console is beyond me, but stranger things have happened.
The biggest obstacle that OUYA now has to overcome is the lackluster game catalog. This device actually isn’t competing with other game consoles, mainly because it won’t run any hardware intensive games, but also because of the price. Regardless of what the OUYA is competing against, it’s going to need a great variety of game titles to entice consumers into buying the console.
Arguably, one thing that sells a console the most is its collection of exclusive titles. The OUYA has it rough right out of the gate because anything it can run, most Android tablets and phones can run, as well.
OUYA founder and CEO, Julie Uhrman took the stage at DICE to announce some upcoming titles for the console. It’s exciting to see Double Fine, the studio behind Tim Schafer’s genius projects, support the OUYA in full. More specifically, the Double Fine Adventure and Rob Gilbert’s The Cave will be available on the OUYA at a later date.
Uhrman also announced that Paul Bettner, the mind behind Words With Friends will also be developing games for the OUYA. Clearly Bettner is good at developing mobile games if the success of Words With Friends is any indication.
That being said, none of the aforementioned titles will be available at launch. While it’s good news that engaging content will be around for console owners in due time, it’s still pretty discouraging that there aren’t any exclusive titles for the console.
The OUYA unequivocally needs a Metal Gear Solid, or Gears of War of its own. While an exclusive OUYA title probably won’t have the same production value (or maybe it will), the point is that it will attract interested parties to the platform.
This announcement is certainly good news, but it’s a far cry from what I want to hear. Keep in mind, I’m not knocking the OUYA console. In fact, I want one. I just genuinely believe that Uhrman and her team need to find a way to offer exclusive content.
Nothing is going to sell the console more, and ensure it gets used, like a title that you can’t find or play anywhere else. No one wants to spend $99 on something that just sits around and collects dust.
If you take into account the recent announcement that OUYA plans to launch an updated console once every year, it proves that the type of material I’m talking about needs to be available as soon as possible. For anyone to consider purchasing a new console every year, OUYA is consistently going to have to provide what other consoles and devices can’t. At this point in time, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
Hopefully, I’m wrong about that.
What do you think? Are you planning on getting an OUYA when it ships in April?