Interface
The console boots into an interface that's
as simple as the design of the console, but offers a very different color
scheme. Now we move to a white and orange layout that begins with an O in the
form of a rising sun and a chant of "OUYA" as the system completes
its startup. Then you are dropped into one menu with 4 options:
"Play", "Discover", "Make" and
"Manage".
Then
you are dropped into one menu with 4 options: "Play",
"Discover", "Make" and "Manage".
First, you launch the game you downloaded.
They're laid out in a row two deep, stretching off to the right of the display.
Everything can expand once you've installed lots of games, and this time,
there's no way to either move these entries or sort them. Your oldest game will
be on the left, newest on the right - an arrangement that we think is going to
become outdated. Press Y to have the option to search by name, but now that
doesn't seem to work.
Searching thankfully does work in the
Discover section, taking you into the OUYA store. Just a few items to look for,
such as Featured and a so-called Go Retro including a seemingly random
subsection of the retro games here. You can also browse by genre if you want.
Each game is presented with one image
showing its logo - the modern equivalent of box art. From here you can press
the O button to get more information about the game, including some screenshots
and simple description. Part of the OUYA hallmark is that every game can be
downloaded for free, which is nice, but unfortunately there is no indication of
how much a given game actually costs.
Perhaps it is because many games have very
different concepts of what you're buying. Some free to play. In Stalagflight,
you are required to purchase virtual slices of pizza. Pinball Arcade is free,
but requires you to buy the table ($4.99 per table). Meanwhile, Final Fantasy
III is priced at $15.99. The flexible in-app purchasing options certainly put a
lot of power in the hands of developers, but with customers, it can cause
confusion.
Through the discover interface, you can
also visit the Sandbox, where dozens of early alphas and betas of games live.
We have found a few gems buried here, but all are very rough and are all just
lumped together numerically. Finding anything worth trying is a crapshoot.
The Make section is reserved for
developers, allowing them to download the new versions of the software, while
Manage allows you to change the console settings. At this time, the setting is
very limited. For example, you can’t modify your credit card information,
change the output resolution of the console, set any sort of parental controls,
change the layout or color scheme or really do much of anything beyond
establishing a Wi-Fi connection or pairing another controller. However, you
may visit the standard Android 4.1 settings page, which is a bit jarring due to
the clean, white and orange interface.
Game
OUYA said 104 games will be available at
launch, a pretty staggering number when compared to your average big console
release. Indeed, there are some very good games here, but we have one warning
message which is very important that the majority of these titles have been
released elsewhere - some a very long time ago.
Final Fantasy III: $15.99
Final
Fantasy III
This is the hallmark title of the OUYA
launch and indeed looks and plays quite well. Basically it looks like the
version has been released on Anroid nearly one year ago, and early on iOS.
Puddle THD:
$4.99
Puddle
THD
Game based on simple physics that allows
you to tilt the world to move a puddle of liquid through mazes, avoiding open
flames and the like. Graphics are simple and clean, but don't hold a candle to
similar console-exclusive titles, like Mercury on the PSP.
Gunslugs: $1.99
This is a side-view shooter game that Metal
Slug's fans would definitely like as long as they do not mind the pixelated
graphics and simplified gameplay.
Wizorb: $2.99
Perhaps our favorite OUYA launch title.
This game has been available on Steam and iOS for a long time, but still do not
have a proper debut on Android. We're glad to see it here, providing an
interesting mix of RPG gameplay and Breakout-style brick breaking. It's a ton
of fun.
The Ball
Portal fans, this is about as close as
you're going to get on OUYA for now. This Unreal Engine game is also one of the
better-looking first-person titles on the console, but we believe that the
graphics are more or less on par with Quake III in 1999. It is quite
interesting, although a bit slow and annoying that you can’t change the
controller inversion, but it is completely free.
Syder Arcade: $2.99
Syder
Arcade
There are plenty of space shooters and many
of the side-view variety in the OUYA store, but Syder Arcade is one of the most
exciting games. Curiously, though, it's priced at $1 more than it is on the
Google Play store (Updated: Marco from Studio Evil wrote in to let us know that
the OUYA version offers additional features (like custom graphics types) and
greater difficulty than the Android release, thus the increase in price).
Pinball Arcade: $4.99-$7.99 per table
Pinball
Arcade
With plenty of pinball fans on staff we
could not resist trying it out. The pinball layout naturally works a little
better on a phone or tablet held in portrait mode than on a 16:9 widescreen
monitor, but the gameplay is the same as the version of Android or iOS. That
said, the graphics on the tables don't hold up on a big-screen HD display as
well as they do on smaller, mobile displays.
Conclusion
OUYA version is selling at the moment
should be considered as a beta release, and anyone hoping for anything more is
in for some disappointment. It's simply not ready for retail. The system is
rough around the edges in many ways, literally when it comes to controllers,
but the menus and interface can also use work.
And of course there is the game collection.
There are plenty of games worth playing here, but almost all of them are
available elsewhere as the other forms. In addition, the vast majority are what
we'd broadly call "mobile" games: simple experiences and simple
graphics that are fine for casual play, but lack the kind of immersion you
might want when you get settled in at home on your couch.
So, is the OUYA a revolution in console
gaming? No - not yet. But it is in the early stages. As of this review there
are roughly two months until the system launches at retail - we hope that is
enough time to improve the interface, edit the controller and can be, just
maybe, take a few new games worthy of real excitement. We will come back to review
the full version when it launches.
Info
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Price: $ 99
Pros
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Bargains
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Small, efficient
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Easy to hack
Cons
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The controller has multiple errors
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The initial game selection is limited
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No in-store price game
Verdict
·
The first version of OUYA shows promises, but it
will need more tweaking before the final retail version if it wants to impress
gamers.
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Specifications
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CPU brand: Nvidia
·
CPU model: Tegra 3
·
Ram: 1 GB
·
Color: Silver
·
Exterior surface: matte
·
Wi-Fi: Yes, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b
·
Bluetooth: Yes
·
Audio/Video (supported resolutions): 1080p
·
Audio/Video output: HDMI
·
Controller connection: Wireless
·
Internal storage: 8 GB , upgradable
·
External memory: SD
·
Online multiplayer: Yes
·
Online store: Yes
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