NanoTech and OUYA Partner to Bring Games to the Nuvola NP-1 Streaming Media Player

[arcticdog]

@Schiz -
Yes.. I think you got it right. Something similar to this has been in the PC world for years called virtualization, and it's the basis for much of the infrastructure in cloud computing. For instance, if my website is busy, I can tell Amazon or MS Azure to create a server on the fly with a very specific set of RAM and processing capability to accommodate some of that busy-ness. When I request that, it's not booting up an actual server, but rather a really powerful server is setting aside a "virtual" equivalent to the kind of server I am requesting and giving me access to it, along with other similar servers requested by other users.

It will be interesting to see if NanoTech's and MadCatz's devices will be compatible with the "OUYA 2" spec. Both only have 2GB or RAM, which is a critical piece of that hardware spec. If OUYA 2 goes higher to 3GB of RAM, it will break these OUYA Everywhere specs, even if OUYA 2 goes with the Tegra 4 (which is probably the most likely scenario).


Your other concerns seem to be around the notion of "if OUYA co-exists on other platforms, and those platforms have certain apps available, how does this impact the Discover store's ability to grow and possibly gain those apps".
(Sound right?)

If so, I think flamepanther explained that pretty well. But I'll add a couple things to that.

First of all, given OUYA is an Android-based device, why develop for it at all? If PC's are more powerful and flexible than consoles, why are the X-Box/PS/Nintendo lines relevant at all and why do developers support them?

Much of it comes down to the predictable specification nature of a platform and the services that are available on it. When the specifications are predictable, it's much easier on the developer to do post-sale support and pre-sale testing. In environments where software is sold to a multitude of devices (i.e. Google Play, Steam), developers are often going on very vague bug reports that are often attributed to the simple fact (for example) that one device might process a certain graphics operation differently than another. Short of obtaining the problematic device to trouble shoot (another cost/expense to the developer), developers are often trying to solve problems based on some very vague symptoms. This impacts customer satisfaction. Go check the 1-star reviews on any random Google Play game, and you will see most of those complaints are incompatibility kinds of things.


So as Mr. Panther stated, such a move may not necessarily get Netflix on the official device, it certainly can't hurt the effort. And if it never gets "official device" support, the option of side loading will probably always be there to accommodate those particular situations.

But as far as development is concerned, the major draw of OUYA in any of it's forms is the console-like predictable nature of the hardware configuration. If OUYA handles it properly on other hardware, it removes fragmentation from the equation that's been a major headache in Android games development since the beginning. This allows a developer to minimize post-support issues if proper up front testing is done. It also allows bugs that slip by to be more easily re-created and addressed. This developer friendly environment will attract more games, especially if the user base expands into more sales opportunities.

In short, it gains all of the advantages of developing on a console without the requirement of an actual dedicated device. Developers who've dealt with the nightmare of supporting multiple configurations on the PC and mobile will hopefully find worth in that.