Finally an article that I enjoyed reading!

[CaptainCapslock]

So, someone from Gamesbeat wrote an article about the Ouya, that I actually found to be very true.
Just thought I would share it with you folks:
http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/23/ou...w-renaissance/

I haven’t been to the Game Developers Conference. I wasn’t invited to the prelaunch. I haven’t even ordered the console (yet), but the intention is pretty clear that I don’t need to have been involved at that level.
Gamers and journalists alike wrongly compare this little box to the giants that Microsoft and Sony consoles are. Ouya is not supposed to be a launch with a triple-A lineup and massive development studio commitment. That’s not the point. In fact, if you look at the current console line-up, those machines didn’t exactly launch with that, either, and it’s only after a several years of wrestling with the formats that are we seeing them really shine.
Nintendo’s Wii U? Sony’s Vita? Nintendo’s 3DS? Current-generation distractions.
Ouya represents a new vertical for the games industry, being dubbed as the microconsole. It’s not a handheld. It’s not a main console. It’s something in between that serves real casual gamers and those now growing up with the likes of the Google Play and iOS App Store ecosystems. Ouya doesn’t even sit with the Steam box, either — that’s something else entirely.
Yes, Ouya’s built on an Android platform and sports a Tegra 3 processor, but that’s more than enough for what its true intentions — a $99 box that can stream movies, play games from a growing catalogue of smaller, simpler games for the TV and allow a new generation of developers to learn and create without a massive monetary or hardware investment.
Ouya doesn’t need to run Far Cry 3 or Crysis or become the cheap platform for World of Warcraft on the TV. Right now, Ouya needs to sort out its own marketing hype and quickly because these conversations and nay-saying are hurting the renaissance movement that could potentially spark: The return of the bedroom coder.
Do you remember when people were coding and releasing stuff on hacked Super Nintendo cartridges? Or swapping programs they’d made with their mates on a Spectrum typed out from a magazine? Ouya and microconsoles like it can bring that all back again if they remain open enough.
And why not? Gaming and learning about games development is not an art for the elite.
If Apple were to create a console, it would be like Ouya. It would play existing games from the App Store and scale for the TV (your TV and the oft-touted Apple Television, presumably with integration already built-in). The only downside to the Apple ecosystem is that it wouldn’t support homebrew like the Ouya could.
And that will be a deciding factor in this new war. Open development, ease, and — above all — cheap fun.
The war of the microconsole has only just begun.

Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/23/ou...1XxJ7m8mO2h.99

[zeha]

Yes that's also what I was thinking kind of... I'm hoping that this will bring back the "homecomputer coding" scene a little bit. Everyone can code something and release it to other people. And releasing is now even easier than in the 80s or 90s (because of the centralized online store platform). On the other hand, this also means your games will swim amongst more "crapware" than ever and it might be a lot harder for your games to get recognized. But let's not expect the worst I really hope this will be the next "homecomputer"

[Magnesus]

Would be fun to make sth like classic Amiga scene on OUYA - demos that show what you can do on the console. But times changed, so I suppose it's better to concentrate on games.

[BluePhoenix]

Good thing we won't have to type in the programs from a listing in a magazine like the old days... Still, I look fondly back at the Commodore 64 days. There were some neat little games that were published in Compute! Magazine.

[RiotingSpectre]

Finally a article that actually likes OUYA. Thanks for the post CaptainCapslock.

[James Andrew Coote]

Heh, just read it and thought "this sounds familiar." Then I checked the comments and I'd already commented on it a month or so back!

[Pixel Protection Studios]

It's nice to read an article that isn't completely biased every once in awhile.

[T3KN0GH057]

I'm also hoping this system inspires hardware hobbyists as well. I mean the things people do with the Adrurino are amazing, can you imagine the hardware modules that could be made fora device that has a permanent place in the home? I'm thinking Home Automation to produce theater like experiences, Room to room communication via intercom like or messaging apps. Visitor monitoring (via wifi camera - helping to avoid those door to door salesmen, girl scouts peddling those cookies which you can resist, etc). I myself plan to attempt to make a controller that is more comfortable to someone like myself. That is soon as i learn to deal with bluetooth interference, and enumeration.

[Prizm]

I remember typing in BASIC code from a book, programming a game for my old microcomputer. I could never figure out how to save the programs onto a disk though. Once I turned off the machine, POOF all my effort was gone. Didn't stop me from doing it a few times though.

[zeha]

It would be actually cool if it was possible to develop on the console itself... then it would be possible to just put the mainboard into a keyboard, like somebody did here with the Raspberry Pi http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/wp-cont...board-Case.jpg , and then one would have a "real" development machine