Other Android Consoles

[flamepanther]

MOJO has done a lot of shouting. But it's seriously overpriced and focuses too much on just the Google play store. This console is by very definition what many seemed to have asked for from a Google Play perspective. But no-one is really going to pay the price they're asking for it. I can see Madcatz making this a one off, it just won't sell.

I love the fact that the MOJO exists. Not because I have any interest in it, but because of all the options it provides when dealing with folks who wanna make noise about OUYA not being built around the Google Play store.

1. That's what you want? Fine, go buy a MOJO
1a. Well of course it's more expensive. They have to make thier money on the hardware side because they're built around the Play store.
2. So, MOJO built their system around Google Play, and now the people who own one are complaining that almost none of the decent games work with it.. just. like. we. told. you.
2a. In fact, owners are looking for ways to get OUYA games to work on it, just so they can have decent games.

Thank you MadCatz. You guys are the greatest.

[Schizophretard]

A console is a (usually stationary) device or fixture used for controlling something, so it fits as well as any of the others do. In all honesty, we probably wouldn't have the term "game console" if the earliest ones hadn't had their controls directly on the face of the device instead of on a remote controller like modern ones do.

I think we got the term "console" because of electrics that sit on the floor in cabinets(console stereo, console tv) because earlier consoles were like that like the Atari VCS. Or like arcade machine cabinets which makes a lot of sense with the word "home" in the phrase "home video game console" which bringing video gaming home from the arcades was the whole purpose of home video game consoles.

A video game console has its own games created for it. That has always been a part of what is meant by it. For an example, saying,"What is your favorite PS3 game?" makes sense but saying,"What is your favorite M.O.J.O game?" doesn't because it has no games. The correct sentence would be,"What is your favorite Android game?" The games aren't M.O.J.O specific. They are designed for Android. It would make as much sense as saying,"What is your favorite M.O.J.O movie?"

With something like the M.O.J.O it is more like Android is a "virtual console" and the M.O.J.O is a video game peripheral that "hooks up" to it to play those games on a TV. Or kind of like a computer that hooks up to your TV that happens to play games like the Atari 800. Or like me hooking up my laptop to my TV and playing games with a controller. My laptop would still just be a laptop and wouldn't become a video game console. Even if it was marketed and sold for PC gaming it would still be a gaming PC and wouldn't be a video game console. At a bare minimum a video game console has to be a device that plays its own games. If not then the definition would change so much that things in the past would become video game consoles that weren't at the time. If a definition changes so much that it changes what things are in the past then there is something wrong with the definition. If I sat my laptop on my entertainment center, watched a movie on it, called someone up, and started talking about how I'm watching something on my console TV then would they imagine a laptop or a CRT in a wooden cabinet on the floor? The definitions of things should stay consistent enough that people know what the words mean. If the M.O.J.O can be called a video game console then an Android phone could be called a portable gaming console and be equivalent to a Game Boy. I see similarities between an Android phone and a Game Boy but there are enough differences that they are clearly not the same category of objects. Just like I can see similarities between a M.O.J.O and an NES but there are enough differences that they are clearly not the same category of objects. It seems close to a console. Maybe very close. Like it would fit in bigger category that would also contain consoles in them but not be a console itself.

[flamepanther]

I could name a few game consoles that seldom or never got their own games, but which remain somewhat distinct as consoles. But I'd rather get back on topic instead.

[JerTM]

If I could get the OUYA firmware onto a MOJO or a TRON, I'd be all over that.

[Schizophretard]

I could name a few game consoles that seldom or never got their own games, but which remain somewhat distinct as consoles. But I'd rather get back on topic instead.

Determining what goes on the list is as on topic as it can be.

[SenVilan]

This thread is pretty interesting to me as I've been contemplating sending my OUYA back, in favor of something more powerful (like the MOJO.) But man... the lack of community for most of these other android systems is depressing. I mean, this forum is actually pretty lively and it instills confidence in the popularity of the system. It gives you a place to meet potential friends and ask for help when something screws up. Not to mention, you can't really take for granted having access to a store designed specifically for the console itself -- something else Madcatz doesn't have as far as I know.

In the end, it seems like it comes down to power versus community aspect/active development. As someone who mainly uses the OUYA for emulation, the extra power is enticing. The N64 doesn't run nearly as well as I'd like on the OUYA, and I figure the Tegra 4 would fix that issue. That price though... it doesn't really seem justified for the reasons I want it -- especially since I'm not even sure what exactly it's capable of (can I install most of the same stuff on it as the OUYA and will it work as well with the emulators, etc?) Plus, if it's true that most of the google play games don't work well with a controller, doesn't that kind of kill off one of it's main draws?

I don't know; think I might just wait for the OUYA 2.

[flamepanther]

My next "alternative" console will be a Retron 5. The only way I'd get a different Android console at this point is if TRON comes to the US at a low enough price.

[Killswitch]

People still compare Ouya to these Google boxes...I'll never understand it.
If you want phone games on your TV that's fine but that's not the Ouya.
That's MOJO, Bluepop and the other ones. And look at all the issues with MOJO, not worth the price or trouble but to each their own.
Gamestick is the only one that can be compared to Ouya and Lamestick sucks in my opinion.
Tron will have it's own ecosystem so I guess it can be a comparable but Ouya is going to do an update at some point so the disparity won't be there for long.

[Schizophretard]

People still compare Ouya to these Google boxes...I'll never understand it.
If you want phone games on your TV that's fine but that's not the Ouya.
That's MOJO, Bluepop and the other ones. And look at all the issues with MOJO, not worth the price or trouble but to each their own.
Gamestick is the only one that can be compared to Ouya and Lamestick sucks in my opinion.
Tron will have it's own ecosystem so I guess it can be a comparable but Ouya is going to do an update at some point so the disparity won't be there for long.

I think I found someone that understands what a console is.

[MegaManV]

I think I found someone that understands what a console is.

Same way I feel about consoles.

IMO a console should give players an experience they can't get on a desktop/laptop/or mobile device.

It's the reason I feel Ouya needs more exclusives. The reason why I still enjoy the old consoles so much- Nintendo, Snes, Sega Genesis, and Turbo-Grafx 16- is the unique experience each one offers. Each one, from the feel of the controller, to the sound, and most importantly- the games themselves, is different. Each game from one's library feels like a reflection of the console's soul.

Sorry if I got off topic there.