Let the flaming begin if it must.
I don't think most people on this forum would flame you for disagreeing with them. This is technology, not politics. We're more sophisticated.
After reading more about the Ouya (the good and the bad), I pre-order it. If you take the Ouya as advertised, it might not be very impressive strictly as a gaming rig. But, as a media consumption device, it's head and shoulders above anything out there so far. To me, the gaming aspect is the cherry on top.
Ok, so let's say you're right. They're likely able to sell the hardware that cheap because they're getting it practically free (it's already basically obsolete hardware which is half my point). Why buy another device, that's already obsolete, to play games I could play on my newer, better devices?
...that are more powerful than the Ouya, can also be paired with any number of controls, connected to their TVs, and run all the same games Ouya can.
Why buy another device (even if it's "only" $100) that's inferior hardware?
For use as an "Open Google TV-type" hardware platform, I would be interested but my Vizio Co-Star...even with it's weaker specs
It seems like you're dismissing the Ouya for it's obsolete hardware, but not dismissing your Vizio for an even more obsolete hardware. That seems like a double standard. Many people do not already have a media player, much less the Vizio. And the Ouya is, even in its pre-retail state, a much more capable device than your Vizio. Just having XBMC is worth the upgrade if I were in your situation.
You don't need bleeding edge CPU to do media. Whether the hardware is obsolete or not is kind of irrelevant. The difference between the graphics chip on Tegra 2 and Tegra 3 is important for HD decoding, and Tegra 2 is precisely what most people own today.
There may be more capable phones/tablets out there but most people today have older tablets/phones, and who seriously uses their phone/tablet's HDMI out on their 46" TV on a regular basis? I've done it at a hotel once, but that's it. It's silly, and an odd form of device worship, if you're sitting on your couch watching TV and movies on a 10" tablet when there's a perfectly good 46" TV in the room. Having to plug in a phone/tablet on your TV everytime you want to watch the TV seems like a poor solution. You have a $200 phone dinging off a $900 TV, which you have to unplug when someone calls you. Hope you remember to turn down the ring tone, lol.
Aside from phone/tablets, there are similar Ouya devices available on the market, but none of them are as good as the Ouya. There's the cheap $50 Android sticks, but no Ethernet and often poor wifi, as well as performance issues. There's a few $100 android setup boxes, very similar to the Ouya, but currently they're all dual-core machines (Ouya is a high-bin quadcore) with some HD playback issues, and don't come with a nice controller or the latest bluetooth 4.0 for lower power peripherals. And the companies that back these devices are all in China, so you're not likely going to get warranty or replacement if you get a dud. These devices also don't have the development community behind it. Since your'e in XDA, I don't need to mention how much the development community can make a device better.
I know quite a few people who don't have a computer connected to their TV simply because they can't do it in a practical way. Personally, I have a PC running windows connected to my TV. But I also use the PC for everyday type stuff. It's not convenient for me to make the PC auto start XBMC on boot, for example. My PC is way more capable than the Ouya. Heck, my PC will wipe the floor with the latest mobile processor, but it's not the processing power that I need. What I need is a computer that can be dedicated for a media consumption interface, that's easy for the rest of the family to use. I could setup another PC, but that'll be more expensive and it would consume much more energy and use up valuable space in an already cluttered area. The Ouya has just enough processing capability, is cheaper than anything out there for the same price, and it's small, and has all the features.
rainabba said:
(by the way, 1GB of ram for an "Android gaming console" is laughable when it's meant to serve 1080p gaming).
My original point stands. The Ouya, as a gaming platform, is little more than a scam or pet-project and the latter is fine by me so long as they're honest about it.
I think the success fo the Wii and mobile apps proves that there is a market for simple, fun games. The gaming public isn't only composed of hardcore gamers. From an academic standpoint, you could view Ouya solely as a gaming platform. But when people are buying the Ouya, they're not being academics. They're looking at ALL the things it can do with it. Why not assess the Ouya's potential success based on the full range of its capabilities rather than limiting it to just games?
As for your disagreement; of course you disagree. As you said, you're a backer and the reality is that unless you're part of a very small minority of people on this planet, you now have to contend with
cognitive dissonance and all my logic and rational arguments mean nothing in light of that
Here, I will flame a little bit.
Cognitive dissonance works both ways. You said it yourself that you predicted Ouya to be a failure, so you're going to jump on the chance to validate your initial opinion, just as the Ouya backers would defend their initial decision. The difference is that if you're wrong, you have a very narrow window of opportunity to do this validation, and that window closes after the retail release.
