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UPDATE:

The initial goal of OUYA's Kickstarter crowd funding campaign was for $950,000. In just over 24 hours, the prospective console maker has raised just under $3 million in pledges. Needless to say, the company is ecstatic with the support and is currently taking suggestions from backers for stretch goals which can be attained before the August 9, 2012 project funding deadline.

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ORIGINAL STORY:

What would you say if I told you that, at some point in the near future, there'd be a $100.00 video game console on the market? What would you say if I informed you that this console would have an open development process, with a freely available SDK? That the developer of this console wouldn't try to sue you or restrict your rights for hacking or modifying your device (I'm looking at you, Sony)? You'd probably think I was completely mad, right?

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the OUYA. It's a project that's looking to break open the Television; the "last closed gaming market." And it's already got the support of Mojang, thatgamecompany, and a number of other top-dog indie developers.  

The project, which recently launched on Kickstarter (and has already made it halfway to its $950,000 goal), pretty much spits in the face of every single tradition established by the big publishers and developers. "Let's open this sucker up!" says the Kickstarter page.  "It's time we brought back innovation, experimentation, and creativity to the big screen. Let's make games less expensive to make, and less expensive to buy. With all our technological advancements, shouldn't costs be going down? Gaming could be cheaper!" 

Built on the Android platform, the console's going to be borrowing the free-to-play model from titles such as League of Legends and Team Fortress 2… so that's pretty awesome, as well. If this takes off, it could open up an entirely new market to independent developers, and completely upend the current 'status quo' of the gaming industry. 

You can find out more information (and pledge some money towards the console's launch) on the Kickstarter page. Here's a brief look at the console's specs:

• Tegra3 quad-core processor 
• 1GB RAM 
• 8GB of internal flash storage
• HDMI connection to the TV, with support for up to 1080p HD 
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n 
• Bluetooth LE 4.0 
• USB 2.0 (one) 
• Wireless controller with standard controls (two analog sticks, d-pad, eight action buttons, a system button), a touchpad 
• Android 4.0

Source: OUYA on Kickstarter

Nicholas Greene   FollowTech_Light A gamer at heart, Nick started writing when he was a child. He holds a BA in English, works as a freelancer, and loves every minute of it. One day, he hopes to net himself a career in game design - but that's something for the future.

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