What Made Ouya’s Kickstarter a Success

Just a couple weeks ago the world of gaming was given one of its bigger shocks. A new console from a virtually unknown company was announced and the task of funding the system was given to the public via Kickstarter. The system was called Ouya and its plan was to shake up the way console games were done.

Soon after being put on Kickstarter it was clear that Ouya was something a lot of people wanted. After asking for $950,000 to fully fund the project, it received $8.6m. Ouya’s early days have been nothing but a complete blistering success. The real question is how does a complete unknown pop up and grab so much interest from the gaming community?

First and foremost, Ouya is different. Ouya isn’t going for the premium market and trying to sell you the greatest graphics you’ve ever witnessed. For $99 you get a tiny little system with specs that are good enough.

• Tegra3 quad-core processor
• 1GB RAM
• 8GB of internal flash storage

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Ouya is that it is running Android. Pair that with the fact that anyone who buys the system will be given a developer kit which enables them to create and distribute their own games and software. This is truly an open console. On top of that, it seems totally reasonable to expect things like Hulu and Netflix to be present, even if only by means of hackery. Think about a Roku/Apple TV with a dual analog controller, potentially endless games being made by the public as well as major developers and all for $99. Would you like to watch some Breaking Bad or play a little N64 via emulator? The correct answer is “yes.”

Can Ouya be a console that takes on PS4 or the next Xbox? Probably not. However, I don’t know that it needs to. Ouya might be the first piece of tech to hit the market that can offer you casual games like Angry Birds, more intense action like Human Element, emulators to play all your favorite classics as well as entertainment through video like Hulu or Netflix (emulators, hulu and netflix are NOT confirmed, but simply assumed since anything else that runs Android got them).

Considering the fact that more nearly 10 times what they asked for was donated one could surmise that it wouldn’t be too difficult to convince developers that Ouya is worth looking at. This thing made its own feedback loop. The higher the donation total climbed the more logical it was to be excited, thus bringing on more donations. Human Element sounded cool, but given the headlines this thing crabbed it wouldn’t surprise me if we see much larger names making their way to this little android-based box.

If you get what Ouya is, you’re probably at least a little excited. This probably won’t tear you away from your Playstation or your Xbox when you’re in the middle of killing a mammoth in Skyrim, but it might just replace that Apple TV or Roku box you’ve been watching Crackle on all night. That’s a pretty cool thing.

Ouya is set to be released early next year with one console and one controller costing $109, one console with two controllers $139, and one console with four controllers $199. All orders will include a $10 shipping charge.