• Ouya, failure, regret, death
    66 replies, posted
[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTqhyHuKVKA[/media]
god i'd already forgotten about this shitshow $8.5 million on kickstarter fucking hell. oh the days when people had full trust in kickstarter projects.
[QUOTE=postal;49875307]oh the days when people had full trust in kickstarter projects.[/QUOTE] Yeah, this was the last day
[QUOTE=postal;49875307]oh the days when people had full trust in any video game related crowdfunding projects.[/QUOTE] ftfy Back on subject I haven't been aware of this whole Ouya situation until now and through the first few seconds in I already see it as a shitshow.
I mean it sounded like a cool concept on paper. On paper. God how depressing that entire story is.
If you want an android gaming box, get the Nvidia shield.
It shows their business sense when they keep talking about how gamers are moving away from the TV and that's the exact reason they made a console only for the TV. Hey idiots if people are moving away maybe that's a sign you should start a business that profits off of where they're moving to, instead of where they're moving from.
I'll literally never forget this video [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY5yG2KyQfM[/media]
This makes me feel genuinely sad.
Ah the OUYA, the console Ashens managed to buy from a second hand shop a week before the thing came out. I knew it was going to be shit the first time I saw it, just like everybody else.
I feel bad for everyone who bought it, but I feel worse for all the people who worked on it and genuinely believed in it only to see it get turned into the gaming joke of the decade.
I still don't understand the OUYA situation. Like, it's pretty much exactly what they were saying they'd make, yet somehow everyone that backed it says they got blindsided by it?
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;49875479]I feel bad for everyone who bought it, but I feel worse for all the people who worked on it and genuinely believed in it only to see it [B]get turned into the gaming joke of the decade.[/B][/QUOTE] But it started that way.
Oh hey, the Ouya. That was certainly a thing that existed. I think that's the best way I can show that it failed. I had completely forgotten it existed up until now - and, in another window, I am literally programming an Android game designed for controller input, which would work perfectly on the Ouya if anyone remembered it existed. I just checked how much they're going for on eBay (thinking it could work to show the game off at shows, for cheaper than a Shield TV or a Mojo or whatever). Beyond the sea of people trying to sell them for $80-90, there's some running for just $20. One's just $0.99 plus shipping. Paired with some non-ass controllers, it actually seems like a good idea. (Not doing it right now, though - there could be better options by the time this thing is ready to show off, and the primary target is phones anyways)
[QUOTE=Skyward;49875488]I still don't understand the OUYA situation. Like, it's pretty much exactly what they were saying they'd made, yet somehow everyone got blindsided by it?[/QUOTE] Only the people who bought into the hype were blindsided, everyone else was calling it from day one.
[QUOTE=gman003-main;49875490]Oh hey, the Ouya. That was certainly a thing that existed. I think that's the best way I can show that it failed. I had completely forgotten it existed up until now - and, in another window, I am literally programming an Android game designed for controller input, which would work perfectly on the Ouya if anyone remembered it existed. I just checked how much they're going for on eBay (thinking it could work to show the game off at shows, for cheaper than a Shield TV or a Mojo or whatever). Beyond the sea of people trying to sell them for $80-90, there's some running for just $20. One's just $0.99 plus shipping. Paired with some non-ass controllers, it actually seems like a good idea. (Not doing it right now, though - there could be better options by the time this thing is ready to show off, and the primary target is phones anyways)[/QUOTE] Why the interest in controller input if the end product is meant for phones?
What I find funny aboujt the Ouya being a massive flop is that there are pretty successful Android handheld consoles from the likes of JXD. I've got a Kickstarter console, the GCW-Zero, and that thing has turned out so much better than the Ouya. It may not have a huge amount of games to download (It's mostly open source ports and emulators), but at least it's not a laughing stock.
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;49875496]Why the interest in controller input if the end product is meant for phones?[/QUOTE] Multiple factors. Fundamental one is that the game is just better-suited to gamepad or keyboard than to touch. The goal is for it to be perfectly playable and fun without a controller, but because it benefits from having a controller, it's definitely going to have it as an option. Particularly since there's stuff like the MOGA or the Shield TV or even just bluetooth controllers with a tablet. It's not a core focus but it's a side interest, simply because it's easy to add (the touch controls have already sucked up WAY more time than the gamepad/keyboard ones, and that will only continue), and gives a good benefit. It's like... remember when console shooters sucked, and then Halo came along and changed the way the game worked in order to account for the flaws of the gamepad? Halo on Xbox was perfectly playable... but the PC port, with keyboard and mouse controls, was still [I]better[/I]. So what I'm doing with gamepad support is basically like letting the Xbox version of Halo use the mouse and keyboard anyways.
[QUOTE=gman003-main;49875572]Multiple factors. Fundamental one is that the game is just better-suited to gamepad or keyboard than to touch. The goal is for it to be perfectly playable and fun without a controller, but because it benefits from having a controller, it's definitely going to have it as an option. Particularly since there's stuff like the MOGA or the Shield TV or even just bluetooth controllers with a tablet. It's not a core focus but it's a side interest, simply because it's easy to add (the touch controls have already sucked up WAY more time than the gamepad/keyboard ones, and that will only continue), and gives a good benefit. It's like... remember when console shooters sucked, and then Halo came along and changed the way the game worked in order to account for the flaws of the gamepad? Halo on Xbox was perfectly playable... but the PC port, with keyboard and mouse controls, was still [I]better[/I]. So what I'm doing with gamepad support is basically like letting the Xbox version of Halo use the mouse and keyboard anyways.[/QUOTE] I see, interesting. Quite frankly I've never played FPS on consoles enough to comment. How did Halo change console FPS? Was it the auto-aim?
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;49875584]I see, interesting. Quite frankly I've never played FPS on consoles enough to comment. How did Halo change console FPS? Was it the auto-aim?[/QUOTE] No, auto aim had been on prior console shooters, like two examples I own, Goldeneye 007 and Armourines for the N64. They were pretty much mandatory because aiming was so awful. It was mostly the control layout. Left stick being foot movement and right being aim and clicking them was crouch and zoom respectively. X being reload/action, Y being switch weapon, B melee, and A jump. It felt precise, intuitive and fluid. IIRC, no other console shooter did it like this at the time and felt that good (in late 2001). Which is now mostly industry standard. It still feels modern despite being 15 years old for that reason. Not that Halo didn't have auto-aim, but it could be really toned down because it was actually possible to aim while moving now. It was more of an aid to keep your reticule on a moving target, rather than a crutch, and it was barely existent on some weapons like the sniper.
The best thing that came out of the Ouya was Duck Game.
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;49875584]I see, interesting. Quite frankly I've never played FPS on consoles enough to comment. How did Halo change console FPS? Was it the auto-aim?[/QUOTE] Auto-aim had existed for a while - Halo actually did less of it than normal for the time. What Halo did was balance the game such that precision, fast aiming and coordinated movement were less important, and emphasized closer-range encounters. Remember how the assault rifle had basically no accuracy? It was deliberate, so that even if you were a bit off with your aim, you still did partial damage - and when clearing out dozens of the tiny Flood swarms, you didn't have to specifically aim at every single one, just aim at the blob's center of mass and hold the trigger until they were dead. They also made enemy movement more predictable and have a large sideways component, so you could aim ahead of them (with the imprecise analog stick), then pull the trigger (a much more responsive input) when they walked into your crosshairs. Then there's the use of grenades, and melee attacks, and the several weapons that actually tracked enemies. And of course the more tactical approach - back when a lot of PC shooters were heavy on the circle-strafing and hopping around, Halo had more use of cover and flanking, which requires skill but not very precise inputs. To try to bring this even vaguely back on subject, the weaknesses of touchscreen input are that there's a large built-in delay (time to move your fingers into position), you get in the way of the screen by doing so, and (mainly on mobile) you have a lot less precision, because fingers are fat and pudgy compared to pixels. I've solved one of them with unorthodox UX design (although others have done it as well, it's not an original solution), solved another with game design (taking inspiration from another abnormal UX case), and I have an idea to take down the last one but I'm still coding the test code for it, and it might not work anyways. The strengths are the ability to do multitouch (a dual-wielding FPS could be really cool on a touchscreen if you solved the other problems) and the ability to easily do gestures (mouse can do them, a bit less intuitively, and analog stick can barely do them at all).
[QUOTE=gman003-main;49875708]Auto-aim had existed for a while - Halo actually did less of it than normal for the time. What Halo did was balance the game such that precision, fast aiming and coordinated movement were less important, and emphasized closer-range encounters. Remember how the assault rifle had basically no accuracy? It was deliberate, so that even if you were a bit off with your aim, you still did partial damage - and when clearing out dozens of the tiny Flood swarms, you didn't have to specifically aim at every single one, just aim at the blob's center of mass and hold the trigger until they were dead. They also made enemy movement more predictable and have a large sideways component, so you could aim ahead of them (with the imprecise analog stick), then pull the trigger (a much more responsive input) when they walked into your crosshairs. Then there's the use of grenades, and melee attacks, and the several weapons that actually tracked enemies. And of course the more tactical approach - back when a lot of PC shooters were heavy on the circle-strafing and hopping around, Halo had more use of cover and flanking, which requires skill but not very precise inputs. To try to bring this even vaguely back on subject, the weaknesses of touchscreen input are that there's a large built-in delay (time to move your fingers into position), you get in the way of the screen by doing so, and (mainly on mobile) you have a lot less precision, because fingers are fat and pudgy compared to pixels. I've solved one of them with unorthodox UX design (although others have done it as well, it's not an original solution), solved another with game design (taking inspiration from another abnormal UX case), and I have an idea to take down the last one but I'm still coding the test code for it, and it might not work anyways. The strengths are the ability to do multitouch (a dual-wielding FPS could be really cool on a touchscreen if you solved the other problems) and the ability to easily do gestures (mouse can do them, a bit less intuitively, and analog stick can barely do them at all).[/QUOTE] Thanks for the informative post, I appreciate it.
[QUOTE=gman003-main;49875708] To try to bring this even vaguely back on subject, the weaknesses of touchscreen input are that there's a large built-in delay (time to move your fingers into position), you get in the way of the screen by doing so, and (mainly on mobile) you have a lot less precision, because fingers are fat and pudgy compared to pixels. I've solved one of them with unorthodox UX design (although others have done it as well, it's not an original solution), solved another with game design (taking inspiration from another abnormal UX case), and I have an idea to take down the last one but I'm still coding the test code for it, and it might not work anyways. The strengths are the ability to do multitouch (a dual-wielding FPS could be really cool on a touchscreen if you solved the other problems) and the ability to easily do gestures (mouse can do them, a bit less intuitively, and analog stick can barely do them at all).[/QUOTE] One solution for FPS touch controls that I liked in concept, even if it's execution was iffy was the way Duke Nukem 3D did it [IMG]http://cdn.toucharcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Picture-23.png[/IMG] It was removed in an update so it was left with garbage twin analog, but the way it worked was IIRC Forward/Back and looking Up/Down were mapped to the vertical buttons while the horizontal buttons were for strafing and turning. The best on iOS so far IMO is Doom Classic's adjustable twin d-pads.
They should have beefed up the specs a little more, then it would have gained a following as an emulation box.
[QUOTE=samuel2213;49875915]They should have beefed up the specs a little more, then it would have gained a following as an emulation box.[/QUOTE] I never had a ouya but that and I believe the ouya didn't have access to the normal play store either. If it had regular access to that and you know, [I]not blocked hdmi ports[/I] it could become a nice emulation box. But for now it can act as a plane because ouyas don't react to gravity and have no weight.
It all went to shit when people discovered you could be buy a cheap android tablet with HDMI and plug it into the TV. I mean it's ARM hardware with a controller and some proprietary software, what's so amazing about it?
Where did the 8 million even go?
[QUOTE=RoboChimp;49875992]I mean it's ARM hardware with a controller and some proprietary software, what's so amazing about it?[/QUOTE] Jump to 0:47 if you missed it.
[QUOTE=samuel2213;49875915]They should have beefed up the specs a little more, then it would have gained a following as an emulation box.[/QUOTE] The problem with that is you can plug in any generic laptop and emulate pretty much anything up to PS2.
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