OUYA Review


I said those face plates on the controller were a bad idea from the start. I had hoped they would come to their senses and have normal battery doors on the back before the backer launch.

My first thought when I saw the face plates when they were revealed way back, was that they would break over time having to remove them to change the batteries.  It was a terrible idea from the start. I hope they get rid of them for the retail launch.

Design and robustness should always come before gimmicky ideas like removable face plates.
 
Sounds like the well known molding/fitting issues of injection molded plastic parts. Can happen, can be fixed, OUYA at least have enough money for that.  Why they didn't "hardcore tested" the usability of the controller is strange, stuff like the sticky buttons that slide under the removable faceplate is avoidable. However, the Design is interesting and with more engineering (stronger Magnets for example), there should not be any serious issue with the Controller in general. I wouldn't call it "design flaw" in general.
 
IMO, removable plates that sit over the controls and buttons that need to be removed regularly was a recipe for disaster.  There is nothing you could do to prevent it being anything but. Even if they were engineered to perfection, the constant removal of the covers would inevitably cause an issue over time. 

I am absolutely gob smacked as to how it got this far without someone stepping in and saying, hey, real bad idea guys.
 
That controller doesn't look to comfortable anyway.

I'd rather connect a 360 or Playstation controller.
 
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I am absolutely gob smacked as to how it got this far without someone stepping in and saying, hey, real bad idea guys.
That says a lot about the people behind the project who claim to be "gamers" but struggle to even build a controller with any common sense. the Ouya project got way too much free PR from various websites compared to the skills they have in house in the first place. 
 
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Haven't seen it in action, but there is no reason it couldn't work. Gives better weight distribution too separating them like that. I thought it was wonky, but normal battery covers do break all the time, lets not conveniently forget about that.

Edit: it seems to be held down by magnets, which is a novel idea. The ps controllers have always been a ergonomic nightmare, and it didnt get any better when they added joysticks. I remember seeing a comparison where the ps crowd was over-represented in hand-injuries relating from prolonged use even compared to their market share.

If its something that deserved to be looked at with squinting eyes its that gamestick controller, i cant see that working well.
 
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But its the latches that break on conventional battery covers, this doesnt have them.
Yes Magnets which would be a bitch to get everything alligned would be worse.  Plus having to pull the covers off over the controls is a recipe in itself for breaking them.  Lets not forget what you would do when the other thing that happens to battery covers happens.  ie you lose them - what then.  Then of course they are going to move under your palms when using the controller.

Terrible idea for so many reasons.
 
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The author seemed somewhat biased to me. He did mentioned the flaws in detail (and gave them enough room), but while reading it I always felt like there was a small voice in the back of his head, while he was writing it, that told him "you like it, you like it, you like it, ...". Especially the start of the last paragraph felt that way "So, is the OUYA a revolution in console gaming? No, it isn't -- not yet" - Did somone really expect a revolution of console gaming ?
I do wonder what they did all the time ? With a reference implementation from nVidia for the board and the OS itself that only had to be adjusted,I thought they would put more emphasis on the "Ouya experience". But the interface looks quite disappointing.

I've been looking for a replacement for our WDTV for playing ripped movies / music so I may invest later if media server software comes out.
maybe an Android-stick + xbmc would be an option ?I currently waiting for an Android-stick with linux on it, so I can throw out my ShuttleXPC+openelec combo
 
The author seemed somewhat biased to me. He did mentioned the flaws in detail (and gave them enough room), but while reading it I always felt like there was a small voice in the back of his head, while he was writing it, that told him "you like it, you like it, you like it, ...". Especially the start of the last paragraph felt that way "So, is the OUYA a revolution in console gaming? No, it isn't -- not yet" - Did somone really expect a revolution of console gaming ?

I do wonder what they did all the time ? With a reference implementation from nVidia for the board and the OS itself that only had to be adjusted,I thought they would put more emphasis on the "Ouya experience". But the interface looks quite disappointing.

>I've been looking for a replacement for our WDTV for playing ripped movies / music so I may invest later if media server software comes out.
maybe an Android-stick + xbmc would be an option ?
I currently waiting for an Android-stick with linux on it, so I can throw out my ShuttleXPC+openelec combo
maybe they were busy with all the hiring, backend stuff -servers. payment processors, licensing-, manufactoring-just look at the OP how that went- and all the little things that come before the ui is even an issue...
 
maybe they were busy with all the hiring, backend stuff -servers. payment processors, licensing-, manufactoring-just look at the OP how that went- and all the little things that come before the ui is even an issue...
Maybe I'm just missing something here (didn't follow the project very closely), but I thought they were "professionell" people (not some hobbyist guys like the op team)? They had more then 8 million USD at their hand, were did all that money go? Sure manufacturing, case controller development and legal issues cost of a lot of time and money. But the Gui looks more like a two month job for one professionell programmer (at least what can be seen on yt videos).
 
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Looking forward to having mine in June, think il hook it to an SD tv with an HDMI to Scart cable, so il be able to play emulated games in full retro goodness

I wonder if these Snes usb retro pads work on the Ouya
 
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Heh. 8 Million Dollars to produce a controller that sucks. Makes me look forward to the Archos Android console more than before. 
 
Its would be interesting to see the synergy between, the archos gamepad, jxd 7300 and nvidia shield, ouya and gamestick with all these controller supporting gamrs...and I must say my dreams are coming true...now just need a good, inexpensive gamepad with a good soc!
 
I've been looking for a replacement for our WDTV for playing ripped movies / music so I may invest later if media server software comes out.
maybe an Android-stick + xbmc would be an option ?
I currently waiting for an Android-stick with linux on it, so I can throw out my ShuttleXPC+openelec combo
What I currently do is rip our DVD's / CD's on my main PC onto an external USB hard drive that then plugs into the WDTV.

What I'd ideally like is to be able to rip the discs on my PC and then connect via network to the media player and move the files over.

We have a LAN throughout the house so that's not an issue, what I'm after is a box that will play a wide variety of media formats.

I know this is off topic so if there is another thread that covers this please move this to it or place a link here.
 
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