The Ouya is an interesting experiment in a number of ways. It is an experimental console, funded using an experimental method, and run in an experimental way.
For those who haven’t heard of the Ouya before, it is a gaming console that went for a rather untraditional route for its development. Nearly six months ago, the Ouya launched on Kickstarter, aiming to raise money towards the development of a more open console that would welcome hacking and rooting. The KickStarter was one of the most successful ones ever, with 63,416 backers contributing a total of just over eight and a half million dollars ($8,596,474).
The Ouya is a Tegra3-based device running Android 4.0 and will be able to run most Android software. Another interesting aspect of the console is a somewhat open store, where any developer can sell their games or apps. An important point of the store is that every game has to follow a free-to-play / demo model; so each paid game needs to provide some sample of its experience for free.
As expected, the idea of a small group of people creating a console has been met with much scepticism, but some concerns should be laid to rest as the initial developer versions of the console have started shipping out, and developers can check it out for themselves. The current version is only for developers though and does not have any games or apps yet.
Here you can see a game developer showing the Ouya running his game:
For developers hoping to target the platform, the Ouya is still available for purchase on the Ouya website. Developers can also download the free and open source SDK for the console and start making an testing games. The SDK can be downloaded from the Ouya developers site.
You can also check out the official unboxing video for the Ouya console:
