I think they are going for a small niche and they are doing a fairly good job at it. They are trying to make a small handheld that will be capable of emulating classic games (granted mostly from the 16 bit and back era) plus homebrew games. They could have gone with a touch screen capable device that was running Android but most of the open source android systems that come out are a bit spotty and the build quality tends to be rather poor. The system is basically a spiritual successor to the Dingoo A320 which has a decent following for both homebrew games and emulation. Of course the specs are ramped up a bit seeing as the Dingoo A320 came out awhile ago. Some options would have been nice though (second analog stick,larger screen,etc) but those all would have impacted the cost and battery life of the device. They definitely don't want a repeat of the Pandora system that has excellent specs and battery life but ended up costing around $600. So I think for the market they are aiming for this will be a nice device and if it takes off they can try to branch out more with the next system if needed.
The Video Game Kickstarter Thread of the Future of Passing the Risk to the Consumer
- Thread starter Frank
- Start date
That's all very well, but the primary point stands - spec-wise, it's quite low end, even compared to those taiwanese knockoff systems that do the same thing. Right now, they're essentially asking people to pay double over those knockoffs, and there's no reason to believe (so far), that the gaming experience will be any better. The Ouya is at least claiming decent play quality for a low, low, price.
Now granted I don't have a unit so I have no clue how it actually plays but there are about 40 units that have been sent out already for developers and so far they are all enjoying it. I personally think the price seems a little higher compared to some of the Chinese/Taiwanese systems running Android but as I mentioned most of the reviews for those aren't overly positive. Now since the system isn't out yet I can't say for certain it is better but from what I have been reading it seems like it will be better for the most part. As I said they are aiming for a small group of people and those who it is aimed for should be fairly happy with the system. Now people who are wanting more power to play more graphically powerful systems would probably be better off else buying another system. The Dingoo A320 (which as I stated earlier this is a spiritual successor) originally retailed for around $80 - $90 so given the increase in secs I don't think the price is that large of a jump. (still a little high I suppose but not by that much)
The ouya is a funny machine. It's cheap, it doesn't have great specs, but what it does have is an existing catalog of hundreds of thousands of android games that are easily converted, and a profit structure for developers.
This little handheld has existing games, most of which are going to be pirated (despite the "you must have legal rights to the roms you play) and some of which are existing linux games that, while fun for awhile, are not exactly AAA industry titles.
Further, it has no profit structure for developers. There's no "money in the bank" so why should game developers even consider this system?
And on top of all that it has very low hardware specs. Either they are making it wrong, or they have set their profit margin way too high.
If it had fantastic specs (real value for the money) then people would buy it.
If it had a catalog of existing great games that were playable or easily ported, people would buy it.
If it had a strong profit structure for game developers then people would buy it.
Right now it has none of those three pillars.
All it has is, "Look! It's a retro console with real buttons and joystick!"
It has a very small market. Good luck to them - other similar consoles like the GP32 had a good run, and have a dedicated community. If they are successful, they might branch out and fix at least one of those three aspects above.
But they should have gone into kickstarter with a stronger case. Even a strong hint at one of those three being on the future plans list would have gone a long way to capturing more interest. If they said, "We will port android to it" they would have reached their goal right at the beginning.
With only 13 days left, currently falling so short of their goal, and already having been listed in so many publications, I suspect that it's simply not going to make it. They haven't sold enough people on their vision for the console.
This little handheld has existing games, most of which are going to be pirated (despite the "you must have legal rights to the roms you play) and some of which are existing linux games that, while fun for awhile, are not exactly AAA industry titles.
Further, it has no profit structure for developers. There's no "money in the bank" so why should game developers even consider this system?
And on top of all that it has very low hardware specs. Either they are making it wrong, or they have set their profit margin way too high.
If it had fantastic specs (real value for the money) then people would buy it.
If it had a catalog of existing great games that were playable or easily ported, people would buy it.
If it had a strong profit structure for game developers then people would buy it.
Right now it has none of those three pillars.
All it has is, "Look! It's a retro console with real buttons and joystick!"
It has a very small market. Good luck to them - other similar consoles like the GP32 had a good run, and have a dedicated community. If they are successful, they might branch out and fix at least one of those three aspects above.
But they should have gone into kickstarter with a stronger case. Even a strong hint at one of those three being on the future plans list would have gone a long way to capturing more interest. If they said, "We will port android to it" they would have reached their goal right at the beginning.
With only 13 days left, currently falling so short of their goal, and already having been listed in so many publications, I suspect that it's simply not going to make it. They haven't sold enough people on their vision for the console.
I agree that they should have gone into the Kickstarter with more info regarding their plans for the future. But they do have some people already porting games over
Also a lot of the games that the fan community has created for the Dingoo A320 should be fairly easy to port over to the GCW-Zero,. So that should give it a decent selection of homebrew games that could be available relatively soon after the system launches.
Also a lot of the games that the fan community has created for the Dingoo A320 should be fairly easy to port over to the GCW-Zero,. So that should give it a decent selection of homebrew games that could be available relatively soon after the system launches.
So, since I haven't seen anything for it yet, Dreamfall: Chapters, the next sequel to The Longest Journey, has a kickstarter now. With an AMA going on today at 2 pm EST.
Torment is on Kickstarter... I didn't even both to wait to finish the video before I funded it.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/torment-tides-of-numenera
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/torment-tides-of-numenera
You know why Planescape Torment is considered the best written game ever made? Because Chris Avellone wrote it. He also wrote pretty well every other video game that's ever been considered to have great writing. That Kickstarter is selling on the name Torment itself, it could turn out great, but it is missing a fucking key ingredient to what made the original so fantastic.
Chris Avellone sold off on the game, and he'd be involved if he wasn't busy with Wasteland 2 and Project Eternity. He even did a video explaining why he's confident they can do this.
Basically, it has many others who were key members of the original game, as well as Monte Cook, who's basically the Chris Avellone of the pen and paper market. There is no reason to be concerned.
Which is why I'm glad it's for 20/25 bucks.
Yeah, I could see it happening. They have 2 weeks and they could always lower it if they really wanted to. Chris will probably be on board.
So not video games but gaming related, Dwarven Forge launched a Kickstarter today that has already hit funding and is moving on into stretch goals now.
I want to buy around 10 sets but Mr. Bank account might have something to say about that.