The Ouya has experienced a rather lamentable decline following its $8.5 million Kickstarter campaign in 2012. It was the first major microconsole, but didn’t end up being the trendsetter everyone hoped it would be. Even though it had 840 games a year after its June 25, 2013 launch, the system didn’t take hold. There are over 1,000 programs now available for the device, but debts have piled up and Ouya is looking to sell to pay off the money owed. It’s a regretable, and forseeable, result.
I mean, I like the Ouya. I originally picked one up at Goodwill for less than half the retail price and was happy with it. The little box has served me well enough to earn a place on my TV stand alongside my PS3, PS4, and Wii U, thanks to official releases and an array of sideloaded apps from Humble Bundles, the Amazon App Store, and other sources. I was pleased, but it clearly wasn’t the revolution some expected.
The controller has always been a problem, for one. Even after acquiring a newer one, there were precision issues. Playing anything too intensive was a chore, and trying to pick and plot a library that never demanded too much was a disservice to the box’s capability. I knew it could handle better games, but it wasn’t possible with the equipment at hand.
Speaking of which, the need for newer models hurt the Ouya as well. As someone who’s now familiar with iOS and Android gaming, one of my greatest laments is the way in which Android games seem to outpace device capabilities. My iPhone’s battery may waste away in a single afternoon, but at least it’s capable of handling both old and new games. It’s more than I can say for my Nexus tablet and Ouya. Keeping up seems to be too much.
Not that it matters much. The Ouya may have a library of over 1,000 at this point, but how many of those games are people interested in actually playing? The answer is, not many. Finding gems, things truly worth playing, is rare, especially since you can probably enjoy the really good ones on another platform with better controls and performance.
It feels like the Ouya never had a chance, something especially unfortunate given recent developments. The debt is being called in right as the microconsole’s content will appear on Alibaba devices in May 2015. Even then, it may not have helped much. Arrangements were made to get Ouya content on Mad Catz’s M.O.J.O. and Xiaomi’s products. It doesn’t seem either effort yielded substantial success.
Microconsoles seem to be finding a niche. Companies are still making them, at least. Amazon has the Fire TV, Razr its Forge TV, Google put out a Nexus Player, and there’s the aforementioned Mad Catz’s M.O.J.O., of course. It’s a shame that others seem to be still searching for relevance and a foothold, when one of the most promising initial products is in a sad spiral. While it would be nice to hope the Ouya finds a buyer and stability, I fear an inevitable outcome. As quaint a device as it may be, the Ouya won’t be making a comeback.