June 28, 2013
Feedback submitted!Unable to submit feedback! It's not what I had hoped for, but it's pretty much what I expected. The Ouya is a great little machine, as long as you put it in the right perspective. When I backed this project, I hoped I'd be receiving a magical device that would allow me to pack up my PS3 and Xbox and permanently move my laptop to its bag instead of its perch next to the TV. I hoped the controllers would instantly transport me back in time to when I could actually beat a Mega Man game without dying 500 times (per level). I hoped that I would be able to install and enjoy the vast quantity of android apps in the Amazon app store and on Google Play without repurchasing ANYTHING.HOWEVER:I expected to get an android device with a locked interface that is a little more powerful than a smartphone that is easy to install in my living room, and a couple Bluetooth controllers of unknown quality and usefulness. That is what I received; no more, no less.When I first powered the device up (in early June), I was taken aback at how few applications were available, and how most of the decent ones were emulators. A couple of the kid's games were good enough to keep around for my 4-year old, and the Bard's Tale demo was surprisingly good; if I didn't already own that game (twice), I might have purchased it.I tried out several emulators, and they worked quite well with the 'non-commercial' roms I tried on it. One can assume they would work just as well with anything else one might choose to load on their SD card.Controllers:The design is good, and fits well in my hand. I thought the D-pad was better than many, and the sticks performed pretty well. As far as I could tell I didn't experience any input lag on the physical controls.The touchpad is utter garbage. I only used it when I absolutely had to, because it is slow, unresponsive and inaccurate. I hope this is a driver issue.Hardware quality:I received two controllers. One works very well; no lag, buttons all work. The other is erratic, and frequently causes input to be stuck on one of the sticks. I'll be trying to get it replaced shortly; I may be writing a review on their customer service department in a couple weeks.Other features:When I finished with the games, I admit I was pretty disappointed. I was expecting much more out of this machine; I can only hope it improves with developer support and time. I moved on to its 'undocumented features'.They do NOT make it easy to install your own things on the Ouya. It's not quite as bad as an iphone, but it certainly isn't as easy as it ought to be. I had to install a file explorer app through the built-in web browser, and I downloaded all the .apk files for apps I wanted onto a usb drive before attempting to install anything else; having to navigate the web is a real pain.I finally got the Humble Bundle app, Amazon Appstore and XBMC installed. I was quite disappointed with most of the games I tried to play that weren't built for the Ouya; if it doesn't have controller support built in, it plays terribly. XBMC was great. I have the Ouya connected via ethernet and I was able to directly access full quality 1080p mkv and anything else I tried via SMB without stutter or artificing. Unfortunately, as of this writing I have not procured anything that allows me to control the ouya through my home theatre remote. It's likely something will be available if it isn't already, but right now you're stuck with the ouya controller.Conclusion:Like every other Android device I've owned, you can either choose to live with the way it comes configured, or you can root it and change things. Right out of the box, the Ouya is a mediocre console with zero media capability. I can't recommend it to anyone who isn't a tinkerer. I haven't rooted mine yet since that disables the Ouya market, but right now I don't really see that being inconvenient.At $99, I still think the Ouya is a good buy for the techie, but it definitely needs a lot of work before I'd buy one for someone else.