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Ouya now accepting bitcoin payments for system purchases
"Consoles? Please. I only play indie games on my Ouya. I bet you still use government-issued money, like all the plebes do. Meow." If you loathe fiat currency and love independently produced games, you're in luck. Ouya is now accepting bitcoin payments for its Android-powered microconsole, making it easier to support indie developers without using a credit card. A sense of superiority over your fellow humans is optional, but recommended. Currently, bitcoins are only accepted for the Ouya unit itself -- the platform's online storefront only allows players to buy games with a credit card. Company co-founder and CEO Julie Uhrman notes that PayPal support for store purchases is coming soon.
Pixeljam optimistic as Dino Run 2 Kickstarter runs toward extinction
Pixeljam has 30 hours to raise $110,000 on its Kickstarter for Dino Run 2. The page already has 1,550 backers and $65,000 – but its goal is $175,000. Pixeljam co-founder Miles Tilmann knows that getting funded at this point is a long (long) shot, but still, he's optimistic. "The logic centers in my brain say 'Signs Point To No,' but fortunately there's a lot more to the cosmos than the perception of a single person, or even a large group of people," Tilmann says. "Stranger things have certainly happened, and I've seen similar turnarounds in sporting events, telethons and of course Kickstarter campaigns. So, it's not over til it's over. We do not intend to throw in the towel until the very end." Plenty of Kickstarter projects have reached the same point as Pixeljam – just hours left to raise a ridiculous amount of cash – and they end up calling it quits, canceling the project early. Not Dino Run 2, Tilmann says: "I'm not really sure what the advantage is to canceling a project, except for freeing yourself from the obligation to promote it. We've put so much into this campaign, it would be a total disservice to ourselves, fans, backers and supporters to pull the plug. Like I implied before, statistical outliers are inevitable, and we have the same chance of becoming one as anybody else. Possibly more so. We have a pretty large following for the original Dino Run, and it could just be they are all the type of lazybones who doesn't take action until someone is blasting a horn in their face to get up off their butt. The final 48 hours of a campaign tend to be that horn." Make that the final 29 hours.
The Legend of Lobodestroyo is a game inspired by Banjo-Kazooie, yo
The Legend of Lobodestroyo Vs. La Liga De Los Villanos may take place in a world full of anthropomorphic animals like bandito chihuahuas, pirate parrots and wolf luchadores, but it's the real world, circa 1998 that developer Lefthanded Games wants to take you to - or at least, if not literally the place and time, they want to take you to the feeling you had that year when Banjo-Kazooie was released for the N64. Lobodestroyo is a 3D platformer inspired by such games, and is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. Players will take on the role of Mutt, a runt of the wolf pack that follows Lobodestroyo, protector and guardian of Costa Lucha. When Mutt awakens to find Lobo and the rest of his pack missing and La Liga de Los Villanos escaped, he takes up the pack's magical belt and begins a quest to avenge his brothers and dropkick the 10 villains of Los Villanos into submission. The campaign for Lobodestroyo has a little more than a week left, and at the time of writing, is sitting at about $12,000. The team's initial goal is $35,000, which will allow the game to release on PC, Mac, Linux, Ouya and Wii U. Lefthanded Games is participating in Ouya's Free The Games Fund, which means that Ouya will match the donated amount of money in exchange for a period of exclusivity on the system. At $39,000, the game will be ported to the PS4, and at $42,000, the game will come to nest on the Xbox One.
OUYA's revamped interface now available through 'Abominable Snowman' update
OUYA owners who've been eager for the console's big interface upgrade can relax, as it's reaching systems today. Now known as "Abominable Snowman," the update gives the Android device a much more visual control scheme that simplifies finding new games. The beauty is more than just skin-deep, though: there's also beta support for USB storage, the ability to queue downloads from the web and quicker access to the system menu. Gamers just have to check for an update to give their OUYA its much-appreciated makeover.
Limited edition white Ouya doubles down on storage
Ouya is offering a limited edition console for the holidays in North America. The white Ouya changes up the program by offering double (16GB) the internal storage space for $130, which is $30 more than the standard Ouya console. The console is up for pre-order through Ouya right now. All orders received prior to December 8 will guarantee the console arrives "in time for gifting." A new update, planned for later this month, will unlock external USB storage on all Ouya consoles. This new update also presents many changes to the UI and how games are listed in the "Discover" area. The next iteration of the Ouya hardware is planned for 2014.
Ouya's new all-white console comes with double the storage
With the PlayStation 4 now on sale and the Xbox One hitting stores this week, news of Ouya's latest console refresh comes at a busy time for gamers. With holidays closing in, it's unveiled a new limited edition all-white case for its Android-powered console, also doubling the system's internal storage to 16GB to store more games and important media. Ouya has already opened pre-orders with a $129.99 price tag ($30 more than the 8GB model), and if you order before December 8th, you should have it by Christmas. While the white model, with its expanded storage, is only available in North America, all is not lost -- Ouya's latest software update will bring support for USB storage (and many other new features) to older consoles when it arrives later this month.
Pier Solar HD to launch by March 2014, coming to PS3, PS4
Pier Solar HD, the Kickstarted remake of the Sega Genesis RPG Pier Solar, will be coming to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Watermelon Games President Tulio Goncalves announced in a Kickstarter update. This is in addition to the previously planned PC, Xbox 360, Wii U, Mac, Android, Linux, Ouya and Dreamcast versions. The initial release of Pier Solar HD has also been delayed and is now planned to launch by March 2014. In the initial update, Goncalves explained that repeated applications for the consideration of Pier Solar HD on the Xbox 360's Marketplace were not met with a response. After hearing about Microsoft's self-publishing program for the Xbox One, ID@Xbox, Goncalves applied for the program several times. Although the video update states Microsoft had not responded beyond a request for more information about the project, Watermelon Games has since commented on the post to confirm that Microsoft has contacted them. While it's not an outright confirmation that Pier Solar HD will reach either the Xbox 360 or Xbox One, the comment states that it "looks like good news will be coming along!"
Cyberpunk adventure 'Read Only Memories' from GaymerX founders
Read Only Memories plays out in 2064 Neo-San Francisco, when all forms of personal electronics have been replaced by little robot buddies called ROMs. As a young journalist, the main character must uncover the mystery of a vanished friend while surviving the feral streets of this future city. Read Only Memories takes inspiration from 90s adventure games, and one in particular: Snatcher, the cyberpunk adventure created by Hideo Kojima. Read Only Memories comes from Midboss Games, a newly established studio from the founders of GaymerX, a convention focused on queer issues in gaming. GaymerX was funded via Kickstarter in September 2012, and Midboss is looking for the same success with Read Only Memories. The team needs $62,064 by December 13 on Kickstarter, and it's part of Ouya's Free the Games Fund, meaning Ouya will match all pledges up to $62,000 if it all works out. The game is slated for PC, Mac, Ouya, iOS and Android, and Midboss wants to have a playable build ready for GaymerX2 in July. Read Only Memories has queer characters, but it isn't "a gay game," GaymerX founder Matt Conn says: "A lot of queer characters can be presented on an equal level with their straight counterparts. It's really important that we create more games that have queer characters in them, but the point is also not to shoehorn them in."
Ouya user interface getting facelift this month
Ouya will receive an update sometime in the next few weeks that will improve the system's user interface, Engadget reported. Upon installing the update, the Android-based micro-console's UI will more prominently feature cover art for games in sections like the "Discover" page. Additionally, double-tapping on games will pull up a new menu that offers game recommendations and allows users to purchase and "like" games. The update will also add support for external USB storage and the ability to add games to your Ouya queue via the console's web store. This month's system update will automatically add BombSquad and Amazing Frog: The Hopping Dead to players' download queues as well, though they'll need to purchase either game to play them to completion.
Daily Roundup: Hydrogen fuel cell USB charger, Tegra Note 7 review, Vine for Windows Phone and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
OUYA's streamlined new user interface arrives later this month
The OUYA user interface isn't what we'd call "ideal." The folks behind OUYA apparently realize that too, and today we've got the first look at some big updates that will be coming to the Android-based $100 game console sometime this month. A company spokesperson says a new designer was brought in to overhaul the UI so that it's easier to discover new games (and so that it's more pleasant to look at from 10 feet away). Additionally, the update includes some honest-to-goodness new features, including support for USB storage and the ability to queue games from the web (and OUYA's newsletters) so that when you go fire up the console they'll already be downloaded. Throughout, you'll notice a bigger emphasis on cover art -- in the "Discover" section, for instance, the menu headers have actually been made smaller to make room for larger game thumbnails. OUYA also made some subtle tweaks like showing all the game titles on the "Discover" page and going with a more consistent icon style. Not rocket science, exactly, but they're details that should add up to a cleaner browsing experience. Additionally, double-tapping will bring up the redesigned system menu, where you can purchase and like games. Here, you'll also find custom game recommendations -- not unlike what Microsoft has begun doing in the Windows Store.
Max Gentlemen, extreme manners hat-stacking sim, gets funded
Max Gentlemen, a game inspired by a spam email of the same name sent to Organ Trail developers The Men Who Wear Many Hats, has greatly surpassed its funding goal on Kickstarter. The game was seeking a mere $500 but ended up grossing over $12,000. At its core, Max Gentlemen is an arcade-style game about Victorian-era gentlemen seeing who can stack their hats the highest. Players must stack hats while avoiding obstacles across different venues, including the bar room brawl seen above. The original pitch video also reveals a stage coach level. Max Gentlemen will be a free download on iOS, Android, Ouya, PC, Mac and Linux. The game will feature several different modes, levels, hats, gentlemen and hat-stacking duels against other human players through cross-platform multiplayer. In addition to receiving the game, all Kickstarter backers get a fan-game from Brine Software called Boxing Simulator 1898.
Original Madden creator developing street basketball game Grudge Match
Robin Antonick, the original creator of the John Madden Football series, recently took to Kickstarter to fund his latest project, Grudge Match: Street Basketball. Grudge Match is an arcade-style basketball game in development for PC, Mac, Linux and Ouya by Antonick and co-founder Robert Lindsey's new startup, the Indie Sports Network (ISN). According to its website, the ISN's goal, to "be a disruptive force in the sports gaming industry," has a lot to do with its Indie Sports League, Market and Gym/Lab systems, which Grudge Match will use. The League is an online multiplayer modeled after Major League Baseball's farm system, indicating tiered "pro" levels and a leaderboard-style ranking system. ISN describes the Market as a place where players can buy and sell in-game creations "like eBay and iTunes for gamers." The Indie Sports Gym and Lab are the part of the ISN's operation that could cause the "disruption" that Antonick talks about in the project's Kickstarter pitch. The Lab features a coding and scripting system that allows players to create basketball stars, moves, and other in-game items to sell in the marketplace. Antonick envisions the creation system as a means of turning the players into developers as well, as Grudge Match seems to lean heavily on community-created content. The Kickstarter project is aiming to raise $500,000 by December 8, and the Indie Sports Network is currently planning to launch the game in late 2014 or early 2015. Antonick has been involved in an ongoing lawsuit with Electronic Arts over alleged unpaid royalties related to his work on the original John Madden Football game. A US District Court jury ruled in favor of Antonick in July, awarding him $11 million.
Destructamundo is a game about interplanetary destruction from Robotube Games
Destructamundo is a new puzzle game from Robotube Games, a smaller label acquired by Gaijin Games that operates out of the studio's Santa Cruz offices. In Destructamundo, players must aid a race of scavenging aliens whose only means of survival is to travel to various star systems and detonate planets in order to harvest the resources left behind. Each level is comprised of planets with orbiting satellites moving in a clockwise direction. Destroying planets is achieved by clearing its satellites, initiated by triggering an explosion that in turn chains together and causes more explosions throughout the level. The goal is to clear a level by setting off the least number of explosions. Simple. Jason Cirillo, an artist with Gaijin Games, was on-hand to demo the game at Double Fine's Day of the Devs gathering in San Francisco today. Cirillo said the goal was to launch Destructamundo for "about $1 or $2," hopefully "in January" or some time "early next year." The version I sampled was running on Ouya, one of the supported platforms, but Cirillo also added that iOS was part of the plan. Cirillo, unfortunately, wouldn't go into specifics regarding any other potential platform.
Uhrman: It's 'inevitable' major publishers will develop for Ouya
It's "inevitable" that big publishers will make games for Ouya, the company's CEO Julie Uhrman said at GamesBeat 2013. "The publishers are always late to the newest business models," she said. "Is it likely an Activision or an [Electronic Arts] will come to Ouya? Absolutely." Uhrman doesn't expect Activision to bring Call of Duty to her tiny Android console – the big publishers will make games specific to Ouya, she said: "The reason I don't have a Call of Duty or a Madden or a FIFA on Ouya is because there's a perfectly good place to play those games today. When those publishers come to us, they're going to bring the perfect game [for] our platform .... It won't be the same thing." This week, Uhrman announced Ouya would begin shipping with a redesigned controller later in the year, and the hardware would get an update in 2014, fulfilling the company's promise to relaunch the console annually.
Ouya 2.0 launching next year, improved controller planned for current version
Ouya company founder Julie Uhrman revealed that the Android-powered microconsole will begin shipping with a redesigned controller later this year as work begins on a hardware revision due in 2014. The new controller will address many issues customers cited with the original model, offering textured thumbsticks, more responsive triggers, and face buttons that no longer become stuck in the peripheral's faceplate. The improved controller may be difficult to spot at retail, however, as Ouya packaging will not reflect whether the redesigned accessory is included. "The feel of the controller today is actually probably a lot better than in June," Uhrman told Polygon. "Our goal is to build a great controller. We wanted to build something that was ergonomic, that had great weight, that had a great feel, that offered developers a different way to develop games by including a touch pad in the design." Uhrman additionally states that an improved version of the Ouya console itself is set to launch next year, delivering on the company's promise to launch revised hardware annually. The new console will feature backward compatibility with existing marketplace games, though hardware specs and a release date were not announced.
Ouya CEO open to cloud gaming, Discover store on third-party hardware
Ouya Inc. has offered support for cloud gaming service OnLive from the launch of its open-ended gaming device, the Ouya. Once OnLive filed for bankruptcy, however, Ouya began talking with other vendors about supporting its platform, CEO Julie Uhrman's recent interview with VentureBeat revealed. Uhrman stated that there is "absolutely a role for cloud gaming on Ouya," but did not offer specifics as to which service the company is considering partnering with other than "all the ones that you're thinking." More curiously, Uhrman said she's also open to the idea of Ouya's Discover store appearing on third-party hardware. The hypothetical deal would work only if the partner's product offered "the exact same specifications" as future Ouya devices in order to avoid fragmentation for developers.
Ouya will begin shipping with a redesigned controller, but you won't know until you open the box
Anyone who's picked up an Ouya, or demoed one in-store, knows that the controller, with its sticky buttons and flimsy removable plates, could do with a lot of help. Company founder Julie Uhrman's aware of the issue and, in an interview with Polygon, she revealed that a new version of the Ouya controller is already on the production line. Taking the abundant consumer feedback into account, the company's phased out the old model and made some key fixes, including more secure triggers, improved thumbstick grips and buttons that (hopefully) don't get stuck in the controller's base. Whether or not you'll actually find one at retail is a bit of a crapshoot, however, as Uhrman said the packaging won't highlight the change. Uhrman also touched upon news of the Ouya 2, the release of which falls in line with previous reports of an annual update cycle. Specs for that next console haven't been finalized yet and, further, the company won't really be focusing on it until sometime in 2014. But when it does arrive next year, you can expect to see it receive an slight cosmetic update from designer Yves Behar.
Ouya retail presence expands to all Target locations
The Ouya's brick and mortar retail presence will grow to include 1,800 Target locations, Ouya founder Julie Uhrman told Polygon. While the Ouya has existed within Target stores for some time, its availability has been limited to select locations, rather than every location, as will be the case now. The Android microconsole's retail packaging has been spruced up to take advantage of its new-found exposure, Uhrman said. Target will push the device in its winter circular, through video adverts in its electronics departments and with special displays starting in December, though the Ouya's expanded availability goes into effect this month. Demo units are planned for early next year – Uhrman called production of the kiosks "incredibly expensive," a fact compounded by the necessity to design a wired controller for the system. In related news, Ouya is also in the process of negotiating availability at Wal-mart. "I would expect something, us to announce something with them soon," Uhrman said.
Rose and Time returns to Ouya following funding program changes
Indie puzzler Rose and Time returned to Ouya after the game was pulled from the store in September by its developer, Sophie Houlden. The "time-travel stealth" game was initially removed from Ouya's store during the height of the controversy surrounding the console manufacturer's Free the Games Fund, a program designed to match funds donated by crowdfunders for timed-exclusive Ouya games on Kickstarter. In her latest blog, Houlden wrote that "at the time a lot of developers besides myself were upset at how the free the games fund was going and said so." Games like Gridiron Thunder, which received $171,009 on Kickstarter thanks to a handful of suspicious backers, and the Ouya-suspended Elementary, My Dear Holmes were the center of attention for the funding program's detractors. Ouya's response to the criticism at the time was to assert that the the Free the Games Fund would not be changed, prior to being overhauled a week later. Addressing that decision, among other decisive missteps during a recent talk at the XOXO Festival in Portland, Oregon, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman said the company "did not think about all the different ways people could take advantage of that kind of program," She later added that the Ouya team "didn't have enough rules around the program and people took advantage of it out the gate. So having the best intentions isn't always best. But you have to be quick to hear the feedback no matter how painful it is and iterate and change as you go." As for Houlden's decision to bring Rose and Time back to the Ouya store, she wrote that "The Free the Games Fund was changed, none of the scam games received a single cent of the fund, the company admitted its mistakes, and was asking for yet more feedback to further improve things," concluding that she is "confident at this point that I can no longer justify keeping the game off the console."