When it comes to creativity and innovation, the videogame industry is on life support. I've wrote about this a bit earlier in the month in regards to Nintendo and its new console the Wii U. The only innovation we see in videogames is the innovation in marketing and the way the Big Three (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) turn their consumers into fanboys and defenders of their product. If you really think about this generation of videogame consoles, can you honestly name one unique game that couldn't of existed on the prior consoles?
While graphics have improved, gamers are still subjected to a slew of sequels, remakes, and rehashes instead of genuinely new games. The industry doesn't want to spend the money to make genuinely new games so they live off gimmicks, in-game purchases, downloadable content, pre-order content, trophies/achievements, and really anyway to get you to spend your money in their digital stores.
On the other side of all this bullshit is the new console announced a few weeks ago called the “OUYA.” It's a small project based on the Android operating system with a focus on being cheap, open source, and bringing free-to-play and inexpensive games to your HD TV. It's going to debut next March for 99$, and only after a few weeks, some of the bigger game developers have already announced they'll be releasing their Android based games for it.
OUYA mon!
The best part of the OUYA is the idea of a collaborative console. The entire thing is open source, meaning anyone can change, alter, or do anything they want to their OUYA without voiding an agreement or warranty. This means you actually own the product you buy and can do with it how you please, which is something that drives me crazy about the current consoles. (Seriously, why doesn't my Wii play DVD movies when the games are on DVDs and why can't I legally make it do so myself?) The reason why our phones are completely awesome these days is because of the collaborative and open source nature of their development and the OUYA is bringing this idea to console gaming. It's the games without all the strings attached that come with the modern consoles.
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I've got no strings so I have fun. I'm not tied up to anyone. They've got strings but you can see there are no strings on me!
So far, the OUYA has been an internet success and has raised a crap load of money. They have over 45,000 backers on Kickstarter but I worry about this console breaking into the industry because of the negativity that surrounds anything different. Consumers for some reason defend the Big Three with a fervor and passion I will never be able to comprehend. I doubt this console will attract the Call of Duty, Madden, Assassin's Creed, Halo, Gears of War, Grand Theft Auto etc. gamers and the OUYA has already generated a lot of negativity because of this. People don't want innovation or real freedom with their consoles or games, (or anything really) they want to play the same thing they played before with a shiny coat of paint.
The current game industry has carefully created this fanboy culture and it acts as a defense mechanism against anything trying to enter the gaming market. These consumers defend their gaming “brand” and for some reason they don't see that these companies are getting filthy rich off of business practices that are questionably ethical at best. The games could and should be cheaper, and we deserve to be treated like the loyal customers we are. What we have right now is an industry that knows they have loyal customers just because people like videogames, so they do whatever despicable thing that they can think of to make more money. It isn't right, and I for one do not like feeling like a cash cow. Hopefully there are more things like the OUYA that look to change this in the future.
In general there is this public conception that if something is cheaper or free that it is somehow inferior. The people who are currently supporting the OUYA may not know if it's going to be successful commercially and they probably don't care. Just because something sells does not mean it is actually good. I bet a lot of OUYA supporters are just tired of the the downright awful practices of the current videogame industry and see the OUYA as a vehicle for changing it. I know I do.
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