NEW YORK (AP) — Ouya, maker of a bite-sized game console that runs Google’s Android operating system, wants to take a bite out the video game triumvirate of Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.
The console, which went on sale Tuesday for $100, lets players try games for free before buying them, a selling point Ouya (pronounced oo-yah) CEO Julie Uhrman often makes to underscore that gamers who use consoles made by “the big three” can’t test games before they spend as much as $60 to purchase them.
“We are definitely disrupting the console market,” Uhrman says. “I mean, there’s been no startup that has had a meaningful impact on the market in decades, and we’re the first. We offer something different.”
So far, Ouya’s pitch seems to be working. The underdog console had sold out on Amazon.com and on Target’s website by Tuesday afternoon. It is available at other outlets, including Best Buy and GameStop.
The Ouya game cube measures about 3 inches on each side and hooks up to a TV set. The console comes with a single controller. Additional controllers cost $50.
There are nearly 180 games available for Ouya, ranging from the likes of “Crazy Cat Lady” to the more established “Final Fantasy III” from Square Enix. The company says more games are on the way. There are also some non-gaming apps, such as online music service TuneIn Radio.
The games are sold through Ouya’s storefront, not Google Play, the app store where people buy games for Android tablets and mobile devices. Pricing is left up to individual game developers; many games are in the single digits. “Final Fantasy” is an exception at $16. Ouya takes a 30 percent cut from the game developers.
While you won’t find “Grand Theft Auto IV” or the latest “Call of Duty” among the available titles, there are plenty of others from independent developers whose games may never make it onto the dominant consoles, Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo’s Wii. While Ouya lacks recent blockbuster games with high-end graphics. But at a fraction of the price (the Xbox One will cost $500 and the PlayStation 4, $400), it appeals to budget-conscious gamers, gadget geeks and those looking for an alternative to gaming power-trio.
