“The rumors of my death
have been greatly exaggerated”
Mark
Twain
Smartphones
and Tablets are killing off everything as prognosticated in my Geezam blog article entitled “How
the Apple iPad killed Ultrabooks, Printing and the Mouse as the World
Rediscovers Tablets”, with Android leading the Charge. Folks, this is
basically the power of Open Source on Display as Open Source is finally getting
its day in the sun.
It’s
only fitting that the same thing that heralding the death of these products is
fuelling it gradual resurrection from near Dead as in the case of Video Game Consoles
as predicted in my Geezam blog article
entitled “Console
Gaming’s Downfall – Future is up in the Clouds”. I’m of course referring to
the Open Source Open Architecture Google Android powered Video Gaming Console
Ouya.
Designed
by American Game Console Developer Boxer8, they launched their on Kickstarter
Campaign for US$900,000 on July 2012 with a simple idea: Bring back Gaming Consoles
from near Death to a HDMI capable TV set near you as at a price everyone can
afford noted in the article “Game
Console Ouya to bring Gaming back to the TV”, published July 10, 2012 6:43
AM PDT by Donna Tam, CNET News.
Smartphones
began with Google Android, who stole Apple iPhone’s Thunder. So it’s quite
fitting that Gaming Consoles are seeing something of a low cost revival via the
development of a US$99 Open Source Gaming Console Ouya by Gaming veteran and Boxer8
Founder Julie Uhrman.
Her
Kickstarter campaign to raise funds already had achieved its lofty goal of
US$900,000 in less than one day, hitting the stratospheric heights of US$2.5
million on the July 10th 2012 as stated in “Open-source
Ouya Gaming platform killing it on Kickstarter”, published July 10, 2012
11:06 PM PDT by Eric Mack, CNET News.
By
August 2012, they’d stopped their campaign after achieving a phenomenal US$8.5
million dollars, a strong indication of the level of support an interest in the
idea of an Open Source Gaming Console as stated in the article “Ouya
Console ends Kickstarter campaign $8.5 million richer”, published August 9,
2012 8:24 AM PDT by Rich Brown, CNET News.
Her
company’s business model, curiously enough, is a lot like Apple's App Developer
model, with a 70/30 split between Game Developers and Boxer8, the builders of
the Open Source Ouya Console. Games are based on the Freemium model as
described in my Geezam blog article
entitled “Smartphones
and Apps – Freemium Games are No. 1”, with ability to try games first
before buying them at prices significantly lower than currently is available in
the Gaming World.
But
more interestingly is the Open Source and Open Architecture part of the Ouya
Game Console's design; it built to be modified, both in terms of using Open
Source Google Android, which means it's capable of playing Games from the
Google Play App Store straight out of the box and then fact that it's easy to
physically open up and modify.
Boxer8
Founder Julie Uhrman and her team have now released their US$699 Ouya Dev Console
package for those who funded their development from a very successful Kickstarter
campaign as noted in “Ouya
game Consoles now on their way to Developers”, published December 28, 2012
9:10 AM PST by Lance Whitney, CNET News. The Ouya Dev Console package
contains the following goodies:
1. An
official welcome letter
2. Translucent
Ouya Gaming Console
3. 2
translucent controllers with batteries
4. Power
adapter
5. HDMI
cable
6. Micro-USB
cable
The
Fully developed Ouya Gaming Console, which reminds me of a much smaller version
of the Nintendo GameCube, can be ordered from Ouya Purchase page for US$99, with US$30
for an extra Controller.
Already Ouya’s got competition with yet another
Kickstarter funded Google Android powered Gaming Console aptly titled GameStick.
GameStick’s Console-in-a-Controller design concept being developed by British
Game Console Developer PlayJam and now seeking fund on Kickstarter since
January 2013, seems to have more in common with the Raspberry Pi than an actual
Gaming Console as reported in “GameStick
Portable Gaming Console cruises on Kickstarter”, published
January 4, 2013 1:29 PM PST by Eric Mack, CNET News.
Their concept is blessedly simple, as it’s also aimed at
making Console Gaming on HDMI capable TV Sets possible. The GameStick, which
PlayJam has decided to sell for US$99, consists of a Controller with a Swiss
Army knife foldout USB Controlled shaped Gaming Console.
Once removed, it slides into any HDMI (High Definition
Media Input) port on any TV and communicates back to the Game Controller via
Bluetooth to create a Gaming Console that’s completely wireless and very Portable.
Sorta like a USB Stick computer as described in my Geezam blog article entitled “FX
Tech debuts Cotton Candy – Sweet Android Gingerbread USB Stick Mini PC” and also Kemory’s
Geezam blog article entitled “Turn
your TV into a “Smart TV” running Android 4.1”.
The specs are not too shabby either:
1. Amlogic 8726-MX Processor
2. Android Jelly Bean OS
3. 1GB DDR3/8GB FLASH Memory
4. Content Download Manager with cloud storage for games.
5. 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
6. Full 1080p HD video decoding
7. Bluetooth version 4.0
8. Support for up to four controllers via Bluetooth, namely a three-mode Controller,
gamepad, mouse, and keyboard
The portability and wireless Controller of these Open
Source Gaming Consoles nature makes a strong selling point for both Ouya and
GameStick. Coupled with the fact that they are powered by Google Android and
thus able to play any Google Play App Store Game (albeit not legally!)
available via the Cloud, I’m compelled to finally declare that the Gaming
Industry is both saved and Screwed. Depending, of course, on whether Nintendo
and Sony PlayStation will play nice and port their Games to these Open Source
Google Android based Portable Gaming Consoles,
The
same resurrecting power of Google Android seems poised to breathe life back not
only into Console Gaming but also handheld Gaming, also dying at the hands of
the Mobile Computing Revolution, also as predicted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Nintendo and
Sony vs Smartphones and Tablets: Post – Portable Gaming Era”.
This
as Nvidia’s announced Project Shield at CES 2013 earlier in the First week of
January 2013, their first foray into the world of Handheld Gaming World powered
by a Quad-Core Tegra 4 Chipset as noted in Kelroy’s Geezam blog article entitled “Nvidia shows off “Project
Shield” mobile Gaming Console”.
Nvidia thus represents the first tech heavyweight to throw
themselves behind the idea of Developing and Open Source Google Android based
Handheld as noted in the article
“Nvidia announces own 'Shield' Gaming device at CES”, published January 6, 2013 9:36 PM PST by Jessica
Dolcourt, CNET News and “Nvidia’s
Shield stole CES, but we aren’t sold yet”, published
January 14, 2013, By Ryan Fleming, DigitalTrends.
Hopefully
the Big Gaming Developers will take heed and design their own Open Source and
Open Architecture Gaming Consoles or face accelerated extinction at the hands
of these debutantes.
Samsung
comes to mind as an example of a company that used Google Android to power
itself to meteoric success as noted in the stats from analysts Gartner in “Samsung
outdoes Apple 2-to-1 in smartphones; Nokia falters”,
published October 26, 2012 5:45 AM PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News
and IDC in “Smartphone
sales up 47 percent as Android increases its lead”,
published November 14, 2012 3:21 AM PST by Zack Whittaker, CNET News.
Now
of course Samsung is making yet another foray by partnering with Intel and
rebuilding the MeeGo Project into its own Open Source smartphone and Tablet OS
named Tizen as stated in my blog
article entitled “Samsung's
Tizen, Firefox OS and Ubuntu OS to unseat Google Android by 2015 - How Linux
and HTML 5 are Oz the Great and Powerful for Open Source”.
Open
Source and HTML5 friendly Firefox OS and
Ubuntu OS are also vying for the hearts and minds of smartphone users, Mobile
Handset makers and Telecom Operators, albeit they have to speed up their
development cycles and have device ready before year end supported by major
low-cost handset makers, such as Huawei. All in a bid for a slice of the App
Economy Pie owned by Apple App Store and Google Play App Store and the rapidly
growing Mobile Computing market globally.
The
same thing is now happening in the Console and Portable Gaming world funded by
Kickstarter. The
Stand Up Guys (2012) are making Open Source and Open
Architecture a $ellebrity
(2012) by Kickstarting the design of Console and Portable
Gaming systems that are Wireless and Portable. And based on the response on
Kickstarter to both of these Projects, it’s exactly what the Gaming Developer
and Gaming Community wanted all along.
Apple,
where are you with regards to the Development of a USB Stick Computer that’s
portable and can play high-end Video Games?
No comments:
Post a Comment