Ouya is ready for its close-up. After a remarkably successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $8 million last June, the startup will release its eponymous Ouya game console to retailers on June 4, it said on Thursday evening. The $99 box aims to disrupt the television gaming market the way that the iPhone upended the world of portable games, by allowing any developer to craft inexpensive games. Based on an Android chipset, Ouya aims to keep costs low and encourage innovation in a way that traditional competitors can’t. Wired got its first hands-on time with a finished Ouya at the San Francisco offices of fuseproject, the design firm of Yves Behar, who created the tiny metal cube that houses Ouya. It’s still a little rough around the edges (there was a bit of controller lag and some crashes) but CEO Julie Uhrman seemed totally at peace with that.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with AI strategy, implementation and governance, as well as technology, media and marketing. Named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology, he is a bestselling author, covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN, and writes the popular daily business blog Think About This. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.