Ouya responds to skepticism

Ouya has responded to a series of criticisms leveled at it after its massively successful Kickstarter brought it into the limelight.

Speaking with Eurogamer, when asked if five million dollars - roughly its current level of funding - could fund the launch of a system that could compete with Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, CEO of Ouya Julie Uhrman responded with the following:

"We've raised enough to build a great product, just as we planned. Part of what we're doing is creating something that shows in gaming 'less is more' -- we don't need custom chips, or expensive first-party games, we just need to make an open system that supports great games. More certainly helps, though: the more we raise, the more we can create a great service for game developers, with better tools, and more gamers for them to reach with their games. More game developers means more, better games - and that's better for gamers."

One of the greatest concerns about the self-described hackable device is that piracy would run rampant. This weekend our resident skeptic Rich Stanton claimed that "This [Ouya] will be the easiest system in history on which to pirate software" in his Saturday Soapbox.

Uhrman explained, "OUYA will be just as secure as any other Android-powered device. In fact, because all the paid content will require authentication with OUYA's servers, we have an added layer of security. Hacking and openness are about getting what you want to do with the hardware. Rooting the device won't give you any more access to the software."

There was also some skepticism about Minecraft running on it. In the pitch video Uhrman said Notch's build-em-up would be, yet it was never shown running, nor had it been confirmed by Mojang, despite the developer giving his approval in an ad-quote on the Kickstarter page.

"No, we haven't tested Minecraft on our hardware," said Uhrman. However, "Mojang approved everything we said in our video, and clarified... that if we build the product as promised, Minecraft and other Mojang games will be on it. Notch has also personally supported the Kickstarter with a very generous pledge."

"We have tested a handful of games," Uhrman noted. "Including Shadowgun as we showed in our video."

Another worry about the Android-based platform is that it would mostly be catered towards the sort of games tailored towards mobile play. "I love Tiny Wings, but I don't want to play it on the TV," said Stanton.

To this Uhrman replied, " We believe many developers will create games especially for Ouya, built for the TV. It will be the most open, most straightforward, least costly way for any game developer to get their game on a TV."

She further clarified, "We believe many of the franchises that were originally built for mobile - because that's where the developer was able to publish them - will also adapt well to TV's. But Ouya is not about playing mobile games on a TV."