If you’ve been tracking the tech news over the past 48 hours, you’ll have seen a new name crop up with increasing regularity: Ouya. Currently in a prototype, the design studio behind the project are raising funds via Kickstarter to bring the concept to living rooms worldwide. Gamers have been overwhelmingly positive in their response – with roughly $3.5 million already pledged in the first 48 hours alone, the console looks almost certain to become a reality.
So what exactly are people buying?
This is not a games console in the traditional sense. Ouya seeks to change the relationship between developer, platform owner and consumer. Instead of having expensive development kits and closely guarded marketplace access, the team behind Ouya are keen to make it as easy as possible for developers to get on to their platform, using pricing and payment models that are right for them. By building their own console, rather than relying on someone else’s platform, the team behind Ouya can control each point in the process.