OUYA: Android Game Console’s Secrets Raise Questions
While the OUYA — the Android-based, hackable video game console — is still raking in funds on its multi-million dollar Kickstarter project, the secretive nature of the project is raising questions for game developers. “How can the OUYA convince developers who are sitting on the sidelines to jump in?” asks Gree Vice President of Studio Operations Anil Dharni. “I am very interested, but where are the users? Where are the gamers?” Until three months ago, Dharni was the Chief Operating Officer of Funzio, which released three well-received titles on iOS and one on Android. He and CEO Ken Chui sold Funzio to Gree for $210 million, giving Gree, a Japanese social network that has been expanding aggressively into America, its own development team. Dharni says OUYA has two distinct advantages: it is using Android as its platform, and its focus is on the television market. He said the biggest challenge its makers face will be luring developers to create games that will have to be programmed diff...