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Gaming Monday, January 7th 2013 at 4:45 pm

OUYA Can Play Emulated Games, Will Likely Be Its Sole Purpose

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Well, ladies and gentlemen, it’s hardly been two weeks since OUYA development kits reached the hands of prospective and independent game developers everywhere, and already we’ve seen what may be the zenith of its potential. OUYA owners have been posting gameplay videos on the console’s official message boards demonstrating that the console meant to revolutionize the home video game market and provide an outlet for developers is pretty much being used to run emulations of classic games of the past instead, especially titles from the immensely popular Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 systems.

At the risk of speaking for others, we’ll hazard a guess that when the people behind OUYA’s development said they wanted to leave their mark on an industry, rampant piracy of two-decade-old games probably wasn’t exactly what they had in mind.

That said, when building a console upon open-source Android technology, you’re pretty much sending out an open invitation to a segment of the population that will take advantage of this fact to play games running on an Android emulator. Whether or not news of this will reach the ears of OUYA’s development team and result in emulator blocks remains to be seen, but taking no action could definitely hurt the console’s credibility and performance in the marketplace — if not result in outright legal action on the part of major first and third party developers who would suddenly have a large, consistent target upon which to vent their emulation frustrations.

So far, YouTube is rife with filmed OUYA emulator sessions showcasing games including Super Mario 64 and Street Fighter 2 — running off the Mupen64plus and SuperGNES emulators, respectively — as well as instructions for keyboard control optimization. From the starting gate, OUYA has shown plenty of promise and it would be a crying shame to see all the potential of a system like this go to more convenient emulation of Final Fantasy 3 and Streets of Rage.

(via Polygon, image via YouTube)

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  • http://twitter.com/Alonzos_Way Alonzo

    I have to disagree with a lot of this. The OUya devs have only been released for a week and people are just figuring out what the machine is capable of. There aren’t any games yet, so duh the test out emulators no big deal. Also, you said that developers would take out their frustrations on Ouya just because people run emulators on it? That’s nonsense, people have been running emulators on PCs for god knows how long and no one as ever tried to sue PC makers.

  • anonymous

    What a badly written and stupid article this is. Standard Windows PCs can also run these emulators. For the sake of consistency why not attack those too? Why single the Ouya out?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1745027821 Jeremy Pennini

    I’m hoping a Genesis port is available, so I can play Shining Forces II and Gemfire.

  • Jack Bond

    Nintendo has pretty strict views on piracy. I hope they hear about this and take action.

  • truth

    there isn’t an electronic device from the last 6 years with a color touchscreen on it that people haven’t tried to port/install emulators on…..ignorant nonsense….

  • truth

    not to mention how stupid your outlook on the Ouya is. despite the fact that you posted a story on a website with GEEK in the title, you put a product with FAR greater ability’s and potential then the products its most closely compared to (phones and tablets), down without ever even comparing sources. Im not going to list every reason to re-enforce your fail report here, but heres a simple one for ya. now assuming the ouya’s software isn’t a piece of crap which, even though you don’t seem to understand what a 20~30% complete software/firmware looks like, i do. So, with that said, comes potential performance.

    we have to compare the Ouya to a tablet since i cant think of a phone with the same Tegra T33 1.6Ghz processor that the Ouya possess. so again, assuming they are on the same chip processing ability performance level, the Ouya wins. Why? Easy:

    1. *GASP* it has a heat-sink AND fan!!! And space! Duh. I’m not even adding to that…

    2. no need for throttling your processor. Sure you HAVE 1.4Ghz in your phone, can you use it?

    3. No need to support limited/shared internal power.

    Simple stuff. And thats just one aspect of why your wrong.

    the ouya will be a standard for a few years. A powerful resource library will come as a result.

    greater price point potential for developers…. And i said i wasnt getting into it…. =)

  • http://twitter.com/nachtritter Duke Fleed

    Because of all the Ouya supporters who threw their money at it thinking some Android-running, ventless-box-with-a-fan(!) could play Mass Effect 3 and revolutionize gaming.

  • http://twitter.com/nachtritter Duke Fleed

    We don’t know what the machine is capable of? Huh, I don’t know, it’s a Tegra 3 in a box running Jelly Bean. What kinda gaming do you think an HTC One X+ is capable of?

  • truth

    FOOL. you simply don’t understand thermodynamics for starters. Its painfully simple why equivalent hardware, one enclosed in a tight, un-vented box, will under-perform compared to the open, vented, Heat-sinked, fan aided hardware. If ANYONE needs to have it broken down any more then that, you don’t belong posting here. I have no problem with people’s opinions, its opinions that are so far from a reality, its not a joke anymore, its a dangerous liability (like these new gun control reforms)

  • http://twitter.com/ProjectPanoptic Andrew Joyce

    Wait, I’m one of those people that threw their money at this thing.

    I was never told, nor did I ever think, that this would ever play a Mass Effect level game or revolutionize the gaming world.

    So, what do you have to say to me?

  • http://twitter.com/ProjectPanoptic Andrew Joyce

    Piracy of N64 games has been going on for years. Nintendo is well aware of the emulator market and has not lifted a finger to stop it as they have not been getting money for the N64 and earlier consoles for over a decade.

    It’s not hurting them financially, so they don’t care.

  • http://twitter.com/nachtritter Duke Fleed

    The OUYA *is* an enclosed, un-vented box.

  • truth

    I meant the processors proximity to the devices inner wall. But yes, the OuyaDev console DOES have vents around the bottom of the unit.

  • Anonymous

    The person that wrote this article should start searching for a new job, you’re not built for this.

  • fail

    God damn you just like to jump on that “piracy is bad” bandwagon every chance you get without any sort of research don’t you?

  • Fail

    Well then I kinda knew this was a leap of faith to invest it to begin with but emulators aren’t that bad.

  • http://twitter.com/nachtritter Duke Fleed

    I’ll have to take a closer look at the pics, I guess? Because it sure seemed useless to have a fan with no possibility of air flow.

  • Jack Bond

    1. I mostly meant it because I hate the Ouya and want to see it fail.
    2. False, Nintendo makes scads of money on their N64 games via Virtual Console.
    3. Whether or not they lose money is not a valid excuse to pirate, and it never has been.

  • Jack Bond

    Lol it is bad. That’s a given, and I’m not even going to humor your deluded self-righteous ass. It’s enough that illegal acquisition is against the terms of use of the software developers.

  • lmfao

    dear lord…is this “article” written by the dumbest idiot on the face of the earth?

  • Vanderhoth

    “1. I mostly meant it because I hate the Ouya and want to see it fail. ”

    That right there pretty much makes anything else you say irrelevant. If you’re going to, for no apparent reason, be blatantly bias toward something that hasn’t even been put in the hands of the final consumer yet then you have nothing constructive to contribute to a conversation.

  • DoYourResearch

    do better research it has slits where air flow is possible

  • Anonymous

    Errrr… FYI it is not illegal to emulate a video game. It may be illegal to have ROMs of video games, but that would be a crime committed by the user, not the console. Now please quit hating. Because hating is bad.

  • http://twitter.com/nachtritter Duke Fleed

    Welcome to 2 days ago.

    It still doesn’t change my initial stance in that it will not perform extraordinarily better than its technology and OS will allow. Which is that Ouya will not be much better than a tablet or a superphone in terms of the games you’ll find on it. The list of confirmed games is incredibly thin on resource-heavy software. Most of it is indie games, some of the biggest titles are Final Fantasy III (which has been available on smartphones for two years already) and Minecraft.

    People were asked what games they wanted to see.

    People answered games like Mass Effect. This is not what Ouya is for.

  • http://twitter.com/nachtritter Duke Fleed

    My reply was removed. I have no idea why. What I’d have to say to you is that you were one of the more level-headed Ouya supporters. You are not part of “all the Ouya supporters” who thought it “could play Mass Effect 3 and revolutionize gaming”. I didn’t say ALL the Ouya supporters are like that. Only some of them are. But they have been incredibly vocal in the social arena – polarizing the discussion about Ouya.

    My original comment was answering the question “why attack the Ouya”. Why? Because of all the people I’m talking about. Not the others like you, who got into it knowing what they were paying for.

    The Ouya has great potential for hacking (in the original sense of the word) for instance, it’s a good machine for hobbyists and enthusiasts. But it’s not going to compete on the same level as the PS4 or the XBOX 720 or the Wii U. It plays on another level, which is just as valid.

  • Anonymous

    I disagree, I think that the Ouya will appeal to a larger audience than just hobbyists and enthusiasts. It is not meant to compete on hardware capabilities with the other established consoles, but it certainly has enough power to deliver high quality games (quality is not exclusive to graphics only) at very low prices. If the OUYA team can get it into Walmart with a library of decent games they will have it made. That’s simply because all of those people around the globe that can’t afford a $400 dollar console and $60 games will be all over a $100 one with cheap, but quality games.

    “‘why attack the Ouya’. Why? Because of all the people I’m talking about.”
    Attacking a product because part of its community is fallacious. That’s like saying COD sucks because a bunch of 10 y/olds play it.

  • Anonymous

    “Which is that Ouya will not be much better than a tablet or a superphone in terms of the games you’ll find on it.”
    That is a too early to state. The SDKs have barely been released so we don’t know anything yet in terms of what games can be made. Devs can now develop games for a big screen and for multiple controllers, this will affect the games that are produces.

    Hardware wise it will outperform any tablet or phone just by the addition of cooling to the processor, that is no brainer.

    “The list of confirmed games is incredibly thin”

    They got about 24 games confirmed, half a dozen of entertainment apps, emulators and the ability of running virtually any game in the android play market. I would not call that thin.

    “People were asked what games they wanted to see.

    People answered games like Mass Effect. This is not what Ouya is for.”

    Two things:

    1.- I’d like to see where you are getting this from and the percentage of people that said that. 5 people out of thousands hardly represents the view of a community.

    2.- A game like Mass Effect can be any series of science fiction action role-playing third-person shooter video games. Regardless of graphics. So, yes you can have a game LIKE Mass Effect for Ouya.

  • Jack Bond

    That’s a leap of logic right there. Just because I want the right thing to be done for the wrong reasons, everything I ever say ever is false? I don’t think so. It doesn’t even concern my credibility.

  • Jack Bond

    Perhaps, but I’m pretty sure Nintendo won’t sit back while their competitor supports playing games that they have no rights to. It’s not the fault of the user in this case, because it’s a competing console that is totally open to playing games that infringe on Nintendo’s copyrights. Maybe or maybe it’s not against the law, but it does seem questionable enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo took action. And again, I hope they do, because Ouya is retarded.

  • http://twitter.com/nachtritter Duke Fleed

    I’m afraid you’re overestimating the brand power of Ouya. Plus, the ‘alternative-console’ market is at risk of fragmenting: with the success of Ouya’s backing, you might see more people try to get their share of the lunch. It’s already happening with the GameStick.

    I’m sorry, but I just don’t see the Ouya as being a disruptive enough technology to become popular outside of its established fan-base. I’ll be happy to be proven wrong a year or two down the line, but I stand by my opinion that it will not appeal to a much larger crowd than it already does now.

  • http://twitter.com/nachtritter Duke Fleed

    #1 doesn’t make the other points any less valid. However it may seem to taint the rest of the arguments.

  • http://twitter.com/nachtritter Duke Fleed

    wtf, why do moderators delete the message where I link to the source for your question #1 ??!

  • truth

    if NINTENDO does ANYTHING about Nintendo emulators on the Ouya, then Ouya wins.

  • truth

    YOU DONT UNDERSTAND THE TECHNOLOGY DUKE, THATS THE POINT. I will grant you that the 95% of the people who asked for a game like Mass Effect 3 on here dont have the slightest clue what it takes to get a game of that magnitude onto a system. However, with that said, there is a very good chance it will do just that. Stubborn people will not allow themselves to see that its the controls that are lagging on mobile gaming, not the graphics. That combined with the fact that you very clearly, equally dont know or understand how, from a development standpoint (not a developer standpoint) lucrative this hardware can be.

  • Jack Bond

    Really? If Nintendo defended their copyright and won, forcing Ouya production to cease indefinitely, then Ouya would win? That’s an odd definition of victory.

  • truth

    no, i mean if Nintendo, actively tried to put a stop to it, it would be because the Ouya is a treat to there market. Its the only option that makes sense considering the number of devices that can emulate Nintendo games now a days are in the 100′s and they do nothing about it…….

    explain that…..

  • Jack Bond

    1. I’ve said before, it’s unlikely that Nintendo will do anything about it. I just wish they did.
    2. You seem to be saying that because Nintendo doesn’t do anything about other consoles emulating Nintendo games, doing something about the Ouya would make it a threat, and would mean Ouya is better than Nintendo.

    Clearly that doesn’t make much sense for many reasons.

  • truth

    A THREAT doesn’t make it better or imply that it’s better, those are YOUR words. I dont think the Ouya is “Better” per se. but other then that, yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying If they (Nintendo) has done little to nothing about the literally dozens and dozens of devices that will play emulated Nintendo games on it, and then, all of the sudden, makes an effort to stop it from happening on the Ouya, what other reason could you give me other then a treat from another console? And even that is a stretch since you can play Nintendo games on your PS3 or XBOX360 hacks…..

  • Jack Bond

    I guess it depends if it becomes prevalent.
    Also in your words, Ouya would “win”. Victory over a competitor often implies superiority.

  • truth

    also incorrect sir lol. YOU implied superiority. LOTS of people thought FLIP camera’s were great 4 years ago, they were overpriced crap that happened to trend over any other (actual HD) camera. the proof is in the lack of anything recorded with a Flip cameras anymore. tons of people thought SEGA Gen was better then SNES (I don’t care either way) and the SNES way outsold it. The Atari Lynx and game gear were superior technical accomplishments over the gameboy, and the gameboy put them to bed. just like the wii vs the PS3 & XBOX360. Wii outsold the crap out of that on the first holiday, are you going to tell me that in 2009, the wii was superior to the PS3? of course not. Marketing superiority often (never always) trumps product superiority. Just like, “It’s not what you know, It’s who you know” it’s not always, “what my product can do” some times it’s, “WHO all knows what my product can do”. LOTS of people claim Apple superiority, over Windows…….. Who dominates the Computer market again?

  • Jack Bond

    “if NINTENDO does ANYTHING about Nintendo emulators on the Ouya, then Ouya wins.” -You

    You implied the Ouya wins. Victory implies superiority. No more semantics.

    Now, honestly, I’m a big fan of Nintendo. Not because of their gimmicks (though those are nice), but for two reasons.
    1. Nintendo’s worldview of gaming is still full of childlike innocence and wonder.
    2. I have more fun with their games.

    The reason I dislike the Ouya is because it’s geared towards indie games, which are always hit and miss. Their combination of Android, and Indie game support leads me to believe it will attract the unsavory fanbase of hipsters who prefer “superior” indie games on a “superior” operating system.

    I won’t dare to claim one of anything is superior to the other as absolute fact, but I will root for my favorite over others like Ouya. I was rooting for Nintendo to sue Ouya manufacturers partially as a joke. I recognize that it would be a pretty illogical business move.

  • truth

    ummmm again, your completely incorrect in how you match like meanings to words. And your OPINIONS are clearly clouding your ability to judge honestly and rationally. Again, you clearly don’t understand the meanings or the words you are using because its not in my OPINION that you are wrong, its in just about anyone’s. how you managed to ignore my clear examples of an inferior product getting the leg up on the arguably superior product, is beyond my but i assume like most people, you think your point is somehow valid, and wear blinders through other people’s messages, just so you can get to the end and desperately add your (in this case, invalid) point. DONT pull out SEMANTICS and then proceed to talk about YOUR opinions or your definition of hipsters and what they think is superior. THOSE are semantics sir.

    And dont worry about what kind of games other people put ahead of the ones you like. I dont care much for 90 something % of the indie titles that come out either, but if your getting bothered by some troll of a kid, who never played a SNES game when it was new, and thinks it novel that he can play an indie title that looks like a 8-bit classic, let him waste/enjoy his time doing it.

    bit either way dude, you showed everyone here you dont have a horse in this race. actually, the problem is, you have to much of a horse because you’ve shown your a fan boy to a Nintendo product. you cant see the whole picture without bias toward something and its evident by your most recent post. I would like Ouya to succeed, but not at the cost of the ability to see this in a non-bias way.

  • Jack Bond

    Whatever you say. Clearly you’ve abandoned the argument at hand and have taken to attacking me personally, so I won’t honor you by addressing those attacks directly.

  • truth

    exactly dude. u’ve been back pedaling everything i’ve said for a week now. everyone knows at this point your a fan boy with bias who has no business posting here. no one has backed you. and actually, all i’ve done is counter anything you’ve said, so really, you’ve gone off track (trying to save face) and i’ve followed. you have never once though (save for the Nintendo childlike wonder comment which is a pretty good way of putting it to be honest), made a point that was valid, outside of your own mind, those were OPINIONS. if you have been right this whole time, why has no one stepped forward to defend your claims? now your trying to turn this around on me like i’m the bad guy, when you’re the one who started with the unnecessary comments in the first place. now that someone has called you out, and deflated you and your arguments, you need to play the victim. THIS finial message is as close to an attack from me as you’ll get. don’t flatter yourself the victim cause no one feels bad for you. those other retorts from me picked apart your posts, not you. if you need to feel that it was a personal attack though, so you can continue to win, then by all means, do what you gotta do. pathetic…..

  • Frozen™

    “OUYA Can Play Emulated Games, Will Likely Be Its Sole Purpose”
    What exactly do you base this garbage on? So what if it can play emulators? So can any Android cellphone. So can my PC. So can my PS2, my PSP, my Xbox, my iPod… I even think there’s some emulators available for my calculator out there somewhere. Wheres your stories attacking those? And how would this be its sole purpose? There are already hundreds of games in development. (a few can be seen at Kill Screen, just search for OUYA.)

    “So far, YouTube is rife with filmed OUYA emulator sessions…”
    And its also filled with thousands of emulator sessions on hundreds of other devices as well, and on top of that the emulators being used on the OUYA in most of those videos (i say most because i haven’t watched them all) have been in existence for quite some time and freely available for ALL android devices and other devices as well.

    In short: if you want to talk trash, do it about the people doing the emulating or even the emulation community itself, not a new console that has yet to even be publicly released.

  • icantfeelmyarms

    Terrible website; terrible article. I can emulate games on my PSP, DS, Wii, PS3, PC, iPad, Phone; hell, I can even emulate on my Dreamcast. If people are willing to shell out their money on an inferior console to play emulated video games, they’re simply retarded.

  • Simon Stevens

    I think it’ll do just fine, I think a lot of people will buy it as an ultimate emulating machine and for the price point why not, it’s cheaper than most alternatives and less faffing around, anyone who thinks it’s more than what it is will be disappointed but what could they really expect for the price?, I think if they get the right games together and get onlive and maybe gaikai to pull there finger out with a few cloud rentals and subscriptions it’ll be a beast and it’s certainly capable of that, for me I don’t play many games because of how expensive they are, I have a ps3 and a ps vita and if it wasn’t for playstation plus I probably wouldn’t have either, I’ll be buying an ouya for my kid because of lack of kids games for ps3 and lack of expensive and I couldn’t be happier with this sort of device, why people would write such dribble about it like this article is beyond me, it is what it is, an inexpensive gaming device for casual gamers and will probably even make for a great home media centre, for all it does and the options it gives people it’ll sell well and easily be a favourite to many, personally I’ll always have a playstation because I’ll always want the kind of games android and cloud services can’t give me but it’ll certainly save me a bit of money on the rest :)

  • shatley123

    stop being a idiot There weren’t people thinking a 99$ console was going to beat a 500$ PS4 or xbox 720, and it was never meant to. This console sole purpose is to have an open console, that is cheap, that indie developers can make games for. And for 99$ is really good deal. It has a decent amount of power behind it.