OUYA Console Release Date June; Amazon Pre-Order Begins at $99 for Android-Based Console
OUYA, the Android-based games console that raised over $8.5 million in funds on Kickstarter last year, is coming to Amazon, Best Buy, Target and Gamestop in June 2013.
Julie Uhrman, CEO of OUYA, announced the news to project backers on Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal.
While the OUYA will be competing with next-generation consoles expected to be released later this year such as Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox 720, the company is not worried about surviving against its bigger rivals.
Uhrman explained the OUYA's unique role on the gaming market to The Journal: "We don't need to beat Xbox or Sony or any console that enters the marketplace, we need to carve out our own niche. OUYA offers a very different value proposition to the gaming you can currently experience. It's a box designed specifically for the television that leverages the screen, we support 3D gaming, HD, we support the controller, we added a touchpad to the controller. The kind of content you'll see on OUYA, it'll be inventive and creative and has never been on the television."
OUYA is not the only Kickstarter Android-powered TV games console, and competitors like the GameStick have hinted that they too will be showing up on the shelves of major retailers, according to Wired Magazine.
The tiny game machine is about the size of a Rubik's Cube and will be first shipped to people who backed the Kickstarter project in March before it is released to retailers in June.
Pre-orders have also started for customers on the company's website with orders to be shipped in April.
Amazon lists some of the special features of the console that include a variety of game genres accessible only through downloads instead of discs, compatible entertainment applications, an nVIDIA quad-core CPU, and outputs via HDMI at up to 1080p screen resolution.
The OUYA will retail for $99 everywhere and extra controllers with included touch screens will sell for $49.99.
