I was (and still am) a big proponent of Ouya. I have mine, a backer-only dim bronze-colored cube, sitting in front of my TV right now, downloading my Humble Bundle games while I write this. I am more than pleased with it. Because it's based on Android, it's incredibly easy to develop for compared to creating a new OS, and touch apps work properly with the controller's trackpad-ish thing. The controllers have a comfortable style, but not nearly as agressively ergonomic as the Gamecube controller, and I suppose that's the point. If you're making a controller for a system that has many more "casual" games, you'll want a controller that's a little more relaxed. Now, the only other controller I have that I would have any chance of using is the Logitech RumblePad 2, and it's based on a PS2 controller and everybody who plays any PlayStation games knows that the #1 problem with the controllers is that thay don't fill your hand. Same with an Xbox controller, but to a lesser extent. There are very few contact points between your hands and the controller, in the PS3's case feeling like the controller is about to fall out of your hands, and in the Xbox 360's case feeling sort of weird most of the time. With the Ouya's controller, your palms wrap around the end of the controller's arms, with your thumbs resting perfectly on the Xbox-organized analog sticks (something I initially was not fond of, until I realized that I hated the layout on the Xbox because they were placed terribly), your index fingers on the triggers (and being able to rock up to press the secondary triggers), and your remaining fingers comfortably wrapped around.
It's a great controller, and extremely comfortable. The only problem is that since so many apps have been ported (at least, many of the ones i tried out), controller input lagged. This would make sense with highly-intensive games, but with something like Puddle THD, I sometimes get trigger control delayed up to five seconds, and in a game where sometimes utmost control is key, that's a problem.
Then you have games like Flashout, whose control scheme on Ouya is just confusing. It felt like even though I was nudging the analog stick like a pro from my experiences with F-Zero, it felt like control was stiff and sudden, not letting me glide around corners. Or maybe I just don't understand how this game works.
On the other side of the spectrum, Canabalt HD is impressively ported controls-wise, and most new games work just fine.
Now, I'm sure you're wondering if I'm going to mention the controller lag. Well, yes, there is, and at first, it was confusing. I'm sure the lag in Puddle was software-related, because it never happened in any other game. However, there is a helpful tip that comes up now basically anywhere people complain about this:
TURN IT, TOP FACING FORWARD.
This article elaborates:
http://indieambitions.com/ouya/ouya-fix-controller-lag/
This is incredible, but also unfortunately pretty obvious. People say stuff like "I look for things that could block the Bluetooth signal", or "move stuff around", there's no need. The bluetooth chip in this is equivalent to most of the stuff in an Android phone. The true problem, I believe, is the snazzy metal casing they put it in. The top of the Ouya is all plastic, so the wireless transmission can flow freely without direct interference. I'm sure there's some way to remedy this. I KNOW there's a way to remedy this. First, make a slightly longer antenna, like what you find in a laptop. Second, make that antenna mount as high up in the upper plastic housing as possible. And bam! less interference. I'm pretty sure that modification would have fit in the $99 price tag of this thing.
There are also few things software-wise that could be changed to make everything a little nicer. First, I want the option to have my Software under the Play tab, so I don't have to go through that extra couple button presses to play my third-party games. Second, the on-screen keyboard could be a whole lot nicer, and the browser that it's using is the default Android browser, which isn't completely compatible with the hardware.
Anyway, I'm sure a couple people are wondering if we're going to be developing for it. The answer is yes, but we're waiting for Torque 2D's 3.0 version to start anything as we're not huge fans of Unity (not to mention it's not a 2D engine). We already have a game in mind, and it's very, VERY different from Phoenix Core: Shadow. A lot less serious, but we'll be crossing that bridge when we come to it.
This system is promising, but it's still missing a few things. What it does have, however, is the one "Killer App" that no other console will ever have:
No Brakes Valet.
...
...in other news, the Intro/load sequence for Phoenix Core: Shadow is nearly done and will be posted here very soon.
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