Got my OUYA Backer Edition - Initial Thoughts

[IBNobody]

To celebrate my 1000th post (1000 posts in 7 years, LOL), I wanted to post my OUYA impressions.

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-----UPDATE: Here are the things I plan on trying. Post messages if there's anything you'd like me to try.

• XMBC
• USB HDD
• SNES Emulators (and ROMs with FX chips)
• N64 Emulators (w/ Banjo)
• Wiimote
• PSX Emu

Keep in mind though that the OUYA is just a little more powerful than the Nexus 7 tablet.

(For all Emulators, I'll also try them on my Galaxy S3.)

-----UPDATE 2:

XMBC / Media

XMBC stable doesn't work. It plays, but it doesn't appear to have hardware acceleration. I'll have to try a nightly or wait until the official build is released. I tried Mobo player and wasn't able to select hardware acceleration either. I've seen videos of XMBC on OUYA, and they were smooth.

USB Storage

USB storage works fine. The OUYA team isn't supporting external storage for game data yet, but I was able to play some videos and access pictures off a thumb drive. (I don't know if directory bind would work because that has to run in the background.)

Wiimotes

Wiimotes do not work. Wiimotes do not work for many games. Don't blame OUYA, blame Nintendo. In order to pair the Wiimote as a remote control, you have to send a 6-character pin that consists of the controller's or host's BT address backwards. It has to be in hex... and you can't type a null character (0x00). Wiimote pairing works on Android, but with a catch. The Wiimote doubles as a HID and requires a service running in the background to map the controller inputs to functions.

PS3 Sixaxis

It works very very well. It works plugged in. It works via bluetooth. It pairs easier than the OUYA controller. It's superior to the Android implementation because it doesn't need a mapper program.

-----UPDATE 3:

Wiimotes do work, but the app has to support syncing to them.

I tried the emulators in the OUYA store with positive results.

SNEX 9xEX+ worked and was able to play Starfox and Super Mario World 2 just fine. This app also let me sync with a Wiimote

Mupen64 worked and was able to play Banjo as smooth as the N64.

There was a NDS emulator, but I didn't have any luck with it. The games played, but they had framerate issues and music stuttering. It didn't help that I tried to play TWEWY. The OUYA's touch pad did allow me to use the mouse as a stylus, though. I think that NDS emulation is best left to a device with a touch-screen.

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The Unit:

Pro's:

• It's small.
• It's quiet.
• The ON LED isn't bright.
• It supported a keyboard/mouse through a USB hub.
• The Android portions of the system are very snappy.

Con's:

• All inputs are on the back. (It's a minor complaint.)
• The fan is still audible, but it is quieter than my HTPC.
• The plastic flashing around the base of the OUYA sticks up and is rough around the edges. It's only noticable when you hold the console. (Again, a minor complaint.)
• You only have ~6GB of usable space to store games.

Opinion: Hardware wise, it's pretty decent.

The Controller:

Fixes:

• The button sticking issue was fixed.
• The analog stick catching was fixed.
• The analog stick dead zones were fixed.
• The controller was shipped in one piece and the battery doors were securely placed.

Pro's:

• The analog sticks are first class.
• The touchpad is a nice addition and it taps into Android's mouse support. (It's nowhere near as good as an actual mouse, which Android supports.)

Con's:

• The face buttons are too springy.
• The dpad is crap.
• The L1/R1 buttons have little travel and click.
• The L2/R2 buttons are gummy and feel almost as bad as the Gamecube controller's triggers.

Opinion: The controller is usable, but I will likely use my mouse/keyboard or extra PS3 controller instead of the default controller. I would not buy a second controller.

The UI:

Pro's:

• They bury the Android settings, but they are still there.

Con's:

• The OUYA UI is clunky and laggy. It's not smooth. It's like they didn't spend enough time optimizing the system for Jelly Bean.
• Bringing up the OUYA UI menu makes an annoying, jarring noise.
• The default android browser crashes, thus triggering that annoying, jarring noise.
• XMBC and other streaming video apps aren't available yet in the OUYA store.
• I haven't figured out how to delete games through the normal UI. I know how to do it through the Android system that's buried in menus, though.

Other:

• Sideloading apps wasn't much of a challenge. I just had to download ES File Explorer off the ES webpage. The trick was in finding out how to execute that APK on OUYA. Once ES was installed, it has a NICE mouse-based interface.

Opinion: The UI is one area that they need to clean up before retail. I'm not the only one who feels this way. I will likely remove the OUYA launcher and replace it with something else. (Yay Android.)

The Games:


The games? They are very indie / homebrewish, but they aren't all bad. I've only tried out 3.
Pro's:

• I LOVE how I can just download games and try them out, though. That's a big plus for the system. I hate paying for the opportunity to try a game I end up hating.

Con's

• Unlocking games are treated as an in-app purchase, and you have to download the full game.
• You are never shown a price for the games until you try to buy them.

Opinion: I hope other consoles take the "all-free-to-try" / "day-0 demo" approach. It's very nice.

Overall Opinion: It's still a work-in-progress. It has the potential to be a great streaming and gaming box, but it's hampered by the poor UI it has now.

 

[Harsky]

Just wondering how is the SNES emulator on this. Does it play a lot of games without problem? Any filtering options? I know it sounds silly to ask about a feature on a new system if it runs emulators for old games but this is always one of those "I can live without it but it would be a nice feature" option for me.

 

[J-Machine]

I'm interested in it's media capabilities mostly. how does it handle external storafe and what media formats can it natively support well?

 

[IBNobody]

I can't see a problem with the emulators not working, but I'll give them a shot. (The actual games run smoothly, unlike the UI.) Any particular SNES emulator you want me to try? The one in the OUYA store? Any ROM you'd like me to try?

 

[IBNobody]

I'm interested in it's media capabilities mostly. how does it handle external storafe and what media formats can it natively support well?

It looks to support them just like a normal Android system does. I haven't tried the media players yet because the store didn't have any. I'll sideload MX or Mobo tonight.

 

[Harsky]

I can't see a problem with the emulators not working, but I'll give them a shot. (The actual games run smoothly, unlike the UI.) Any particular SNES emulator you want me to try? The one in the OUYA store? Any ROM you'd like me to try?

No idea which snes emulators are available but the usual suspects of problematic roms such as the ones with the SuperFX chip like Starfox or Yoshi's Island are always a good one to work with. Also, how is XBMC on it?

 

[OscarRamos]

Can you try the N64 Emulator and let us know how it works? OMG, I sure hope that banjo kazooie and banjo tooie works flawlessly. If it does, i'm getting this

 

[IBNobody]

No idea which snes emulators are available but the usual suspects of problematic roms such as the ones with the SuperFX chip like Starfox or Yoshi's Island are always a good one to work with. Also, how is XBMC on it?

XMBC isn't in the store. I thought there was going to be an optimized build. I'll try one of the nightlies.

EDIT: I updated the OP with things that everyone has asked me to test. Keep the suggestions coming.

 

[PityOnU]

Do you know if it is possible yet to hack the thing? The major complaint with the device (as is the case with a lot of otherwise excellent hardware nowadays) is that the UI is horrible.

If it were possible to get rid of it altogether and use the default Google TV UI, I think this would make for a much better console, especially seeing as the new Google Play client they just released supports friend invites and achievements.

 

[Rydian]

Just wondering how is the SNES emulator on this. Does it play a lot of games without problem? Any filtering options? I know it sounds silly to ask about a feature on a new system if it runs emulators for old games but this is always one of those "I can live without it but it would be a nice feature" option for me.

As it's using 320x240 or whatever, it has display issues with games that use hi-res or pseudo-hi-res, like Seiken Densetsu 3's smaller text (easily visible on the character select screen when starting a game).

Admittedly this is a relatively-small number of games, but unfortunately it's a hardware limit.

 

[Felipe_9595]

• The L2/R2 buttons are gummy and feel almost as bad as the Gamecube controller's triggers.

Now i am more interested on the gamepad, i absolutely love those triggers

 

[The Real Jdbye]

On the topic of storage space. Does this not support a memory card? If not then that is a big oversight, high-end Android games take gigabytes each.

As it's using 320x240 or whatever, it has display issues with games that use hi-res or pseudo-hi-res, like Seiken Densetsu 3's smaller text (easily visible on the character select screen when starting a game).

Admittedly this is a relatively-small number of games, but unfortunately it's a hardware limit.

How can it be a hardware limit? I refuse to believe other Ouya software runs at 320x240.

 

[dickfour]

I don't have any interest in this. I'd rather get the latest quad core android stick and use a PS3 controller. At least that supports 1080p XBMC

 

[IBNobody]

Do you know if it is possible yet to hack the thing? The major complaint with the device (as is the case with a lot of otherwise excellent hardware nowadays) is that the UI is horrible.

If it were possible to get rid of it altogether and use the default Google TV UI, I think this would make for a much better console, especially seeing as the new Google Play client they just released supports friend invites and achievements.

It's possible. The device ships pre-rooted. I can uninstall the OUYA launcher if I wanted to.

On the topic of storage space. Does this not support a memory card? If not then that is a big oversight, high-end Android games take gigabytes each.

It does not support a memory card, but it does support USB HDDs, memory sticks, and flash readers. I'll experiment with it a bit tonight.

I don't have any interest in this. I'd rather get the latest quad core android stick and use a PS3 controller. At least that supports 1080p XBMC

There's nothing to say that the OUYA can't run at 1080p, and the Tegra 3 is quad core.

I just don't have any media files that are 1080p to evaluate 1080p playback.

 

[SifJar]

I just don't have any media files that are 1080p to evaluate 1080p playback.

Just as a suggestion, you could grab a random 1080p video off YouTube (most film trailers, for example, will have 1080p versions available). There are plenty of option for downloading YouTube videos, e.g. keepvid.com (requires Java).

 

[FAST6191]

The Unit:

Pro's:

• The ON LED isn't bright.

Nice work on the rest but that made me curious -- I have certainly had my fair share of room lighting grade blue leds in power supplies/things that really do not need them over the years but that seems to be a problem solved by the application of electrical tape (thinking man's gaffer tape), tippex/correction fluid or a permanent marker. Easy enough that I barely bother to note it unless it is in a PC case fan and I have to bust out a soldering iron.

 

[SifJar]

Nice work on the rest but that made me curious -- I have certainly had my fair share of room lighting grade blue leds in power supplies/things that really do not need them over the years but that seems to be a problem solved by the application of electrical tape (thinking man's gaffer tape), tippex/correction fluid or a permanent marker. Easy enough that I barely bother to note it unless it is in a PC case fan and I have to bust out a soldering iron.

Doesn't exactly look the neatest though, having tape over the front of your electronics

 

[Snailface]

Is there any noticeable input lag with the controller? I heard this was an issue with the backer units.

 

[IBNobody]

Nice work on the rest but that made me curious -- I have certainly had my fair share of room lighting grade blue leds in power supplies/things that really do not need them over the years but that seems to be a problem solved by the application of electrical tape (thinking man's gaffer tape), tippex/correction fluid or a permanent marker. Easy enough that I barely bother to note it unless it is in a PC case fan and I have to bust out a soldering iron.

The OUYA's solution is even easier. If you want a dark console, you can just bend the LED out of place. It's a through-hole component, and it retains most of its lead length. You can also tape/paint the inside of the button. It's a white LED, too, not retina-searing-blue. That helps.

Is there any noticeable input lag with the controller? I heard this was an issue with the backer units.

There is horrible lag within the UI, but I haven't noticed lag in games. I blame the UI and not the controller.

 

[GamerzHell9137]

Bla bla bla... where are the pics?