Tallying over 40,000 backers on Kickstarter already, Ouya is becoming a breakout hit, or at least a watershed moment in video games, before anything concrete has actually been released about the game. What we do know is that Ouya plans to be an open-source platform for indie developers to create a wide variety of games, and an inexpensive console for gamers to find a wealth of experiences on.
What has been unclear up until this point, however, is what types of new experiences Ouya will be providing. Sure, things like Minecraft and Canabalt will be featured on the console, but where’s the new stuff, when is that coming?
Our first big reveal of an Ouya exclusive actually comes by way of Robert Bowling’s Robotoki, who we know to be working on a title called Human Element that is set for release in 2015. The game is set within a world ravaged by a zombie outbreak, but is set about 35 years after that cataclysmic event.
Robotoki’s partnership with Ouya will help flesh out the back-story of Human Element, and clue gamers in to the world as it was “before the fall.” It’s also a chance for Robotoki to introduce players to the gameplay mechanics that they will inevitably see when the final product is released.
How Robotoki plans to do this isn’t completely clear, but it appears as if gamers would be treated to some episodic content leading up to the release of Human Element. Bowling says that, based on demand, gamers could see anything from monthly to weekly content, all released exclusively for Ouya. Head on over to the Ouya Kickstarter page to see Bowling talk a little more about the collaboration.
Bowling, and by extension Robotoki, is obviously a big supporter of Ouya, along with 40,000 other hopeful gamers, but it’s still difficult to see the mass appeal. When the major consoles (the PS4 and Xbox 720) release, that will be the moment when gamers decide whether they are looking for something like Ouya. Still, if the console can get a few hot new developers like Robotoki on their side, that might be enough to keep this tremendous buzz going.
Does the promise of a Human Element prequel get you any more interested in Ouya? What will it take to make this open-source console a direct competitor to current consoles?
Source: Kickstarter
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They won’t really be prequels, will they? Human Element will release in 2015 and these episodes will release before then, so really Human Element is a sequel. This means Human Element isn’t a new IP, either. I really don’t like this idea. Robotoki should be focusing on their big debut (which won’t really a debut anymore). Now they’re working on episodes for a new console. I just don’t like it.
i have a feeling that this will be the next big thing and will draw a lot of sales away from the ‘major’ consoles. the reason i say this is b/c all of a sudden big studios and publishers are saying that free to play is the ‘way of the future’, which implies that they will release most their games as either demos (with micro-transaction stores and a small purchase cost) or will go completely f2p and just have a transaction store.
i hope that this isn’t the future though b/c anyone that really pays attention to these f2p games knows that in the end you spend more then you would buying the game full retail.