Meet Ouya, the $99 ultra-hackable Android console

There’s a new kid on the block and it has its sights set on disrupting the gaming world for good. A new startup is hoping to raise enough money to produce Ouya, a US$99 open platform Android based gaming console.

For game developers out there, this should be what you have been asking for. It is basically made just for you. An open platform for developers from all walks of life to produce games for, without needing to adhere to strict regulations that major consoles have inflicted.

Julie Uhrman is the lady behind it all. Her goal is to raise US$950 000 in order to get the prototype of Ouya into production. It doesn’t seem like all that much to get a fully fledged console into the public’s hands, but I’m not complaining. If I can pay US$99 for an HD capable console, I’ll be a happy person. And yes, it will be an HD capable machine, and shouldn’t be any less fun than other consoles to date.

“It’s very ambitious — it’s hardware, it’s software, it’s building an ecosystem,” Uhrman said.

Urhman is hoping to have the Ouya released early next year. That is ambitious. The only rule, apparently, is that all the games must be free to try first, then if the gamer wants to buy the full game, it’s up to them. Fantastic. Can’t tell you how much money I’ve wasted on games that turned out to be shit.

“We are trying to leverage all that is great — free to play, openness, touch screen, bringing what is familiar to TV — and we want to wrap it up in this great bow — affordability and game-ability for gamers and developers alike,” Uhrman said.

There will be a 70/30 percent split between developers and Ouya, again focusing on the developers to produce. It’s an incentive that cannot be overlooked. And it will only produce better and better games as more people will be able to develop and more ideas will be flung into the stream.

There’s nothing better than playing a game on a huge TV, seeing all those graphics in graphic detail. And don’t think that there will be a shortage of genres, either. The idea is to have everything, all kinds of games to suit everybody. If this can be pulled off to the extent that it is aimed to, then it’s really going to turn the gaming industry on its head.

Check out the video, just watch out for them eyebrows, they get a bit hypnotic.