The Ouya has hit store shelves, and after a small delay, Nvidia?s Shield will release as well. As the two pioneers of the Android gaming console market, the Ouya and Shield have taught us all one thing: Android gaming consoles are about the potential of the Android platform, not the quality of Android gaming as it exists today.
Along with the Kickstarted GameStick, the Ouya and the Shield compose the initial triumvirate of Android gaming consoles. Each are going about it their own way. Nvidia?s Shield is a portable gaming device ? in the sense that it?s like a 3DS or PS Vita ? that is focused on top-of-the-line hardware using Tegra 4, a very pretty screen, and other high-end specs all at the high-end price of $299. The Ouya, on the other hand, is going for cheap and easy. For only $99, you get a tiny Tegra 3 console complete with wireless gaming controller, 1GB of RAM, and 1080p HDMI output. The GameStick lands somewhere between the Ouya and Shield. It is a standard MHL stick which can plug into a displa, but also be carried everywhere more easily than something with a bunch of wires sticking out of it.
The devices all have their pros: the Shield has fancy hardware, the Ouya is cheap and has exclusives, and the GameStick is even cheaper ($79) and more portable. They also all have their cons: the Shield is only $100 less than a brand-new PS4, the Ouya is buggy and has a limited games library, the GameStick doesn?t yet exist in any tangibly marketable way. They all share one unique con: they?re Android gaming consoles. However, what makes that disadvantage interesting is that it could morph into a major advantage.
Giving the Shield?s PC streaming capabilities a go.
Now, this isn?t to say that Android games aren?t good, or that Android game developers haven?t put their heart and soul into creating the best game they could. The real issue is that Android in its current state just isn?t the platform for top-tier video game experiences. For better or worse, iOS is the mobile platform where prominent mobile games reside and the 3DS and PS Vita are where even richer portable gaming experiences lie.
The PC is as open ? if not more open ? a gaming platform as Android, yet provides more in-depth experiences. Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and PC consoles are where the big budget, triple-A titles live. Android, in its current state, is just not where people go to play ? or to publish ? today?s best games.
When listening to the Shield, Ouya, and GameStick PR spiels, the one running theme is that Android gaming could be set to explode thanks to the open platform. That?s completely correct. However, ?could be? doesn?t mean ?will.? In the Ouya?s case, $99 seems like a fair price for a speculative purchase. However, if Android gaming doesn?t fulfill its potential, that $99 could have bought you Naughty Dog?s?The Last of Us?or an entire year of an MMO subscription. Both of those purchases would do more for you than a Android console that might sit around and occupy an HDMI port ever would.
So, if there aren?t enough (or any, perhaps) top-tier video game experiences on the Android platform, surely filling the market with consoles would attract developers, which in turn would lead to the development of some top-tier games, right? While that is potentially true ? as it is with Steam for Linux?? that still means Android gaming consoles are focused on what may happen down the line, not what is happening now.
As the Wii U is currently proving, if there aren?t any games people want they simply won?t buy the console. As the Wii?s massive hardware success but third-place software sales taught us, potential only gets you so far, especially if it?s never fulfilled. The record-breaking success of the PlayStation 2 showed us that, despite subpar hardware specs, the hardware doesn?t make the console, the games do. At the moment, the Android gaming platform simply doesn?t have the titles to compete with every other gaming platform that?s out there. You?re buying into the hope that it one day will.
Now read:?This is why Nvidia?s Shield will fail.?Alternatively read:?Why Nvidia?s Shield will succeed
Source: http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/159739-ouya-and-shield-android-consoles
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