I have had my Ouya for nearly two weeks now. I wrote up my first thoughts on the console over at our sister site Divine Knight Gaming last week. While I love the console in general, the UI had left some to be desired. Browsing for games was a pain and installing games required popups and elements of the default Android OS. Additionally, downloading and installing games was a two part process, meaning you had to initiate the download and then later initiate the install.

How excited was I when Ouya announced the latest firmware update and how it made a number of changes to the UI and user experience. The biggest update, at least in my opinion, is the single click download and install. Games will now automatically install. That is a huge improvement in the user experience. Other updates include a completely redesigned Discover section. Previously, it was a series of text menus and games didn’t show until you selected a specific category. Now we have a list of categories, such as Popular and New, that include the games for that category directly under it. A very nice change. Read the rest of this entry »

Update: Looks like the ESA is not happy with the Ouya’s unconventional use of the E3 convention’s locale. First they rented adjoining spaces to the Ouya and parked semi trucks in them to block the view of the event from the street. Then they called the cops when Ouya rented the spaces outside that and placed banners all over it. ESA, what are you afraid of here? Now back to the original article.

While all the big console companies are putting on extravagant shows or large direct streams of their latest and greatest, there is one event that it taking place outside the normal E3 channels. Ouya, the little console that could rake in over $8 million at Kickstarter, is holding its very own show in a parking lot not far from all the primary E3 locales. This Ouya Park is a very open and very casual event to show off the Ouya console to anyone who wants to learn more or just show their love for it.

This is one console that is flying under the radar thanks to the big blunders of the XBone and its massive beat down by the PS4. Even the humble Wii U is flying high above it. But don’t count this console out.

I wrote up a fairly extensive first look at the console over at Divine Knight Gaming. I must say, this console has the potential to not just supplement your gaming habit, but fulfil it as well. You know all those indie games that Sony and Nintendo were showing off? Many of those could be made for this console under far simpler and far fairer terms. In fact there are already a number of great looking indie games for it. Read the rest of this entry »