The original isn’t even available to buy yet, but we’re already getting pumped for OUYA 2 and perhaps even OUYA 3. That’s because the company behind the new Android-powered micro-console has confirmed its plans to launch new consoles on a yearly basis.
Speaking to Engadget, OUYA CEO Julie Uhrman confirmed that the company hopes to launch a new games console every year, just as the likes of Apple, HTC and Samsung do religiously with their new top of the range smartphones.
“Our strategy is very much similar to the mobile strategy. There will be a new Ouya every year. There will be an Ouya 2 and an Ouya 3” she said.
As the console uses similar software and hardware to that of the latest tablets and smartphones, the company looks to keep up with the trend by launching yearly upgrades using the latest and most powerful hardware, such as the new Nvidia Tegra 4 processor.
“We’ll take advantage of faster, better processors, take advantage of prices falling. So if we can get more than 8GB of Flash in our box, we will”
Thankfully with OUYA we won’t see early adopters left in the dust year upon year as new consoles come out – Uhrman assures us that every new console will be backwards compatible, and so the collection of games on offer will work on any OUYA. She says that games will be tied to the user rather than the console, so gamers can freely upgrade and continue to play games they’ve previously paid for.
The original OUYA has become something of a sensation in the gadget world after smashing funding targets on Kickstarter and going on to launch developer units and pre-orders for the console itself. It uses Android as a base and will play both the top Android games and new, unique games that developers will create over time.
OUYA will go on sale in March for $99 through the company itself and Amazon, with high street retailers jumping on the bandwagon a few short months after that.