After numerous delays and a few hiccups, the crowd funding-created Android gaming machine OUYA is now officially on sale at retail outlets across the world. GAME stores in the UK have now started selling the Android consoles for £99 and they will also be stocking additional controllers.
The OUYA came to prominence after it had a hugely successful Kickstarter crowd funding campaign last year where the manufacturers saw a whopping $8.6 million raised, which was almost nine times the target set.
The console is also on sale at Amazon (where it has quickly sold out!) and at Best Buy, GameStop, and Target.
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The long awaited OUYA game console will still be long awaited on the proposed June 4th retail release day, as the company behind the Kickstarter-funded Android gaming device has pushed back the retail release of the console by 3 weeks to June 24th.
The news comes from the CEO Julie Uhrman, who has been speaking to Joystiq. Uhrman explained the decision to push back the consoles’s release date:”We’ve had incredibly positive reactions from our retail partners,” and the release change “will allow us to create more units and, basically, have more units on store shelves.”
This is a bit of a shame for people waiting the Android gaming machine as it has already been pushed back in its release schedule by a few months since its humble beginnings on the Kickstarter fundraising website.
OUYA also revealed that it has also put in some new changes to the layout of the controller by altering the button holes, after some developers and initial users’ feedback said that the buttons were unresponsive and stiff. This ensures that retail customers will not encounter some of the issues that Kickstarter investors have since receiving the console.
On this alteration Uhrman noted: “We made that change very early so all the units are being produced with those larger button holes”.
OUYA has also announced via a press release a massive investment from several companies amounting to $15 million coming into the business, with some serious backers now behind the company. This is alongside the original crowdfunding effort from Kickstarter that delivered $8.6 million which was almost nine times the target raise.
What this means is that OUYA is more than just a flash in the pan KickStarter gone good as it now has a very serious amount of cash behind it.
The OUYA games console is now shipping exclusively to early backers as part of a preview program. On June 25th OUYA will be available for purchase in the US, Canada, and the UK through retailers Amazon, Best Buy, GAME, GameStop, and Target, and on OUYA.tv for $99.99 (also £99.99 in the UK!) and additional controllers will retail for $49.99.