$99 Android Gaming Console unveiled

Gaming consoles work at significantly cheaper than most gaming computers, yet for many they still aren’t affordable. Ed Fries (One of the co-creators of Microsoft’s first Xbox) along with designer Yves Béhar (the man behind the one laptop per child scheme) are developing what they hope to be the next big gaming console, to join the current big 3 of the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360.

This new gaming console project is called Ouya, pronounced Oooh Yah. At $99 it stands to beat every other console for value, even Microsoft’s $99 Xbox which will be subsidised by tying you into a 2 year Xbox Live subscription. However, what may disappoint some is that all games for the platform are totally free. Meaning its unlikely current blockbuster titles will be available on this console, which should be obvious given the fact it runs an Android OS anyway.

The question of how game developers will make money is also a valid one, we expect advert placement and “pay for additional features” to be the mainstay of the Ouya economy. Although there will probably be a unique Ouya game marketplace, we don’t expect it would be that difficult for an android enthusiast to access standard Android features and games with a bit of tweaking.

Unfortunately for those of you who are now really interested in this, it is only in the design phase and all pictures are just concept art. But It does seem likely that the GameCube-esque $99 Ouya console will make it to market, representing a growing shift towards cheaper Android based computing systems and free to play games.

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