On Sun, Jun 30, 2013 at 6:46 PM, Adam Bolte <abolte@systemsaviour.com>wrote:
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Hi Matt,
On 30/06/13 17:35, Matt Giuca wrote:
Thanks for a clear and detailed summary of your Ouya experiences.
No worries. Right back at you.
It sucks that there are journalists going around saying that the Ouya is less restrictive than it actually is (for certain, apparently randomly selected, customers).
Yes. I have noticed this too. When I first turned on the device, there was a large firmware update that needed to be applied, so possibly in doing that it has changed the initial sign-up behavior for those of us who only very recently received our Ouya devices.
Fortunately, instead of a credit card, you also have the option of
using a pre-paid credit code. These were apparently available during pre-order, and can be brought from various places online. eg.
http://www.game.co.uk/en/ouya-10-credit-232744
So while some available credit must be verified (which I'm not defending - this aspect of the Ouya console sucks), it seems that you don't have to hand over your credit card to Ouya to store indefinitely if you don't want to.
But then I have to pay them more money up front (which I don't feel they deserve right now) and also wait for a physical card to be shipped internationally.
You're right. Hopefully cdkey-hut.com or some such will add Ouya support soon, so we can pay anonymously and without waiting on postage. Still would have to pay something up-front though.
I'm happier to get a general-purpose debit card. At least then I can use the credit elsewhere, not just on Ouya. There are cards that do not require opening a full bank account from Australia Post and Woolworths. I'm trying to decide which one is better. They both have some nasty drawbacks (like credit expiration and cancellation fees).
Interesting. I haven't looked into them, so know nothing about them.
I would definitely configure a PIN just in case I don't find myself mashing the "shoot" button and a dialog pops up and I accidentally mash the "Buy for $100" button.
I'm pretty sure that there isn't any game on Ouya at that price. From game.co.uk, "Every OUYA game is free to try, but unlocking the game, additional features or extra play time can cost between £1 to £20". I've been quite impressed with how cheap the games are priced at so far. Your point still stands though.
Well, this post I linked to: http://www.reddit.com/r/ouya/comments/1fygl2/warning_3_yr_old_son_just_cost_... says that there was a game (EMUya) that charged $100 on a single payment. (For unlocking "cheat mode" no less, what a ludicrous amount of money. Any in-app purchase that expensive can only be designed to trick people or their kids into buying it.)
And that's Ouya's thing - every game must provide a no-cost playable component. If purchases could not happen in game, I expect commercial game developers might have good reason to be scared of people just playing demos and not making purchases. So it is clear to me that this mandatory credit was deliberately enforced as a marketing factor above all else.
Yeah. I get that, and it's a good "hook" for them, but I still want to be given the choice, as a consumer. Don't give me this bullshit about it being "more convenient" for me when you're forcing me to do it. Me having to spend a week researching debit cards is certainly not "more convenient".
Yep. "We're forcing you to do this because we know what's best, it's more convenient for everyone, and what's best for everyone is best for you too" is a shockingly unconvincing response by the Ouya crew.
On second thoughts, perhaps the Ouya crew are correct - only they mean that it's more convenient *for them* to make us do this.
In the context of a game console, I'm pretty happy with the Ouya.
There have been a few surprises (such as the built-in track-pad on the controller which I only discovered by accident), and of course "Make" being right on the main menu where you can run your software builds from. Already I have more games on my Ouya then I have for my Wii-U.
- From a free software perspective however, it's been somewhat of a letdown. Apparently, the boot-loader is locked.
Really? That's not what their Kickstarter page says: "For hackers: root it. Go ahead. Your warranty is safe. Even the hardware is hackable."
Hmm.. perhaps that link is wrong. I found a forum thread which contradicts the previous link:
http://forums.ouya.tv/discussion/1380/recovery-mode/
"The issue is not that the bootloader is locked... The issue is that there is no way to tell the bootloader to interrupt normal boot and enter fastboot mode. Devices usually have a hardware button combination to do this."
That's even more troubling if it isn't even possible to change the operating system if necessary.
So it looks like it's possible - it's just not easy, and not easy to recover from when things go bad.
- -Adam
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