Most Kickstarter projects - if they reach their funding goals - go on to be niche products sold through the maker's own website. But Ouya, the Android-powered games console, will hit major retailers like Target and Best Buy in June. And it's just gone up for pre-order from Amazon.com as well.
Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman wouldn't be drawn on exactly how many pre-orders the console has had, but she did say they exceeded the 68,000 backers who helped put the device into production.
Console competition
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Uhrman said Ouya didn't need to compete with the likes of traditional consoles, as it was a different proposition. "We don't need to beat Xbox or Sony or any console that enters the marketplace, we need to carve out our own niche," she said. "Ouya offers a very different value proposition to the gaming you can currently experience."
Uhrman doesn't seem phased by talk of consoles being dead, either. And with Ouya receiving more than $8.5 million in funding, she's not alone.
"For the last two or three years all we've been hearing is that the consoles are dead," she said. "The reason is there isn't new, innovative intellectual property. It's expensive to develop on it. You're seeing a major shift of games being developed on the television. Our viewpoint has always been that console gaming isn't dead, the way we think about it hasn't changed."
The console will have around 200 titles, Uhrman said, including an exclusive version of Final Fantasy 3.
Ouya units have been sent out to developers, with the official consumer launch happening in June.
