Update: Despite what is a milestone day for Ouya, there's a shadow cast over its accomplishment of making it to retail.
"Well it is the 25th of June and I still have not received my Ouya. What a shame," wrote one backer on Kickstarter, spelling out the plight of what is apparently the case for thousands of the company's pre-order customers. "As each day ticks by I regret backing this project more and more."
Notes posted on Facebook by CEO Julie Uhrman and Head of Operations Ken Stephens indicate the issue in getting consoles out to early backers is due to a hold up at its Hong Kong fulfillment partner. Ouya is manufactured in China.
All units have left Hong Kong, Stephens wrote, and he estimated it would take between 15 and 17 days to arrive at customers' doorsteps. The issue is affecting mostly international backers, he wrote.
Contacting the company for answers is also proving difficult for many, according to comments. We're also waiting from an official response from the company.
Original article...
Successfully making the transition from Kickstarter mythology to retail product, the Android-based Ouya gaming console is now available across North America and the U.K. - in theory, anyway.
The company announced today that its Kickstarter-funded project is now available at retail stores across the United States, Canada and United Kingdom, priced to move at $99.99 (UK£99.99).
Retail launch partners include Amazon, Best Buy, GAME, GameStop and Target, which began stocking shelves with the 3-inch brushed aluminum cubes after being delayed in early May for additional funding.
Pre-release models of the Ouya were met with mixed reviews, though the company assured it put in the work to improve the console's software. In fact, we noticed that the console has improved input lag time, something we experienced when we first tested the machine in our hands on review.
Kickstarter success story
With more than 170 new games and 17,000 registered game developers, the Ouya has come far from its crowd-funded roots.
"It's incredible to think that a little under a year ago Ouya was just an idea - we wanted to do something completely new in console gaming: build a $99 game console, with no discs to buy, open to all developers, and affordable to all gamers," Ouya Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Julie Uhrman remarked Tuesday.
Unfortunately, eager gamers may want to call before heading to stores: According to Joystiq, Ouya is already temporarily out of stock at e-tailer Amazon, although our local Best Buy showed stock available at press time.
In addition to Ouya's gaming chops, the console also includes streaming video and music apps from Twitch.tv, Plex, XBMC, iHeartRadio and others complete with surround sound and 1080pHD graphics.
