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All of Ouya's games have free trials, but that's going to change

Developers will soon be able to choose between a free-to-try or paid model for their games.

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Ouya has announced that in the coming weeks, the company will allow developers to choose if they want to release their games through a free-to-try or a paid model. Currently, all Ouya games must have free demos.

In a blog post on the company's website, Ouya's Bob Mills said that a free-to-play model seemed like an "obvious" choice for the platform at launch last summer. However, though it was appealing to consumers who could try before they buy, the rule meant that developers needed to make a demo.

For some developers, this was no doubt a hassle because the additional investment required to create a demo meant time away from building the entire game out. In some cases, some developers said that creating a demo didn't even make sense for the game they were making.

Mills says that one of Ouya's main values is "empowering" developers by allowing them to have the freedom to choose to release their games however they want. Dropping the free demo requirement is a means to giving developers the freedom they desire, Mills says.

"We're clearing another roadblock in the pathway to publishing on the TV, and that means more great games will make it to Ouya," Mills said.

There are 721 games available on Ouya today, including Double Fine's The Cave and Final Fantasy III. The Ouya is available today for $99. Extra controllers cost $50.

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Avatar image for GSyynoandnoyyGS
GSyynoandnoyyGS

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MGS: GZ exclusive for OUYA!

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hardeddie

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Its just a tablet without the screen & expensive battery. No innovation here!

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RickPhoenixxx

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50 bucks for an extra controller for this thing, lol yeah that will sell

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swiftshadow666

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I backed the kickstarter because they had a great idea with real potential. I was disappointed with my initial experience and haven't touched it since but I have not written it off completely until now. One of the major selling points was the ability to try every game before making a purchase. Xbox live arcade games does it on the 360, I am upset the Xbox One arcade games does not. The fact that they changed this rule has killed the last hope I had for this systems potential.

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OrgeLambart

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lol... give dem developers the chance to scam gamers... sounds like an awesome change for scumbag developers that want to rob gamers by releasing garbage games with interesting screen shots.

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sdnoriko

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Finally, it'll be able to compete with real consoles!

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StarsiderSajun

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I bought an OUYA both to support the idea of a new console and also because it was very affordable. I don't understand this though, there should be no reason why any game on there should charge for a demo. Even the best games on there have very short demos, and while the full games are certainly worth the money they're asking, the demos are not. What happened to the days of a free demo included with a game or just on a demo disc collection?

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Avatar image for sadakotetsuwan
sadakotetsuwan

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<< LINK REMOVED >> They aren't going to start charging you for the demos, they're removing the 'free demo' requirement entirely. For some games, a demo might not make any sense (e.g. if you've made a game like 2048, then the demo IS THE GAME; if you're making a puzzle game, then you have to pay your team to come up with and program a puzzle just for the demo which might not be cost effective if you're a small indie studio; what would a demo for a game like 'Dear Esther' even look like, and is the internal cost of making such a demo worth it compared to the cost of development and the projected price of the game?, etc.).


Releasing demos can actually damage sales--trailers are much better ways of advertising a game because they build up hype for a game while simultaneously not giving you any way of satisfying the urge to play it without buying a copy. That's why so many games these days only have demos available at big gaming conferences, not for public consumption.

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Avatar image for FULGOREY2K
FULGOREY2K

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OUYA for world domination

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fede018

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<< LINK REMOVED >> who cares

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Faye_Tallity

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Uh..you do, apparently.

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Avatar image for OneStrong2
OneStrong2

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Ouya is a great concept, sad to see fewer developers capitalizing on it.

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chibi-acer

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Great concept, mediocre product.

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Billzihang

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Is it a toaster?

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Avatar image for deactivated-62ef8f2b297e5
deactivated-62ef8f2b297e5

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Yes, now make me some toast. ;)

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RossRichard

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Why not? Konami just got away with charging $30 for a 10-minute tech demo.

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BamaGoatt

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sounds like the same deal to me free to try is just a demo to me. I will be getting one soon waiting for the $129 model to show on Amazon.

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Avatar image for MAGIC-KINECT
MAGIC-KINECT

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"It's going to change" for sure. Coming soon to a landfill near you.

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GS_are_paid

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I really don't understand who they think would buy their "console". All games look really shitty and if you want a cheap console with some fairly good games you can always buy an ps2 or xbox (orig).

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Avatar image for Talavaj
Talavaj

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I tried to look up the best OUYA games but only "No results containing all your search terms were found." came up.

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Saidrex

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All OUYA games are free trials. Won't fool anyone - those are mobile games infested with microtransactions

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Megavideogamer

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Ouya is charging $50.00 for an extra controller. The first ones were cheaply built. Ouya is a nice idea. Kickstarter's Poster child for success. But it flopped at retail.


$99.99 is a good price. but Smartphone games on the Television is a flop. I want the Ouya to succeed, so if dropping the Demo requirement helps.

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Avatar image for mattcake
mattcake

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"Let's be fair and show people what the games are like before they buy them"

"Good idea"

"Problem is, no ones buying them cos the demo is enough, or cos they're crap"

"OK let's just charge outright for them instead, too late then for refunds"

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Avatar image for SaQu1B
SaQu1B

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Ouya is still a pretty good emulator device.. Thinking about picking one up for myself.

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AssaultMonkey9

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Ouyno...

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battlefront1943

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No matter the popularity or technology of OUYA... it's a sad day when a console built upon ideals starts to lose them... or at least compromise them.

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the_craig

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<< LINK REMOVED >> As an OUYA owner i welcome this change. Sometime ideal have to change when it's discovered that they don't work.

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Avatar image for unreal101
unreal101

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Wow, I guess their wild success really went to their head.

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Shelledfade1

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eh... Why not just make it so that if they want to put a game up on this thing that it is required that they allow a user to play it for 30min/ 1 hour for free. That way they don't need to make a demo.

Honestly steam should do the same thing. Allow any game to be played for 30min/ 1 hour before that feature becomes disabled on the game you just played with the steam account you just used, that way you can demo ANY game before buying.


Should be a mandatory feature now that I think about it. Too bad this industry revolves around screwing the consumer over so that will never happen.

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Avatar image for Riddick123
Riddick123

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LOL, 50 dollars for a controller?

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unreal101

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<< LINK REMOVED >> That moment when you realize the controller costs as much as the rest of the "gaming" system.

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the_craig

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> wired 360 controllers work, as well as wireless ps3 (not sure about ps4). So expensive controllers aren't really an issue.

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Avatar image for Thuaxiz
Thuaxiz

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Is Ouya still a thing?

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howiex89

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<< LINK REMOVED >> not sure if even exists, never seen one. a gaming myth perhaps

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