If you were lucky enough to pledge your support for the Ouya early on, you might already have received the unique Android-based console. For those of us that didn’t, we are left waiting until the retail launch in June. A little bad news, it looks like we will be waiting longer than the 4th of June, as the console has now been delayed to June 25th.

So what caused the folks behind Ouya to delay the retail launch? The biggest reason, according to the company, is that there has been significant demand for the console and it will allow them to have more units ready to take up some shelf space at their partnering retailers.

That’s the official reason at least. Internally, it is also about addressing a pretty big concern that many early adopters have had with the console, its controller. While the control highly resembles the 360-controller and looks very high quality, it has had some reported problems with buttons getting stuck under the faceplate and other response-delay issues.

If pushing back the commercial launch a few weeks means that they can deliver a better experience from day one, all the better I say. The Ouya is a very different approach to console gaming and one that has quite a few challenges ahead, getting off to a timely retail start is important but not at the sacrifice of quality.

What do you think of the Ouya, are you excited or not?

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If you are anything at all like me – a bit old, and a lot nerdy – you’ve probably sunk in more than a few hours into playing classic Nintendo and Sega titles from the 16-bit era of gaming. One of these titles is none other than the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Good times. Soon you will be able to relive memories and even pass them down to your children through a port of the original, which is now on its way to Android and iOS.

Of course you could just use an emulator and a ROM to get the same experience, right? At least according to Sega, the game is completely remastered to be a native experience on Android and iOS. This means that it will work better with touch controls and the port will likely have some other tweaks that help it run with ease on your favorite mobile device.

The news of the port has actually been floating around since late last month, though now a video has surfaced as well. Interestingly enough, it doesn’t have any background music and so it more than likely it is early, unpolished footage.

For those interested, Sonic the Hedgehog will arrive later this month for $2.99. Sega says that Sonic 2 will also make its way over to Android and iOS, though no word on when that will be happening. Three dollars might be seem like a lot to spend for a game that came out more than two decades ago, but if Sega actually managed to come up with solid Android controllers that work better than clumsy on-screen buttons would with an emulator, it might be worth it.

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The Ouya is almost here, with the new console shipping out March 28th to Kickstarter buyers and by June for regular retail and online purchases.

With the Wii U already out, the PS4 on its way, and current generation consoles slashing prices as new ones approach – is the Ouya actually worth buying? That’s a good question, and largely will depend on what you are looking for.

Ouya – The Hardware

While an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor is far from cutting edge in the mobile world at this point, it isn’t a pushover by any means either. With a 1.7GHz quad-core Tegra 3, 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal flash, the Ouya is actually rather powerful for its $99 asking price.

Sure, the Ouya is not a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. That said, its specs likely are a step over the Nintendo Wii. While Nintendo’s Wii didn’t support HD graphics, the Ouya will after all.

So is the Ouya priced well for its specs? Yes! To put it into comparison, a Wii black bundle with Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort currently costs $129.99. The Ouya is $99, and has tons of free games available for download that probably match the kind of depth found with many of the Wii Sports games.

It is also worth noting that Ouya has revealed that will upgrade the system every year for just $99. According to their plan, games will likely ‘scale’ their graphics depending on what kind of processor/RAM configuration you have and anything you buy for the first Ouya will transfer to the second-gen model and so on.

This means that the Ouya could end up costing hundreds if you buy a model each year, but it also means less spending all at once and yet you still will get a reasonably decent gaming and entertainment experience.

But why not just get a PS3, 360, next Xbox or PS4?

If you have the money and only have one TV set you regularly use, getting a Sony or Microsoft console (or even the Wii U) is probably going to give you a more advanced gaming experience. That said, Ouya will give you many of the unique indie games that you won’t find on the Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo consoles. You might find some of these on your tablet or smartphone, though.

The biggest reason to buy the Ouya is that it is very affordable and is great as a secondary gaming/entertainment device if you have multiple TVs in your house. Unlike the Wii or even the Sony/Microsoft current consoles, the Ouya will have TONS of major entertainment apps and not just the ‘bigger players’ like Netflix and Hulu Plus.

The Family Factor

Let’s say you are a parent. You are looking for a “gaming” device for your family but you either have a limited budget or just feel your kids don’t need a $350+ gaming system.

You could go with a tablet, but it isn’t exactly great for multiplayer. The Ouya supports multiple controllers and is very affordable. There are also tons of free games and every game can at least be tried before you buy it.

That alone makes the $99 quite trivial for parents of younger kids that don’t necessarily need the “hardcore” games that a teenager or young adult gamer might be after.

The Open Factor

Like modding and tinkering? The Ouya comes with standard screw sizes that make it easy to take apart. The software is built on Android and fully capable of being opened up. More than likely ROMs that give you full Android Jelly Bean experiences will also arrive for the console at some point in the future.

The bottom-line is that if you want to unlock extra abilities out of your Ouya, you can. Additionally, if you are a developer, any Ouya can be a developer unit. This is important not just for Ouya developing, but helping refine your skills if you are still new to the development game.

The Entertainment Factor

As mentioned before, there will be plenty of apps like YouTube, Vevo, XBMC, TuneIn, Netflix and more. The Ouya is no more expensive than any of these set-top boxes and yet offers a similar selection of apps on top of its games. Have an entertainment app you wish the Ouya came with that works for Android? It is very possible to make it work though modding, thanks to the open nature and Android-basis of the device.

The Gaming Factor

The Ouya is first and foremost an open gaming system geared towards indie gamers, casual gamers and those that like the idea of playing mobile games on the big screen. While there isn’t any “killer” titles announced at this point, there are over 200+ games on their way to the Ouya around its launch window, with much more to follow. Is this is a hardcore system? I would say yes. It is also a casual system. There will likely be a little bit of both mixed in here, though expect the majority of the more “hardcore” games to probably be from indie studios (not that this is a bad thing).

Not all of these will be gems, but even if you find just two or three you love – it will likely pay for the paltry price of the Ouya.

There are also a few unique looking games being worked on for the Ouya, like the one in this trailer:

Interested in learning more about the games coming to Ouya? Here’s a pretty comprehensive list.

The bottom-line is that the Ouya probably isn’t going to take the gaming world by storm and knock out the competition, but it could certainly be exactly what you are looking for if you want a cheap gaming and entertainment system regardless of whether you are a parent, a mobile gamer, indie gamer or simply someone wanting a set-top box with a few games thrown in.

What do you think of the Ouya, do you think it is worth it or do you feel that it is a good idea but largely one that has very little chance of succeeding?

The post Is the Ouya Worth Buying? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Although this review was done on an Android device, gameplay on the iOS is very similar

Top Gear has become a popular series, so it makes sense that BBC are trying to push more out of the program by developing a mobile game for the plentiful Top Gear fans. But is it good enough? Does it deserve Top Gear’s name, or is it just a cheap gimmick to get more revenue from the already popular TV program? Let’s take a look and see.

Interface and Controls

Mobile games are meant to be simple; touch screens are quite primitive when it comes to game controls, so without a simple control system or user interface, games can become frustrating to the point of the player quitting and finding a simpler alternative, regardless of the actual game content. When I came away from using the interface in Top Gear, I felt nothing but confused and frustrated, there is quite a lot of content in the game, and the interface has been displayed nicely, but there are so many unnecessary menus and sub-menus that it becomes an effort to find and display what you are looking for.

Navigation becomes a chore, and without any interface or UI tutorials, it’s certainly very overwhelming at first. The menus still show a lot of information though, and there are places to check your current progress and your purchased vehicles, as well as sub-menus for purchasing in-game cash and setting options as well, so the interface isn’t lacking much, despite the navigation issues.

In Top Gear SSR, there are a variety of challenges to complete, although throughout the game, the controls remain practically the same. By default, there are two onscreen buttons to control acceleration and the breaks, and steering the vehicle can be controlled with the accelerometer.

The accelerometer controls are hard to grip, and it’s hard to find a decent sensitivity between over-sensitive steering to brick-like controls. Luckily, there is an option to have onscreen steering buttons, which improves the control ability by a huge amount. The steering still isn’t perfect though, and when compared to games like Asphalt 7, which is available for a similar price as Top Gear SSR Pro, it shows that the game hasn’t been as smoothly polished as games from more professional developers like Gameloft.

Gameplay and Challenges

Top Gear SSR is split up into different challenges that have to be played with each of the three car classes before being able to move onto the next one. Each challenge has a bronze, silver and gold medal to achieve, and the score needed to earn a medal rises after each time the challenge is completed. There is a huge variety within the challenges available, taking you from mountainside jumps, to bowling with giant skittles. The developers have done a good job to put in a lot of different mini games, and Top Gear SSR makes for a good party game.

There are plenty of cars to unlock, and the upgrade system has been worked out smartly, however, with the repetitive challenges with little differentiation between them, it becomes a big grind to unlock and upgrade the higher level cars.

There’s also a level system which prevents players from buying the best cars and upgrades with real money straight away, so although the game seems to point towards all the freemium purchases such as car upgrades and unlocks, Top Gear still requires you to play the game before you can use them.

Graphics and Different Environments

The graphics in Top Gear SSR aren’t top notch, but there is a decent amount of variety of levels and vehicles, and that’s what is important. The 150 vehicles fit into different classes but still each have their own unique shine to them. The different challenge locations vary greatly, and because of this, the game includes a lot of different scenes to play in.

For a mobile game released in 2012, the game feels a little unfinished, and I would have much preferred it if BBC gave Gameloft the opportunity to develop a Top Gear game, instead of giving the task to their own in-house developers.

The Top Gear Theme

Throughout this game, I constantly noticed how Top Gear SSR really had nothing to do with Top Gear other than the logos in-game, and the appropriately named in-game cash, ‘Stig Dollars.’

The cars feel unrealistic and don’t represent anything we would expect on the TV show, and although we see a few cars here and there that represent real life vehicles, the situations the cars are put through in the game are also far from realistic, and for a game that is focused towards car enthusiasts, Top Gear SSR is a bit of a disappointment.

Summary:

Pros:

• 150 Cars to unlock
• Lots of upgrades
• Varying scenes, challenges and vehicles keep game fresh

Cons:

• Controls and interface are unpolished
• Doesn’t represent Top Gear well at all
• Big grind to get the higher level vehicles and upgrades

Download Top Gear SSR here:

iOS

Google Play

The post Top Gear Stunt School Revolution for Android appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Remember the Wikipad? This 10-inch Android gaming pad with detachable controllers was supposed to be ready for a release to Gamestop awhile ago, but has largely disappeared off the radar– until now.

The folks behind the Wikipad are pack, this time saying that the 10-inch tablet has been canned in favor of a cheaper 7-inch model that they expect to sale for just $249.99, half of the asking price of the original 10-inch design.

So far into the game, you have to wonder: what happened to the 10-inch model? Apparently there was a mechanical issue with the first batch that they had to retool their efforts. They have since ironed out the issue but before they could roll out new units they found that the manufacturer that had been making the 10-inch panel they planned to use had apparently decided to discontinue the display.

Seeing that they were running into tons of issues, and realizing that 7-inch tablets were quickly starting to outshine 10-inch models, they decided to scrap everything. The result is a 7-inch Wikipad that is essentially identical to the original model, except with a smaller screen.

This means a Tegra 3 procesor, 1GB of RAM, a 1280×800 resolution display, 16GB storage, 8 hours of battery life and Android 4.1

The company behind the Wikipad admits they failed first time around, but promises they are getting everything right for a second go. The big question is whether or not you should care. With devices like Nvidia’s Project Shield just around the corner, and so many cheap tablets that you can add 3rd party controllers to, the Wikipad might not elicit as much excitement as it once did.

What do you think, interested in the 7-inch Wikipad or not?

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The post Wikipad Returns From The Dead, Now in 7-inch Form appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

We knew Temple Run was a popular series, but just how popular? It turns out that Temple Run 2 is the fastest growing mobile game ever released, managing 50 million downloads in just one day short of two weeks since its release. This surpasses the old record holder, Angry Birds Space.

According to the co-founder of Imangi, Keith Sheperd, the game has performed beyond our wildest dreams,” further mentioning, “Temple Run has evolved into something so much bigger than us.”

While Temple Run managed to accumulate 170 million downloads, it has been around much longer than the sequel. At the rate things are going, it is clear that Temple Run 2 is nothing less than a runaway hit. Have you tried Temple Run 2 out for yourself yet, if so what do you think?

For those interested, the app is available now through Google Play, Amazon’s AppStore and the Apple AppStore.

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So what are they going to use that money for?  Obviously they have used a majority of the funds to smooth the development of the first release console.  But they will use some of it for something a bit more exciting, a 3D version.  We don’t know anything else other than it will offer stereoscopic gaming on compatible 3D TVs.

According to Pocket-Lint, not only will this system be released in the U.S. for $99, but will also hit the UK with a price tag of £99 available March of 2013.

Pocket-Lint also reported that when the standard OUYA is finally released, it will be an Amazon.com exclusive, if true, it could limit the market, which could be what they want, considering this is more of an enthusiast indie console and not so much of a mainstream device like the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3.  Still, with NVIDIA unveiling a much more advanced handheld Android system just yesterday, they might adjust their marketing plan.

Are you still excited for the OUYA release or not?

The post Some Exciting Announcements Out of the OUYA Camp appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Remember the Ouya? It has been a little while since the last time we featured an article about the open-source Android console. The good news is that the little Android box is finally almost here, with developer kit versions of the Ouya shipping out on December 28th.

We always knew that the Ouya was a small yet relatively capable little cube, but the picture above now drives home just how small the cube really is.

Wondering what the difference is between a developer version and a retail consumer Ouya? Honestly, there probably isn’t tons of differences, though the company does say that the dev units are “pretty special”– take that how you will. We do know that these developer versions will come rooted out of the box, whereas the standard commercial version will allow rooting but will require user intervention to unlock the root.

So, developers are finally getting the first true taste of the Ouya, but what about the rest of us? As a reminder, the retail arrival for the Ouya is expected in April of 2013, at a price point of just $99.

Are you excited for the Ouya, or with next generation consoles just around the corner, has the open-source Android console lost its appeal?

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As of this writing, the Ouya Kickstarter project has raised over $4.5 million and it still has 26 days to go. Needless to say, people are pretty darn interested in this cheap system that is promising free video games for all. While it’s unclear exactly what games will launch with Ouya, the Kickstarter page does at least depict Canabalt, a fun and simple game that I’ve been playing through the Chrome Web Store. The tentative dashboard, which is vaguely reminscent of the Xbox 360 Dashboard, also shows Samurai Vengeance, Dead Trigger, Shadowgun, Racing Live, TripleTown and Minecraft.

Because Ouya is based on Android, app developers aren’t restricted to just playing games. They could theoretically develop whatever Android application they want. Again, on the Kickstarter page, they’re showing that Ouya could have a Twitch.tv app for live streaming of gaming tournaments and events. The Ouya prototype is already up and running, but they need money for the next stage of development.

Whereas it took the Ouya just a little over 8 hours to raise $1 million, the next closest Kickstarter project (Double Fine Adventure) took 17 hours and 30 minutes. Remember that Pebble e-watch that had everyone raving? That took 27 hours to raise $1 million. Yeah, this Ouya thing could be a pretty big deal.

[Kickstarter Blog via HuffPo]

The post Ouya Console Raises $1 Million Kickstarter Funding in 8 Hours appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Despite the name, the WikiPad is not a highly-optimized Wikipedia tablet as the name may lead you to believe, it just has a strange name. Still, what is unique about the WikiPad is that it is the first Android 4.0 ICS tablet to feature glasses-free 3D touch and an interesting gaming dock attachment.

The attachment adds a d-pad, dual analogue stick, 4 face buttons, and built-in speakers. I can already see this bad-boy loaded with classics like GTA 3. Now all I need to do is keep my fingers crossed that more and more big-name studios start bringing top-notch games to Google Market that have tablets in mind.

The idea of 3D gaming on a tablet alone is pretty awesome, unfortunately we don’t yet have any real information on the specs, so its hard to say how ‘up for the job’ its hardware is. What we do know is that it features 1080p high-def 2D/3D playback of multiple formats including H.264, VC1, VOB, ISO, M2TS, and FLV. We also know it has USB 2.0 and mini-HDMI.

As for storage, the WikiTab has a rather tiny amount of space for a tablet that is targeted at gamers: 8GB. Luckily, it does have a micro-SD port that allows you to expand your storage up to 64GB.

The Wikipad will be available spring 2012 for purchase online and through retailers worldwide.

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