Ouya, which launched today, even if many donors don’t yet have their machines, is an Android-based, open source console. It will run emulators. So there’s some sensitivity to the issue of piracy, which Ouya didn’t help by retweeting out a picture of Super Mario Bros. and adding the hashtag #freethegames.
Yesterday an enthusiast — in a tweet removed just within the past half-hour — listed his reasons for owning the console. “Use current controllers, expand ports, and #retro games.” To that he added the image below, which appears to show Super Mario Bros. being played on an Ouya.
Ouya’s official account quoted the tweet, linking this picture with the addition of the #FreetheGames hashtag to the beginning of it.
In March, the discussion of emulators on Ouya’s unofficial forums brought a statement from the console maker as to what would and would not be allowable on the device. Ouya said it would accept emulators on the Ouya store provided they didn’t include any games to which the emulator didn’t have a legitimate licence. People who wanted to submit retro games to the Ouya store also would need a licence from the owner, and Ouya noted the store does not accept ROMs, which could be pirated material, only the .apk file format.
That said, the device has already been shown to run Street Fighter II and Mario 64 on emulation, so even if ROMs or .apks of the games themselves can’t be exchanged over the Ouya store, there may be a way still to get them on the open-source console.
We’ve pointed out to Ouya that one console maker’s tacit encouragement of playing another console maker’s games on emulation is somewhat of a provocative statement. We’ve asked for comment and will update this post with any that Ouya makes. Meantime, the Tweet still is up.
Comments
3 responses to “Ouya Provokes Piracy Argument With Retweet Touting Emulation”
Raspberry Pi talks emulation, everyone foams at the mouth.
OUYA talks emulation, people grab pitch forks.
Makes sense to me…..
Fair point
Raspberry Pi is a computer that is in a separate market to the companies whose games are being emulated. Ouya is a gaming console, which places it in the same market as those companies.
Remembering of course that it is perfectly legal to run game roms on emulated consoles if you own the original media… For example I could play mk3 or mario all stars on a NES emulator since I legally own the content already…
Hey Owen kotaku had a link to a lifehacker article about creating a coffee table that runs an emulator. One of the photos shows it running a super nes emulator and you can clearly see the list of rom files.
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/06/how-to-create-the-ultimate-tech-infused-retro-arcade-coffee-table/
What colour did you say that kettle was?
Isn’t that fine?
Dude just needs to tweet a photo of his Mario Bros cart and he’ll be right as rain to use that ROM.
Or am I confused?
I mean, obviously he doesn’t need to tweet a photo of the cart in order to play the game.
Or as evidence.
To some kind of AI, minority report style person in saline bath, DRM abomination.
I will be expecting a Nintendo Banhammer attempt in the new fortnight 😛