The Ouya is a strange thing. I loved the idea of it but the execution? I’m personally a bit disappointed in how powerful the device is set to be, especially when you compare it to other Android devices, and apparently the build quality leaves a lot to be desired. But you cannot argue with the ability of the Ouya team to secure developers for the device. In the lead up to its launch in June, it has a fair team of developers behind it.
And now you can add SEGA to that list. As reported by Games Industry International, SEGA is bringing three Sonic titles to the Ouya — existing Sonic titles that have already been released on other platforms but still, pretty big news for the underdog Android device. Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II and Sonic CD will all be available on June 27, all designed specifically for the Ouya device.
“For us, there were a couple of things that were exciting about Ouya,” explained David Zemke, SEGA of America’s director of mobile business. “One is obviously that it’s a great gaming platform on a new device. When you get the chance to hook it up to an HDTV and watch it on a big screen, it’s actually quite impressive. It’s disruptive technology, right? It’s fun to see what these technologies can do and be a part of it from the beginning. For those two reasons alone, we’ve looked at it as yet another reason to bring some great Sega content to a whole new audience.”
Each of the Sonic titles will cost $6.99, which is a big leap. The game costs $1.99 on iOS and $3.99 on Google Play.
Sega embracing “disruptive” Ouya with Sonic [Games Industry International]
Comments
10 responses to “Sonic Is Coming To The Ouya”
I was really keen on getting an Ouya until I read articles about it’s media playing capabilities, which is what I wanted in for mainly. Yes, they are working on XBMC, but there are still a few hurdles to overcome (such as multi-channel HDMI passthrough). I ended up getting a WD TV Streaming Live box for about the same price.
Best of luck to them. Getting SEGA on board should help.
There’s this new thing coming out called the XBone…sounds like it might be right up your street!
If you would like to sell me an Xbone for $120, I’ll buy it off you!
I got one mostly as a bedroom media streamer, and so far it’s performed just fine. XBMC is a bit painful to install right now, but the UI is responsive, it streams 1080p smoothly and syncs perfectly with the XBMC database on my living-room HTPC. Exactly what I wanted for that role.
Game-wise I’ve had less success, with intermittent controller lag and some pretty unoptimised games. I’m sure that’ll improve in time, but the public release is nigh..
Remember eNgage? I think it was called eNgage.
I’m curious to see sales numbers of OUYA games vs the other platforms, especially Android tablets and phones seeing as the OUYA is just a headless (No inbuilt visual output) version of them. The price jump in games kinda puts me off already seeing as there are cheaper ways to have physical controller input for a game, which seems to be the main difference.
It’s a great little machine, and for $100, entirely what I would expect on the build quality and performance front. Haven’t tried it out for media, but I’ve got a RaspbPi sitting there for that, which handles 720p just fine. Emulators are great on the Ouya – the store already has NES, SNES, N64 and an NDS emulator ready to go, and they all work great.
The only severe issue I’ve had so far is some rather pronounced controller lag overall. Not just emulators, but even native stuff like Canabalt, which requires split second reactions is nigh unplayable.
Hoping it’s patched out, because the controllers are Bluetooth, they should be up to it.
Have you tried to pair a PS3 controller with it if you have one?
You can also side load a PSX emulator ePSXe android, all the games i have tried worked and using the PS3 controller makes it that so much better.
No I haven’t actually, might have to give it a go – thanks!
I was going to buy an Ouya when I first saw it during the design phase. But the closer to release we got the more I began to see something that had the potential to bury itself before it reached the holy land they described.
Will the android platform reach the level of console gaming they had hoped, or will it follow the path of mobile games and pump out mini throwaway games that milk people with micro-transactions?
How long will providing the emulators designed to play games that are illegal remain a loophole?
I mean, allowing people to download programs designed for illegal practices, but then claiming they don’t support the ROMS that said emulators are built to run is good cover, but not one I would take against some of the digital giants out there.
(Nintendo is the last company you want to pull legal loopholes on, they have set the president for many laws and rulings that saw changes to the vague world of digital ownership)
If they are not careful, the freedoms they tried to bring us will only be their downfall