OUYA Last Days

As many know (or not) that the OUYA is dead.  Razer is shutting down the severs on June 25, 2019.  I had some money left in my account.  So decided to turn it on for the first time in about five years.  Put new batteries in the controller, plug it in and tuned it on.  Was a big surprised there was no system software update.  Took a look at the games lists there were many that have been on there since day one still on the main page.  All so many others.  Did buy a few games.  Which I haven’t tired yet.  This is because I am working on make some videos on the OUYA and those games for the I’d Rather Watch Paint Dry YouTube channel.  So keep your eye out for those.

OUYA Is Dead

I fell for the hype when the OUYA was first announced.  Bought one back in July 2013.  Liked it at first.  There was some fun to be had with it.  After a while the games on it were not so great.  So put it a side.  Then in 2015 the game accessory/peripheral maker Razer bought the OUYA people out and kept it going.  Well until June 25, 2019.  That is when they are shutting off the servers.  Do have some money left on my account.  Will have to hook it back up to see what what games might be worth the money.  Once the site is shut off the money will be gone.

OUYA

I has been over a year since I have last turned on my OUYA.  Bought it about two years ago (July 2013).  Back then thought it was pretty cool.  Still do just not to use every day or months even.  Read back in April (2015) the company was for sale.  The other day game accessory/peripheral maker Razer as bought them out.  They have their own Android based products.  Not sure all the details yet.  Do know the OUYA store will be re-branded as Cortex for Android TV.  They are saying > here,

“In the near future, Razer will be providing existing OUYA users with a clear path of migration to the more advanced Forge TV micro-console and Serval controller bundle. Razer’s intention is to allow OUYA users to bring their games, controllers, and accounts to the Cortex TV platform on the Forge micro-console, advancing the experience of Android gaming on TV that they have previously enjoyed. Additionally, Razer is planning deep product discounts for incoming OUYA users to purchase Razer hardware, and a spate of freebies, giveaways, and promotions to enjoy on their new Forge consoles.”

I still have money left in my OUYA account.  Not sure if will lose it all ounces all this migration takes place.  Can’t see myself buying another micro console.  Think at some point there will be an email going out to OUYA users about the details.

OUYA

Had a nice surprise in my emails the other day.  It was from the people at OUYA.  They sent me a code for a $5.00 credit.  To help me get back to playing.  Thought that was very nice of them.  It has been a few months since I have even turned on my OUYA.  Once I put the code in took a look to see what is new to try out.  There is all kinds of new games and apps.  There is one that caught my eye, Saga Heroes.   This is a very good looking top down RPG/Adventure game.  As a bit of a Diablo look.  Have download but yet to try it out.

Construct 2

A few post back talk about trying to make a game for the OUYA.  Used the program Game Maker.  Then got frustrated and gave up.  Well the gave up part only last of a little while.   When back to the list of game engines you can use > here.  Looked at the one called Construct 2.  While you can use it to make a game for the OUYA it again looks confusing.  So I will not be doing that.  Because it is simple to upload you game else were.  You can upload right to their arcade section, your own website or a whole bunch of other options as well.

Gave this program a try.  It is pretty cool.  It’s a HTML 5 game editor that lets you make games more easily with is visual editor.  The best part it is free to try.  Of course if you buy it you will get a lot more options.  But if you are like me and just want to try and make a simple game, its prefect.  The all so have great tutorials for beginners.  Did one of those.  Plan to practices a bit more. Do some more tutorials and see what kind of game I can come up with.

OUYA Game

The other night was thinking to myself, I should try and make a game for the OUYA.  Thought it would be a fun project to work on in my spare time.  Started to look into the process.  Could not find any step by step how-to’s.  Did a bunch of searching and reading and came up with a plan.  Found a get help post showing how to set up all the development kit stuff > here.   Did all these steps.  It seemed to work but still have know idea what does or how you use it.  Next was time to find a game engine.  There is a bunch, you can see that list > here.  After looking at them all.  Decided on Game Maker.  Because it looked the one of the easier ones to use with lots of help online.  They have a free version to try.

Got that all download and installed.  Watched a tutorial and made a simple box move in each direction with pressing the arrows keys.  Then I wanted to see if I could get that onto the OUYA and use its controller.  Well that is were I ran into trouble.  Could not figure out how to do that.  Looked into get code to map the buttons.  But that was very confusing.  Ended up getting very frustrated.  So I gave up.  It shouldn’t be that hard to do.  Just wish there was a step by step process.

OUYA Prepaid Card

Over at Amazon.ca they have been offering prepaid cards for the OUYA for a few moths now.  Said to myself, the next time I am getting something from Amazon I should get one of the $25 prepaid cards.  So that is what I did.  When I first set up the OUYA I didn’t put my credit card info in because I knew at some point these cards would out.  All so don’t like just handing my credit card info out.

Have not used my OUYA since November.  Knew this card was coming in the mail so I had to turn it on to download the updates.  All so check out to see what new game there are.  There is lots of interesting stuff.  There is all so an option now to download game to an external USB drive.  Which is cool.  One game want to buy for sure is Ice Rage.   Think it cost two to thee dollars.

Order & Chaos Online

Haven’t check out the OUYA game page of a few days now.  Until last night.  Where was a lot more games to try.  Which is a good thing.  The more the better.  While most are not that good.  One caught my eye.  It is called Order & Chaos Online.  This is one of may games Gameloft makes.  These guys have been making games for the mobile market for a long time.  I am sure if you have a iOS or Android device you have played one of their games.   Some are good and some not.  Order & Chaos have been around for a few years now.  It is one of those MMORPG’s.  It is the first MMO to be on the OUYA.  I had to give it a try.

Have played a few of these types of games over the years on my computer.  They are all pretty much the same but its nice to play on the TV with a controller.   The game works very well.  It took a while to download since it was over a GB and stopped a few times when lost connection with the sever.  Once downloaded all you need is a Gameloft live log in.  That is every easy to do.  You can make one right from the game.  I tried to make one but it wouldn’t work.  Turns out I have made an account with them and forgot all about it.  Once I rest my password I was in the game.  Have tried games like this before so I kind of new what to do.  That is one downside.  If you ever tired a game like this you are going to feel lost.  Played a few quest and level up a bit.  The game works great.  I can see myself going back in a playing some more.  The game is free to play but like lot of these game it uses microtransactions if you want more gold or items/stuff.  So if you have an OUYA give this game a try.  One of the better made games out so far.

Lexar Jumpdrive

Bought myself a new USB flash drive.  It is a 8GB Lexar Jumpdrive S70.  Wanted a new one just to use with my OUYA.  First off it all ways surprizes me how these drives have come down in price.  Back in 2003 or so a 256 MB that’s right MB not GB was close to a $100.  Now you can find 32 GB or so for under $30.  Picked this 8GB for $9.67.  Looked online at the Lexar site they want $15 for the same one and over at Amazon.ca (not them but a seller though them) are selling the it for $31.  I pretty sure soon you will be able to buy a good brand name for just one or two dollars.

OUYA Game

Yes, back again talking about the OUYA.  Now that I have one.  Thinking about trying to make a game for it.  It might be fun to give it a go.  Would like to make a simple one, nothing special.  Not to sure what is all involved to make one.  There will be some programing for sure.  Would need to look up a lot of help for that.  Since I am not a programmer.  But do understand some of it.  Just don’t know to put that all together.  I know the SDK or that they are calling it ODK is free to download and use.  As I am typing this (July 24, 2013) there is a new version out, 1.0.6.  You can download that > here.   They all so have a help section under their Developers Portal > here.   When I have some free time going to look into this idea a lot more.  Will be back with updates.