OUYA Unboxing
Yesterday, a small package was dropped off on my porch. It was a pleasant surprise since USPS didn't update my tracking number at all until it was delivered. Anyway, I had a few minutes in the morning to unbox it and snap a few pics. I figured some of you may be interested, so here it is, the OUYA unboxing.
The shipping box was just slightly larger than the OUYA's very simple black box. I would have preferred a bit of extra padding but, I get it, they're going for margins here. They're the small startup who's up against some very intimidating competition, of course they're going to cut costs where they can. They did, however, add some nice touches for us Kickstarters.
It's a simple message and a very nice gesture. Without Kickstarter, OUYA wouldn't have lifted off like it did. The folks at OUYA clearly appreciate the ridiculous amount of support that they've received, and I appreciate the message.
I didn't appreciate this...
Remember when I said I would have prefered a bit more padding in the shipping package? Yeah, this is why. The right face plate of the controller was clearly dislodged early during shipping and jostled around in the package until it arrived at my house. I somewhat expected this since others had already reported this issue, it was still disappointing to see after the nice message above. There's a small amount of cosmetic damage to the controller. Some small scratches below the right thumb stick, the top left corner of the faceplate is bent inwards, and the whole faceplate is slightly warped. With a little elbow grease, I bent it back to place and it fits back on the controller just fine.
I believe THIS is the look the OUYA folks were going for. Simple and clean. Presentation is obviously important to them and I think they did a stellar job designing the look and feel of the console.
Underneath the plastic divider I found the power adapter, HDMI cable, manual, and batteries for the controller. Everything needed to get started is included in the package.
And here's everything unwrapped and nearly ready to go. One interesting thing about the power adapter is that the American standard two prong plug was a separate piece, and it slides onto the wall wart part. I imagine this was done to make it easier for them to ship to different regions by only swapping out one small part. This is definitely a different choice, one that you don't see often, but it's effective and it works just fine. The plug is on there pretty firmly, so I don't forsee any issues.
Hooking it up was a breeze. Power on the top, ethernet just below, and HDMI at the bottom. There's a standard USB port to the right of the HDMI port for attaching various devices (a keyboard being the most useful probably). OUYA's focus on being an open platform is evident in the Micro-USB port freely available on the back. There's no need to open the case, just hook up a Micro-USB cable to the OUYA and your PC, download the SDK, and you're ready to go. This is something that truly sets the OUYA apart from the big players in the industry. This is an indie developer's playground. Time will tell if OUYA is successful, but there's no denying that they've done a great job of putting the tools needed to develop games in everyone's hands.
Finally, here's my OUYA tucked in the corner of my (messy) desk. I can't get over how tiny this thing is. I have a Raspberry Pi, so I'm no stranger to miniaturized computing, but I guess I'm accustomed to large consoles that are nearly the size of a PC.
I'm sure you all want to know about the software and games, but I'm not going to get into that today. Let me dig into it a bit more and then I'll post some reactions, screenshots, and maybe some video. I might also get some high resolution photos of the console and controllers with my wife's fancy camera. That's assuming I can find the time for it.