Ouya secures $15 million in new round of funding

The Ouya Android console has taken a bit of a beating recently. Early reviews of the developer hardware that went out were not good. People described it as being significantly underpowered and only offering something that most smartphones are capable of. Despite this, the company behind it have managed to secure another $15 million in venture capital funding, citing an upsurge in interest and pre-orders in the US and UK as the main reason for it.

A lot of the funds will go into producing the larger numbers than expected of pre-ordered Ouya consoles, as well as providing extra support to the some 12,000 developers that have pledged to produce games for the platform, or port their existing games over.

One of the cooler parts of the Ouya is the ability to use 3D printing to make custom cases. 
“Ouya's open source platform creates a new world of opportunity for established and emerging independent game creators and gamers alike,” said Bing Gordon, one of the partners of investment firm Kleiner Perkins. “There are some types of games that can only be experienced on a TV, and Ouya is squarely focused on bringing back the living room gaming experience.”

The release date for the Ouya has also been pushed back slightly to 25th June in the US, Canada and the UK, to help the company cope with increasing demand. If you want one yourself, you can preorder one at GAME for £99.

KitGuru Says: While I like the idea of the Ouya putting the scare in the big console boys, I can't see it making more than a spattering of an impact. It just isn't powerful enough to do more than a smartphone can do and if that's the case, what's the point? 

[Thanks Guardian]

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