The first units of the Ouya — the crowd funded, Android powered “indie” console — were sent out to Kickstarter backers earlier this month, and critics have not been kind to the new system. Today Ouya’s developers responded to the dissatisfied first impressions that people have been posting about their console, promising that the Ouya’s problems will be cleared up by the time the console has its “retail launch” this summer.
Tech sites like Engadget and The Verge have posted overwhelmingly negative impressions of the Ouya units they received as a reward for backing the console’s Kickstarter campaign. The most common complaints about the system so far are its lackluster selection of games and substantial controller latency that makes it difficult to play faster-paced games on the system.
In a statement made to GamesIndustry International today, Ouya representatives reminded the press that they should refrain from posting their impressions about the console until the system is ready for its official launch. “We will be making Ouya review units available in early to mid-May so that you are able to review the more complete consumer experience and prepare your coverage in time for the June 4th retail launch,” a rep said, further adding the consoles sent out so far were meant to be part of a “preview period” and aren’t representative of what the final Ouya experience will be like.
Ouya’s developers say that a number of fixes, including support for external storage devices and easier installations, should be added to the system before its launch. They also boast that new games are being added to the system’s app store on a daily basis.
