Too many micro-consoles?

[Tupin]

I was just thinking how many of the same kinds of (usually) Android consoles that seem like the same thing are coming out. At last count, I can recall:

Ouya
Gamestick
M.O.J.O.
Shield
GamePop
Steam Box

With all of these consoles doing such similar things and with very few making it to brick and mortar stores, how can they turn a profit? Are there too many of these small little microconsoles on the market?

[JakeM]

I compared them to the Pong consoles of the 70's where theres so many people dont see the point of buying any and so then companies abandon that type of console. Theyre not targeting the normal game player with these though, so maybe each of them will find their own buyer for them to break even on the venture. I have no idea how much its costing people to license the Android technology though, but its not much apparently. The first good Tegra 4 powered console is gonna beat Ouya for a bit. Its gonna to wear on people having to pay to upgrade their consoles all the time unlike with actual consoles.

And you forgot Google's console. :S

This is interesting though hahaha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9VubEmDuJY

[Jorpho]

If Steambox actually materializes and delivers what it promises, it will be a rather different beast than these Android things.

[Graham Mitchell]

If Steambox actually materializes and delivers what it promises, it will be a rather different beast than these Android things.

I agree. If it offers high end pc gaming without the headache then it would be a potential competitor to the xbone and ps4. Of course, it'd probably be the jaguar or tg-16 of the three, but still, it would target "core" gamers who would rather spend money on performance than the stupid kinect camera or Dvr functionalities.

[Greg2600]

I was just thinking how many of the same kinds of (usually) Android consoles that seem like the same thing are coming out. At last count, I can recall:

Ouya
Gamestick
M.O.J.O.
Shield
GamePop
Steam Box

With all of these consoles doing such similar things and with very few making it to brick and mortar stores, how can they turn a profit? Are there too many of these small little microconsoles on the market?

They can't, most are destined to fail.

[Icarus Moonsight]

This market segment is fairly new and covers it's own niche. There are so many products because the future prospects of this part of the industry and consumer desies are still in discovery.

And yes, most will fail, but what a ride!

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

This market segment is fairly new and covers it's own niche. There are so many products because the future prospects of this part of the industry and consumer desies are still in discovery.

And yes, most will fail, but what a ride!

Agreed. Can't wait to see where it goes!

[Griking]

I was just thinking how many of the same kinds of (usually) Android consoles that seem like the same thing are coming out. At last count, I can recall:

Ouya
Gamestick
M.O.J.O.
Shield
GamePop
Steam Box

With all of these consoles doing such similar things and with very few making it to brick and mortar stores, how can they turn a profit? Are there too many of these small little microconsoles on the market?

I really wouldn't consider the Steam box a console.

[otaku]

I've only heard of 2 maybe 3 of these so I'm not worried and could care less if people wanna make consoles destined to fail then go for it. And we can only gain from some of their interesting ideas etc. ouya seems to have turned out to be the most or 2nd most popular but also to be a debacle. Steambox I could see sticking around and actually being worth having (hell its just a consolized pc in the end)

[The 1 2 P]

I've only heard of 2 maybe 3 of these

Same here. I've never heard of Gamestick, M.O.J.O. or GamePop. Still, I'm interested in seeing how each of them does.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Agreed. Can't wait to see where it goes!

I'm severely tempted to let my inner consumer take a backseat and don the producer hat in this field. High risk/high reward gives me an intellectual stiffy! lol

[Jorpho]

I'm pretty sure a lot of these are all based on pretty much the same OEM hardware, like http://dx.com/p/jesurun-mk809iii-eu-plug-quad-core-android-4-2-mini-pc-google-tv-player-w-2gb-ram-8gb-rom-hdmi-221655 . If they all run the same Android games, then there's really nothing much to distinguish one from another.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Shield is differentiated by being a handheld. More variation will come when preferences are weighed and new tech rolls. Most new things are samey to start with.

[Ze_ro]

I think there's a market for devices like these... but I'd like to see them come to some sort of standard so they can interoperate (access the same game store, cross platform play, standard controls, etc). Google supposedly has a microconsole in the works too, so maybe they have enough clout to get this done... or maybe Ouya can do it on their own. They're already the "face" of this movement after all.

--Zero

[Gamevet]

I agree. If it offers high end pc gaming without the headache then it would be a potential competitor to the xbone and ps4. Of course, it'd probably be the jaguar or tg-16 of the three, but still, it would target "core" gamers who would rather spend money on performance than the stupid kinect camera or Dvr functionalities.

I wouldn't call the Steambox high-end PC gaming. The Alienware x51 was once called an example of the hardware, but at $750, it didn't have a lot of gaming muscle. My old GTX 460 sli setup, performed better than the crappy Nvidia card the base X51 had.

[Graham Mitchell]

I wouldn't call the Steambox high-end PC gaming. The Alienware x51 was once called an example of the hardware, but at $750, it didn't have a lot of gaming muscle. My old GTX 460 sli setup, performed better than the crappy Nvidia card the base X51 had.

As I understood it, the Steambox allowed you to replace modular components according to the level of power you want. It probably won't offer 2 Geforce 780s in sli, but it probably will be at least comparable to the Microsoft and Sony consoles. Whether or not its a cost-effective option remains to be seen.

[Gamevet]

As I understood it, the Steambox allowed you to replace modular components according to the level of power you want. It probably won't offer 2 Geforce 780s in sli, but it probably will be at least comparable to the Microsoft and Sony consoles. Whether or not its a cost-effective option remains to be seen.

The Steambox is a small form-factor system. There would be no sli or Xfire setup with the limited space, and the board would more than likely be low-end to keep costs down. The Alienware X51 started out at the low-end with an i3-2120 and a GTX 555. I'd seen it running (at Fry's) an older game like Jane's Advanced Strike Fighters and they had the resolution set to 720p. It wasn't a very good example of an affordable gaming box, with a price of over $700.

I would imagine that the Steambox would have to run on something like an AMD APU setup with a discrete videocard like the 7790. Still not a really great setup, but it would be in the price range of the Xbone and PS4.