Android-Based Console Supplier In Talks With More Game Makers

Uhrman believes the Ouya console could outsell the latest consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, she said. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it was conceivable,” she said.

Ouya is “talking to all different types” of game publishers, and most are console and PC game makers, said Uhrman. The only rule imposed on game makers is that all titles must be at least free to try, she said. So far, few major game publishers have announced support for Ouya. But Sega is releasing exclusive, free-to-try versions of three Sonic titles for Ouya, while Square Enix is making Final Fantasy III available for it, she said.

More than 135 games were available for the console by late last week, said Uhrman. The number was 147 by Monday, according to Ouya’s website. More titles are being added each week, said Uhrman, declining to project how many titles there will be at launch.

If price alone proves to be the most important issue for consumers buying a game console this year, Ouya has an advantage because it’s significantly cheaper than the PS4, Wii U and Xbox One. But the Ouya has “pretty small” sales potential, said Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter. He predicted it and Nvidia’s $349 Android-based Shield handheld game system may only sell about 1 million units each. They are both “niche” game systems, as are the coming $199.99 and $249.99 Unu tablet (CED June 14 p3) and $79 GameStick portable console (CED April 9 p16), two more Android-based game systems, he said.

Uhrman “wasn’t surprised” by the pricing of the PS4 and Xbox One announced last week, she said. “When you add a lot of features and functionality to a product the price typically” reflects that, and it’s “incredibly high” in the case of the Xbox One ($499.99) and PS4 ($399), she said. But gamers are looking for titles that are fun to play and “that’s not necessarily dictated by the number of polygons on the screen or the realism of the graphics or the processing power of the box,” she said. Ouya is “carving out our own niche” in the market, she said.

The console can stream HD 1080p and standard-definition video. The company is “looking into” support for other resolutions, including 4K, but the focus is on 1080p for now, said Uhrman. She declined to say how many units the company will ship June 25, other than to say it plans to ship enough units at launch to meet demand.

Marketing for the device “really begins” June 25, and will use “traditional digital channels,” said Uhrman. Ouya is “working closely” with retailers on marketing of the device at launch to “build awareness” and drive sales, she said. Game stores will sell the console in the U.K., while Amazon will sell it in Canada, she said.

Ouya was “still an idea this time last year,” said Uhrman. The startup raised $5 million to launch the console as part of a crowd-funded project using the Kickstarter funding platform, it said at its website in July (CED July 19 p10). It opted to exhibit in a lot across the street from the Los Angeles Convention Center rather than on the E3 show floor. That was mainly to allow everybody to have access to see the console and test it, she said. E3 is an invitation-only event that’s not open to the public.

E3 Notebook

Skullcandy’s Astro Gaming division opened its first retail store in San Francisco just before E3, said Event Director Walter Duccini. The company hopes it will be the “first of many” stores, he said. It selected San Francisco for its first store because that’s where the company is based, he said. The company, meanwhile, is still in licensing negotiations with Microsoft and Sony to make headsets for the Xbox One and PS4, he said.

--

Majesco Entertainment is in “talks with Microsoft all the time,” but at this point it has no definitive plans to release games for Windows mobile devices, said Vince Vanasin, Majesco head of marketing-mobile. For now, Majesco releases mobile games for just iOS and Android devices. Majesco realizes “we can’t just do console” games anymore because of the popularity of mobile gaming amid the ongoing console transition, said Liz Buckley, senior vice president-marketing. Distribution partner Little Orbit expects to make its first title for Windows mobile devices by year-end, CEO Matthew Scott told us. It already supports iOS and Android, he said. Majesco distributes select games for the independent developer and publisher. Coming titles to be released under the deal that were spotlighted by the companies at E3 were Monster High 13 Wishes Shadow Secrets for the Wii U, Wii, 3DS and DS; Barbie Dreamhouse Party for the same platforms; and Young Justice: Legacy for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U. Little Orbit plans games for the PS4 and Xbox One that Scott said will combine the mobile and console experiences possible with technology including Microsoft’s SmartGlass. Mobile possibilities are “huge” now because of the “massive” amount of devices that consumers own, he said.

--

Turtle Beach had more than 50 percent market share on gaming headsets in the U.S. last year, said Chief Marketing Officer Bob Picunko, citing NPD data. It was just under 50 percent in 2011, he said. So far this year, Turtle Beach’s sales have been “consistent,” he said. The company had a “great” Q1 and early Q2, driven by major game releases that helped drive headset sales, he said. Headphone sales, however, are typically slow during the summer, he said. He predicted game industry sales will grow in the back half of the year, driven by major releases including the latest Madden football game from Electronic Arts. Turtle Beach has “significant” distribution in the U.S., via retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop and Walmart, he said. It’s now focused on growing distribution in Europe and other overseas markets, he said. Helping that should be its recent appointment of Acton as the exclusive distributor of Turtle Beach gaming headsets in China, he said. Acton gives Turtle Beach “immediate access” to more than 2,000 retail locations in China, expanding Turtle Beach’s presence to more than 29,000 storefronts globally, it said. Its headsets are now being distributed in 41 countries across North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, it said.

--

PC gaming products, combined with products for mobile devices, will “get us through the console slump” this year, said Mad Catz Interactive CEO Darren Richardson. PC products now make up about 35 percent of its annual revenue and is growing, he said. Mad Catz took the wraps off “Project M.O.J.O.” (CED June 10 p7), now being called simply M.O.J.O., at E3, and that will be the “centerpiece” of its GameSmart initiative, he said before E3. M.O.J.O. is a “micro console” for Android devices that gets plugged into a flat-screen TV and is “designed to interact seamlessly” with GameSmart controllers, mice, keyboards and headsets, he said. Pricing wasn’t given for the device, which Mad Catz said will ship this holiday season.

--

German online game publisher InnoGames is looking to grow its presence in the mobile game category, it said at E3, spotlighting a Forge of Empires iPad app and Grepolis smartphone apps for Android and iOS devices. Both games work together with their existing browser counterparts to “create a seamless gaming experience -- allowing gamers to play with one account on all devices,” the company said in a news release. The browser version of Forge of Empires launched about a year ago and now has about 10 million players, said spokeswoman Alexa Mann. The company showed an early, “alpha” version of the iPad app at E3 and the final version is targeted for Q4. An Android version will follow in 2014, said spokesman Fabio Lo Zito. Windows mobile support “might be an option” in the future if the installed base of those devices grows significantly, he said. The browser version of Grepolis launched in 2009 and now has about 20 million registered users, said Lo Zito. The iOS and Android versions will launch in July, he said. The game will work on iOS and Android tablets also, but it hasn’t been optimized for those devices yet, he said. The company will try to optimize the game for tablets in “the near future,” he said. InnoGames already moved its first title, Tribal Wars, released 10 years ago for browsers, to iOS and Android devices. The apps are attracting about 200,000 users a month and 10 percent of revenue for that title is now coming from mobile, said Lo Zito. The company has “several” other projects “in the works that will be released as cross-platform” titles at launch, it said. But the browser-based massively multiplayer online pirate game Kartuga that’s in beta testing now will “probably not” become a mobile title, said Lo Zito. The game will have a wider launch later this year, he said.