The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the extremely tiny (and cute!) Ouya Android console will fully launch this June and will be available for purchase at traditional brick and motor stores. The itty-bitty system (which is about the size of a Rubik’s Cube, and just as cute as can be!) is priced at a very reasonable $99.99, plus another $49.99 if you want an extra controller.
[Update] Ouya has been confirmed for a June 4th launch in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. for $99.
U&I Entertainment CEO Julie Uhrman noted that Kickstarter backers — who contributed a total of $8.5 million to get the console developed — will get their consoles in March, followed by pre-order deliveries in April, and finally the all out retail launch in June. Anyone interested in pre-ordering the system (which is so cute that I just want to pinch its little cheeks!) can do so by clicking over to Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, or Target right now.
As for what you get with the Ouya, the little console sports a nVIDIA quad-core CPU that outputs up to 1080p resolution via HDMI. The company claims that there are currently over 200 titles in development for the Ouya from every genre (shooters, platformers, RPG, action, etc.) and every game is free to try. As U&I puts it, “We believe you shouldn’t have to buy it unless you love it”.
Uhrman also commented on the competition that the Ouya will face if both the next generation Xbox and PlayStation launch this year as expected, saying:
“We don’t need to beat Xbox or Sony or any console that enters the marketplace. We need to carve out our own niche. Ouya offers a very different value proposition to the gaming you can currently experience. It’s a box designed specifically for the television that leverages the screen, we support 3D gaming, HD, we support the controller, we added a touchpad to the controller. The kind of content you’ll see on Ouya, it’ll be inventive and creative and has never been on the television.”
Make sure to hit up the pre-order pages listed above for more details about the Ouya, and let us know in the comments if you have already decided to give the little guy a spin.