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OUYA, the $99 console powered by Android, has soared past $5m dollars worth of funding on Kickstarter.
The ‘revolutionary’ new console smashed its original $950,000 goal within just 8 hours of the campaign commencing last Tuesday – and thousands more have pledged hundreds of dollars towards the scheme since.
At the time of writing, the total amount pledged stood at $5,039,942.
Over 38,000 people have pledged money towards the console’s development, which hopes to innovate the console market by letting Android developers publish their app directly to the console.
OUYA, which its creators call “a new kind of video game console”, features a Tegra3 quad-core processor and supports full 1080p visuals.
The console is also built around a ‘free-to-play’ model which lets developers offer a free demo with a full game upgrade, similar to how trial versions work on Xbox Live Arcade.
In addition to Kickstarter users, multiple companies and industry figureheads have also pledged their support for the console.
Infinity Ward’s ex-Creative Strategist Robert Bowling said that he “supports everything about @playouya”, while Jordan Mechner, the creator of the Prince of Persia series, asked, “Who wouldn’t want a beautiful piece of industrial design that sells for $99, plugs straight into your TV, and gives you access to a huge library of games?”
The backing of Minecraft developer Mojang, however, is likely what has got most of the console’s backers excited.
“If OUYA delivers on the promise of being the first true open gaming platform that gives indie developers access to the living room gaming market, yes that is a great idea,” said Mojang. “We will follow the development of OUYA and see how it resonates with gamers. I could see all current Mojang games go on the platform if there’s a demand for it.”
