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The Ouya isn't going to make its planned June 4 launch. The diminutive Android console will now launch on June 25 (coincidentally the Tuesday following E3). Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman tells Joystiq that the decision was made in order to meet high demand at retail.

"We've had incredibly positive reactions from our retail partners, and so in order to meet their greater than expected demand, we decided to shift the launch date by a couple of weeks - three weeks - which will allow us to create more units and, basically, have more units on store shelves in June."

Uhrman also addressed one of Ouya's stickier issues, notably that the controller's buttons can get stuck underneath its faceplate. The problem has already been fixed, she says, and is being implemented in production. The solution: larger button holes. "I don't know what the exact millimeter is, but we've increased the size just a little bit, so now the buttons don't stick under it. We made that change very early so all the units are being produced with those larger button holes." The corrected controllers will ship alongside Ouya's retail launch units.

We followed up with Ouya and were told that the new controllers are being shipped to Kickstarter backers as well. When asked if those who already received a defective controller would get a replacement, a representative told us, "If backers have a problem with their controller, we will work with them to resolve the issue via customer service."

We'll have more on the Ouya's upcoming launch later today.

The Ouya team sent the gentlehands at iFixit a retail unit of the tiny Android console to rip apart and gauge its openness and repairability. IFixit found only one moving component, the fan, in the entire little box and remarked on the hardware's "very clean and simple layout."

The Ouya scored a 9 out of 10 on iFixit's Repairability scale, because it uses standard-head screws, no weird glues, and most of its components are easily removed and replaced. IFixit factored in the Ouya controller to its score, knocking it for having the joysticks soldered to the circuit board, meaning a broken stick may necessitate an entire board transplant.

Starbound, a sandbox exploration game with randomly generated worlds, is the next game from Terraria developer Chucklefish and has been raising money through its pre-order page (take that, Kickstarter!) for some time. Today, Starbound has received over $1 million from crowd-funding, securing all stretch goal extras for the game.

Upon reaching $500,000, Chucklefish promised a new playable race called the Novakids - nomads comprised of gases who have no planet to call home. At $750,000, fossils were introduced: rare and valuable materials players can unearth using special tools. Finally the $1 million threshold promised starter pets, which are companions that can't fight or be controlled - unlike the alien creatures you actually can capture and force to fight - but they love you unconditionally and that's the important thing.

There isn't an exact date for Starbound's launch, though the game is due sometime this year on Windows PC, Mac, Linux and Ouya.

The next project from Papo & Yo developer Minority, Silent Enemy, tackles another sensitive topic: bullying. Many of the developers were bullied and that history affected the design and development of SIlent Enemy.

Everybody's talking about the Ouya these days. Ouya exclusives, Ouya unboxings, Ouya reviews — what about the GameStick? It's a standalone Android console too, you know. Sure, it might not be as powerful as the Ouya or have the strange, mildly-confused following of the Ouya, but it's got spunk? Sure, we'll go with spunk. Just look at this spunky explainer video. There's an audience for products like the GameStick. I'm just not sure that audience extends beyond the people that flocked to it on Kickstarter on the first place. And of course, there's the Ouya. It's tough being eclipsed by a similar product, but look at it this way, GameStick — the Ouya has that much further to fall should it fail.

This is Soul Fjord, the next game from Airtight Games, the folks behind last year's excellent first-person puzzler Quantum Conundrum. The game is Ouya-exclusive—at least for now—and the preview is IGN-exclusive, so head on over there for a few more details and a full trailer. Exclusives!

The next game from designer Kim Swift and Airtight Games (Quantum Conundrum) will be Soul Fjord. Fusing '70s funk with Norse mythology, the game stars Magnus Jones, an afro-sporting Viking, who makes his way through procedurally generated dungeons and engages in rhythm-based combat.

And if you were wondering: yes, this is Airtight's Ouya-exclusive project that was announced earlier this year. Swift referred to it as a "console exclusive" when speaking to IGN, so it's possible that mobile and PC ports are still on the table.

A developer diary was released alongside the announcement. At the very least, the eclectic cultural mash-up makes for interesting aesthetics, though there isn't much to speak of in terms of gameplay.

The Ouya is slated to officially launch on June 4, while Soul Fjord is "coming soon."

Apart from patching up software and hardware issues, the Ouya's biggest hurdle is the same one that every new console faces: Games. That's where Kellee Santiago comes in. Santiago made a name for herself with thatgamecompany, the studio behind Flow, Flower and Journey. After departing thatgamecompany in 2012, she joined Ouya earlier this year as its head of developer relations. That makes it her job to both work with Ouya's current developers, reach out to new ones and, perhaps most importantly, help curate the content on the Ouya store.

"One of the, I would say, main goals for the console is to create an ecosystem in which any developer can find the right audience for their game through Ouya." That means creating a system that is "naturally diverse" to begin with, she says, and "taking a look at what are our early developers naturally gravitating to. What is [the] content we want to get onto the platform in order to increase the diversity of our portfolio."

That also means avoiding "the trap that many new distribution channels can fall into, which is sort of feeding into the early successes of the games that were accepted by the initial audience of the platform." That's easier said than done, and Ouya has a handful of battles to fight.

The Ouya has surpassed 10,000 registered developers. The news comes courtesy of Ouya's head of developer relations, Kellee Santiago, who told Joystiq that the tiny console just passed the significant milestone. Santiago didn't divulge any of the studios that might be on the list, but noted there should be some announcements in the "upcoming few weeks."

Some of the high-profile names we've already heard include Double Fine, Polytron, Airtight Games and Minority Media. We spoke to Santiago regarding her role at Ouya and how she plans to expand its library and attract developers. Expect more on that conversation next week.

Good news for Ouya Kickstarter backers (and anyone planning to buy a retail unit in June), a new firmware update will let you change your payment options. Previously, credit card information was locked into the associated Ouya account once it was entered. Now, users may change their credit card information at any time under account settings in the Manage menu.

The Ouya recently began shipping to Kickstarter backers as part of a public preview period, and today's update irons out one of the kinks cited in our review of the console's current state.

One summer, when I was a kid, I wandered into a garage sale and came across an old Atari 2600 and a shoebox full of games. I don't remember how much they wanted for it, but it was low enough that a kid without a job could afford it, so it wasn't much. I took it home, immediately hooked it up to the television and started rifling through the games.

Most of the games were simple, executions of a single concept. Some of them were great, some were passable but forgettable, while others were nigh indecipherable. Naturally, there were some genuine turkeys in there too. It was hard to be disappointed though, since I could just pop in another cartridge and, after all, the entire box of goodies had cost me practically nothing.

That summer day pretty much encapsulates my experience with the Ouya thus far.

The Android-powered Ouya console, a $99 Kickstarter darling, was never going to be a gaming thoroughbred, in either commercial or horsepower terms. You just don't get top-shelf gaming performance from something that cheap. It's impossible. But just what kind of shelf do you get for your $99? Well, according to benchmark tests done by Futuremark, and performed on the beta/preview unit currently available, you get what's currently the 78th most powerful Android device on the market, perhaps unsurprising since the Ouya is using outdated hardware compared to more expensive phones and tablets. Scoring a 4010 on the site's metric, that puts it well behind devices like Samsung's Galaxy S III (5075), my current phone the HTC One XL (6206), and Google's Nexus 4 (10194). And those are "last generation" phones. This year's crop of Android flagships, like the Galaxy S IV and HTC One, are over twice as powerful. Sure, the team might be able to make some advances in the time between now and the Ouya's final retail release, but they won't be enough to make much of a dent in those figures. Which may sound like a poor comparison, since this is a $99 console, but it also shows why the Ouya is going to have a hard time convincing people it's worth owning: why spend the money on slow, old hardware when you can easily get a more powerful Android device as your daily smartphone? Or given the popularity of phones like the Galaxy S III, may well even own one already? Best Mobile Devices April - 2013 [Futuremark, via Gamesbeat]

Earlier this week, we took a look at the Ouya hardware that began shipping to Kickstarter backers last month. Now, join us as we delve into the software that makes the little console tick. We should have a broader review of our experience with the Ouya within the coming days.

We're still composing our thoughts on our Ouya Kickstarter console - expect more on that later this week - but in the meantime we thought we'd give the Joystiq biomass a look at the diminutive hardware and its accompanying controller.

Ouya's Kickstarter backers started receiving their consoles on March 28. The console's public launch is slated for June.

As a husband and wife development team, Alix Stolzer and Calvin Goble worked out a system that saw them through the first few years of crafting games: Calvin made their first two titles, Tiny Plumbers and IGF nominee Neverdaunt: 8Bit, while Alix worked a 9-5 job and provided input in her spare time. The situation was satisfactory, but eventually, Alix wanted more.

"While money was coming in from our games, it really wasn't enough to pay the bills," Alix told me. "We decided we'd rather reduce living costs and rough it, instead of one of us working a 'real' job. The opportunity came quickly."

A friend offered them the opportunity to be his "mountain neighbor" in Vermont - meaning they would live in a mountainside forest, in a home they'd craft themselves out of trees and tarp. There, they could survive on $150 a month, plus food. Alix and Calvin seized the moment.

"We sold our house and used as little money as possible to build a small house-tent thing eight feet off the ground, on a platform our friend had made out of four trees," Alix said. "We spent maybe $1,000 on it, really using thrifty things like greenhouse plastic, and making our own solar panels, etc. It's an awesome adventure, but the downside is it slows down game development."

The mountain, miraculously, hosted a strong cellular internet signal, and on sunny days Alix and Calvin were able to charge their laptops, one at a time, using the homemade solar panels. Cafes and the college campus in town, a half hour walk away, provided power and internet on cloudy days. Everything - food, heat, power, water - took extra time in the mountain home, Alix said, including video game programming and design.

But the tree house didn't stop their game development. As the studio Robot Loves Kitty, Calvin (the Robot) and Alix (Kitty) brought their latest game, Legend of Dungeon, to PAX East, using not a lot of money and earning wild success.

Those early Kickstarter units may have some issues, but Ouya promises that come time to officially launch the console on June 4, that won't be the case. External storage for games, an easier game installation process, controller support for video players, more metrics for developers and support for different payment options are a few of the issues Ouya will be focusing on leading up to launch, founder and CEO of Ouya Julie Uhrman said on the Ouya blog.

"We will continue to obsess over quality and performance. For example, we are considering adding additional magnets to the controllers so that the faceplates are more secure - no more falling off during shipments!" Ouya is also working on improving responsiveness of software and will continue to focus on "discovery and curation" as more games are submitted to Ouya.

The founding backer edition of Ouya launched on March 28, though many found - including our pals over at Engadget - that the console seemed like more of a beta release than a final product. Ouya will ship its retail version on June 4 for $99.

After 30-days of fundraising on Kickstarter, Robotoki's platforming project The Adventures of Dash fell short of its $400,000 goal, earning a total of $33,121 from 496 backers over the course of the campaign.

"We know were not alone now in wanting to see this game come to life," the campaign's final update reads, "and while we're not entirely sure how we're going to make that happen right now, we are going to do everything we can to keep the game alive." The update goes on to say that The Adventures of Dash will have to be placed "on the back burner for now" so Robotoki can focus on its main project, Human Element.

The Adventures of Dash, a 2D side-scrolling platformer about a boy with narcolepsy, was originally planned for a November launch on consoles, iOS, Android PC, Mac, Linux and Ouya. The game would have changed both stylistically and mechanically based on whether Dash was awake or involuntarily asleep, as seen in the gallery below.

Ouya, the diminutive android-powered console, will launch on June 4. The device will be available in the US, Canada and the UK for the asking price of $99. Meanwhile, Ouya's Kickstarter backers should begin receiving their units starting today.

We got a chance to try out an Ouya at GDC. Expect our impressions later today.

If you're already tired of playing games on your Ouya (see our preview here!), you can easily watch other people playing them. Streaming site Twitch.tv revealed that it already has a dedicated viewing app on the tiny crowdfunded console at launch.

Ouya is officially the first console with a native Twitch app ... if only because the Xbox 360 app, announced at E3, has been delayed. "Unfortunately, we ran into some development snags, but rest assured it is slated for release in May," Twitch notes.

For being such a little thing, the Ouya is surprisingly heavy. The Kickstarter unit I tested was etched with the names of $10,000 backers, Minecraft creator Notch at the top of the list. Ouya's development kit (the ODK) is in the hands of 8,000 developers, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman told me. "New games are getting loaded every single day, all different types of genres."

The hardware is finalized, she said, having been improved over the original development kits based on developer suggestions. With units now shipping to Kickstarter backers, the next two months will be spent improving the software prior to the official public launch in June. "Like every other sort of typical software platform, it's always going to continue to evolve, and we'll add more features and functionality."

For being such a little thing, the Ouya is surprisingly heavy. The Kickstarter unit I tested was etched with the names of $10,000 backers, Minecraft creator Notch at the top of the list. Ouya's development kit (the ODK) is in the hands of 8,000 developers, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman told me. "New games are getting loaded every single day, all different types of genres."

The hardware is finalized, she said, having been improved over the original development kits based on developer suggestions. With units now shipping to Kickstarter backers, the next two months will be spent improving the software prior to the official public launch in June. "Like every other sort of typical software platform, it's always going to continue to evolve, and we'll add more features and functionality."

Ouya has announced its digital storefront is now accessible to developers ahead of the console's planned shipments to Kickstarter backers on March 28. Developers uploading games to Ouya's servers from today onward will find their wares in front of Ouya backers on launch day.

They will also be eligible for a free promotion in which Ouya will choose the top three games, according to time played over six weeks following the console launch, and feature them in an upcoming series of short documentaries. "We will rely heavily on these documentaries to tell people about OUYA, and we'll share them far and wide as part of our launch marketing in June leading up to the holidays," the Ouya blog post from recent hire Kellee Santiago reads.

The blog post also discusses how Ouya's recently established approval process works. Those who have already submitted for approval during the test phase will have to re-submit.

If you didn't back the Ouya Kickstarter campaign and all goes according to the manufacturing plan, you'll able to purchase an Ouya console for $99 in June, either online or through various retailers.

If you bought an Ouya console from the Kickstarter drive, you will actually get the thing you bought soon. The consoles will begin shipping out on March 28, the company announced today. The retail launch is still set for June.

Ouya will be supported by games, including an exclusive title by Kim Swift and Airtight Games (Quantum Conundrum) and a new project by Minority Media (Papo & Yo). And to attract even more talent to the diminutive console, thatgamecompany co-founder Kellee Santiago also announced that she's joined the company as head of developer relations.

#ouya "At the end of the day, Ouya is beautiful, but people don't buy consoles," the woman behind the Android-based home console that is coming out next month recently said to me. "They buy content." More »

Ouya developers should be in for a relatively simple approval process for submitted games, CEO Julie Uhrman tells our friends at Engadget. Once games are submitted, they will be checked for "intellectual property infringement, and malware, and excessive pornography," says Uhrman. "Ultimately it's a quick review and you're in the storefront in one capacity or another."

Uhrman says the internal review process should begin in the "middle-to-end of this month." With Ouya Kickstarter backers set to receive the first consumer Ouya units in March, let's hope the turnaround is as quick as Uhrman implies. Assuming it is, there's plenty of time for the Ouya to build up its library before the full retail launch in June.

Ouya is expected to iterate every year, taking advantage of annual price drops on components for the $99 Android console.

"As it relates to iterating the console and refreshes, our strategy is very much similar to the mobile strategy. There will be a new Ouya every year," Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman told us at DICE today. "There will be an Ouya 2 and an Ouya 3. We'll take advantage of faster, better processors, take advantage of prices falling. So if we can get more than 8GB of Flash in our box, we will. And in so doing, make sure that all games are backwards compatible."

Regarding the specs of the Ouya 1, she said, "We're launching on the Tegra 3. It's a quad-core A9 chip. Because it's not a mobile device, we don't have to balance power for battery life. So when all four quads are running, it's 1.6GHz. It's gonna be the best Tegra 3 device on the market."

Games will be tied to a user's Ouya account, so even if customers upgrade annually, the plan is for them to own their content from one console to the next. Ouya also announced earlier today a partnership with Double Fine Productions and Words With Friends creator Paul Bettner. The Ouya console will be available in June.

#ouya Tim Schafer throwback Kickstarter-funded game, Double Fine Adventure, is coming to multiple platforms, but only to one console, the CEO of the upcoming Android mini-console said today during a talk at DICE. It's coming to hers, the Ouya. More »

The Ouya officially launches in June, and several retailers are lined up to sell the wee Android console both online and in physical stores. Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and GameStop are all taking pre-orders starting today, with the console plus controller priced at $99.99, and an extra controller $49.99.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman said Kickstarter backers get their orders delivered in March, pre-order deliveries go out in April, and June sees the official launch. When asked about other console launches coming this year, Uhrman said the aim is for Ouya to find its own place in the market, and not to outdo the likes of Microsoft and Sony.

"We don't need to beat Xbox or Sony or any console that enters the marketplace," Uhrman told the Wall Street Journal, "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."

#ouya Didn't get in on that Ouya Kickstarter? Well, fret not. Today, the folks behind the open-source Android-based game console just brought word that Ouya is coming to select retailers. That's right, you can buy it in stores. More »

With Ouya developer kits now out in the wild, our friends at Engadget decided to see what developers think of them so far. Nathan Fouts of Mommy's Best Games praises the system for its open development system. As an example, he noted the "brutal" certification process Mommy's Best had to overcome in order release Serious Sam Double D XXL on Xbox Live Arcade. "I'm happy to release the game there, but it's a nice break to have fewer restrictions," he said.

Meanwhile, Jerrod Putnam of Tiny Tim Games is excited by the prospect of a unified, widespread Android platform. Whereas Android development usually requires developers to worry about compatibility across multiple devices, all with different specs, Tiny Tim can develop for Ouya "without having to also target thousands of other devices." He does admit that the Tegra 3 chipset in the Ouya will quickly be surpassed by newer chips, but that is simply the nature of consoles. Along the same lines, however, the static nature of the Ouya will allow developers to maximize its potential.

Right now, the biggest question is how the Ouya's business model will play out. "There are still a few unknowns that will ultimately decide how Ouya pans out," said Rami Ismail of Vlambeer. Much will depend on curation, he said. "Too strict risks alienating creative developers and too loose and you end up with a minefield of terrible apps similar to the Android Play Store." Fouts added that another hurdle will be twofold: Convincing developers that there will be an audience for Ouya, and convincing potential Ouya owners that it will have a large enough library of worthwhile games.