Hi Adam, Thanks for a clear and detailed summary of your Ouya experiences. (I still haven't gotten into the main menu on mine, while I'm having an email conversation with support, and considering whether to buy a debit card and which one.)
For what it's worth, I got an email back from support, but it didn't really tell me anything; just that the credit card was a requirement. I want to know why mine doesn't let me get to the main menu whereas others (including journalists) have reported being able to download games without a CC. It sucks that there are journalists going around saying that the Ouya is less restrictive than it actually is (for certain, apparently randomly selected, customers). On Sun, Jun 30, 2013 at 5:18 PM, Adam Bolte <abo...@systemsaviour.com>wrote: > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- > Hash: SHA1 > > This controversy was uncovered some months back, so I was expecting to > need a credit card. Some information here: > > > https://support.ouya.tv/entries/23463832-Why-do-you-HAVE-to-put-in-credit-debit-card-information-even-for-free-apps-games- > > - From the link, Ouya support stated "Other than being able to download > games via the Discover section, absolutely no other functionality will > require that you provide payment information. Period." We know this > isn't true - you need to enter this information before you can even > log in. Apparently you can load your own .apk files onto the device to > run, but you wouldn't even be able to get that far without having some > credit verified up front (unless hacking the device, of course). > Very interesting. I have read that page but I didn't catch that quote that explicitly states that only the Discover section requires a credit card. Fortunately, instead of a credit card, you also have the option of > using a pre-paid credit code. These were apparently available during > pre-order, and can be brought from various places online. eg. > > http://www.game.co.uk/en/ouya-10-credit-232744 > > So while some available credit must be verified (which I'm not > defending - this aspect of the Ouya console sucks), it seems that you > don't have to hand over your credit card to Ouya to store indefinitely > if you don't want to. > But then I have to pay them more money up front (which I don't feel they deserve right now) and also wait for a physical card to be shipped internationally. I'm happier to get a general-purpose debit card. At least then I can use the credit elsewhere, not just on Ouya. There are cards that do not require opening a full bank account from Australia Post and Woolworths. I'm trying to decide which one is better. They both have some nasty drawbacks (like credit expiration and cancellation fees). To address your concern of accidentally being charged for games by > button-mashing, the one game I purchased to date gave the impression > that the Ouya payment API forces certain GUI changes, based on the way > the UI suddenly appeared - it looked very Android-ish, which was a > stark contrast to everything else in-game. In any case, you can also > configure (under the Parental menu) that you must enter a PIN first to > make any purchase. > That's good to hear. I would definitely configure a PIN just in case I don't find myself mashing the "shoot" button and a dialog pops up and I accidentally mash the "Buy for $100" button. A boss had just appeared after maybe 30 or so minutes of game-play. > Then a message appeared asking me to purchase the game if I wanted to > continue. Clicking "Purchase"(?) (this is from memory of course), I > was told the game would cost $4.99, and then I had to click another > button, "Confirm" IIRC, and then click one more time to dispel the > message that I had successfully paid. Then i was back in the game. > > Having witnessed this myself, I can confirm that it was all very > smooth and nicely handled. I can understand why they want a credit > card up front (and it probably doesn't hurt that Ouya can say to > potential developers "we have X number of people with an Ouya console > and credit on file ready to make purchases"). > > Possibly if people had to quit the game, go to Discover, purchase the > game, possibly wait for something to download, and then load the game > up again and get back to my last checkpoint, some people wouldn't > bother. They might go to the store and say "hey, there's 200 other > demos here that I haven't tried out" and instead of paying for the > game will just go play something else. > > And that's Ouya's thing - every game must provide a no-cost playable > component. If purchases could not happen in game, I expect commercial > game developers might have good reason to be scared of people just > playing demos and not making purchases. So it is clear to me that this > mandatory credit was deliberately enforced as a marketing factor above > all else. > Yeah. I get that, and it's a good "hook" for them, but I still want to be given the choice, as a consumer. Don't give me this bullshit about it being "more convenient" for me when you're forcing me to do it. Me having to spend a week researching debit cards is certainly not "more convenient". In the context of a game console, I'm pretty happy with the Ouya. > There have been a few surprises (such as the built-in track-pad on the > controller which I only discovered by accident), and of course "Make" > being right on the main menu where you can run your software builds > from. Already I have more games on my Ouya then I have for my Wii-U. > > - From a free software perspective however, it's been somewhat of a > letdown. Apparently, the boot-loader is locked. Really? That's not what their Kickstarter page says: "For hackers: root it. Go ahead. Your warranty is safe. Even the hardware is hackable." That's even more troubling if it isn't even possible to change the operating system if necessary. _______________________________________________ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
