By When something is listed as a prototype and a company gives a disclaimer that it might change before launch, you’d better take heed to that warning. The folks at OUYA hit us with a nice surprise showing us some tweaks it’s made to the Android console’s controller. The changes they have made are sure to excite everyone who is looking forward to this thing so let’s dive right in and see what’s different.
For starters, the all-important directional pad has been changed from the problematic disc-based design to a cross-based design. This change is especially important for those anticipating playing time on a fighting game. OUYA exclaims that accuracy and precision are back, and from someone who knows how horrible this design is for certain genres I can tell you that it’s a very welcome change.
Other changes to the controller include a more comfortable analog stick experience with rubberized caps, a touchpad that’s a lot more responsive than it currently is (you can change the sensitivity settings to fit your needs), improved ergonomics for the triggers with a more flush design and a tweaked battery bay for a more snug fit.
The folks at OUYA know how important the controller is to the gaming experience, so they let us in on a little bit of a secret — they gave their lead engineer an oscilloscope to test input latency to make sure the controller’s signals get to the console in as little time as possible.
Each change is small, but in the end it should all add up to create one blissful experience that a lot of wireless gaming controllers simply don’t provide. OUYA’s always listening to the people, so if there’s something you don’t like or think should be changed don’t be shy about letting them know — as you see with today’s updates, your voice does matter.
That looks nice
Nice improvements. Still waiting to see games that will get me you use it…
yup
Wow ….this is a secret, seriously ??? ……”they gave their lead engineer an oscilloscope to test input latency to make sure the controller’s signals get to the console in as little time as possible.” … Come on, seriously, was their lead engineer working with a battery and a couple of wires attached to his nutsack to measure latency before they gave him that oh, so exotic piece of measurement gear …an OSCILLOSCOPE …no engineer in Silicon Valley has ever used an OSCILLOSCOPE before (ROFL) …REAAAALLY, don’t stop with those groundbreaking news :-)
Sooo…your point was? Silicon Valley. Giant corporations vs crowd sourced funding. They can afford all the high end stuff. These guys cant. I bet you didn’t even put in for this thing. Take your troll ass the hell out of here. We get it you don’t like OUYA. Do you feel better now that you have commented on a post specifically for the device? I will never understand you failtards and the need for trolling. Why bother taking time out of your day to respond with ignorant uninformed bullshit. Go outside. Get off the computer. Go do something productive. Become a developer/engineer yourself and make a better product instead of whining how bad this one may or may not suck. Innovate don’t stagnate assclown.
Neto, THAT is precisely the point. An engineer in ANY company doing electronic device designing and testing, no matter whether it is a company based out of a garage, or Qualcomm will use an oscilloscope. It is one of the most basic, standard tools of the trade. While OUYA is a crowd sourced company, it is a company composed of engineers, and EEs use oscilloscopes on a daily basis. I am an engineer, have worked on Wi-Fi and many other wireless projects for 20 plus years, am sitting replying to your comment at my cubicle with an oscilloscope, two power supplies, a couple of computers and several boards in front of me. Oscilloscopes range in price from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars and, yes, companies in Silicon Valley, Shenzen, China, Belgium, the Congo, and, pretty much any other corner of the planetuse them to design and test pretty much every electronic gadget made. …Heck, forget about design engineers, TV repairmen the world over use oscilloscopes :-) …And,on your reply, when did I ever complain about OUYA? I complained at the idiotic set of “NEWS” placed on Phandroid claiming that an engineer using an oscilloscope was a secret ….seriously, Neto, learn a little bit about the industry you are reporting about before placing items as assinine as claiming that an engineer at a tech company using an oscilloscope is ground-breaking news. OUYA is a seriously cool platform. Reporting that an oscilloscope is being used in its development is not even remotely an important news item …Reporting something like this does not make Phandroid into a secret-breaking newshound, it turns it into a laughingstock.
Just FYI …on your “They can afford all the high end stuff.” …here are a couple of cheap ass oscilloscopes for you:
1) One for $95 bucks
http://www.amazon.com/Seeedstudio-DSO-Nano-oscilloscope-V2/dp/B004DE31U0/ref=sr_1_50?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1359079978&sr=1-50&keywords=oscilloscope
2) One for$170 bucks
http://www.amazon.com/Tekpower-Single-Channel-Oscilloscope-CQ5010C/dp/B000CCILTS/ref=sr_1_76?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1359080010&sr=1-76&keywords=oscilloscope
Oh, yeaaaaaah, I am sure OUYA can’t afford such high end stuff ….dude, go do a bit of reading before displaying such an impressive array of ignorance on your comments :-)
mad guy is mad :D ok sir derpalot. I never said there weren’t cheap O-scopes. I have a few laying around as well. I’ve used them extensively in my field of work as well. This isn’t an Epeen measuring contest on who knows whatever industry more then the other. I would think for a project such as this you wouldn’t go “harbor freight” on tools. My comment was more directed towards the direction of if you’re not in the business of helping why comment? Why spend the time to disparage their business model? I agree it’s not exactly NEWS WORTHY but you don’t help the situation by stating something like this. You come off as an arrogant interweb cool guy knowitall. A few links to some cheap shitty equipment that no one would use for a serious endeavor doesn’t help your point. The fact of the matter is Phandroid just reports the news. That’s it. Don’t like how they post their info? Dont read the articles here.
Neto,
Wow, I am glad to hear some intelligence come out of your last post and will agree with you that my original post could have been far less snarky than it was. Looking in hindsight, I could’ve definitively posted something far less biting that still stated the same ideas, basically stating that having Phandroid report that an engineer within OUYA is using an oscilloscope is as groundbreaking news as that Eric Clapton will use strings on his guitar to produce the sounds on his next album, or that Japanese people use chopsticks to eat their meals. I agree with you that the 0-scopes that I posted were nothing that any even remotely serious company would use for anything, but,you have to admit that stating that an oscilloscope is used at any part of the design or test cycle of an electronic product is not exactly groundbreaking news. I will apologize for posting in the tone I posted originally, but, if I did it was because I do care about the writing in Phandroid and I have typically seen them produce better prose than this. Writing that an oscilloscope was a secret weapon on their design cycle is lazy wrtinng that insults the intelligence of Phandroid readers and Phandroid typically has been better than that.
I call peace with you and wish you good, man.
Very nice to see someone who can see to reason. I’m quick to bite heads off as well. Glad we could come to terms and put this to rest. As for Phandroid. Dafuq :D We expect better from you because you HAVE put out better.
LOL at battery attached to nutsack.
…why the heck do disc based D-Pads have such a bad reputation? I know the one on the 360 controller sucks, but that’s in the implementation, not the concept. It’s like everyone has forgotten how awesome the Genesis and Saturn D-Pads, both disc based, were. You still occasionally hear fighting game fans swearing by the Saturn D-Pad.
I already have 4 consoles laying around, and wonder if I’m gonna spend the cash on another one. Better make it real good. I still haven’t bought the Vita. Like I said, it better grab you by the balls while you play, otherwise my Ps3 won’t lose sleep over it.
Okay, I’m in.
Just pre-ordered one for myself.
Why do they feel the need to reinvent the wheel? There are many controller companies out there who have been doing this for a while, such as Logitech who make some pretty good ones. They could have simply sourced them from them.