Ouya will be "as secure as any existing Android device"

Ouya will be "as secure as any existing Android device"

Tue 17 Jul 2012 8:25am GMT / 4:25am EDT / 1:25am PDT
Hardware

CEO responds to criticisms that crowd-funded console will be an open invitation to pirates

Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman has responded to criticisms that the crowd-funded Android-based console will be an open invitation too pirates.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Uhrman claimed that Ouya - which has been sold as an open, hackable platform - will be at least as secure as any existing Android device.

"In fact, because all the paid content will require authentication with Ouya's servers, we have an added layer of security," she said. "Hacking and openness are about getting what you want to do with the hardware. Rooting the device won't give you any more access to the software."

Ouya was brought to public attention through its Kickstarter campaign, which breezed past its $950,000 target in a matter of hours. Currently, the campaign has raised almost $5 million for the product's development, and there are still 22 days to go.

"We've raised enough to build a great product, just as we planned," Uhrman continued. "More certainly helps, though: the more we raise, the more we can create a great service for game developers, with better tools, and more gamers for them to reach with their games. More game developers means more, better games - and that's better for gamers."

However, the abundant interest in the concept hasn't prevented industry commentators finding fault, with both Rob Fahey and Chris Morris posting sceptical articles on GamesIndustry International.

13 Comments

Tom Keresztes
Programmer

If it is going to be as secure as any android device then it is probably not secure enough. You can run anything you want on it.

Posted:10 months ago

#1

Felix Leyendecker
Senior 3D Artist

If you can root it, you can run a pirate appstore on it. Not sure about Cydia, does it have free in-app purchases then?

Posted:10 months ago

#2

The phrase "as secure as any Android device" was probably intended to instill confidence. Given the 9:1 or higher piracy rates of many (perhaps most) Android games, I don't think it will.

Posted:10 months ago

#3

As other have said "as secure as any Android device" isn't very good. In fact it's so not good enough that very many app developers won't develop for Android.

Posted:10 months ago

#4

So in short not secure at all?

No matter how cool the idea might be, I don't see developers, especially publishers showing interest in a platform where piracy is as easy as hard boiling an egg.

On a system as open as android, the serverside authentication won't do much either.

Edited 2 times. Last edit by Sonat Dennis Ozturk on 17th July 2012 1:21pm

Posted:10 months ago

#5

Wesley Williams
Quality Assurance

The more I read, the more I realise OUYA just doesn't stand a chance. Nice idea, never going to live up to it though.

Posted:10 months ago

#6

This seems like a really odd criticism of a platform that has stated from the outset that it's based on exploring F2P models.

There are ways to monetise on Android. And PC/Mac. And most other trivially 'pirateable' platforms.

Posted:10 months ago

#7

iOS is just as easy to hack (jailbreak) and pirate as Android. The average iDevice consumer just tends to be more ignorant on the details, as Apple attracts a lot of casual users.

Posted:10 months ago

#8

Dave Knudson
Sr. Technology Manager

Android is a bit easier to pirate for users in that you don't even need root on most devices. All you do is go to security settings and check "Allow non-market apps" and you can sideload a downloaded apk.

Additionally you can get torrent clients from Google Play, I believe Apple won't allow and/or removed them from their store.

That said, if you want to be on the platform you just have to adjust your business model knowing this.

Posted:10 months ago

#9

The more things unfold about the OUYA, the less interesting it gets. And this was hyped to change console gaming. I guess they haven't learned anything from the "quasi-open platform" Dreamcast and piracy.

Posted:10 months ago

#10

James Boulton
Technical Director

There is the factor that mass piracy does not mean device failure, which people are overlooking.

Look at the PS1 -- if anything it became as popular as it did in part by piracy.

All iOS devices that can be jailbroken (which is most) can download and play pirated software. Has this caused it to die?

The PC, which is rife with piracy, is now back on top as regards to games sales.

So I honestly don't believe a device being able to run pirated software is really any big issue.

Making the device popular is the key... now if they can do that or not, that's the question.

People just prefer to talk about piracy.

Posted:10 months ago

#11

That statement may not make the console seem more secure, but it does highlight the fact that if a publisher doesn't see Google Play as too much of a risk due to piracy then they probably won't see Ouya that way. We are looking at a similar device to existing mobile phones but in a box. As Dave said a few comments ago, business models have to be adjusted knowing this.

Posted:10 months ago

#12

Andrew Ihegbu
Studying Bsc Commercial Music

I do believe this would be several times more secure then the Android store by design. I mean if you sideload a f2p game, then you're cheating yourself, and if you want a f2p game to become a full game then you must conneted to the servers that verify it.

I'm sure pirates will have a fancy way around it, but how many pirates will really embrace piracy when it looks like 'piracy + offline' vs 'legit + online'

Posted:9 months ago

#13

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