Ouya kickstarter backers getting screwed bigtime

RaZoRbLaDeD

RaZoRbLaDeD

Gawd
Joined
Aug 12, 2003
Messages
564
I remember Ouya getting a shit ton of publicity when it was shown off last year...you had a ton of people showing interest and backing the open-ended android console / project.

But now that the system is out people have not only NOT gotten their consoles, controllers, or alpha builds (lol) but they are also NOT getting perks that they paid for and there is nothing being done about it.

I would be PISSED..also wasn't it supposed to be they had to raise a million and ended up getting 8 or 9 million? Why are people getting unfinished alpha builds? (If they're lucky to get anything at all)
 
comics-Ctrl%2BAlt%2BDel-games-condole-759745.png
 
Console launches are a make or break situation. If you have a successful one you sell all your units and have a bevy of titles for people to go out and grab, you grow from there, etc.

So Ouya is backed by a bunch of people (on kickstarter) and they stabbed the backers in the back and broke all their promises...thats how you make your console fail

You would think they would ship out the consoles to the BACKERS who pledged over EIGHT MILLION DOLLARS before the shit stores like bestbuy and gamestop, etc...what pieces of shits
 
rsbennett00 said:
Not sure, seems as pointless as that nvidia shield thing.
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Neb said:
Make them lots and lots of money for not much effort.
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No seriously I think I was even into it at first like it was gonna be some getting out from the console thumb for devs or something about design break outs, but last I checked all that stuff got nuked.

I've literally forgotten why people were so supportive of this myself included however briefly.
 
piscian18 said:
No seriously I think I was even into it at first like it was gonna be some getting out from the console thumb for devs or something about design break outs, but last I checked all that stuff got nuked.

I've literally forgotten why people were so supportive of this myself included however briefly.
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I think it was pitched as a console for indie developers /etc. where the games would be free or something - but yeah, the launch is horrible. The fact that backers can order one from retailers now is pathetic, it's a big FU to the kickstarter campaign that made them successful and able to get all that venture capital money.

The CEO came out about it, saying she was pissed off. But offered no solutions .
 
They DID ship all of the backers consoles out before launch, but regrettably they chose DHL as their distribution partner. Here is the backer email explaining the situation. I have received mine, and got it before launch, but many have not:

"Backers,

I am pissed. Some of you have not yet received your OUYA -- and, to you, I apologize. I did not promise to ship to *most* of you before we hit store shelves. I promised to ship to *all* of you. I’ve been reading your comments, and we are working to solve this.

Here is what I know:

We delivered your OUYAs to our partner in May, and since then they have been in their custody. We paid for shipping, yet the deliveries remain incomplete. We know everyone is getting their OUYA, but it is taking longer than we expected.

We are working hard to get you answers, and more importantly, to fix this. On our end, we have tripled our customer service team so we can respond as quickly as possible to your questions (though the answer may still be that it’s in transit). We are working with our partners to resolve any administrative issues related to undelivered boxes (errors in shipping addresses, customs holds, etc.). I’m told that despite our best efforts, it may take another two weeks or more for some of these units to arrive.

We will resolve this as quickly as possible. I’ve had my team working all evening to provide me with the current state of affairs and what we are doing to make it right. Ken, our Special Ops lead, can give you more detail.

- Julie

-----
Hi Everyone,

My name is Ken Stephens, and I am the Head of Operations at OUYA.

This post is personally addressed to our early backers who have not yet received their OUYAs.

As we hit store shelves tomorrow, it is very important that I try my best to explain why your units are behind schedule from our commitment and when we anticipate delivery.

As you may be aware, we manufacture OUYA in mainland China with our fulfillment partner in Hong Kong who is responsible for the individual shipments to you all.

Over the past few months, we encountered and conquered many challenges spanning both hardware and software in order to bring the best product we could to market. We have tried to make sure that the challenges we faced did not impact our early supporters, but unfortunately we came up short.

On average, shipment processing--from fulfillment center to product delivery--runs 20 days, end to end. It takes 3 to 5 days to pick, pack and ship the units out -- and then 15 to 17 days of transit time. Therefore, if you received your tracking number with your shipping confirmation email, your unit is on its way.

I know that many of you are frustrated with the DHL tracking system. While we are working hard to get this issue rectified, I am sorry to say this is still causing problems. When you receive a tracking number, you expect it to work immediately, but sometimes these tracking numbers don’t do that. The reason for this is that when the product leaves Hong Kong, the tracking process does not initiate until it arrives for the first scan at your country’s local depot. As a result, you could have a period of up to 10 days within which the product appears in limbo. This, we all agree, is very frustrating.

Additionally, we have seen a lot of cases where the unit will be delivered to your door without the product ever getting an arrival scan. This also unfortunately happens when dealing with the local postal systems.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of those who haven’t yet received OUYA are international backers. It just takes a lot longer to ship to some countries.

All of these units HAVE left Hong Kong, and you have received your tracking email.

So, based on the date of your shipping-confirmation email, your OUYA will arrive within 15 to 17 days from that date.

Please accept my personal apology for not yet delivering on our promise.

Sincerely,

Ken"


So, moral of this story is, do NOT use DHL as a distribution partner, no matter how low of a quote they give you.
 
piscian18 said:
No seriously I think I was even into it at first like it was gonna be some getting out from the console thumb for devs or something about design break outs, but last I checked all that stuff got nuked.

I've literally forgotten why people were so supportive of this myself included however briefly.
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It was a stroke of marketing genius, really. It played on the "stick it to the man" ideal along with "designed by gamers for the gamer" idea. If you stepped back and looked at it though, it was fairly obvious that the claims didn't quite match up with the hype.

It's unfortunate they chose DHL for the shipper, though they likely chose it due to cost. When I had a custom chassis shipped from HK, the group buy coordinators strongly suggested we pay for Fedex, which was their preferred method, while DHL was dead last on the shipping option list.
 
Please accept my personal apology for not yet delivering on our promise.
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translation: I do not care about you, but this PR is terrible for our financial future. Please don't publicize anymore how bad we fucked up.
 
cnealjr said:
So, moral of this story is, do NOT use DHL as a distribution partner, no matter how low of a quote they give you.
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Sorry but hte Moral of the story is..

hold back retail for 2 weeks until the backers get their devices.

they went from the potential of having a great PR/word of mouth campaign with their backers getting their devices as promised before retail to now having a very negative PR/word of mouth campaign - and also coming off as the usual "big money company" type attitude.


If i were a backer i would be very upset..
 
H-street said:
Sorry but hte Moral of the story is..

hold back retail for 2 weeks until the backers get their devices.

they went from the potential of having a great PR/word of mouth campaign with their backers getting their devices as promised before retail to now having a very negative PR/word of mouth campaign - and also coming off as the usual "big money company" type attitude.


If i were a backer i would be very upset..
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No, they already failed to deliver on target. In the original Kickstarter plan, backers were supposed to get their units in March. They started trickling out a few units in March, but the majority were sent late. For example, I got my console mid June. I think I will stick to just funding bands trying to release a new album on Kickstarter. At least I'll eventually get some new music out of the deal.
 
I think you will start to see more news and or forums rants when more of these Kickstarter programs start missing deadlines.
 
Kickstarter: Even more risky than pre-orders... you've been warned

although the anger/outrage/spaz/etc... is all valid and ok. Forums are a nice safe place to vent at least
 
Considering Sony and Nintendo are making some pretty big changes to get indie developers making games for their consoles, I think Ouya's biggest chance at success is going for the inexpensive market and the "fascinated with new toys" market.
 
Kueller said:
Like I haven't heard that one before...
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Yeah... sadly its been overuse , even when its true... i know when a supplier call me for a payment and i tell him i mailed the check ... i always feel stupid.
 
pcjunkie said:
I think you will start to see more news and or forums rants when more of these Kickstarter programs start missing deadlines.
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People need to stop thinking of Kickstarter as the same thing as pre-ordering on Amazon. You're funding something that doesn't exist yet. There are going to be missed deadlines and there is going to be a good chance that the project will fail and you get nothing at all. People need to stop giving their money to these things until they understand that.

The only project I have given money to is Star Citizen. I have no expectations on when or even if the game will be delivered.
 
I wouldn't doubt if they shifted their kickstarter units over to fill retail orders, then had the factory do the kickstarter backed ones last. She's already got your KS money, move the units to retail to get that piece, then go online and claim to be upset about it.
 
We haven't set it up yet as we have been out of town. This week end,though I would love to hook it up to my monitor...I already have so much shit hooked up to the TV.
 
I understand kickstarters frustrations that may not have received their units yet but its sad this is casting such a negative light on a product. It sounds like a lot of it was overseas orders and issues with DHL / the company fulfilling the orders for Ouya.

It's much more than hooking your phone to a tv, we have had an absolute blast with it since I bought mine the 25th. I have a relative that has been enjoying their Ouya as well.

My wife hasnt played games in years to this degree, nothing interested her and since we picked this up she looks forward to picking the controller up when we have time. The ability to try each game is fantastic, I'm not buying titles that are disappointing, only those that are worth the cash. I was surprised how nice Shadowgun looked at 1080p as well.
 
DPGX said:
My wife hasnt played games in years to this degree, nothing interested her and since we picked this up she looks forward to picking the controller up when we have time. The ability to try each game is fantastic, I'm not buying titles that are disappointing, only those that are worth the cash. I was surprised how nice Shadowgun looked at 1080p as well.
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^This

Shadowgun isn't exactly a great game IMO, however it really shows that this platform is viable for some fun times. They really need to keep working out the kinks and it'll be a solid little device.
 
seanclayton said:
They were "screwed bigtime" the moment they supported this device.
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While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, I don't feel "screwed" at all. I did get what I paid for, just not when they originally said I would get it. I DID get mine before launch, and the team has been pretty transparent in relaying issues and accepting feedback. Now that it is at launch, it is up to the merits of the team and the device whether or not it will be a success, but they did deliver what I funded them to, so I am certainly not "screwed". Whether I feel I got my money's worth, that remains to be seen.
 
cnealjr said:
While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, I don't feel "screwed" at all. I did get what I paid for, just not when they originally said I would get it. I DID get mine before launch, and the team has been pretty transparent in relaying issues and accepting feedback. Now that it is at launch, it is up to the merits of the team and the device whether or not it will be a success, but they did deliver what I funded them to, so I am certainly not "screwed". Whether I feel I got my money's worth, that remains to be seen.
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^I wish I could talk to more people like this. Every time I try to be rational with people on what was expected of this thing (especially given it was on Kickstarter). I constantly get berated by the majority by saying "give them a little extra time and proper feedback; see what happens." Because bombarding them into oblivion isn't exactly helping anybody. I'd still like to see it succeed.
 
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