Android-powered game consoles have really started to take off this year, what with devices like the NVIDIA Shield, the Ouya, the GamePop, and others arriving. But they could be set to receive a big boost from Google, which is reportedly developing a game console of its own.
Sources claim the search giant is also working on an Android-powered smartwatch that could launch before the end of the year.
The Android-powered NVIDIA Shield console has been delayed a day before it was set to go on sale. Gamers should have been able to pick up the device from today, but NVIDIA announced on Wednesday that due to a “mechanical issue” with one of the handheld’s components, it will now go on sale sometime in July.
Handheld games consoles like the Nintendo 3DS and the Sony PlayStation Vita have long been suffering at the hands of smartphones and tablets. But the latest data from IDC and App Annie should give handheld game developers — including Nintendo — something to really think about.
While consumer spending on Android and iOS continued to rise during the first quarter of 2013, it fell considerably on handhelds.
$50 for another controller in the TV hutch. Great.
The darling of the current gaming scene, Ouya, had some drama today when it was originally reported that the diminutive and open Android-based gaming console would not have online multiplayer functionality on launch, either for the initial distribution to Kickstarter backers, or even the retail launch, scheduled for June.
The updated reports, though, are now saying that there will, indeed, be online multiplayer included in shipping Ouya devices, just that it hasn’t been implemented by any developers for the tiny boxes as yet.
Microsoft has beaten Apple and Google to the acquisition of R2 Studios, a small home entertainment technology startup from the founder of Sling Media. R2 is famous for an Android app that allows users to control things like lighting and appliances throughout their homes, and its thought the company’s technology will help Microsoft push its Xbox console even further into home entertainment.
