Ouya Expects to Release New Version Each Year

Ouya expects to release a new version of the Android-powered console annually, according to Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman.

Speaking to Engadget at the DICE Summit in Las Vegas, Nev., Uhrman said the company is using a similar strategy to mobile device providers. Releasing a new iteration of the console each year will allow the company to upgrade components and drop the price of older models.

The Ouya console is scheduled to hit retailers in June for $99.99. It will be running on Tegra 3 with a quad-core A9 chip. When all four quads are in use, the device will be running at 1.6GHz. Uhrman hinted there will be room to improve and upgrade the Ouya with new technologies and price drops on components.

That is a not-so-subtle hint a new Ouya console could be powered with the recently announced Tegra 4. Uhrman also stated future versions of the Ouya console will attempt to have more than the current 8GB of Flash memory. The company is hoping to maintain the affordable price of the Ouya by taking advantage of the cheaper price of components used to build it.

All games downloaded to the console will be linked to a user-created account. This will allow gamers to transfer all of their games and data when upgrading to the newest version of the Ouya.

Ouya also announced new partnerships with Tim Schafer and Double Fine Productions as well as Words With Friends creator Paul Bettner at the DICE Summit. Double Fine will launch a version of The Cave and the upcoming title Reds for the Android-powered console. Verse, Bettner’s studio which developed the massively popular mutliplayer mobile game Words With Friends, currently has two unannounced games for the Ouya console in the works.