Internet rumor of the incoming OUYA 2 has started to gather pace which is great however current issues of the original OUYA has left a bad taste in some peoples mouth.
Julie Uhrman has admitted the company made some mistakes and yes we can all understand that, fledgling companies make mistakes - however its how they put them right that's the issue going forward.
Having been in the IT and Technology industry for over 25yrs the mistakes OUYA were making were obvious to me at the start.
The message OUYA were giving out was never appealing to those sitting on the fence, hardware needed to be a little more powerful, delivery was delayed to the point of frustrating those that backed the product. Lets not forget that Julie decided to let the press know the backers were getting a beta unit, something of a suicide in terms of promotion, because the press were reacting to the only product that they had access to.
Its hard to put all this right in a year since the project all kicked off, and the levels of support needed when OUYA were getting around 10,000 support tickets a week through its gates a figure thats never shown any signs of slowing, people asking from the tired old USB external storage to controller issues.
So what can Julie do to put this right well Julie here is how, some free advice from a technology consultant, before you embark on OUYAs first hardware refresh. 5 points.
- Transparency - Stop treating your customers as paying guests in a mirror maze, we need to see whats going on at OUYA, sometimes you need to over estimate and over deliver, a very simple concept. You must have known about production and delivery problems very early on with OUYA if not then that was piss poor project management from someone who claims to have been in the industry a long time - you had alot of attention here, utilizing someone with knowledge couldn't have been that difficult could it ?! So cut the BS work out your production and tell us when you can deliver.
- Games - Now here is the thing, we love games, many of your target audience for the sofa gaming message was the guys at home or a small dev firm that could create something easily. Great. You forgot about the killer app. Every console needs one. OUYA was in desperate need for one - For the OUYA 2, a killer app needs to be found and pushed with said game into the hands of those who want something edgy. Even a build of an old game might be great. Final Fantasy wasn't the answer for the OUYA - nor Sonic which SEGA whore onto every platform. Maybe a classic Medal of Honor game would have been fun with a few servers running some place (which would have been cheap). Anything, just make sure its a killer game (old or new). OUYA needs a AAA title to see it along too, OUYA 2 will be no different.
- Promise - Keep promises, simple, trust build brands.
- Community - OUYA has a good heart in its community however OUYA need to utilize this and reach out in a single way, not through Reddit, not through G+, not through twitter. Bring a single point of focus to both its message and support. The amount of times that OUYA support would only respond through twitter or their marketing was done on reddit was beyond funny. If OUYA want a community, then stop fracturing everyone rather than alienating those who prefer one medium over another, give out a single message, love the community after all they are your money maker.
- Marketing - OUYA 2 needs proper marketing now the original console is in various online shops and traditional bricks and mortar stores. Sack Ronald McDonnald and get someone in who knows what they are doing, the silly stunts and alike were all great but badly executed. In the car park outside E3, and that test video for the advert, wow whoever thought leaking that would be a good idea needs shooting. Stop playing the clowns and start acting like a business.
Of course we expect a hardware upgrade too, but we are sure those will come in time. The $99 price point was good, and the improvement to the controller was welcome - but not enough.
Everyone wants you to succeed, at least we do.