Ouya was the darling of the tech news cycle not long ago as they rocketed up the KickStarter charts to (likely) record donations (no real records seem to exist). If you aren’t familiar, Ouya is a proposed gaming console that will be based on the Android operating system, and is expected to launch in early 2013. The box has been highly anticipated and netted $8.5 million in donations after looking to solicit only $950,000.
After the KickStarter funding round closed, the console became available for pre-order to those who didn’t donate, but wanted to receive an early edition of the product. This is where I bought in. I ordered a device, expected to ship sometime around next April, and threw in a second controller because, after all, what fun would it be if I couldn’t play against my wife, daughter or son? The price was reasonable – only $139. I was also assured that I wouldn’t be charged until the thing actually shipped, which is generally standard practice.
Ouya, as it turns out, claims they were misled by PayPal and customers placing a pre-order were actually charged immediately for the console. While they are issuing apologies, and offers for refunds (which will cancel your order), there really isn’t much else they can do. An inquiry sent to the company was met with following prompt reply:
If you are interested in pre-ordering (even after knowing this) or simply want more information about the new gaming console, then head over to ouya.tv.