Ouya announces new controller with improved design based on feedback

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Taking a whole boatload of feedback into consideration, the Ouya team has made several notable improvements to its controller. Developers that have had their hands on the consoles for a few weeks have started to give their recommendations back as to how the controller could be improved, and the team is taking it all to heart.

First, the D-pad on the controller has switched from a "disc" to more traditional "cross" layout, which should help prevent accidental movements. The thumbstick caps have been redesigned to give more grip, and the touchpad area has better sensitivity now. The triggers have been improved as well, and are now more flush with the body of the controller. And last but not least, the battery compartment has been redesigned for a tighter fit, and some materials will be changed out for higher quality ones by the time the final units ship.

Those are some notable improvements, changing basically all of the input surfaces on the controller. Ouya seems committed to delivering a high quality product to consumers, so let's hope this all comes through in the end.

Source: Ouya (opens in new tab)

Andrew Martonik
Andrew Martonik

Andrew was an Executive Editor, U.S. at Android Central between 2012 and 2020.
12 Comments
  • This thing still shipping with a tegra 3? I hope not. If they are going to base it off a mobile soc, why not the best at time of launch? Maybe a tegra 4 but not the dated tegra 3.
  • Kidding right? Do you know how longs this thing has been in development? They're just supposed to DUMP a new SOC in there? Tegra 3 will work just fine.
  • Cost, dude.
  • Yep. If they swapped to Tegra4 they'd probably have to double the price and it'd be a huge flop. Just look at the pricing rumors for Project shield with T4... they're not pretty. The low price is the only thing that's going to give Ouya a chance to break into the market.
  • Exactly. Plus there is a cooling fan inside witch allows them to overclock this faster and will last longer than the T3 inside our tiny, cramped, and air restrictive smartphones. If you look on youtube the videos so far are actually better than I would have thought, will get better by release time.
  • The plastic probably feels like garbage because it's that prototype ABS stuff that's used in a soft silicone mold. That's what it means by "better materials will be used for release".
  • Yea but why would you put out a product with out dated specs. That's like buying the Wii now. It will work but if they didn't consider upgrading the specs by launch time imo then whats the point. How good did the Vu from LG do? I understand the cost and stuff but I agree with Chris they should release with T4.
  • Ignorance is bliss. Go spend 10 years developing, designing and setting up production and manufacturing, then travel back in time and re-evaluate your opinion. By the time they're in their 3rd or 4th generation of commercial offerings they'll be using the latest tech, assuming they survive. To try to push off full-scale offerings to satisfy the 5% that will abstain until the latest-and-greatest is available would be suicide.
  • You're forgetting something. Tegra3 is actually not running at it's best inside Smartphones and Tablets like the Nexus 7. Why? Because they underclock the chip to make it more Power-Efficiant and so it produces less heat. In the Ouya they have no need to worry about power limitations since there's no battery, and they have plenty of space to add a cooling system so there's no need to worry about heat. This means that they can Overclock the chip without worry and can get much better performance out of it. I can garuntee that the Ouya's Tegra3 chip will make the Nexus 7 look like a snail and keep up with the Tegra4 long enough for the Ouya to become relevent enough to warrant a new model with a Tegra4.
  • Havin access to a OUYA SDK/Proto at my job, I'm very surprised to hear they modified the controller but DIDNT added any buttons. Right now whats plaguing the emulator experience is the lack of any menu button.
    Nothing to map START & SELECT buttons. It's up to the dev to THINK of another way to do it. Ridiculous.
  • I'm excited to get my hands on the one I Pre-Ordered! Anyone know if we will be able to get games from our Play Store account to play? My thinking is could we play a full version of Dead Trigger, Modern Combat, etc when we get it.
  • I think it will be compatible with the play store. If not I don't at people buying the games they already own on their phones over again just to play them on their TV.