The OUYA Kickstarter gaming console is released – already sold out on Amazon

The OUYA — the gaming console that set Kickstarter funding records last summer — is launching in retail stores in the United States, Canada and the UK Today.

After a little delay from the originally planned release date of June 4th the OUYA is ready to hit the shelves, and fly straight back off them.

Back in July 2012, OUYA launched on Kickstarter with a promise of being an open gaming console that anyone could develop for or hack as they see fit, all for a $99 price tag. The Kickstarter hit its $900,000 funding goal in eight hours, and broke Kickstarter records after raising $8.6 million total. OUYA’s creators then announced earlier this year that the console would be available widely at retail in June, from Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Gamestop and GAME in the UK.

Kickstarter backers began receiving their OUYA consoles in April, although some are still patiently awaiting their delivery with the company stating that they’re doing everything they can to remedy this.

Some of the Kickstarter backers and those who pre-ordered also might not received their consoles, and have posted frustrated comments on Reddit’s OUYA-dedicated subreddit.

“I’m trying to remain optimistic, but their communication couldn’t be much worse. I think they might be forced to do something soon as there a lot of angry people who were promised consoles before release, and at this rate many of them will arrive weeks later than they are available in shops,” wrote user muso2005 in a thread full of backers with similar complaints posted 7 days ago.

Uhrman said the company is in contact with every single person who hasn’t received their console, and said many problems were a result of incorrect shipping information.

Uhrman would not specify how many OUYA units had been pre-ordered, only to say “the number beat our internal expectations, and that’s why we had to delay the launch from June 4 to June 25.”

Improvements and updates

The OUYA is getting a revamped store, and those changes were pushed out to existing customers on Monday in time for the launch. The updates include a store interface that has much more content, along with curated “playlists” by game developers and publications.

There have also been changes made to the weight of the controller, the stickiness of its triggers has been sorted, and also a change to the face plate so it no longer accidentally comes off! There were also several complaints about lag with the controllers, which Uhrman said the company has improved.

The OUYA’s store has also been changed from a two-step download process, which is similar to all Android phones and tablets, to games that install without a second command. There is also a new security feature so users can require a PIN to purchase games.