[07.19.12] OUYA gains support from Handy Games

OUYA

There's no denying the incredible success the new gaming console, OUYA, is having on Kickstarter. It's now surpassed $5 million in pledges from over 40,000 backers. Yesterday, they gained yet another, this time with a little more prestige behind it. Handy Games, the company behind Guns 'n' Glory, Aporkalypse, and Super Dynamite Fishing, is now backing the OUYA full force.

Handy Games has joined five others in the top-tier pledge level on the Kickstarter page. Not only that, but they've vowed to bring several of their popular Android titles over to the OUYA. Markus Kassulke, the CEO of Handy Games, has a very strong opinion about mobile gaming that he's not afraid to share.

"When HandyGames started out more than 12 years ago, no one really took mobile gaming seriously. It was pretty much seen as joke. Now, more than a decade later, I don't think that these are tears of laughter running down the faces of all those big publishers and console makers who see the very core of their business model pummeled by the onslaught extremely affordable indy games on smartphones and tablet PCs."

He's right though. Lately, many big name publishers have spent more time focusing on mobile gaming and less on their console or PC counterparts. Along with the creators of the OUYA, he too thinks it’s about time these companies start to feel the pressure from smaller competitors.

"OUYA has the potential to be every bit as disruptive to the traditional TV consoles market as smartphone games were to the handheld console business. It’s yet another nail in the coffin of walled-garden ecosystems and traditional publishing models.”

Christopher Kassulke, another CEO of HandyGames, is also in agreement.

"Over the past year we have been working hard to take our games beyond the mobile space. OUYA is a perfect match for our long-term strategic goals, but it's not just the business side. We strongly feel that the OUYA team has a vision of the future of gaming that is very similar to our own. It's not about powerful hardware or big brand names, it's about innovation and great gameplay and openness to developers and users alike. OUYA gives us just that, a chance for independent developers to flourish and experiment on a platform that is affordable to users and open to free-to-play and freemium models. We see huge mass market potential here and we’re already looking forward to attending the OUYA launch party!

So not only is openness something that gamers want, apparently it's something that some developers want too. Between the potential support from Mojang, the blessing from the likes of Jenova Chin and Adam Saltsman, and the now confirmed support of Handy Games, the OUYA is gathering an incredible amount of momentum.

Despite the doubts of many, it now seems there's no way the OUYA won't be made. Clearly, it's something that gamers want, and clearly, the demand and financial support is there. The only question that remains is, "can they pull it off successfully?" for the sake of the gaming industry, let's hope the answer is yes.

Anthony Ortale writes news and reviews on behalf of Examiner.com. He does so much gaming in his spare time, it’s practically a full time job! If you like what you read here, please subscribe to his articles! You can also follow Tony on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook! If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email Tony any time at ortale.anthony@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you!

[05.15.11] Review: 'Guns‘n’Glory'

Handy Games

Guns'n'Glory for Android

Rating:

5 Stars

Handy Games comes in with another free game this month, Guns’n’Glory. It’s a tower defense game with twist and a western theme that’s sure to delight anyone. Build your own band of outlaws and make some money with this modern Oregon Trail for your phone. If you’re easily offended, you might want to stray away from this game; otherwise grab your guns, dynamite, some power ups, and a cannon or gatling gun and go ambush some settlers.

The Good:

The game is well refined and offers a fun spin on the traditional tower defense game. Instead of having stationary towers, you have the option of walking your bandits around the canyon, so if those settlers walk out of reach, you’re not out of luck. You do have the option to upgrade your fighters through promotions, but there are also temporary power-ups scattered throughout the field in later levels. The graphics aren’t award-winning, but they get the job done and fit appropriately with the all-around western theme of the game.

The Bad:

To walk your bandits around, you have to tap on them, then click and drag. Occasionally they won’t seem to respond on the first try, and every so often you’ll accidentally click another bandit if you have one close by. This usually isn’t too big of a problem as nothing moves so fast in the game that you don’t have time to adjust properly for your mistakes. Some might also consider the game a little too easy. The number of settlers aloud to pass on each level is rather generous, regardless of the level of difficulty chosen.

The Ugly:

This might only be an ‘ugly’ for those who are easily offended. Guns’n’Glory has Mexicans and Indians attacking white settlers. If you can get past that, there’s really nothing else troublesome about this game.

Bottom Line:

For tower defense fans, Guns'n'Glory is an absolute must have in the collection. Anyone just getting into the genre should start here as it’s the easiest way to branch into the games. Pick this up for sure while it’s free, otherwise most can probably settle for the free version. It’s full featured, but has a few ads along the bottom of the screen. Either way you go, it’s guaranteed hours of fun.

Guns’n’Glory was created by Handy Games and is Amazon’s free app of the day for 05/15/11. It typically sells for $0.99