Ouya can play current blockbusters but ‘why would we?’

“We’re going to have inventive, creative, exciting content that no one else has”

Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect and Call of Duty may be all the rage these days, but Ouya, the $99 Android-based console, is going after a different market, according to founder Julie Uhrman. When asked if the console could play current-gen blockbusters, at a SXSW panel, she responded: “Yes, and why would we?”

Ouya, which runs on 1GB of RAM and an Nvidia Tegra 3 chip, has nearly 500 titles confirmed for it, but you’re not likely to recognize any of the names. Of the major publishers, only Square Enix stands out which will bring Final Fantasy III (currently available on Android devices) to the system. Don’t expect any current blockbusters at launch, in other words

“Those experiences are great on those devices. You wouldn’t want to play those games anywhere else,”  Uhrman said. “But we are going to have exclusive games. … We’re going to have inventive, creative, exciting content that no one else has. At $99, it’s not an either-or decision.”

And games it certainly will have, though I have concern whether they will be exclusive and noteworthy. Taking a look at the Ouya trailers that are out there, Uhrman will have to show something more impressive than Car Jumper (above) before I invest.

“We’re going to have our version of those games, but it’s going to be different,” she said. “We will have a first-person shooter … game that you are going to want to play for hours on end.”

Even if the system is just an Xbox 360 that only has access to Xbox Live Indie Games, there may be some fun in plummeting into the depth of weird, busted games that I’d never hear about otherwise (probably for good reason).

Were you expecting current-gen blockbusters on the Ouya? Is that something that matters to you?

Here comes Ouya, the $99 gaming console [CNN]