Earlier this year, Ouya tried to muscle its way into the living room with an Android micro-console that was indie friendly and let you play your Android games on the big screen. It wasn’t exactly the revolution that Ouya made it out to be, but that hasn’t stopped others from trying their hand at it.
MadCatz, a company more closely associated with game accessories than game consoles, announced today that its MOJO Android micro-console is now available. The new console sports an Nvidia Tegra 4 SoC, 2GB of RAM and what MadCatz calls the CTRL R (get it?) mobile gamepad. In short, it’s a bluetooth gamepad that looks like an Xbox 360 controller with media playback buttons lined across the top.
Here’s a shot of the console and controller:
“The MOJO Micro-Console for Android is designed to appeal to tech savvy gamers due to its high-performance hardware, open software platform and our ecosystem of GameSmart accessories,” said Darren Richardson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. “MOJO is a perfect example of what’s achievable on the Android platform, capable of delivering a superlative Smart TV experience and fulfilling the promise of core gaming on the mobile platform.”
Unlike the Ouya, the MadCatz Mojo doesn’t sport a custom OS based on Android. Instead, it uses the same Android OS that you see on smartphones and tablets and games are discovered through Google Play. This will be somewhat problematic for the MOJO as not all games will support controller input from the MOJO so you’re limited to only a specific number of games whereas all games built for the Ouya are guaranteed to work on the console.
Here’s a video that details everything you need to know about the MOJO:
The MOJO is available today for $249.99. It’s roughly 2.5 times more powerful than the Ouya so the 2.5 increase in price only makes sense, I guess. If you need help choosing a console between the two, might I suggest a PS3 or Xbox 360. They cost the same (or less) than the MOJO, have a better library of games and will be supported for at least another four years. I don’t think the same can be said about this year’s Android micro-console trend.
[Image: MadCatz]