Just a crazy thought here, but new software in the store is really hard to find. First of all, the 'Sandbox' list is right at the bottom, not really where you want it, it should be up near the top so that it's noticeable. Second, it seems to be ordered from oldest to newest, so for any new game to be spotted, you have to scroll through 250+ other titles just to find it. Who on earth is going to do that?!!
Are there any plans to update the store to something more appealing to developers and users? That is, rather than feature the same few games in the top few lists, feature the newest games and order the sandbox from newest to oldest, giving new games a chance at being seen.
If the OUYA really is targeted at indie devs, why not give their games a fair chance, rather than showing off the handful of apps that have already made loads of money on other platforms or come from big name companies?
-- is there a way to replace the OUYA discover menu with something more useful?
spinal_cord
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There are some really good reasons for not having a "New" section on the OUYA store. In short, it means you have most visibility when you release. That creates a situation where developers get one shot to get all their game marketing spot on, and if it doesn't work out for some reason you're basically screwed (Such arbitrary things as releasing on the same day as some other big release, or happening to release on the same day as an unusually high number of other débutantes)
Be cool if anyone has any better suggestions about how to introduce new games onto the store and avoid the above problems
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Basically, anything that is on the front page has the most visibility, and once people have had a good rummage through the entire pile of games shortly after they first get the console, they don't really get off the front page (because the majority of what they will subsequently see are games they've already looked at).
So if you had a "New" category and had it at #2 or #3 in the order of lists on the store after "featured", then you're giving it too much visibility (to the point where it has the effects I mentioned), while anything below that, and it doesn't have anything like the effect it should.
Somewhat perversely, there are certain people who will purposely skip straight to the end of the sandbox to see what "new" stuff is coming in that they might be interested to play.
So one solution is to make the whole store more dynamic. OUYA have started to do this by having different sized icons for different purposes, which is great!
Next will be to have what game is shown on the tile change over time. So every 10 seconds, it chooses a random tile and cycles a different game onto it.
Then you can start to overcome multiple problems. Things like the fact games at the end of the list never get seen, and so stay there, while stuff at the top of the list gets the most visibility, and so gets even more popular / seen.
Obviously, you cycle in the more popular games more often, but there is still a chance that some game at the end of the list is going to appear. If anything, it gives it even more visibility, because (since it is rare to see it), it catches the user's attention.
You can show more often games in the genres the user seems to prefer, but the fact there will from time to time be something completely different from what the user might usually play, could help them discover more that they might otherwise not have considered
In the context of new games, putting them into this dynamic mix gets them seen without having to have a formal "New" category.
Then there is the "hand picked" approach to curation, which at the moment lacks context. Why did "Bawb" pick these games in particular and not other ones? Why did he like them or think they're cool?
I know text doesn't go down well on a TV screen, but you could have a section highlighting "New this week" where every game out that week has a little bit of text, written by one of the guys at OUYA, or someone else, just explaining in words other than those of the dev, what the game is about.
Or a "Maturing nicely" category, where games that have been out for a while, but just received a new update, get covered
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