Cold Hard Facts about the Ouya

On Ouyaforum.com a great editorial was written entitled "The Day The Clown Cried."  It was a recap of the Ouya phenomena and the lack of what appears as backers support from Ouya.  I encourage alll of you to read it.  In the article the hard facts are:
Here are some hard facts:

1. Ouya's official release date into the public is June 4th

2. Ouya has struck deals to be carried at Amazon, Target, and Gamestop

3. Ouya fully intends on releasing their console on a mobile phone schedule (~ yearly)

4. Ouya has never given their Kickstarter backers a firm shipping

The author concludes that "Do you really think March 28th snuck up and bit them on the ass? Please. They are purposely not shipping them to us because these units are slated for their new customers: moms and dads at Target; kids at GameStop; the online shopping masses who log on to Amazon. Do the math. There are roughly 2,000 Targets in North America alone, and 6,600 GameStops. Plans to put 3 in every store June 4th would tally up to over 25,000. I have a feeling the targeted number is much higher. And that's not factoring in Amazon's quota, either. "

The responses to this article were:

"I am so dissapointed by the lack of communication by ouya. I could not care less that I'll get my ouya 3 months late. What is clear to me is that the "ouya company" does not give a hoot about the backers. I thought we were going to be a shining example of crowdfunding...standing up to the evil corporate giants who control the game industry....to build a new gaming community without having to spend 3 months worth of pocketmoney on a game. (Based upon what my kids get and the cost of a typical a+ type game 60€.) Another illusion the poorer I'll get my sense of community elsewhere."

"I got an email this morning stating my Ouya was now at the distribution center and I should have it in 2 weeks.

Looks like the kickstarter backers get the luxury of ground shipping "

"Given the levels of frustration from backers I find it difficult to comprehend their desire to undermine their most enthusiastic supporters. It's a shame, I have a bitter taste in my mouth regarding this kickstarter experience which is turning me off of OUYA as a company and product. It's a shame, I was so excited about them but they managed to change my mind"

The next question is "will Ouya survive the backer backlash?"  Did Ouya destroy itself?

Julie Uhrman is offering refunds for Ouya Backers

The original backers of the kickstarter project Ouya are now wanting refunds and Uhrman is responding by saying that  you can get a refund.  On twitter she responded:

Julie Uhrman‏@juhrman

@TeeJaxOff BTW if you're really unhappy we can find a way to refund. Just let me know.  

The above statement could be interpreted that Uhrman would rather give refunds then try to keep a backer.  

A quick browse of the kickstarter page comments and you get:

Nate Mantrakid Schmold 2 days ago

So 'Your Ouya will be shipping on or around March 28' was actually "we'll have less than 10% of the total kickstarter units even produced by the middle of April."

I would only hope someone from Ouya is reading this, considering here is a list of people who helped make this happen, but the dangerous point of this is that the people who were GUNG HO for this cause are having their confidence broken. We were 63,000 points of technically free advertising... and by these kind of lame pseudo-transparency updates, we're actually feeling negative towards the project.

If it were possible, I would have requested a refund by now.

Todd Wegman 1 day ago

Is there anyway to get a refund... I do not have a good feeling about this... I should have waited to see how this thing takes off- based on what I see so far I made another poor decision- at least it only cost me $100 dollars.

and on twitter:

Dwight Battle ‏@dwightthemayor13 Apr

@playouya @kickstarter I would like to cancel my OUYA order and receive a refund. Is there a mechanism in place for this? cc:

This is all due to Uhrman not being able to ship units to backers as promised. Per her last update she will only be able to shipt 25% of Ouyas to the backers in the first month and the rest will hopefully be shipped during the month a May. This puts backers as receiving their units only days prior to the public. Backers are seeing this as unacceptable due to originally giving ETA's for March. Worst yet, amazon prime members will get their Ouya's cheaper then the backers due to no shipping cost.

The begging question now is "Once Uhrman got her money and websites like Amazon started to place orders, did she dump her loyal backers?"

Ouya taking 1 month to ship to only 25% of Backers. Outrage Grows.

On Friday Ouya sent out a new Project Update to the backers on the shipping issues.  According to Julie Uhrman and  a poorly drawn line graph only 25% of the Ouya will be shipped to backers 30 days after the launch that occurred March 28.
"As you can see, each weekly shipment wave continues to grow, with nearly a quarter of all shipments out by the end of this month and larger-scale shipments going out weekly from there."

This is a different ETA then the one Uhrman gave on the day of the launch where it would take a few weeks to get all the units shipped.  And this is totally different then what was promised to the backer on Kickstarter.

Originally the backers were given estimated delivery of the month of March, but now it appears that most backers will not receive their Ouya's until the last week of May, just days before you can purchase an Ouya on Amazon. This most recent update has fueled the fire of the Backer Outrage.
Here are some of the post from the Ouya kickstarter page:
" Zubair Ashraf about 1 hour agoI really believe ouya,s strategy backfired. They shipped units to press early rather than in backer number to get press buzz. Now they are covering the mistakes. They should have shipped by backer order initially. And be transparent 
1- no google play store means more money for them through app purchases. But not good for end user 
2- be more transparent with shipping. Admit to short comings/ delays as it happens"

"Thomas Hogan about 4 hours ago

How about instead of a graph drawn in MS paint every Friday, all you do is just tell your backer the exact # of Ouyas that have been shipped. That would be a lot more meaningful, and I can make my own graph in MS paint anyway..."

"Denny Martin about 13 hours ago

I have been very upbeat and defensive about this project, mostly because I thought it is a project worth supporting. The secondary and almost as influential factor in all this is the encouraging and energetic communiques coming from team OUYA. After the last email, I feel I too need to be transparent:
As a backer, I had the expectations that not only would I be supporting a worthwhile project, but even though I paid the same as the over-the-counter price will be, that I would receive a little perk, like say receiving my unit a month or so before the public at large. I will be disappointed if after all the hype in the emails, that I receive my OUYA only days before the public release. I realize team OUYA is working hard, but YOU did ask us to give money to you when you needed it. I believe you can do better than just lip service. If it were me, I'd be working round the clock and forgoing Chinese holidays or even any American ones until I fulfilled my obligations to my backers."

" 

Todd Wegman about 17 hours ago

Is there anyway to get a refund... I do not have a good feeling about this... I should have waited to see how this thing takes off- based on what I see so far I made another poor decision- at least it only cost me $100 dollars."

"Keith Ky 1 day ago

Yeah, I'm starting to regret being a backer and especially getting the "limited" brown console (which I read would take even longer). Of course, Ouya got bigger with more press coverage so I'm sure even if they lose all the backers, it's probably less than 10% of Amazon and Walmart orders."

" 

James Higgins 1 day ago

This chart does not give any usable information. It's sort of annoying to ignore all your backers, but its actually insulting to present a graph of nonsense designed specifically to obscure any real information as transparency."

These comments are just a small percentage of outraged backers.  This backlash could easily be the downfall of the Ouya even prior to it hitting the public.  

Ouya Already Failing. Backers are outraged!

I reported yesterday that according to the Ouyaforum.com hardly any units have shipped.  I also presumed that they were not shipping out in order of backer numbers as previously believed.  Now, Ouyaforum.com has confirmed my suspicion.  Per one of their editorials that early backers are not receiving their units first, but backers are randomly receiving their units.  This has embarked a backer outrage.
Forum member MELTDOWN who isn't  a backer posted "It seems that the backers will receive their consoles with me on June."  
Forum Member Dizzy "obviously for a higher price, but the fact that i can go to ebay right now and buy one makes me sad" , 
Bigdadio brought some common sense with the post "How about no theory and someone from Ouya tell us WTF is going on. This is the time for total transparency. If you want people to not perceive you as EA jr, dont act like EA..." 
And the worst yet:

Forum member Yomp: "What if they are making the retail units first for the stores?"

with the response...

Dizzy: "then we sue! game... OVER"

I have stated this before and will state it again Uhrman is not a CEO, She is a idea person. If Ouya can't ship only 65,000 units to your original backers in less than two weeks, then there is no way that Ouya will survive.  I doubt they will still be here by Christmas of this year, unless someone else takes the horns of this startup and runs is like a contender.  

Hardly any Ouya units have shipped per post

According to the post at Oya forum hardly any units are being reported as shipped.  The units were suppose to ship in order of the backers excluding those who ordered an extra controller (punishing those who spend more money is a great business model), but according to the forum, backer 21421 has received their unit, but  backers with numbers as low 107 still hasn't received their unit.  So how are they shipping Ouyas?  As ill planned the Ouya launch as a whole appears it begs the question if they (Ouya) are organized enough to ship the units in order.  So have you gotten your Ouya yet?

Ouya Showing Poor Planning and Making Excuses

The latest blog entry from Ouya is showing more poor planning and now they are making excuses for not being able to deliver units to their backers.  Per the post that is quoted below,  Julie Uhrman is apologizing for not being able to ship units due to holidays and only being able to work 3 days a week, but promises to ship 24 hours a day starting next week.  It was bizarre to begin with that Ouya would not be able to ship all backer units at once.  It begs the question if they will be able to make any shipping demands from Amazon and the like if they prove to be successful.  Now Uhrman is blaming holidays for unable to ship to their backer. It is a shame that Uhrman doesn't have a calendar.  If she did, she would have foresaw this and been able to plan around it.  As stated before Uhrman has over promised believing if she builds it then they will come.  She will soon learn that if you don't deliver what you promise and take care of your core customers then you will find yourself managing a company that sells to no one.  It is unfortunate that the renegade console may never have an opportunity to truly rebel against the big 3 due to poor leadership.  I want to know where the form is so I can get my $100 back.  

"

OUYA is shipping! I know you are anxious to play and probably want to know when to expect yours. Here’s the plan: We began shipping last week, 3/27 in fact. We had two days of manufacturing and then we had to stop for Easter. This week, we got 3 days of work and then had to stop for the Qingming Festival. I know this sucks but we will be picking up the pace. Starting next week, we will be building and shipping units 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Also, we are bringing on new vendors to help us deliver faster. However, we will not sacrifice quality for speed. The rollout will be as follows: We are starting with the standard OUYA unit (grey console+controller), then working on the Kickstarter exclusive units and units with more than one controller. Also, every Friday, on our blog (www.ouya.tv/blog), we will update you on our progess and plan. As of today, we plan on making our final delivery in May. In fact, until now we were sending shipping alerts only when your shipment left the assembly line. Because you asked for it, we will now send out pre-shipping alerts a week before to let you know your order is queued up. We appreciate your continued support as we deliver your OUYA -- and know that every day there are more games for you to play! That’s the best part. :) Thank you, Julie"