SHANGHAI, Aug 18 — When it comes to China’s copycats, sometimes, you really can’t make this stuff up.
Cue Ouye.
In a nutshell, the Chinese gaming console, which has been blasted by online users for ripping off the design of both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, is seeking funding on a Chinese knock-off of Kickstarter called JD Finance.
You don’t need to be a hardcore gamer to realise that the console’s body bears more than a passing resemblance to that of Sony’s PlayStation 4, while its controller appears to be modelled on that of Microsoft’s Xbox One.
Even the name is not particularly original: It brings to mind the Ouya, the defunct Android console — which coincidentally is the OS that powers the Ouye.
One wonders if the Shenzhen-based company had tongue firmly in cheek when it released a statement to say that the console took 15 months to develop, six months of which were spent crafting its “unique design”.
Needless to say, the console has been widely ridiculed since it appeared on JD Finance.
According to the South China Morning Post, Tencent Games highlighted the creators’ many references to their product’s supposed originality, before saying that such “idiotic copycat behaviour” was an embarrassment to China.
Meanwhile, commenters on forum GamerSky accused the Ouye creators of having “no sense of shame”.
A few, however, did defend the console’s makers as simply answering a demand in the market, the newspaper added.
The Ouye console is seeking US$15,000 (RM61,214) in funding on JD Finance, a crowdfunding subsidiary of the Chinese e-commerce giant. It will reportedly retail for US$70.
