OUYA

No official announcement has been made by the company or any of its executives yet but Ouya seems to be in trouble. An email was recently leaked, believed to have a mention of the company being in debt and in need of a buyer. CEO Julie Uhrman was said to have sent this information to advisors and investors. This was after the Ouya-Alibaba deal worth $10 million was launched. Alibaba has invested in Ouya, in hopes that the latter will be saved.

Build your own fantasy kingdom and, instead of just growing it with cutesy in-app items and fighting off even cuter monsters, defend it against seriously badass angles, demons, and mages. Or maybe you're more into cats. Lots and lots of cats. Which ever way you swing, we've got you covered in this week's edition of Level Up! But first, a few words from everyone's favorite, or previous favorite, champion of Android console gaming.

It seemed almost like an impossible dream, but they've definitely done it. OUYA has just marked its 1,000th game, reaching that number that any non-mainstream gaming platform can only dream of. It was an achievement two years in the making, and one that perhaps almost never came to be. OUYA and its community definitely have one more thing to be thankful for this holiday.

You remember OUYA, right? That micro gaming console which runs a tweaked version of Android Jelly Bean – well, they just released a system update today, officially called “Chickcharney”. The core of the update concentrates on encouraging users to develop content that they can throw back to the OUYA community – plus some bug fixes and polishes on the side, of course.

The promise of Android on TVs has been a long and almost unreachable dream but that journey may now be at an end with Google's formal Android TV push. But while we are still waiting for the Nexus Player, the first Android TV device that isn't actually a TV, to ship, many are excited, if not curious, what this new "lean back" living room experience offers on the table. If you have an OUYA gaming console, however, you might not need to wait that long, provided you're willing to jump through hoops to get to your destination.

There should no longer be any doubt that Xiaomi wants in on the fledgling Chinese game biz. The company has now outed its own Bluetooth game controller for, what else, gaming. While the controller seems like a natural evolution of its Mi TV box, it does raise some questions about the future of one popular Android gaming console turned platform.

Ouya, the $99 gaming console that runs Android has been taking geek town by storm, thanks to its very low price. Recently, we’ve been hearing reports that the company is discussing with several big companies not just in the United States but also in China regarding a possible acquisition.

What should you do if you want to make it big in the Android market in Asia, particularly in China? Why partner with the top Android OEM of course! That is what OUYA seems to be doing by striking a deal with Xiaomi to bring its games and its platform outside of its comfort zone and into the Chinese, and eventually Asian, market.

OUYA Everywhere was announced earlier in the year. This essentially meant other systems would be able to play any and all of the OUYA games. At the same time OUYA Everywhere was announced, there was talk of it coming later this spring and about how it would first arrive on the Mad Catz MOJO console.

Buying Android games, even in exclusive stores like OUYA's isn't exactly difficult, but OUYA wants to make it even easier, and in effect draw in more users of its hardware. The startup is now testing what it calls All-Access Pass, which will give you access to almost everything in its catalog for a relatively measly annual fee.