I’m somewhat surprised by this new development- a new console known simply as the OTON X, from EnGeniux is looking to shake up the world of gaming by automatically creating games without the need for human input. The console’s official website is making tremendous promises:
Gamers crave challenge, unlimited game content, low cost games, and high quality games that won’t put them in the poor house!… Each OTON premium unit will ship with a built-in laser projection technology that allows gamers to project their custom game environments on any wall surface. The Star Trek holodeck is finally here!(Sort of!) Imagine requesting OTON to create your own personal simulated game environment and interacting with your projection! Even crazier -recreate certain times, events and places in history or explore the future with radical simulated projected environments!… We believe a game console should play anything, hence the name game console. OTON will support some of the most popular Android and Linux games that will be on OTON. The system will undergo updates regularly to support many game formats.
I’m not sure what to make of it, to be honest. Besides the automated game creation, the official site also promises that the machine will run a custom version of Ubuntu (a variant of Linux- the open source operating system that the folks at Valve are hard at work porting games to), along with supporting Android. I’m curious as to how this machine will work- the OTON’s official site mentions “Quad-core (4 + 1 power-saving core) Four CPU cores are built in the ARM Cortex-A9 micro-architecture, and are clocked at 1.2 MHz”, but aren’t most games for Linux built for X86 CPUs?
My main concern regards the main feature- sure, level generation is nice, but how can this level generation create unique experiences like Chrono Trigger? It might make playable games, but the question remains as to whether or not they’ll be worth playing. I’m going to withhold additional commentary regarding that aspect of the system until I see the system in action.
On the other hand, supposing the customized version of Ubuntu is well made and somehow supports the games we know and love (most of the stuff from Humble Bundles should run on the OTON), this could be an excellent machine- perhaps it will be, in some form or another, the fabled Steam Box that we’re still waiting on. It seems to already have a leg up on the Ouya, and I’m hoping to see where the thing goes. I’m curious as to how some of the promised features will work, the full stats are available on the official site, I’m hoping to see the game creation engine at work. The OTON also promises to make it easy to create custom games- perhaps it’ll be a starting point for up-and-coming developers? Stick with us for further coverage of the console- if it works, it could turn the world of gaming on its head.
