OUYA Reveals New Games For The Platform, Including Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Adventure And The Cave

Our own Romain Dillet noted the regrettable lack of confirmed games for the upcoming OUYA Android-based home gaming console just yesterday. Today, as if in answer, OUYA founder and CEO Julie Uhrman spoke at DICE to announce some new launch partners for the Kickstarter-funded project. The newly announced titles include Double Fine Adventure (another Kickstarter success from gaming legend Tim Schafer’s studio) and Rob Gilbert’s The Cave, also from Double Fine studios.

In addition to the Double Fine titles, Uhrman said onstage that Paul Bettner, best known for creating Words With Friends, would also be developing titles for OUYA. No word on the specifics, but it is a vote of confidence from a game creator who has had enormous success on mobile platforms.

When Romain complained about a lack of substantial games for the OUYA, he was mainly talking about marquee titles that would attract core gamers to a standalone console. The argument he made is essentially that users won’t flock to dedicated hardware that they can essentially already play on their Android or iOS devices. Without noteworthy launch games to give it juice, he believes OUYA’s will become yet another device gathering dust on peoples’ shelves.

What OUYA announced today isn’t its own Sonic or Mario — something to propel the console to something unique with an experience you can’t replicate elsewhere — but it is a pledge from a studio (Double Fine) that produce consistently interesting, engaging games that attract the attention, love and respect of gamers.

Double Fine Adventure won’t arrive until Q2 2013 and therefore likely won’t make OUYA’s launch. The Cave hasn’t yet begun OUYA-specific development, so this doesn’t answer launch lineup concerns, but it does indicate there’s a pipeline for more quality titles to come.