Since it first crossed our radar in July with its record-shattering Kickstarter debut, the Ouya has garnered the curiosity of gamers everywhere. Essentially, it’s an Android-based console that plans to bring mobile, free-to-play, streaming games, and titles all its own to your HDTV, all for around $100. Now the question becomes: can the Ouya really combine the ease of developing for mobile platforms with the horsepower and accessibility of a home console?

Boxer8 CEO Julie Uhrman sure thinks so. Her company is developing the Ouya, and has garnered the (cautious) support of influential developers by promising to deliver a truly open platform. Since every Ouya console will include a development kit, the expensive licensing fees of creating games for other consoles will be a non-issue. Hacking is even encouraged! The company has stated that rooting the device won’t void your warranty, and even brags that you can open it right up with a Phillips head screwdriver. But it’s not just techies that are interested; the Ouya has raised over $5 million on Kickstarter, presumably from average Joe gamers everywhere.

So is it too good to be true? To be honest, we’re not sure, the Ouya still has a lot more it needs to show the public before its planned launch in March of next year. Still, we’ve already seen plenty of reasons for cautious optimism, and few reasons to keep your credit card in your wallet, for now anyway…

The minds behind Ouya have stated that one of their only rules for developers will be: “at least some gameplay has to be free.” The company has expressed interest in the business models of titles like League of Legends and Team Fortress 2, where players can jump in at no charge and take the monetary plunge later, if they deem it worthy. We also interpret it to mean that if a game is not structured as such, it will be required to have a demo of some sort.

Whether or not you think free-to-play is a good thing, it’s not going anywhere, and doesn’t need any help. It’s doing just fine. What the Ouya could do to really improve the marketplace is guarantee gamers the chance to “try before you buy.” Anyone who’s ever perused the iTunes App Store knows that for every good game, there are a dozen crappy ones trying to imitate and undercut it. Being able to test drive and then rate a game would make sure the cream rises to the top and the junk sinks.

The Ouya controller was unveiled just a few days ago, and seems to have a little bit of everything. As far as layout goes, it’s pretty close to the Xbox 360 standard. We’ve seen two control sticks, a D-pad, four colored buttons, and the promise of four more “action buttons” has us guessing that there will be shoulder buttons and triggers, too.

There’s also a touchpad. It’s that black area above the Ouya logo, and its presence really gets our minds whirring with possibilities. Firstly, if the Ouya includes a web browser, then the touchpad could provide a far more intuitive web experience than any other console on the market. Second, it makes a ton of sense for porting mobile games that are based around a touch interface. Let’s have a reality check though, we won’t be buying an Ouya to play Angry Birds on our TV (we’ll be able to pay $40 for that soon enough). What we would like to see is a game that uses the ENTIRE controller, sticks, “action buttons,” touchpad and all. We’ve talked about what could be done with ports on the Wii U; unique hardware gives developers the chance to design something that could only exist on the Ouya. That’s what will make the Ouya into a platform, and one that matters.

Give $95 or more to the Ouya Kickstarter and you’ve bought yourself an Android console. The company has set an estimated ship date of “March 2013.” According to the numbers on the Kickstarter page, a few more than 40,000 people have put enough money down to be one of the first to get this new game machine.

Coming up shy of 50,000 units is not a big install base, but remember, these are people paying up front for a device they haven’t even seen yet. Who knows what the pre-order figures will look like when people start getting some hands-on time? Plus, having those figures online for everyone to look at tells developers that people are actually buying this thing. This is how you tell companies that making games for your platform will be worth it – there’s no money in making games for a system nobody owns. Ouya has put the word out that it will be in at least 40,000 homes, right out the gate – and who knows? If that number cracks a million by the time it launches, Ouya will be a serious contender.

The next generation isn’t just going to be about beefier hardware, Unreal Engine 4 and having a Kinect built into your Xbox. The way publishers and hardware manufacturers respond to the massive outcry from developers for more open platforms with easier development cycles, and support for different pricing structures, will define the next wave of gaming.

Reading the Ouya Kickstarter page, we haven’t heard the word “developers” so many times since Steve Ballmer spoke at that Microsoft conference. And that’s a good thing. The people who make games are asking for fewer restrictions on how they deliver, update and sell content, and the Ouya team seems to be listening. Playing classics like Final Fantasy III, or AAA titles like Madden NFL 13 or Batman: Arkham City would be great, even if we have to go through OnLive to do it, but original titles matter more. If a few games manage to develop a Minecraft or Team Fortress 2 level of updates and audience engagement, they’ll make the Ouya worth owning.

The word on the street surrounding Windows 8 is not good, as far as gaming goes. Valve’s Gabe Newell has gone on record calling it a, “catastrophe for everybody in the PC space.” Rob Bardo, VP of game design at Blizzard seems to agree. If Windows 8 is shaping up to be so restrictive that companies like Valve are starting to look hungrily at Linux, then there’s room in the market for another open platform.

Sure, PCs are in every home, and have access to the beefiest hardware, but the Ouya has advantages too. There’s something to be said for a platform that’s easy to program for, and guarantees that your customers will have the same hardware. We’re not saying we expect to see Steam on the Ouya anytime soon, but this Android console could quickly become viable for indie developers with unique, non-traditional ideas.

Ouya’s Kickstarter is set up to take your donations in whatever increment you want to give. You can even get on the “Angel List” by giving them ten grand. So far, 11 people have done this, and one of them is Robert Bowling, ex-Creative Strategist behind Call of Duty: Modern: Warfare. Now, he’s too clever a man to be just giving money away to tech start-ups. He’s got a plan, and it shows real faith in Ouya as a platform.

Bowling’s studio Robotoki has a game called The Human Element slated for launch in 2015. The crew is being tight-lipped about their new IP, but Bowling has said that it’s a post-apocalyptic game, and he wants to begin establishing its fictional universe before the game launches. Part of his plan is episodic content, released exclusively on the Ouya. There will be releases for mobile devices as well, but the plan seems to be to build buzz on the most accessible platforms on the market. That fact that Robotoki considers Ouya to be worth its time is good sign for the Android-based console.

Free dev kits, demos for every game, a sleek, versatile controller and the promise of butting into the console wars in the name of a cheaper, more open platform. There are a lot of very exciting ideas here, and we don't think the Ouya team has written any checks it can't cash with a little ingenuity - and five million bucks of Kickstarter money.

However, there are a lot of loose strings hanging, and some pretty big questions and concerns that have yet to be addressed. Allow us to present a few of the more nagging issues...

The introductory video at the top of Ouya’s Kickstarter page shows the team working and gaming at their office. At one point, it shows a mock-up for the controller being carved out of wood with a jigsaw. It’s a cute idea for a video, it gives everything an artisanal, crafted feel, but it makes us ask, “Wood? Really? That’s how far along this thing is?”

Now, that controller that was being carved out of wood, we know it’s further along than that. It was unveiled to the public a few days ago, along with requests for comments and suggestions from gamers, so it’s likely a prototype as well. So when are we going to see the final designs for this thing, and when are we going to put our hands on it? Boxer8 gave itself a workable launch window by estimating shipping by March 2013, but we can’t get too excited about the Ouya until we start seeing more concrete designs, which brings us to our next point…

What games will be on the Ouya? The Kickstarter page is littered with has quotes from different developers, but scroll down to the FAQ on the bottom. There’s the question “what kind of games will be on the Ouya?” The Ouya team responds, “It’s a little early to share a final roster. We’ll do that when we get closer to launch next year. OUYA will offer the best games possible—and a wide range of them—including new games developed specifically to take advantage of the OUYA console. As you can see in this Kickstarter, we’re already taking [sic] to some of the best-known game developers, and beloved indie game makers. We trust them to deliver the goods!”

That’s nice, and not unreasonable. The launch is eight months away. That seems like enough time to get your ducks in a row, but a system’s launch line-up is crucial. We’re not prepared to start beating the drum about Ouya until we see a list of titles. However, Wikipedia has started a list, and it’s only a few games long. Worse yet, a few of them are just inferred from being seen in Ouya promotional videos. Obviously, these won’t be the only games launching with the system, but you can see why the makers of Ouya don’t want a give an official roster until it grows a bit more impressive.

“All games free to play.” It says that right on the Kickstarter. Really? So, does that mean every game will have a free-to-play, microtransaction structure? Or every game will have a demo? Or that every game will literally be free and cost nothing, as many non-gamers unfamiliar with the lingo will likely assume?

Also, there are rumors of indie darling Minecraft appearing on the system. That same video on the Kickstarter page, the one with the wooden controller, has CEO Julie Uhrman saying “Minecraft will be on it.” Not necessarily, according to Mojang. Again, scroll down to the Kickstarter’s FAQ and you’ll see a more careful answer, saying that Minecraft will be on Ouya, “only if we prove that we can make a great product (that’s our job) AND enough people want their games (that’s your job).”

Neither of these incidents are big mess-ups, but for a product with so much buzz and such a big web presences, there are a lot of mixed messages.

As far as the Ouya goes, that's how we see it. There's as much potential as there are unanswered questions. What do you think? What are your biggest questions about this Android-based console? Anyone out there already pre-ordered one on Kickstarter?

If you want an Ouya ASAP, you've got about a week to chip in $99 on Kickstarter. Get to it, or don't!

For more on the latest gaming tech, check out Wii U Gamepad vs. Xbox 360 SmartGlass, Xbox 720 rumors roundup, and PS4 rumors roundup.