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Amazon to launch own Android gaming console: report

Sources within Amazon suggest that the online retail giant may take on the likes of Ouya with its own Android console.

Nic Healey Senior Editor / Australia
Nic Healey is a Senior Editor with CNET, based in the Australia office. His passions include bourbon, video games and boring strangers with photos of his cat.
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Nic Healey

Unnamed sources from Amazon have contacted Game Informer, telling the publication that the retailer is working on its own Android-based gaming console to take on the Ouya.

(Credit: Amazon)

The report suggests that Amazon is planning to release the device by the end of 2013, presumably in time for the end-of-year sales frenzy.

The sources indicated that the console will leverage the Android already on the Amazon marketplace, as well that available for the Kindle Fire tablet in the US. It's understood that the purported console will have its own proprietary controller.

The Kickstarted Ouya console has had a rocky start, with shipment delays, mediocre reviews and reports that only 27 per cent of Ouya owners have purchased games for the device.

Amazon must be hoping that its previous experience with Android content and the high level of brand recognition it enjoys can make the difference when it comes to cracking the home Android console puzzle.