Ouya passes $3 million in pledges – and isn't slowing down

Gaming is splitting into two completely different worlds – the high-end console titles like the "Call of Duty" franchsie on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and little amusements like "Angry Birds" and "Fruit Ninja" on mobile devices.

A new company called Ouya is aiming for an in-between product – an Android-based game console that displays on the TV. The company began accepting pledges on funding site Kickstarter Monday and already more than tripled its $950,000 pledge by Wednesday afternoon. In other words, it's on.

Ouya, first of all, will be cheap for players: $99 buys the console and what looks like a slimmed-down version of an Xbox 60 controller. Yves Behar, creator of the One Laptop per Child devices, the Jambox wireless speaker and others, designed the console and controller.

The Ouya will also offer cheap games. Every title has to be either totally free or offer some free play options.

But the deal for developers could ultimately be best for consumers. Developers won't have to pay licensing fees to create games for Ouya (the company take s cut of game sales, instead), and they can order consoles that are already "rooted" — open for people to tinker.

If all goes well, Ouya hopes to have its silver boxes on sale in early 2013. If you're excited and don't want to be stuck waiting, you can pledge the full price now on Kickstarter to guarantee one will be available before they reach stores.

For more tech news, follow us on Twitter @venturenaut.