MakerBot To Enable Gamers To 3D-Print Their Own OUYA Android Console Cases

MakerBot and OUYA announced a partnership today that will allow gamers to print their own OUYA game console cases at home. The partnership will see OUYA create 3D design files for Thingiverse.com, MakerBot’s 3D printing design repository, which are designed to be used with the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D printer.

The OUYA Game Console Enclosure design created by MakerBot allows OUYA console owners to print their own case, which includes a lid and a spring-loaded button for housing the hardware. They can also be printed on the MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D printer for those who want to use ABS instead of PLA to print their designs.

It’s a move that brings an advanced level of customization to the OUYA, which is already based on an open-sourced development kit, which, while it limits developers in some ways, allows for a wide range of flexibility. The addition of home 3D-printable hardware elements makes for yet more personalization options, and could make for additional opportunities for game creators to develop case mod tie-ins for their titles.

MakerBot says on its website for the OUYA console kit design that it can be opened with a user’s own 3D printing software to make modifications and additional customizations, so we could see much more than the standard Yves Behar-sourced cube with a rounded edge at the bottom.