Kickstarter / Ouya

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about how Ouya's dream of raising a million dollars on Kickstarter to bring a $99 console and open gaming platform to the people was well...ambitious, to say the least.

Actually, that wasn't even 24 hours ago, but already the public's desire for a hackable console has made it clear that Ouya's ambition must be pursued, nay fulfilled (by the promised March 2013 delivery date, hopefully). Within about eight hours, the $950,000 goal was met. And at last check, more than 20,000 people had pledged north of $2.5 million.

There are some heavy hitters behind Ouya, which is built on Android and plays games in HD on a TV set with Tegra3 at its heart. They include Jawbone designer Yves Behar and gaming industry veteran Julie Uhrman, not to mention backing from prominent angel investors.

That kind of pedigree, and yes, perhaps the price and open code as well, has so far convinced thousands to back the project, including nearly 270 who opted for "developer specials" with SDK access.

So what will Ouya creators do with all that newfound investment cash flowing in? They're open-sourcing that, too. In the first update to project backers this evening, Uhrman writes:

We are blown away by your support. With your help, we just raised $2 million. And it's only the first day. Now we want to blow you away. The biggest thing for us right now: we are working on our stretch goals, what we can do if we raise more money. It might take us a few days to figure that out, and we want your help. Tell us what you would like the stretch goals to be at ideas@ouya.tv.

With 29 days left in the campaign, if the money continues to flow, those could be some pretty lofty goals. I suggest figuring out a way to integrate with a certain smart watch.

Update at 5:30 a.m. PT July 11: Ouya's fundraising total has been revised upward.