SAN JOSE, CA—Ouya, the Android-based game console that began life as a phenomenally successful Kickstarter project, is supposed to begin shipping to backers later this month. While it seems to have attracted at least some developer interest, it still has an uphill battle to fight once it moves beyond the core audience that backed the project and into the wider marketplace. During a session at Nvidia's GPU Technology Conference today, Ouya founder Julie Uhrman talked a bit about how well the console would need to perform to be considered a success in the company's eyes.

"My [definition of] success for Ouya is that we show momentum month-over-month," said Uhrman. "Every month we're selling more units, every month we're getting more games, every month people are playing those games longer, every month there is a must-have game. That's success, at least in the first year."

"My goal is for everyone who loves games to know that Ouya exists," she continued. "My goal is to have innovative, exclusive, unique content that you can't find anywhere else."

Uhrman also reiterated that the Ouya hardware would be upgraded "closer to the [yearly] mobile refresh rate than the console refresh rate," though she couldn't say for sure for how long past Ouya consoles would stay supported and updated when we asked. She noted that both the Ouya designers and third parties had been thinking a bit about future hardware, including accessories like motion controllers and Ouya-equipped smart TV sets or set-top boxes. However, all of these plans hinge on the console finding this initial success.

"Once we ship these units, then we can think through what a whole Ouya family of products looks like," Uhrman said. "If we don't nail this, nothing else really matters."