The Ouya console will be launching, according to the Ouya forum Ed Krassenstein, with a lineup of original Nintendo, Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 games thanks to a series of emulators included in the system. EMUya will be handling NES emulation, at last report, while SuperGNES will handle Super Nintendo and Mupen64Plus will tackle Nintendo 64. Better yet, the emulators can be installed directly, without the need to side-load any of the emulators.
The question, of course, is what kind of games can be had for these emulators. Extracting a ROM--the necessary software to run on an emulator--commonly requires some very specialized equipment, so most who want to play games turn to other sources to download them. But downloading ROMs--even for games that users already own--is, legally speaking, sketchy. EMUya, though, seems to have at least some support for indie-developed NES ROMs, so that should be much better overall.
Ouya certainly has a lot going for it. It's got a slate of original games to offer up in its own right, and now with word about emulators included that just steps up the value. The emulators might prove troublesome in the end--I emphasize "might" here as I'm certainly not versed in intellectual property law--but it's still an exciting idea, especially for those games that Nintendo isn't supporting or bringing to the Virtual Console. I personally remember the second NES game I ever owned--Slalom--and that doesn't seem to be available for the Virtual Console, let alone any Mega Man title past the original.
Only time will tell what the release of the Ouya means for the wider gaming market, but it's clear that this might just be a lot more console than some were expecting to see.
