Transforming the Video Game World Julie Uhrman has created Ouya, an affordable, open-source console that can access a robust online gaming library.

When Julie Uhrman was vice president of digital distribution at IGN Entertainment, the video game news site, she came to the realization that something was seriously wrong with the console industry. Sticker prices for hardware were prohibitively high, typically around $300. Meanwhile, software-makers were churning out strings of lazy, unimaginative titles that cost $60 a pop.

"If you went to E3," Uhrman says of the gaming industry's annual trade show, "you would see that there were no new consoles announced, no major new developments. All the games that were being talked about were sequels. There was nothing really exciting happening in the space."