News: Gamers will be able to design their own cases for the forthcoming Yves Behar-designed OUYA console and print them out with a MakerBot 3D printer.

The partnership will see OUYA upload 3D print files for the case to Thingiverse, the online design database operated by MakerBot, where they can be downloaded and produced with a desktop 3D printer.

The news comes two months after after mobile phone maker Nokia became the first major manufacturer to release 3D print files for its products, allowing consumers to print their own customised phone cases.

The OUYA's case includes a lid and a spring-loaded button to house the console's hardware, allowing users to make modifications to the standard round-edged cube designed by San Francisco designer Yves Behar.

As the first product from technology start-up Boxer8, the OUYA will allow developers to make their own games and tweak the hardware as they wish.

Based on open design principles that encourage users to develop and adapt products themselves, the console will run on Google's Android operating system and all games will either be free or available as a free trial, while the hardware itself will cost only $99.

The development of OUYA was funded through Kickstarter, with supporters pledging £5.6 million in exchange for first access to the console, making it the second-highest earning project in the crowdfunding website's history.

Some 1,200 Kickstarter investors were given developer versions of the console at the start of the year, but it's expected to be available to the public this June.

Last week MakerBot unveiled a prototype of a desktop scanner that will allow users to digitally scan objects they want to replicate with a 3D printer at home – see all MakerBot news and all 3D printing news.

Domus editor Joseph Grima previously told Dezeen that the birth of "the era of open design" is a timely counterpart to "the spirit of the social media era" – see all open design news and products.