GamerZines writes:
We’re only three days into 2013, yet already a new Android-powered, open-platform games device is the bulk of the way to getting funded via Kickstarter.
GameStick was only announced yesterday, yet already it has attracted over $75,000 worth of investment, only a brief push away from its $100,000 target with around a month left to go for wannabe users to pledge.
The Nexus Player may not be the solution Google needs. AUTOMATON's Graham Arthur explains why he believes this is the case.
Never one to duck a challenge, the folks over at PlayJam were at last celebrating the launch of GameStick in the UK today – audaciously close to the launch of the latest offerings from behemoths Sony & Microsoft also shipped.
"Michael Pachter foretells if the failures of Ouya and Game Stick have signified the end for mini-consoles."
Pach-Attack!
Get More: Comedy Central
Strangely enough Ouya hasn't failed. It has become quite a popular little niche console with the hipsters. There is even a limited edition bundle on the way.
GameStick failed because its buggy as hell and has seen little or no marketing. Aside from the bugs it's actually a cool piece of tech.
Generally successful and appealing to a small minority don't go hand and hand...
Ouya isn't doing well. Half of the gamers I talk to don't even know what the hell it is. Android consoles didn't die. They were never thriving in the first place.
The true definition of DOA.
I'm aware.that the DC was a failure despite of being a great console just like the GameCube. Unfortunately a great device can still be a failure.
Gaming Hipsters! "PS4 and X1 are so mainstream! Everyone knows Android is where all the best little known indie games are. That's why you should only game on the Ouya." :0P
I have little too no interest in any android console... or IOs console for that matter.
There must always be an affordable system to allow homebrew developers thrive, they are the future of our business. Back in the Amiga/ST days, what was made was incredible for its time...
@ multiconsolegamer, are those disagrees because you play more than just a PS? That's a no no here...
They're getting disagrees, because you can hardly say the Ouya is doing good, well or even acceptable when an extremely small demographic enjoys it.
PS4Beaver, I like to go against the crowd. I follow the games.
On topic, Ouya just got picked up by one of the biggest retailers in the world. Average gamers don't realize that's quite an achievement. It more than proves the system is not a failure and is far from being still born.
I don't think they were ever alive or a wise idea. While there are a lot of nice mobile games (when you look at them in the context of being a small game on your phone and when not compared to the Ngauge), there aren't many casual gamers that want to spent $50 or $100 to get a cheap machine that can play them on the TV.
Sounds great, now where is the software? Who is going to support this thing?
Is it running Android?
enough with the kickstarters please, if you want to make a successful company you earn it not beg for money on the internet.
for people that still do not see it, these lil machines pack more power than the wii! That does not mean Game consoles will go away anytime soon. It just means that more competition, for consumer's money and Time.
the spec's of this lil game system are as follow's
Concept
What you see is what you get. Well as the name suggests, GameStick is a 2-inch console not bigger than your USB flash drive that supports up to four controllers connected at once and can connect to gamepads, mouse and keyboard. This makes it much more compact than the OUYA, which was compared to being as big or small as the Rubik's Cube in terms of design. With this product, PlayJam seeks to combine the open source mobile platform with a closed console and bring that experience to your TV sets. The aim is to have no clunky hardware or entangling wires.
Specs
Coming to the console's specifications, the GameStick will run on Android Jelly Bean and pack an Amlogic 8726-MX processor (which is a dual-core Cortex A9 chip at 1.5GHz, along with a dual-core Mali 400 GPU at 400MHz), 1GB RAM and 8GB of flash storage, while using Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11b/g/n for connectivity. It will also be capable of full-HD (1080p) video decoding.
The GameStick has a comparatively lower processor than the OUYA console, which features an NVIDIA quad-core Tegra 3 processor for faster speeds. PlayJam CEO Jasper Smith clarifies that the specs should be more than enough to handle today's leading Android games.
The underpowered processor is said to have been chosen owing to the console's power and heat requirements as well as its extremely portable form factor.
to put this in perspective:
dual-core Mali 400 GPU at 400MHz this benchmark test and this is a Quad core Mali 400 @ 200 Mhz, and 300 Mhz
http://www.anandtech.com/pr...
to continue
Gaming titles
As of now, creators of GameStick are looking at about 200 titles from a pool of 700,000 Android games that would be great to play on the console. BUt the company is also working closely with over 250 developers from studios such as Madfinger, Hutch, Disney and others to offer the best gaming experience to users.
Pricing
Those who back the GameStick project for $79 or more are promised a GameStick (console + controller) bundle along with a name check and founders tag. (Users outside US will have to pay $15 extra as shipping charges)
The device is priced at a mere $79, that's $20 cheaper than the OUYA console. Will users get to see the final product? We'll know soon.
OUYA which raised $8 million inf funding from Kickstarter, is slated for a March release this year, that's one month ahead of GameStick assuming both stick to their schedules. Currently, there are 19 confirmed Ouya games to come with the console along with approximately 300 OnLive games and 80 games confirmed by Ouya themselves.
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, are you watching this?
the speed these are releasing is at a frantic pace, quite a bit faster than i would think Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony would like. the point is since systems like OUYA, and Game stick are using the same type of ARM Cortex chipset's with the same types of ON the Die GPU's porting to each platform is quite fast.
Android IS NOW, and i would imagine Apple is soon to follow with a iOS based game console soon enough for the living room smart TV's. this is the challenge that Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are going to be facing. That does not include companies like samsung making these chipset's inside the very LCD TV's people buy for their daily usage.
Seems kinda pointless because you have to have an overpriced smart tv which not many people have