If some Kickstarter projects are to be believed, there is a revolution coming in the console gaming space. People don’t want to spend lots of money on big consoles with lots of wires and closed platforms, so it is said. Last year, we saw the first of these alternative-to-Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo projects come to get a lot of attention with Ouya. Today, there is the GameStick.
GameStick comes our way via the social TV games company PlayJam. From the press release: “The team behind GameStick hope to accelerate the race to change the face of big screen gaming with the launch of the most portable, affordable, dedicated TV gaming device on the market priced at just $79.”
The console itself looks more like a thumb drive than anything else, and it simply plugs straight into an open HDMI slot on you TV. When you want to take the console with you, over to a friend’s house, say, GameStick fits into a slot in its Bluetooth controller for maximum portability.
Gamestick runs on Android Jelly Bean and has these specifics:
- Processor – Amlogic 8726-MX
- Memory – 1GB DDR3 / 8GB FLASH
- Content Download Manager w/ cloud storage for games.
- WiFi – 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth – LE 4.0
- O/S – Android Jelly Bean
- Controller – Bluetooth, 3 mode controller: gamepad, mouse and keyboard with support for up to 4 controllers.
- Full 1080p HD video decoding
Currently, the line-up scheduled for when the console is released looks something like this:
Developer: Game
Madfinger: Shadowgun and Dead Trigger
Hutch: SmashCops
Supersecret Software: Cannabalt
First Star: Boulder Dash XL
FGOL: Hungry Shark, Grabatron and Pool Bar
Relentless Software: Quiz Climber and Blue Toad Murder Files
Sports Director: MYFC Manager
The Kickstarter for the project went live just today, and as of this writing is sitting at ~$39,000 out of their $100,000 goal.
We’ll give the last word to Jasper Smith, the project’s creator:
“To date, the most accessible route to TV gaming for the consumer has been the traditional games
console – this is changing. GameStick gives the thousands of Android developers out there an additional route to bring an affordable big-screen gaming experience direct to their fans. What´s more, we wanted to do this via a unique, highly portable device that will enable pure social gaming – by that we mean people sharing great experiences in the same room!”
If all goes well, PlayJam hopes to launch GameStick in April of this year for $79.
Portable Games Console To Bring Affordable Gaming Directly To Your TV Screen
London & San Francisco; January 2nd, 2013; PlayJam, the global platform for casual and social games on Smart TV, launched its Kickstarter campaign today in a bid to bring its dedicated games console – GameStick – to life.
The team behind GameStick hope to accelerate the race to change the face of big screen gaming with the launch of the most portable, affordable, dedicated TV gaming device on the market priced at just $79.
GameStick is a small yet powerful, dedicated games console that plugs directly into a TV’s HDMI slot and comes with a fully featured Bluetooth controller – ready to go right out of the box. When on the move, the two combine into a single unit, putting big screen gaming right into the pocket. The device will be compatible with other Bluetooth controllers enabling true multi-player functionality.
“We wanted to create a games console that helped further our overriding mission to bring affordable gaming to the big screen”. Says Jasper Smith, CEO PlayJam. “Not only that, we wanted to push the boundaries of what has been achieved up to now by packing sufficient power into the most portable of devices, enabling users to carry that experience with them wherever they go.”
The 30 day Kickstarter campaign launched today with the team at PlayJam looking to raise a minimum of $100,000 to help make GameStick a reality. Supporters of the project can get involved by pledging as little as $10.
“We are currently in a closed Beta phase of development with a working prototype that our guys are using to test some great games. Next comes the final design stage and live testing of both the controller and the games,” continues Smith. “We are fortunate to have been able to utilize our existing technology to get us to this point and have preferred manufacturers in place and an existing developer network ready to go. However, to get this project over the line and into full production, we need the support of the backers on Kickstarter.”
GameStick will feature a purpose-built game store through which users will be able to browse and download content. The proposition will be powered by PlayJam´s existing Games Network for Smart TV which currently supports developers such as Relentless Software, First Star Software, and Disney.
To date, the team has been focused on bringing GameStick to its pre-production phase by finalising hardware design and integrating the back end technology to power the service. They have worked with a small beta group of developers to announce the following initial line-up.
Developer: Game
Madfinger: Shadowgun and Dead Trigger
Hutch: SmashCops
Supersecret Software: Cannabalt
First Star: Boulder Dash XL
FGOL: Hungry Shark, Grabatron and Pool Bar
Relentless Software: Quiz Climber and Blue Toad Murder Files
Sports Director: MYFC Manager
Now that the project is public, the team hopes to work with all Android developers looking to get their games onto the big screen. GameStick´s Bluetooth controller uses different modes to allow the gamer to access and play 100´s of compatible games directly onto their TV.
“To date, the most accessible route to TV gaming for the consumer has been the traditional games
console – this is changing. GameStick gives the thousands of Android developers out there an additional route to bring an affordable big-screen gaming experience direct to their fans. What´s more, we wanted to do this via a unique, highly portable device that will enable pure social gaming – by that we mean people sharing great experiences in the same room!” Smith concluded.