Hasta La Gadget!

The GameStick did not have a smooth journey after meeting its Kickstarter funding goals, where it was originally slated for a September 30th release after missing the June date. Well, we might still be in the middle of September at this point in time, but it does seem as though the GameStick needs more time to be prepared, and PlayJam has announced that the GameStick will roll out globally from October 29th onward, and it will carry a $79.99 price tag (£79.99 if you happen to live across the pond). PlayJam did mention also that they will be sending out the GameStick to its remaining Kickstarter backers before the system arrives at retail stores.

For those who are wondering just what the heck the Gamestick is all about, it happens to be a Kickstarter success story, where this USB-enabled console actually made it from concept to actual production in a gestation period of nine months, eerily similar to that of a normal human baby. It missed the original June launch date because there were “stringent QA targets” to meet. Good idea to roll out a proper working console instead of a gimped one to frustrated customers though. Just to refresh our memories, the The Android-powered Gamestick would feature an ARM Cortex A9 CPU and a Mali 400 GPU, 8GB of internal memory and a microSD memory card slot, 1080p playback, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

GameStick Gets October Global Release Date original content from Ubergizmo.

The second Kickstarter-funded, Android-powered gaming console to arrive this year — PlayJam’s GameStick — is being delayed once again, this time to October 29th. Folks who backed the game console on Kickstarter will get it earlier in the month, with shipments arriving “three to four weeks before retail.” The rest of us can pick it up at GameStop, Amazon or GAME (for you UKers), and it’ll cost the expected $79.99 / £79.99.

You may’ve noticed we didn’t list that price in Euros, and that’s because the console is launching in the US and UK first, with the rest of the EU, Canada and Middle Eastern territories getting GameStick “prior to the end of year holiday season.” PlayJam CEO Jasper Smith chocks this (third!) delay up to “stringent QA” standards at the company, and PlayJam responding to the criticisms it heard from early beta testers. “Production delays are certainly frustrating, but in certain instances they’re essential,” Smith told Engadget. “There were some issues there that we thought needed to be solved, there were some issues that came out of watching what others had done, that meant that we should solve some other issues. So the unfortunate result is that pushed things back.”

Smith cited various usability issues, from “the way games were being submitted” to “the way that the games actually played,” as fixed problems. “On TV you’ve gotta make it so it’s easy for people to get in and out of a game, start again and all that stuff. And I hope that we’ve done a reasonably good job on that.” We hope so too, and we’ll find out soon — keep an eye out for a review of GameStick in the coming weeks on Engadget.

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After a series of delays, it looks like PlayJam’s GameStick is making its way to market relatively soon. Whether your allegiance lies with Amazon or GameStop, come September 30th both will begin shipping the tiny console, as noticed by Liliputing. What’s more, PlayJam itself promises that the last of its crowdfunded unit-allotment will ship directly to backers by mid-September. The news doesn’t stop there, as it recently passed FCC certification too. Uncle Sam’s documents — RF exposure statements! Label placement! — don’t contain much we didn’t already know, but if you want to see the GameStick’s user manual, here you go.

[Thanks, Dave]

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Source: FCC, Liliputing, GameStick

GameStick first appeared around the the first of this year, promising its Kickstarter supporters an Android gaming console that looks more Roku Streaming Stick than OUYA. Since then, GameStick has gathered its cash and started shipping out dev units, but its commercial release has already been delayed once, and today the project got pushed back another month. That means that GameSticks won’t start shipping until early August.

The reason for the delay is that the device’s UI remains a work in progress and the team hasn’t yet given backers who pledged $300 or more the chance to provide feedback. It’s not all bad news, however, as the folks behind GameStick have confirmed that manufacturing tooling is complete, and the first Kickstarter controller has rolled off the line. Not only that, but you can see shots of the final versions of the GameSick itself and its controller’s charging dock at the source link below.

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Source: Kickstarter

GameStick, a would-be OUYA competitor that we wrote about back in January when it launched its Kickstarter campaign, has been delayed. The device achieved backing on Kickstarter in February and originally planned to start shipping in March, with “fulfilment to customer” pegged for April. But the launch has now been delayed until June — with the project creators saying it’s been a victim ”of the success we have created”.

Close to $650,000 was pledged via Kickstarter by almost 5,700 backers — more than 6x more money than the GameStick’s creators original goal of $100,000. When funding hit $560,000 they added a stretch goal introducing one more console colour to the mix, and giving backers the option to vote on a fourth colour choice via Facebook.

In an update to backers, the GameStick creators pointed to greater than expected production volumes as the reason for the three month delay, along with switching from air freight to sea shipping to keep costs down. ”The main production run has gone from a few thousand units to tens of thousands of units. This has meant that we have had to change production methods and move to high-volume tooling,” the message said.

The first backers are not expected to receive their GameSticks until the last week in June.

Initially we had hoped to deliver GameStick to you at the end of April. We now expect to complete mechanical tooling about 4 weeks later at the end of May. Then the units are assembled, tested and assuming there are no issues, packed prior to shipping to each territory. We expect to ship around the 10th June. The volumes are now too large for us to be able to afford to air-freight them, which was our plan, so now we are going to have to use sea freight to deliver them. That’s going to take around 2 weeks. Then we have fulfillment in territory – which we estimate will take between 1 and 5 days depending on where you are located. This means we think the likely date of arrival of your hand crafted GameStick will be at the last week of June.

The GameStick is so named for its USB stick design, which means the console is even smaller than the cube-shaped OUYA. The GameStick controller has a space to fit the console inside for safe keeping when it’s being carried in a bag or pocket.

As for internal hardware, the GameStick has a dual-core Cortex A9 chip clocked at 1.5GHz, along with a dual-core Mali 400 GPU at 400MHz, plus 1GB of memory and 8GB of flash storage. It uses Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi for connectivity and runs Android Jelly Bean. Gamepads, mice and keyboards can be hooked up to it — with support for up to four controllers at once.