Hasta La Gadget!

Now that the Android-powered game console on a stick, GameStick, has been fully funded (five times over), another piece of the puzzle is falling into place: its final design. Taking suggestions from the Kickstarter backers that supported the device in the first place, the final design of the controller reflects, “a more ergonomic form with extended grips and a tapered shape to better sit in the hand.” The HDMI stick that previous popped out from the bottom of the controller now rests around back — it’s now got a MicroSD slot built in as well, allowing up to 32GB of expandable memory (bringing the maximum of expandable memory up to 104GB — that’s a lot of Android games).

A docking station is also in the cards, which enables a whole mess of peripherals via USB, HDMI, and ethernet ports — it’s powered separately, so you can charge your GameStick controller without having to turn on the console. You can also charge your controller on it wirelessly, according to PlayJam. All said, it’s got one ethernet port, a full size SD card reader, three USB ports, and three HDMI ports (one out, two in), and comes as part of an option $109 bundle on the Kickstarter page. As for its sale price separately from the GameStick, PlayJam’s staying mum for now.

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It’s been over a week since we first heard of the Android-gaming device, GameStick, which is not to be confused with Ouya, and since then, it reached its Kickstarter of $100,000 after just two days of its launch, and even set a new goal to then add a microSD slot to the GameStick. But it looks like all was not well in the GameStick world as they hit a slight snag earlier today.

GameStick was completely pulled from Kickstarter making its project page completely inaccessible to the public due to “an intellectual property dispute.” Kickstarter went on to say, “If we are not able to re-post it within 30 days, we will cancel the project.” If 30 days passed and GameStick still wasn’t able to resolve its IP dispute, then the project would have been “permanently unavailable” and all pledges would have expired.

Thankfully, the project’s creator PlayJam responded on their Facebook page saying, “This IP issue has NOTHING to do with our design or product! It’s a small snag in one of our promo videos demonstrating a game that was exposed without clearance.” Shortly after that message, the Kickstarter page returned to its former glory.

For those of you who have been looking forward to the GameStick since it was announced, you have no idea how close you were to completely losing the project. Let’s just hope after all this drama, the GameStick turns out to be a worthwhile product.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Limited Edition Tomb Raider Xbox 360 Controller Announced, PS3 Overtakes Xbox 360 In Global Sales Figures,

The Android-based gaming console GameStick was just pulled from Kickstarter, according to an email we just received from Kickstarter support. Its project page is no longer accessible, and the only information given in our support email says it was removed due to, “an intellectual property dispute.” As a result, the project page was taken down (“removed from public view,” says the email), and it may end up getting canned altogether. “If we are not able to re-post it within 30 days, we will cancel the project,” says the email. Yikes! Should that occur, all pledges for the project will expire (Kickstarter doesn’t charge pledges until a project is approved), and the project, “will be permanently unavailable.”

We’re following up with Playjam, the project’s creator, for more and will let you know if we hear back.

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GameStick — that other Kickstarter-funded Android game console — may get microSD support added … that is, if it’s Kickstarter campaign tops $560,000. The company behind GameStick, PlayJam, added a slew of “reach” goals to its fundraising campaign this morning, including black/white color options for the stick at $320K and yet another color choice (chosen by the device’s Facebook page fans) at $450K. Currently, the campaign’s passed its initial goal of $100K, but PlayJam thinks it’s got good odds at hitting these new heights. And considering that there’s another 22 days to go, we’re pretty confident in that possibility as well.

Continue reading GameStick gets expandable microSD … if its Kickstarter campaign tops $560K

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We reported on GameStick yesterday (http://www.ubergizmo.com/2013/01/gamestick-android-console-seeks-funds/), and after finding itself on Kickstarter for two days, it has already reached its $100.000 it was attempting to raise in 30 days. This leads us to believe either there are a lot of gamers out there with extra cash to burn, even after the holidays have ravaged most of our wallets, or many people believed in the future portable gaming device.

The $79 “console” is nothing more than a stick that resembles a USB flash drive with an HDMI connector that allows you to plug it into your HDTV’s HDMI port in order to access it. At this point, the GameStick’s developers are claiming they have identified around 200 games that will run well on the device, although they’re hoping for their library to include over 700,000 Android games. In addition to the GameStick, those who decided to back the campaign enough to buy themselves a GameStick will also receive a bluetooth controller.

Seeing how the Ouya just started shipping out its console to developers last week, we’re curious how long it’ll take for the GameStick to make its way to the hands of developers and customers who believed in a future Android console that would be more portable than its controller.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Razer Orbweaver Mechanical Gaming Keypad, Dead Space 3 Xbox 360 Demo To Arrive Early,