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Though PlayJam’s GameStick surpassed its Kickstarter funding goal by leaps and bounds, the final design of the Android-powered portable gaming unit wasn’t finalized until now. Using input from early backers of the project, PlayJam retooled the controller/console to be “more ergonomic” to “better sit in the hand.”
Changes also include relocating the pop-out HDMI stick from the bottom of the controller to the back. A microSD card was also added, giving the unit a total capacity of up to 104GB of storage.
In addition to a revamped controller, PlayJam also revealed a docking station that will both charge the GameStick as well as offer connections via USB, HDMI, and ethernet. The dock also features wireless charging. It can be purchased as part of a bundle with the GameStick for $109.
GAMESTICK UNVEILS FINAL DESIGN INSPIRED BY KICKSTARTER COMMUNITY
London & San Francisco; January 29th, 2013; As the GameStick Kickstarter campaign (http://kck.st/12SSvMO) enters its final few days, the team announce their final designs of the device as well as a new docking station for every peripheral conceivable.
GameStick; Kickstarter´s most recent success story, currently sits at over 500% of its original target with over $500K raised at the time of writing. The team waits on tenterhooks to discover the final figure to be revealed at 04:23 PST on Friday 1st February.
“It´s hard to believe that we launched GameStick just a few short weeks ago. The Kickstarter campaign has been a roller coaster of a ride and one which has given us more feedback than we could ever have possibly imagined.” says PlayJam´s CMO, Anthony Johnson, “We have been able to take that input and literally better shape our product to give our backers a truly bespoke creation – one which has been designed by the Kickstarter community that backed it.”
The new design sees subtle changes to the controller, which gets a more ergonomic form with extended grips and a tapered shape to better sit in the hand. The housing for the HDMI stick has been moved to the rear of the controller and the stick itself now supports an expandable 32GB MicroSD card slot in response to overwhelming demand. The finish has also been meticulously designed meet the highest of standards.
Additional requests from the backer community resulted last week in the GameStick team announcing support for peripheral hardware through a previously unspecified docking station. The dock brings on board a number of sought after features such as; wire-free charging for the controller, a number of USB and HDMI ports to support peripheral hardware such as keyboards, mice, microphones and cameras as well as support for yet more storage bringing the total potential capacity of the bundle up to 104GB.
“The GameStick Dock is a prime example of how we have moved rapidly to innovate while still in the pre-production phase,” continued Johnson, “it has made for a ‘hairy’ 30 days but we think the results are worth it and we are delighted that we have been able to tailor the product as much as we have in such a short time-frame”
The GameStick Kickstarter campaign has reached its first two stretch goals with just under $60K to go to hit it´s third and final stretch which will add a number of colour options to its range; a target the team hopes to hit before close. Backers have been urged to vote for their favourite colours on the GameStick Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/GameStickNews) in a poll to establish the final color.
To visit the Kickstarter page and pledge your support, please visit: http://kck.st/12SSvMO
To visit the GameStick website for more information or to apply for an SDK please go to: www.gamestick.tv
To follow GameStick news, join the conversation and give your opinion on Facebook or Twitter please go: www.facebook.com/GameStickNews and www.twitter.com/Game_Stick / @Game_Stick
To subcribe to YouTube,please go to: www.youtube.com/GameStickVideos
That is some sweet eye candy, but let’s see how they handle the heat
dissipation/ WiFi issues that most if not all the other devices with
this form factor suffer from.
Well it will be worse than you think. That’s just the controller that has the gamestick inside, that you take out and plug into a tv. The size of that is about the size of a usb drive.
Did I read correctly that the D-pad is rubberized?
That doesn’t seem like it would be a very good idea.
The gamestick controller did look uncomfortable to use, even the finalized one does. I can’t wait to get the Ouya instead.
The GameStick controller did look uncomfortable, even the finalized one.I can’t wait for the Ouya to come out. I’m not sure if I am going to get one- Pssh, parents… :)