Android-based console GameStick delayed till August

PlayJam, developer of the Android-based gaming console GameStick, has announced on the console’s Kickstarter page that it has been delayed from the original shipping window of June. The GameStick will instead begin shipping in early August. The company states that the delay was so that it could get feedback from Kickstarter backers about the GameStick’s interface. This marks the second time that the GameStick has been delayed.

“In the spirit of Kickstarter it would be disingenuous of us to cut out this process and not give those backers the opportunity to comment on and help perfect the UI prior to completion,” the post reads.

“We have therefore taken the decision to push back the whole project by one month to ensure we can fit this process in. We appreciate that this will frustrate backers keen to get their hands on their device but we did not feel it was fair to bypass this step as it was a key pledge and the feedback will be really welcome. We now expect to ship product from China during early August and expect it to be with you by the middle of the month, prior to units launching in retail.”

Here’s the special edition version of the GameStick for Kickstarter backers

The first delay, announced back in April, was because of the high demand for the console. Originally, 1,000 units were expected, but the orders rose to 5,000. It also doesn’t help that the company seems to be low on money. The original plan to air-freight the system to backers has been canned because “the volumes are now too large for us to be able to afford”.

The portability afforded by the GameStick’s small form factor is one of the system’s main selling points, as it isn’t much larger than a flash drive. The form factor allows the console to be stowed inside its own gamepad and draw power from the HDMI port. It will run on Jelly Bean and will be powered by a dual-core Amlogic processor. While not as powerful as the Ouya, which runs on Nvidia’s Tegra 3 CPU, the GameStick does have the price on its side, costing $79 as opposed to the Ouya’s $99 price tag.

The console has 1GB of DDR3 RAM with 8GB of in-built storage, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n support, Bluetooth 4.0, support for mouse and keyboard setup and full 1080p HD video decoding.