Ultra-portable Android-based console GameStick to hit stores on October 29

Ouya-competitor Android based portable gaming device, GameStick, finally has a release date. The console is set to hit stores on October 29 all over the world. In the UK, it will cost £79.99 (Rs 8,044 approx), whereas North Americans will find it for $79.99 (Rs 5,100 approx), according to Eurogamer .

The GameStick was made as a result of a successful Kickstarter campaign. While the Ouya’s USP has been indie games, the GameStick has a different one altogether—portability. It will be able to play Android games and users can also sideload apps manually to get more functionality out of it.

The controller layout is a mix between the Xbox 360 and the SNES

“While to myself and the team at PlayJam the journey seems longer, we have in fact come a significant way in a very short period of time with GameStick,” said PlayJam boss Jasper Smith. “The challenge of bringing affordable gaming to the big screen has always sat at the heart of everything we do and GameStick represents a huge step forward in reaching that goal. We’re extremely proud of what we have achieved and look forward to families getting their hands on devices in the run up to Christmas.”

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.