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.Gallery: GameStick (final)
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
Read more http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/29/gamestick-final-model/
