Performance
Setup & Installation
First time use of the console was incredibly easy, although I did leave the controller charging from my PCs USB port for a couple of hours first (it doesn’t take that long, I just wanted to be sure it was fully charged in time for testing). The console plugs right into the HDMI port of your TV or monitor, should there be a conflict with other components of your TV you can use the step out HDMI extension cable.
The console is powered by USB and this power can be provided from any spare USB port on your TV, computer or by the mains adaptor provided. Turning on your TV to the relevant source turns the device on.
Initial setup takes a few minutes to go through and requires you to use your PC for activation, although I suppose you could do this from a mobile browser if you didn’t have access to a PC at that time.
Overall (not including charging time for the controller) it took 5-10 minutes to setup the console, create an account, setup parental restrictions, passwords etc and add some credit to my account for buying games.
The UI is simple to use, but did suffer from some input lag, especially when the console is downloading data. I suspect this is due to the CPU/GPU entering a lower power state than when gaming and I suspect it is something that will be addressed in a firmware update as at the time of writing the console isn’t even available at retail, so bugs are still being worked out.
Gaming Performance
Graphics wise, the Gamestick doesn’t disappoint and since the hardware is the same on all Gamestick devices, combined with the fact that games have to be ported to it, everything in terms of graphics settings is already setup and should work straight away. Resolution is restricted to 1080p and 720p, but I did notice some degradation in colour output at 720p, which I imagine must be something to do with the image scaler, so I recommend a 1080p for this device.
Having tried Shadowgun, Riptide, Vector, Police Smash and a few others I must say I’m rather happy with the graphics, things run smooth enough and look pretty good too. It’s hardly on par with AAA blockbuster PC and console games, but then again this is only a mid-high powered Android system running mobile games. What you’re getting is the joys of mobile gaming with a controller, but in my case on a 46″ 1080P display and the end result looks pretty cool.
The controller feels chunky at first, but it is reasonably light weight, the sticks are nice and tactile and it is wireless. The D-pad leaves a lot to be desired but dual analogue sticks do make up for that nicely, more than enough for some shooting action on Shadowgun and it controls nicely on Riptide too.
Extra features
One thing I really like is that there are two decent media players included, the first is fairly basic but it handled .mkv, mp4, avi and a few HD video files with ease. The other is a light edition of XBMC and that has support for DLNA, plug-ins, network streaming, or you can load video and music data from either the microSD slot, or via a USB flash drive thanks to the included Y-split cable. The only downside being the lack of a dedicated remote control other than the game controller.
I preordered it as I thought it was a good gimmick, it was certainly more attractive than Ouya (physically).
Now……. it’s make or break time, Games make a games console.
They do need to differentiate themselves from Ouya somehow and, I think the best way to do that is to also have some A+ games, I think it will go well with the ‘premium’ feel / look vibe they are going along with