Final Thoughts
Price
The console can be pre-ordered for £79.99 making it incredible value for a home games console and media player. Extra controllers are a bit pricey at £34.99 and the dock will set you back £44.99, but the core console and one controller is still £20 cheaper than the nearest rival console, the Ouya.
Conclusion
The Gamestick isn’t the next-best thing to land in the world of home entertainment, and with a mid range mobile CPU/GPU, a low price and a limited marketplace is was never going to set the world on fire, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a great little device and it certainly has a promising future.
There are hundred of games on the Google Play Store that would work on the console and it is down to the developers to port them to Gamesticks marketplace, something that should pick up pretty quickly post release of the hardware, especially given that hardware is still effectively the same as most any Android gaming device.
The game selection is pretty good so far for a console that isn’t even out yet and it has a great mix of free to play, premium and indie titles that cost no more than £1-3 each. The console is really competitively priced too and at £79.99 it is prime real estate for a Christmas gift.
Build quality is really nice throughout and while the D-pad does leave a lot to be desired the whole package feels much better than I expected given the low price tag. The ultra high quality flat white cables look great too and they give a nice premium vibe to the whole setup. The console is super small and the fact that it tucks into the back of the controller is a nice touch for storage, but I think a smaller, more ergonomic controller would have been a better option.
The console is passive cooled, which means it operates completely silent, it does get a little hot while gaming but since it is behind your TV and out of the way, that is hardly an issue. The prospect of turning any HDMI equipped TV into a media centre is great though and the inclusion of XBMC is easily one of the best features here, great for streaming content from your PC, NAS or flash drives. Lets just hope that the mobile companion app for Gamestick releases soon so that there will be something more practical to use as a remote control for media play back than the gaming controller. There is even talk of being able to root the device, so prospects for emulation are looking pretty good too.
Pros
- Competitive price tag
- Easily portable
- Easy to setup and use
- Built in media player
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in
- Silent operation
- Games are budget friendly
Cons
- Controller is a little large
- D-Pad isn’t fantastic
- Some lag on the UI (although this could be solved shortly via a firmware update)
“This console isn’t something I would typically reach out and purchase myself, but should the right developers come on board post launch it certainly is a tempting option and more than worthy of our bang for buck award. A cheap and competent media player, a fun gaming device and overall it looks pretty cool too, you can’t really ask for much more at this price range.”
Thank you Gamestick.tv for providing us with this sample.
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