GameStick Kickstarter adds new indie dev-targeted tier, trades $250 for six months of 100% revenue

The PlayJam folks are taking another cue from the Android-powered Ouya with their own GameStick, today adding a dev-focused $250 tier to the already successful Kickstarter campaign. The twist with GameStick's dev tier is its aimed at indies, and it offers a six month window of 100 percent revenue on any games released before July 2013 (in addition to a GameStick bundle, of course). The dev version costs quite a bit more than the usual $79 asking price, but guaranteeing full revenue near launch may be a worthy tradeoff for developers looking to cash-in on early adopters (the industry standard is a 70 / 30 split, with game devs taking the larger share). Sadly, you won't get the unit any earlier than the general public; PlayJam's putting an April window on launch. The deal's only available to 250 developers -- or at least the first 250 people to buy in -- so interested parties may want to act quickly.

[Source: Engadget]

GameStick brings a new Android game console to your TV, fits inside its own controller

OUYA likely won't be the only Android-based game console in town this spring. PlayJam is going beyond its smart TV roots to build the GameStick, a TV-based system that fits into a shell not much bigger than a typical flash drive -- it's small enough that the finished version should stow inside its own Bluetooth gamepad and draw power from the HDMI port, like Roku's Streaming Stick. The Jelly Beansystem's dual-core Amlogic processor isn't as powerful as the Tegra 3 in the OUYA, but it should also lead to a slightly more tempting $79 price. PlayJam's remaining challenge is the familiar one of reaching a crowdfunding target: the company says it needs $100,000 to go through its last development hurdles and ship the production GameStick in April. If the firm makes its goal, however, the low-cost gaming world will be delightfully crowded this year.

[Source: Engadget]