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GameStick Kickstarter Consoles Delayed To June
hypnosec writes "Developer units of Android based gaming console on-a-stick GameStick have already been shipped but, the units meant for early Kickstarter backers have been delayed by two months and will now ship by late June, PlayJam has revealed. The reason, according to PlayJam, is that the consoles would require stronger tooling as compared to silicon based moulds of the dev consoles, which would be finished sometime by June 10. Further, because of the sheer increase in the number of units, PlayJam has said that it won't be able to afford the air freight and will be going for sea freight instead, which will delay the shipments to June."
Exactly. If the units cost $100, and that included air freight, with let's say $20 going towards air freight, then whether they have 1000 or 100,000, there's still $20 going towards air freight, and generally a larger volume saves you money. If it's still cheaper to do them in 1000 unit shipments, then do them in 1000 unit shipments.
because of the sheer increase in the number of units, PlayJam has said that it won't be able to afford the air freight and will be going for sea freight instead
Increased number of units would increase revenue proportionately, decrease production costs and keep shipping costs constant, or reduce them (on a per unit basis)
So, this doesnt make sense
Sweet Malty Balls, a sane person at last!. I'm surrounded by people that claim offset sticks are terrible and the DualShock is the greatest controller ever conceived, even though it is an RSI inducing pile (thats not to say in the mid 90s there was anything better, but now?). I always felt completely comfortable with a Cube controller, the 360 controller is probably second best. I use a Cronus Device just so I don't have to use the DualShock of death on my PS3. The left stick and buttons are the most commonly used items on a controller and Microsoft and Nintendo put them in the place where your thumbs naturally rest. Not sure what the Big N was thinking when they cranked out the Classic Controller and the Pro Controller for Wii U.
You can already hook up many existing tablets or other Android devices to HDMI and see games on your television.
Well, it's usually the "I have to crawl in there and start fiddling with cables" that puts people off such; the average consumer does not like cables or playing with them. Even I hate those things with a passion and I'm a geek.
They'll probably be used mostly to run emulators and media players on a TV
Is there something wrong with such usage, though? A small, completely-silent little box tucked away that can play all the tens of thousands of games of the past, all at your perusal with just a push of a power button and a few menu-items. I can definitely see the appeal.
--except that you can jailbreak a Wii to get that and the processing power of Android game consoles is weak enough that they have no advantage over a Wii for emulators (and only an advantage for media players because they have hardware decoding).
There is a resolution-advantage, however, as Android-devices can sport 1080p graphics both in games and in videos. Some Android-devices can do stereoscopic-3D, too, if your TV-set supports it. Also, all these Android-boxes consume less power than even a Nintendo Wii, so they make sense for families with lots of users that'll keep the thing going for days on end, or for the people who have this or that need to conserve some energy. Oh, and well, on families with lots of young, active children it might even be more cost-efficient to buy a cheap ~$50 box than one of the more powerful once -- if it gets broken it won't cost much to replace the thing!
You don't have to agree with me or give these things the same value as I see in them, but the truth is that there are bound to be some people out there who would benefit from using these kinds of devices.
But they explicitly told people how they planned to schedule/manufacture/ship these products, and people invested based on that. Now they've changed their plans while making flimsy excuses about why it's more expensive and taking longer.
A console capable of 1080p output, has low-cost casual games, and doesn't require an always-on connection. Don't talk to me about graphics unless they're truly crap, because for me it's gameplay that matters. I have a PS3, but am done with Sony entirely. Nor will I be buying a new Xbox or a Wii U. The major console makers have taken enough of my money, and now they want to control when and what I can play - always-online and no used games. I'll be buying an Ouya as well as a GameStick, and I'll be buying my games through their console stores and i.e. Steam.
Ignorance and prejudice and fear
Walk hand in hand