GameStick is being delayed again. After initially being pushed from April to June, then to August, then to September, Micro Console World is reporting that the company is pushing back release on the Android gaming console yet again. GameStick is looking to undercut competitors like OUYA by being more portable and less expensive. If they can’t get units released to customers, no one is going to care. Amazoncurrently lists the GameStick console as being available on November 29th. The official GameStick site has the release date listed at December 15th.
In addition to supply issues, gamers who backed the Kickstarter campaign and have already received their consoles are reporting no end of issues. Several users have taken to commenting on Amazon to sound off about the problems they are having.
“Daniel” says his console can’t even pick up a Wi-Fi signal. He reached out to PlayJam, the company who makes the GameStick, and got a response stating that he was not the only one with this issue. PlayJam says that the antenna inside the console is very small and sometimes the console can’t find a Wi-Fi signal through other background radio noise. Daniel says that he followed PlayJam’s instructions on how to fix the problem, but his GameStick still won’t connect to his Wi-Fi network. “Raymond Pfaff” says his GameStick was “DOA straight out of the box.” Another user by the handle of “Sean T.” says that his console keeps freezing and rebooting for no reason.
The GameStick console is getting very mixed reviews online, too. Venture Beat says that it is easier to set up and use than the Ouya console, mostly thanks to its “simple setup process and superior controller.” Venture Beat’s console did tend to freeze and reboot, however. The Verge only gave the GameStick a score of 4.5 out of possible 10. They said that the build quality was questionable.
GameStick only costs $79, so it’s $20 cheaper than the Ouya console. But if PlayJam can’t get them into customers hands and the units that do make it to customers don’t work properly, the lowprice point doesn’t really matter.