GameStick's push to 'play nice with everyone' in the unconsole ecosystem

We've extensively covered GameStick's rise from a glint in parent company PlayJam's eye to Kickstarter success.

But with the unconsole now delayed until June, PlayJam just can't keep tweaking the project.

The company's latest update is interesting, however, in terms of how it's looking to extend GameStick into being a key element of what I call the unconsole ecosystem.

Of course, there are plenty of companies operating in this sector: they're all looking to disrupt the current console companies - hence the term 'unconsole'.

GameStick is placing itself in the center of this disruption.

As its controller uses the Open Android Bluetooth HID standard, this means that games ported to support any Android controller (such as MOGA, Project Shield, Wikipad or Nyko joypads) should work with GameStick.

The company has also already announced an agreement with Green Throttle to support its SDK, and GameStick is working closely with Nvidia to ensure games on its TegraZone work with the controller.

Another aspect of this 'play nice with everyone' philosophy is GameStick's support for Miracast, which is an industry standard for beaming content from a phone or tablet to a smart TV.

An alternative to Apple's AirPlay Mirroring, Miracast uses Wi-Fi Direct (i.e. no wires involved) and is supported by Android 4.2, including devices such as Nexus 4, Xperia Z, ZL, T and V, and Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II (under the name AllShare Cast).

"GameStick will be able to act as a Miracast receiver when plugged in to the TV or in to the GameStick Dock. This will allow you to stream from other Miracast-enabled devices to the TV," PlayJam confirms.

Indeed, it had wanted to use the GameStick controller as a Miracast source, so you could sling games from the controller to the TV. Currently, there's too much lag in the system, though.

Rounded off the innovation push, GameStick has been looking at the tricky question of smart TV connections.

Its hardware will plug directly into your TV's HDMI slot, but GameStick's engineers are also looking to support the Mobile High-Definition Link (or MHL) standard.

"One of the most significant issues we have had has been trying to find a solution to support an MHL/HDMI hybrid solution," it states.

"We wanted MHL so that in MHL-compliant TVs you could just plug the unit in and it would work. There are plenty of pure MHL solutions (such as the Roku streaming stick) but no hybrid solutions."

This remains a work-in-progress while the drivers are being refined. GameStick notes that when this is solved, the retail GameStick unit may still ship without MHL to keep the price down.

After all, the unconsole (hardware and controller) only costs $79.

You can still pre-order it via the website.