PlayJam needs $100,000 from Kickstarter to fund Android-powered GameStick console

UK-based studio PlayJam is the latest company to take to Kickstarter in order to seek funds for yet another Android-powered home console.

To be fair, PlayJam's concept doesn't look bad.

As you can see from the image below, the console (called the GameStick) resembles a portable USB drive, and plugs directly into your TV's HDMI port.

It comes with its very own four-mode (iCade, Gamepad, Mouse, and Keyboard) Bluetooth-powered controller that will be compatible with hundreds of current Android games, including Shadowgun, Grand Theft Auto III, and Asphalt 7: Heat HD.

PlayJam is hoping that the Kickstarter community will pledge at least $100,000 so that full production of the console can begin as soon as a final pre-production model has been decided upon.

If the Kickstarter campaign is successful, the company is hoping to begin shipping the GameStick to backers in late March or early April of this year.

You'll have to offer up at least $69 if you want to reserve a username and get your mitts on the GameStick when it launches.

The GameStick may look interesting, but it's still just another Android-powered home console, and it looks like the hugely popular Ouya may already have that market sewn up.

Still, PlayJam CEO Jasper Smith thinks his company's product can put up a fight.

"The best known Android games console today is Ouya. We think it's a great product but already we have pushed the boundaries in terms of product design to shrink the concept to the size of a HDMI stick with a price point of $79, including controller," Smith told MCV.

"We appreciate we run the risk of coming up against people that may have funded similar concepts but we're certain that people will understand the passion and value of GameStick and the huge change it will have on gameplay in our near future."