The launch of the Kickstarter-funded, Android-powered GameStick console has been delayed until June, the manufacturer PlayJam has revealed.
The £79.99 British-born console, which features a simple game pad and flash drive-sized HDMI receiver to plug into the TV, was scheduled to go on sale in the UK at Game stores this month.
However, due to the high demand, the device will not be released here (or in any of the 26 scheduled launch territories) until the last week of June, with the makers citing the unforeseen high demand.
PlayJam, which raised £392,000 from 5,691 backers on the crowd-sourcing site told those expecting the console that it had fallen victim to its own success.
The message said: “The main production run has gone from a few thousand units to tens of thousands of units. This has meant that we have had to change production methods and move to high-volume tooling.”
The news hasn’t gone over very well with some backers, who now face a three month delay to get their hands on the device.
One backer, Sandesh Deshmukh, wrote on the company’s Kickstarter page: “The biggest problem with this update is that there is no apology for the delay to all the Kickstarters who are eagerly waiting for GameStick to ship. Looks like GameStick is taking its backers for granted and I do see a hint of arrogance in that attitude.”
The delays will also come as a blow to the manufacturer itself, which faces competition from the similarly-minded Ouya console which has already started to ship to its backers.
This weekend Ouya hit out at early negative reviews of the living room-friendly console, asking sites to wait until review units were shipped next month before passing judgement.
Via BBC
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
