Upstart products like the Ouya aym’s GameStick are garnering a lot of
attention for bringing console-style gaming to your TV with a budget-priced Android device. Now, a new competitor wants to bring subscription-based Android
gaming to your TV with yet another low-priced console. BlueStacks, whose current claim to fame is software that lets you run Android apps on Macs ndows s,
announced the Gamep console/subscription service on Thursday.
The new gaming platform lets you play Android games using a console that plugs into your television. The difference between the Gamep its
competitors, however, is that you don’t buy your games. Instead, you pay a subscription fee of $7 per month for access to more than 500 Android games you
can play any time on the console. The idea is similar to Onve’s ayck Bundle subscription, which costs
$10 per month for access to more than 200 games.
The Gamep console is reminiscent of the original Boxee Box, which was shaped like a square with one
corner flattened so it could sit on an angle. It’s not clear what the guts of the system are made of, but the device will run Android 4.2 (lly Bean)
according to The Verge, which first reported on the
Gamep.
The Gamep is currently available for pre-order, until the end of May BlueStacks is offering a free Gamep console to every pre-order subscriber. The
regular price of the console is expected to be around $100. though the console won’t actually ship until sometime “this winter,” The Verge reports.
Fear not: BlueStacks says your credit card won’t be charged until your console is on its way.
Android TV: It’s complicated
The Gamep is the latest in a long line of attempts to bring Android games to your TV, none of which have really taken off. You can already play a limited
number of games on your TV if you have a TV device. Earlier in 2013, Archos unveiled a hheld Android-based controller called the TV Connect, packed with a 1.5GHz processor, that can
put games from ay on your TV. The GameStick is also billing itself as a way to play Android games on your TV, but aym’s service appears to be
more selective than others about which games will work with the console.
In 2011, a company called Envizions announced it would create a console called the Evo 2 Smart Console to let you play Android games on your TV.
There were reports that product was ultimately cancelled, but the Envizions website still offers the Evo 2 for pre-order for $10 down on a $129 console.
The company’s website, as well as Twitter Facebook accounts, appear aboned, however. So your money is probably best spent elsewhere.
BlueStacks has big plans for its console with planned features such as the ability to turn your Android or iOS smartphone into a Gamep controller for
multiplayer games. The Verge reports the company is also working with known mobile gaming studios to deliver “customized Gamep experiences” including
Glu, Halfbrick, wfish Games, Gameloft.
