Review of Android Gaming Consoles: Ouya vs Gamestick

Both the Ouya and the GameStick are Kickstarter-funded Android gaming platforms being released in 2013. These two consoles show the power of Android for gaming and how far mobile gaming has come in recent years. These two consoles push Android gaming to the next level over devices like the Moga Pro game controller for smartphones. There are a lot of similarities between the Ouya vs Gamestick, but there are several key differences, especially, in the hardware that potential buyers should keep in mind. The Ouya and the GameStick reviewed here are competing as alternatives against the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One that are already being pre-sold.

Ouya

The Ouya, released June 25th, is an Android gaming console that is a much more affordable buy than the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One, costing only $99. The Ouya comes as a small 3 inch cube and its specs include ports for USB, micro USB, HDMI, and ethernet. Compared to the Gamestick alternative, the Ouya console does not have a micro SD card slot, the workaround is to use a USB SD card reader. Inside the Ouya has a Tegra 3 GPU, a quad-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A9 processor, 1 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of disk space. Versus the Gamestick, reviewed next, the Ouya controller has a touch pad in the center of the controller and two additional trigger buttons.

To date, the Ouya has a line up of approximately 200 video games, including Final Fantasy III. One of the best games for the Ouya is Towerfall (a much anticipated game similar to Smash Bros.) and Super Crate Box. Another interesting feature by the developers of Ouya has been to require that all games have either be free or at least have a free trial. In addition to being a gaming device, the Ouya can act as a streaming media box, like the Roku 3 by supporting apps, like Netflix and the XBMC media center. Emulators are a big part of mobile gaming and the Ouya supports emulators for a lot of classic gaming consoles, like the Super Nintendo, Game Boy Advance, and even the Playstation One, available from the Ouya's game lineup. Buyers of the Ouya console can expect to see a lot of indie games, since it will be free for developers to upload their games to the Ouya game store. With a little more effort the Ouya allows users to sideload other Android applications.

Gamestick

The GameStick Android console has specs comparable to the Ouya alternative, but is much smaller. First, for this Gamestick review are the specs. The Gamestick looks likes a USB TV tuner except with at HDMI connector, which can also power the Gamestick. The Gamestick comes with a dual-core Cortex-A9 processor, and has the same amount of RAM and storage as the Ouya, 1 GB and 8 GB, respectively. Unlike the Ouya, the Gamestick comes with a micro-SD card slot. Versus the Ouya, the Gamestick does not come with an ethernet port, so internet access is over wifi. The Gamestick also comes with the controller that is very similar compared to the Ouya alternative. The Gamestick controller comes with two analog sticks, a directional pad, four buttons, and two shoulder buttons; overall, the Gamestick is less ergonomic than the Ouya controller. Both the Ouya and the Gamestick compared are capable of playing some of the more demanding Android games, including Shadowgun, one of the best shooter video games for Android. The price of the Gamestick is lower than the Ouya making it a more affordable buy at $79.99.