My GameStick has FINALLY arrived! #GameStick @Game_Stick

Ok. After a huge stuffed up on the Asian shipment, and several unhappy emails/comments back and forth between myself and the GameStick team, I have finally received my GameStick today.

However, my enthusiasm for this device had dwindled over the months mainly because I am a backer reading about non-backers getting their hands on the GameStick before I do.

Nevertheless, I have the device in my hands now and after spending about 2 hours, here's my unprofessional review on it:

First, the packaging looks alright, and I even received a Thank You note from the team:


And inside the box, I found these things (of course including my Kickstarter edition controller):


The GameStick itself was hidden inside the controller. I just need to slide it out and here it is:


It has a microSD expansion slot, a USB slot for power, a tiny switch to reset the device and of course the HDMI male port to poke into my HDMI monitor to boot it up.  After all the initial setup and update of software, I had to activate the GameStick via their website:


Then another round of software update:


before it brought me to the main menu:


I setup my PlayTag first:


then started downloading all the free games/programs (3 games, 1 media program):

Next, decided to try Shadowgun:


which isn't too bad.  The graphics were normal, so don't expect to compare this with other PC games:


Then I played a bit of Smash Cops:


and lastly, found my handle in the credits page (3rd column from the left, right in the middle "TheAvt"):


I did inform GameStick support to amend my name in the credits page to include my real name, but I guess they either couldn't remember or they were too busy marketing GameStick.

Anyway, controller is very light but looks "plastic-ky" in front.  I like the feel of the back of the controller though.  The package also comes with 1 HDMI extension cable (too short to make a difference), 1 special USB cable (1 male end to poke into the GameStick with the other end split into 1 male USB to poke into the power supply and 1 female USB for you to poke your thumbdrive for extra storage), 1 normal USB cable (to charge the controller) and 1 power adapter.



In conclusion, controller is pretty responsive despite some other reviews saying otherwise (maybe because I am not as pedantic as others).  GameStick tends to be very hot after like 2 minutes.  There aren't many games to choose from, and I just don't want to pay for any games yet because they don't look interesting enough (there is Vendetta Online though, but I know it is not exactly free, so did not install).  The plastic container can only store the controller and GameStick but not the wires.  So not as portable as they would want you to believe.