Once again, the magic of KickStarter is introducing a brand new piece of gaming technology, and it's called the GameStick.

Coming from the minds of PlayJam creators Jasper Smith, Anthony Johnson, and their team, the GameStick is meant to be the complete antithesis to what consoles currently represent. Or rather, perhaps more accurately, is striving to be

the conceptual evolution of both the console and mobile markets, two markets that have been in conflict with one another this last generation.

Conceived for both people on the go and small developers trying to create games more freely, GameStick runs on the same philosophy as the mobile games market: keep games working on an open platform (so anyone can make games); keep games affordable and fun; and keep installation fast, simple, and portable. With their experience in providing games for HD TV via the PlayJam platform, the GameStick seems to be a natural progression of what they've worked on thus far in bringing quality games fast and efficiently to big screens.

The GameStick will run on Android tech, and--as you can see in the videos below--runs on a thumb drive that fits inside its own bluetooth controller. The GameStick plugs straight into a HD TV's HDMI slot, and is ready to work, just like that. The interface will even feel familiar for some gamers, since it  looks remarkably like the Xbox's dashboard.

According to their KickStarter video, the GameStick is already garnering support from some notable developers, including Charles Huang, co-founder of GreenThrottle Games (and also the co-creator of Guitar Hero), and Chris Lee, co-founder of FreeStyleGames and LittleBigPlanet's Media Molecule (both of whom appear in the video below), in addition to 250 other developers. The GameStick--like the Ouya--also hopes to be a platform for indie developers who don't have the resources of larger publishers. By making it so easy to publish to the GameStick, this would be the video game equivalent of self-publishing an ebook on Amazon; simpler, direct, and leaving creators in more control of one's content (although this could also lead to over-saturation).

The KickStarter page just started today, and is looking to end crowd-funding on Feb 1, 2013. As of this writing, the project has already received over $61,000 of it's $100,000 goal, so it's probably safe to say that the GameStick will reach its funding--and then some--when the page closes.

Remember to check out the videos below for more details on the GameStick; and you can also check out some info on the GameStick homepage. As always, stay tuned to DualShockers.com for more news.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872297630/gamestick-the-most-portable-tv-games-console-ever/widget/video.html

http://www.youtube.com/embed/uw9YJIIw1e8