Android game consoles are all the rage with the Ouya and Google’s announcement, but have you heard of the gamepop? No? I hadn’t either. So here’s a break down of the Android Consoles due to hit the market or on the market

GamePop

Developer: BlueStacks

Its by the BlueStacks creators, the (almost) nifty Android simulator that lets you run Android apps/games on your Mac or PC… sorta. My results have been mixed at best.

Specs: Info is thin, as its development.

Android 4.3

Tegra 4 (rumor)

Console Cost: $9.99 for Shipping

Pay Model: $6.99 monthly subscription (12 month contract, $25 cancel fee).

For $6.99 a month, you get subscription access to 500+ titles. The console itself costs only $9.99 (or $19.99 internationally), the cost of shipping. If you choose the cancel, it’ll cost you $25.

Take away: Right now the BlueStacks game console is vaporware until more materializes. The pay model is the most compelling aspect of the console. Without an upfront cost for the console or cost for software, its easily the most affordable console on this list.

GameStick

Developer: PlayJam

Specs:

Android 4.2

Amlogic 8726-MX

8 GB internal flash memory (SD Micro memory expansion slot)

1GB DDR3

Console Cost: $79

Pay Model: Developers can also determine their own business models, including free, paid and microtransactions-oriented.

Release Date: August 2013

Take away: Playjam is shooting for an ultra-portable market but it requires a TV with an HDMI port. Its a bit of an oddball, and probably won’t score much better than the Ouya.

M.O.J.O.

Developer: Madcatz

Specs:

Stock Android 4.1 (likely to change)

Tegra 4 (Likely)

Console Cost: ?

Pay Model: Uses Google Play

Release Date: August 2013

Take away: Madcatz probably has the most likelihood of delivering a console that people want of the consoles on this list (outside of the rumors). Years in the hardware market bodes well for Madcatz and using stock Android + Google Play is its biggest boon. Developers likely will need minimal overhead to support the Madcatz

Ouya

Developer: OUYA, Inc.

Famed kickstarter upstart by Julie Uhrman is the first of the Android consoles.

Specs:

Android 4.1

1.7 GHz Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A9 (nVidia Tegra 3)

1 GiB DDR3 SDRAM

8 GB internal flash memory (SD Card upgradable)

Console Cost: $99.99

Pay Model: Freemium

App devs have to offer a free version of the game with IAP.

Release Date: June 25, 2013 (Retail)

Take away: The Freemium model is interesting but hasn’t yielded a lot of quality results. The Ouya has been beat up in the press but its the first out the gate and boasts ultra hackability.

Google Console (Rumor)

Developer: Google

Specs: ?

Console Cost: ?

Pay Model: ? (Likely Google Play)

Release Date:  ?

Take away: Its a rumor right now, not even vaporware. That said, its hard to take any potential Android console too seriously with a Google console on the horizon… and it’s likely why the rumor was leaked. That said, Google has yet to produce a sustained hit piece of consumer hardware. M

Apple TV (Rumor)

Developer: Apple

Specs:? iOS

Console Cost: ?

Pay Model: ? (iTunes)

Release Date:  ?

Take away: The Apple TV has been a “hobby” but one hell of a hobby it is. Apple has had years of successful TV set top box. At the beginning of 2013, Apple customers buying 800k TV shows and 350k films every day. Those numbers make both Amazon and Google jealous. Times has all but declared Apple the winner before the war even starts. Apple has had and still has a massive edge on gaming simply due to the profits, with $10 billion already paid out to developers, $5 billion in the last 12 months.

Apple is already the most profitable gaming company without even embracing it. When Apple decides to go into console gaming, it won’t be battling Google. It’ll be gunning for Sony and Microsoft.