Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET

Kickstarter continues to be the gamer's best friend. The latest project to blow past its goal is GameStick, a sort of Raspberry Pi meets Ouya creation that reached its $100,000 goal by day two of its crowdfunding campaign and has already ladled $70,000 more of green gravy on that figure with 27 days still to go.

GameStick is an open-source, Android-based, portable game console meant to turn any screen with an HDMI port into a gaming hub. The entire system consists of a basic handheld controller with a dongle that slides out to plug into the screen and communicate back to the controller via Bluetooth.

All the early-bird $69 units are already spoken for via Kickstarter, but you can still get in on the ground floor at the regular price of $79, which undercuts even the Ouya.

The developers say they've already identified 200 Android game titles that make for a good GameStick fit, but say they are working with a "network of over 250 developers including great studios such as Madfinger, Hutch, Disney, and others to bring you the best lineup."

The outfit behind this little firecracker, which goes by the name PlayJam, isn't screwing around either. It says an initial production run will take place in February, with the first commercial run to follow in March, meaning backers could only have to wait a few weeks after the Kickstarter campaign ends to actually have one of these in their pocket.

Looks like I may have already found a cheap and portable way to keep my New Year's resolution to do more gaming in 2013.

If you're interested, here's the pitch video followed by the full list of specs:

Processor: Amlogic 8726-MX

Memory: 1GB DDR3/8GB FLASH

Content Download Manager with cloud storage for games.

Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth: LE 4.0

OS: Android Jelly Bean

Controller: Bluetooth, three-mode controller: gamepad, mouse, and keyboard with support for up to four controllers

Full 1080p HD video decoding