With news of the Xbox 720 and PS4 churning around, it's a wonder where the smaller players that will be emerging this year will find their niche in the gaming market.

However, there are two indie consoles that plan to take on the giants, and it's a question now of whether or not they can make their break to hold enough power to keep their trend going.

Ouya responds to backlash and readies for its June release

What started out as a Kickstarter campaign that won a record of $8.5 million pledges has now successfully shipped out its backers' promised consoles. A month into the shipping, however, there has already been a wave of negative reviews from those who had their hands early on the console.

According to VG 24/7, most of the gripes include stability issues, technicalities, and the lack of games in the market.

In fact, the report also states that the consoles that have been sent are prototypes, which were not yet ready for any reviews. However, this does not justify why the backers' console still suffered from issues and were not yet available for press reviews.

In any case, the Ouya team seems to be deep in the drawing boards, ensuring that the June 4 console release will have had the necessary improvements to make the cut.

Joystiq reports that Ouya has a line-up of issues that they want to deal with going up to the launch phase. These include external storage for games, improved game installation, metrics for developers, and controller support for players

"We will continue to obsess over quality and performance," said Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman to Joystiq. "For examine, we are considering adding additional magnets to the controllers so that the faceplates are more secure--no more falling off during shipments!"

Ouya is slated to release for $99, with plans of an annual release similar to smartphones.

PlayJam's GameStick, a lower price but a delay and unclear features

Compared to the Xbox 720 and PS4, which are slated to rake in at least $300 per console, Ouya's $99 deal seems to be very tempting, given that it fixes necessary adjustments in time.

However, there is also another console that aims to break into the scene--GameStick, a USB-sized console that will sell for $79.

But according to Joystiq, Kickstarter backers of the project, as well as those who have pre-ordered their GameSticks will not see the hardware until June, a two-month delay from its original April release.

That doesn't mean that there's no silver lining, and it comes in the form of dev kits now being shipped for more than 600 developers. This can mean that there will be more game titles available when the console is released.

"Our expectation was that we would do an initial run of a few thousand units and then go from there," according to PlayJam's official statement o GameStick. "What happened next was a whirlwind. We've now got 27 retailers around the world engaged and placing orders for our micro-console."

Digital Trends reports that the expected time of release for the GameStick would be sometime during the E3 2013, which can mean that it might be a go-show for the stick console.

For the company, this means tweaking their production mechanics and procedure to accommodate the change. In the meantime, PlayJam would also need to step up on the features, as there is still no word on what gamers can expect of the USB console.