I don't think you are responding to the grandparent's argument. He's not saying no one would buy it, but that it will be very hard to deliver on the promise of a $100 console. The weakness of the processor is the least of his worries.

"And isn't the spirit of HN to be looking for and cheering the next new thing, not crapping on it in favor of the old established thing?"

How does grandparent's remarks qualify as crapping on anything? You don't even respond to his points. HN is not for cheerleading.

I agree with Mindstab. "Amateur" or "Semi-pro" or whatever console gaming breaking-ground kickstarter campaign ( 3M$ after 2 days ) with some great game designers ( Brian Fargo being one of the most eminent ) appearing to follow a "post-iphone" gaming trend sounds very very not cheerleading to me. Lots of great game-development teams ( most of which being indie ) have joined iOS game development trend because it's a great platform but also because it seems to be a huge and very potential trend/market. I think that the WHOLE scene is looking forward to see the success of this platform. It could mean a huge game trending for Android. And it could also just mean that "amateur"-hour is powerful. I just hope they'll deliver. ( They say that their proto is "up-and-running", which is a very good sign ). But with 28 more days to go, and already 3M$ of cash, I think that they can easily ramp up to 5-10M$, which is "not too much" to create a game industry, but it's a lot to start. ( + I believe that kickstarter brings a LOT of marketing value to the project, meaning that they'll need less cash on Marketing to promote the gaming console, it's already famous, and the viral effect will surely make it boom even bigger )