New Handheld: Gizmondo

[Scoots]

ANOTHER game system/mp3 player/messaging/toaster/vaccuum cleaner/etc combo.... Anyway, picture included if you're interested:

http://www.fatmangames.com/News/NewsViewer.asp?newsid=1224

[gamegirl79]

That is an odd looking system....I wonder what the squiggle button does? LOL

[Flack]

It makes me dance.

Don't those four buttons all look like hairstyles? There's the afro, the wavy, the moussed straight up and the chin stubble.

[ManekiNeko]

Looks like the first game system for psychics.

"I predict this console will die a horrible, fiery death!"
"Well, DUH."

JR

[Scoots]

Looks like the first game system for psychics.

"I predict this console will die a horrible, fiery death!"
"Well, DUH."

JR

Haha...N-Gage 2: Electric Boogaloo

The real shitty part is if you check out the official website it is full of stuff about how they are going to use the GPS and mobile technology to send all kind of "targeted" advertising and bullshit your way.... No thanks.

[ManekiNeko]

It's the world's first handheld with built in spyware! What WILL they think of next? Oh wait, they'd have to have a first thought before they could have the next one.

So, is the Tiger company you mentioned any relation to Hasbro's electronics division? That would definitely explain a lot... after all, Tiger Electronics once "graced" us with the game.com.

JR

[Scoots]

That was my first thought too, ManekiNeko... It appears to be a different group though. Tiger Telematics is apparently mainly in the GPS business.

www.tigertelematics.com is the official website, but it's pretty sparse on details.

[tholly]

hahaha...that thing is pretty goofy looking....that will go nowhere...just like the NGage

[Ed Oscuro]

I'd rather have an N-Gage, all things considered.

OR A LEAPSTER :/

But really, it looks like...like crap. Flack's comment about the buttons = priceless; I think it's obvious most folks are just going to talk about the buttons and the GPS LOL

[Arcturius]

not as new as folks might think it was announced a few months ago as the 'GameTrac' but they found the name was already taken and changed it to 'Gizmundo' it's been mentions on Gamer TV here in the UK a few times (TV Show on Bravo in the UK for those with cable)

[Aussie2B]

Looks like the bastard child of Game Gear and PlayStation. o_O

[ManekiNeko]

But really, it looks like...like crap. Flack's comment about the buttons = priceless; I think it's obvious most folks are just going to talk about the buttons and the GPS LOL

I can just see it now...

YOU ARE HERE. (red dot blinks in the center of the screen)
YOUR POORLY INVESTED MONEY IS HERE. (blue dot in the corner representing the Gizmundo creators races toward the nearest airport)

On the positive side, it could make for a fun game of Pac-Manhattan. It's about the only game that'll be fun on the system, but I digress.

JR

[Daria]

Nooo! Not a Tiger handheld! It burns... it-

Wait Tiger Telematics? o.O

Any relation to Tiger Electronics?

Edit: Nevermind. Someday I may learn to read an entire thread before posting.
________
NEXIUM HELP (http://www.classactionsettlements.org/lawsuit/nexium/)

[DigitalSpace]

Those have to be the oddest looking buttons I've ever seen.

And advertising? Ack. I'll pass.

[esquire]

It makes me dance.

Don't those four buttons all look like hairstyles? There's the afro, the wavy, the moussed straight up and the chin stubble.

They look like the markings on the four stones from the movie Fifth Element.

Maybe they represent earth, air, water & fire.

Circle = earth
Waves = water
Dots = air
Lines = fire

[Cmosfm]

I see the worst thing about this is the damn name.

GIZMONDO!

The hell...who wants a GIZMONDO! It's worse than N-Gage...it's worse than LEAPSTER! It's pretty awful

[sisko]

Apparantly the corporate giants think they have found the key to success.

1) Ignore the horrible horrible failures of extremely similar products with in the past five years.
2) Launch the product near other mega giants.
3) Ignore the fact that the market is flooded already

Now really, why didnt I think of that?!

[spoon]

It makes me dance.

Don't those four buttons all look like hairstyles? There's the afro, the wavy, the moussed straight up and the chin stubble.

I think the dots are the "Dennis Rodman" I am sure he will help with the ads for this sure fire hit.

[Ed Oscuro]

Circle = earth
Waves = water
Dots = air
Lines = fire
Of course you had to go and take all the mystery out of it. :(

[Rev. Link]

Great, another obscure handheld my collection will demand.

Let's hope it's vaporware.

[Cmosfm]

It makes me dance.

Don't those four buttons all look like hairstyles? There's the afro, the wavy, the moussed straight up and the chin stubble.

They look like the markings on the four stones from the movie Fifth Element.

Maybe they represent earth, air, water & fire.

Circle = earth
Waves = water
Dots = air
Lines = fire

I can see the stupidy of Codes here, imagine playing some POS platformer on there and wanting to input a "all level" code...

Earth, earth, water, air, fire, fire, up, down, left, right, fire, earth, earth

:o

If it really is Earth, Water, Air & Fire...I'm willing to bet it's North, South, East, West and not Up, Down, Right, Left

[Rev. Link]

All game companies should be required by law to make their buttons labeled with either numbers or letters.

I have a bad enough time with Square, O, X, and Triangle! ^_^;

[ManekiNeko]

I was thinking that they were psychic symbols. You know, like in those movies where the main character's a test subject in an experimental laboratory. He's shown a series of cards and he somehow knows what's on the other side of them.

JR

[NintendoMan]

hahaha...that thing is pretty goofy looking....that will go nowhere...just like the NGage

EXACTLY!
I mean what is it with all these shitty companies putting out shitty systems and handhelds that will of course fail, as history shows.
The only thing that comes to mind when I see these companies trying to break into the market with their crap, I only think of smelly poo-poo x_x
Crap games with crap systems (Game.com anyone?) NO THANKS!

[Rev. Link]

Hey, I have fun with my Game.com! The board game type games, like Scrabble and Wheel of Fortune, were pretty cool. It was ahead of its time with its touch screen.

Of course, any type of action game looked like total crap on it.

[neuropolitique]

I personally love these little systems doomed to failure. There are usually at least a couple of good games, and they become a conversation peice sitting in your collection. I'm looking foward to picking one up on sale.

[tholly]

I personally love these little systems doomed to failure. There are usually at least a couple of good games, and they become a conversation peice sitting in your collection. I'm looking foward to picking one up on sale.

yea...i have no desire to buy this system, but when i see it for $20 in the bargin bin, ill be sure to pick it up.

[Crush Crawfish]

These new handhelds are popping up like crazy!!!! This one's completely wacky. I have to see the games first, before I amke any decisions on buying it. Those buttons are priceless though. I can see the game tutorials now: "push the freaky wavy thing button to jump" Me: "Which freaky wavy thingy button? THEY"RE ALL FREAKY WAVY THINGIES!!!!!!!" LOL

[Ze_ro]

Terrible name? Check.

Bizarre control scheme? Check.

All-in-one machine? Check.

No mention of price, despite high-power specs? Check.

Unproven company? Check.

No mention of big-name 3rd parties? Check.

Things aren't looking too good here... :ponder:

--Zero

[spoon]

Pros:

Earth, Wind, And Fire had some jams back in the day.

[Rev. Link]

Yeah, but throwing in the water just muddles up the sound... :)

Like the others said, this is a bargain bin pick-up. Maybe I'll get it on the same day I get my N-Gage.

[ManekiNeko]

The Gizmondo's got a web site now. Prepare to be (un)amazed!

http://www.gizmondo.com/flash.asp

Mmm... pandering. They've even got a gang warfare game called Colors. Their marketing makes even Nokia's look civilized and high-brow by comparison.

JR

[Rev. Link]

"Prepare to be seduced."

LOL LOL LOL

[Oobgarm]

One of the best things the Gizmondo had going for it were the girls handing out their brochures. I saw those little Gizmondo-shaped pamphlets stewn about everywhere. They were playing loud music and were begging people to check it out, but I daresay it was one of the most unattended booths at the show.

At least the N-Gage booth had people in it often...even though their game lineup was crap.

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

...10 years later, the Gizmondo was an unmitigated disaster, with dismal sales and a Ferrari-crashing executive.

[Steve W]

I always loved the Gizmondo, it was a great little oddball system with a load of potential. The augmented reality games that were in the pipeline were pretty cool, some of the GPS aware games like Colors were interesting, and they had a lot of good ideas. Too bad they were being looted by the Swedish mafia before they could get anything out the door. I fire mine up every once in a while, just to play games like Sticky Balls (it just occurred to me to look on the Apple iOS store to see if anybody ported it, and they have!), Trailblazer, and Toy Golf.

I have a soft spot for underdog game systems. I've got lots of them... the N-Gage, the Tapwave Zodiac, Nuon DVD players, GameWave DVD players, the Xavix game console, I've enjoyed them all. Even though a system tanks in the marketplace, there's at least one title worth playing on it. The Gizmondo is no different, it had some good titles that nobody cared about because it came out between the launch of the PSP and the Nintendo DS. It was such a shame, it could have found a good little niche in the market, like the WonderSwan or the NeoGeo Pocket Color. But the assholes in management who were siphoning off the company's investment money killed it too early.

[Tupin]

The problem is that unlike the N-Gage, this thing never really had a wide release. I never even remember seeing it anywhere, not even in mall kiosks.

I want one of course, but they rarely show up.

[phil_consollection]

The Gizmondo is indeed an interesting system. Some games were head to head with its competitors at the time of release, and the system had a few revolutionary ideas, such as the Smart-Ads-Version, while the technical specs were quite impressive.

I know, this is all old news and quite well known, but still: What is even more interesting than the device is the background story on their company and the people involved. It all sounds as it comes straight from a movie.
Man, someone has got to write a book about it.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-ferrari23feb23-story.html
http://consumerist.com/2006/03/07/we-love-gizmondo-founder-fat-stefan-eriksson/
And look at the CV of that crime boss:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Eriksson

I remember their over the top Cebit-appearance (Cebit is the biggest IT trade show of the world, happening in Hannover Germany each year). They were misplaced there among all those business topics, but still their promotional team consisted of total freaks partying each day and night as if there was no tomorrow. Their booth was crazy as well, with more naked skin shown than ever seen on the Cebit before or after.

Reliable information on sales numbers of the Gizmondo is sparse also here in Europe. Some say it sold 25.000 pcs, some say it was 10.000 pcs or less. The system has become quite a rare find on ebay these days. In case you want to add one to your collection, it seems to be about time to do so...