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Gizmondo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Gizmodo, the technology blog.
Gizmondo
ManufacturerTiger Telematics
TypeHandheld game console
GenerationSeventh
Release dateMarch 19, 2005 (2005-03-19)
DiscontinuedFebruary 6, 2006 (2006-02-06)
Units soldFewer than 25,000[1]
MediaSD, MMC
Operating systemWindows CE
CPUARM9 S3C2440 @ 400 MHz
Display2.8 inches (7.1 cm) TFT LCD
ConnectivityBluetooth, GPRS, GPS
Best-selling gameSticky Balls

The Gizmondo is a handheld gaming console developed by British-based Gizmondo Europe. Its development was led by Swedish entrepreneur Carl Freer,[2] who served as chairman of its parent company, Tiger Telematics. The device was originally launched on 19 March 2005 in Britain,[3] with releases in other European territories following on 19 May of that year,[4] and later released in the United States in October 2005. It was produced and marketed until 2006 when Gizmondo Europe became bankrupt.[5]

Powered by an ARM9 processor, the Gizmondo had the usual features seen in handheld consoles of the time (Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Nokia N-Gage) but notably also included a digital camera and a built-in GPS chip. Additionally, it also had mobile cellular connectivity with GPRS, giving the ability to send SMS text messages, MMS picture messages, browse WAP webpages and email, but not telephone capabilities.[6] Software-wise, the Gizmondo runs on Windows CE.[6] First-party game studios were located in Sweden and England to develop video games for the system.

In an attempt to promote the product's launch, Gizmondo Europe extravagantly spent millions on promotions such as a celebrity party at London's Park Lane Hotel, and taking part at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, despite never making a profit. Despite a degree of market expectation[7] it ended up as a major sales failure;[8] this was further worsened by a delay in its American release and the announcement of a widescreen version shortly before debuting there.[9][10] Although U.S. sales figures were not officially released,[11] GamePro website cited less than 25,000 units and naming it the worst selling handheld console in history.[12] The company was further overshadowed by Swedish press reports of criminal pasts of its executives, including Gizmondo Europe's director Stefan Eriksson's involvement in the "Uppsala mafia".[13]

History

[edit]
See also: Tiger Telematics

The Gizmondo was conceived by Carl Freer, chairman of Florida-based Tiger Telematics, Inc.[4] The device was originally called Gametraq. Tiger Telematics first published on their website in October 2003 about the device being developed.[14] This came in response to Nokia's N-Gage. During December that year, Gizmondo made its debut as a concept product at the Las Vegas CES in January 2004,[15] and later appeared at the German CeBIT show in March 2004.[16] The company and the console were renamed Gizmondo around April 2004.[17]

The former Gizmondo store in Regent Street, London

London-based Gizmondo Europe Ltd. was formed and became the arm responsible for the game system.[4] British Formula One driver Jenson Button appeared on magazine adverts for the Gizmondo,[18] and also had his own licensed video game for the device, Chicane, though it never released due to a dispute with Tiger Telematics and the developer of the game. In London's Regent Street, Tiger Telematics threw a party with several celebrities invited to promote the device. Busta Rhymes, Jodie Kidd and Pharrell Williams were among the celebrities invited, of whom some performed. There were also two television adverts that aired after release. Also, in an attempt to promote the console, Gizmondo's executive Stefan Eriksson took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race of 2005 in a Gizmondo-sponsored Ferrari 360 Modena GTC.

The Gizmondo was further overshadowed when Swedish press revealed criminal pasts of several executives, causing their resignations including Tiger Telematics CEO Carl Freer. Director of Gizmondo Europe Stefan Eriksson was involved in a Swedish criminal organisation, the "Uppsalamaffian" (the Uppsala mafia).[13] In January 2006, Gizmondo Europe filed for bankruptcy despite a loan from its parent Tiger Telematics, putting the system's future into doubt.[19] Failing to recover, the company was liquidated in February 2006 after amassing US$300 million (£160 million) debt, and the Gizmondo stopped production.[5]

Weeks thereafter Eriksson crashed a rare Ferrari Enzo driving at 260 km/h (162 mph) in California,[20] and was later jailed and subsequently deported for driving under the influence in connection with the crash and other criminal offenses. He pleaded guilty to numerous criminal charges which led him to 2 years in jail.[21][22]

In 2007, GameTrailers named it "the worst console of all time."[23]

Widescreen Gizmondo

[edit]

Tiger Telematics announced a new Gizmondo model for release in Q2 2006. It was intended to have a larger, 4" widescreen screen and upgrades like Wi-Fi, TV-out support, an improved 480 × 272 pixel resolution, a 2-megapixel camera, and a 500 MHz processor.[24] It also included tri-band GSM technology, effectively making it a mobile phone too.[25] It also featured new icons on the buttons. The widescreen Gizmondo was announced just a few weeks before the U.S. launch of the Gizmondo, possibly prompting some potential customers to not buy the Gizmondo, and instead wait for the improved model, in an example of the Osborne effect.[26] Tiger Telematics promised to show the device at CES 2006 in January; however, it never appeared there.[27] Shortly thereafter Tiger went bankrupt, and thus the new Gizmondo was never released.

Release

[edit]

Gizmondo was released first in the United Kingdom on 19 March 2005, priced at £229.[28] The Gizmondo was available from the Gizmondo flagship store on London's Regent Street, via Gizmondo's online shop, and other high-street and online retailers such as Argos, Dixons, Currys, John Lewis, although it was never clear how many units were actually introduced into those retail channels. The SMS service of the Gizmondo enabled people to send messages by pre-pay SIM cards from Vodafone bundled in with the device.[6]

The Gizmondo sold 1000 units within an hour of launch. In April, a month after the initial release, a variant of the console with GPS-assisted "Smart Adds" advertising enabled was released with an RRP of £129.[29][8] On 19 May 2005, the Gizmondo rolled out to other European territories including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Nordic countries.[30][31][32] Its price in Germany was 349 euros, although the Smart Adds version was only 189 euros.[30] In Sweden it launched with both Smart Adds and normal units available. Rather than opening flagship stores, the manufacturer relied on established retailers such as Webhallen. "Smart Adds" were never enabled for the Swedish market.[citation needed]

United States

[edit]
A booth selling Gizmondos in West Covina, California, November 2005

In the United States, the Gizmondo launched much later, on October 22, 2005. Retail price was $400 for a unit without "Smart Ads", or $229 for a "Smart Ads" enabled device.[33] It was available only at kiosks located in shopping malls throughout the U.S. (operated by National Kiosk, LLC, located in the western corner of North Carolina). Only 8 of the planned 14 games were ever released in the U.S., along with no CoPilot GPS software, though the software was sold on the British site for a week or two. There was little to no advertising, and some of their advertising was even put in magazines of Nintendo Power (Nintendo's official magazine). Plans to distribute the handheld through other retailers never materialized.

Smart Adds version

[edit]

The "Smart Adds" system was intended as a way for advertisers to subsidize part of the cost of the unit. The apparent misspelling of the name was intentional and a trademark and company name were registered in the UK as "Smart Adds", though even Tiger Telematics occasionally slipped up and referred to it as Smart Ads in their publicity material.[34] A "Smart Adds"-enabled Gizmondo cost less (£129/$229), but would display advertisements on the Gizmondo's screen at random intervals when the user entered the home screen. These advertisements would be downloaded via the device's GPRS data connection,[35] and would be targeted based on data inputted to the device. A maximum of three ads would be shown per day. Some ads would include special offers in the form of vouchers or barcodes, and some would utilize the device's GPS system to direct users to the nearest store carrying the advertised product.[36]

However, the "Smart Adds" service was never activated, and users who paid the reduced price for a "Smart Adds"-enabled device did not receive any advertisements through their device.[citation needed]

Games

[edit]
Main article: List of Gizmondo games

The Gizmondo launched in the United Kingdom with only one game, Trailblazer. The console launched in the United States with a line-up of eight titles, including Trailblazer. In addition to these eight, six others were released in Europe only. A further 30 titles were known to have been in development for the system, but all were canceled before their release due to Tiger Telematics' bankruptcy. Also all games released in North America were effectively launch titles.

Certain games were claimed to be capable of using "augmented reality", most notably the unreleased game Colors. It was intended to be the first GPS video game, with the ability to track a user's real world movements in real time. Additionally several games including Gizmondo Motocross 2005, Hockey Rage 2005, and Sticky Balls had bluetooth multiplayer features. The accessibility to purchase Gizmondo games was limited. In the United States, games were only available through a small numbers of kiosks located in shopping malls across the country. After Tiger Telematic's bankruptcy, the Gizmondo and its games were left without any proper marketing or distribution.

Gizmondo main menu screen running on low battery

Technical specifications

[edit]

Successor

[edit]

Former Gizmondo director Carl Freer announced to a Swedish newspaper in November 2007 his intentions for a new Gizmondo, and said there were already 35 games in place, a manufacturing base in Shenzhen, China, and that he hoped the handheld would retail at US$99.[37][38][39][40]

The original planned launch date was May 2008,[41] but this was quickly pushed back to November 2008,[42] along with details of a new company, Media Power, behind the launch, headed by Carl Freer and his Swedish partner Mikael Ljungman, with development apparently proceeding according to the new schedule at least until September.[43] By December 2008, the console had still not appeared, which Freer blamed on the difficult economic conditions. The device was delayed to 2009 as a result.[44] The latest design prototype turned it into a smartphone running both Windows CE or Google Android.[45][46]

However, since then the Media Power website went offline. Co-founder Mikael Ljungman was later arrested, extradited to Denmark and convicted of serious fraud due to his activities at IT Factory.[47] Nothing more has been announced about the device by Freer, effectively confirming its cancellation.[48]

[edit]

A reference to the Gizmondo is made in the British movie Goal!, when a meeting takes place in a Gizmondo store.[citation needed]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Snow, Blake (2007-07-30). "The 10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time". GamePro.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  2. ^ "Gizmondo Launch Brings London's West End to a Standstill - Press Release". Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Gizmondo gadget hits the shelves". BBC News Online. 2005-03-19. Archived from the original on 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  4. ^ a b c Contributor, GamesIndustry biz (2005-05-20). "Tiger Telematics' Gizmondo™ Confirms New Tech and E3 Game Line-up". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2024-10-01. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ a b "Gizmondo Europe goes into liquidation". Pocket-Lint. 2006-02-07. Retrieved 2013-01-14.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ a b c Contributor, Ellie Gibson (2005-03-21). "Gizmondo launches in the UK; Vodafone signs up to provide SIM cards". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2024-10-01. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ "CEBIT 2005: Gizmondo out this week - Hardware - News". HEXUS.net. 2005-03-16. Archived from the original on 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  8. ^ a b "Gizmondo price drop - Hardware - News". HEXUS.net. 2005-04-12. Archived from the original on 2013-11-04. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  9. ^ "Tiger Doesn't Want You to Buy the Gizmondo! - Defunct Games". Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  10. ^ Smith, Tony (5 August 2005). "Gizmondo US launch 'put back to October'". The Register. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  11. ^ Taub, Eric A. (2006-02-08). "'Game over' for Gizmondo". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  12. ^ Snow, Blake (2011-06-07). "The 10 Worst Selling Handhelds Of All Time". Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  13. ^ a b Sullivan, Randall. "Gizmondo's Spectacular Crack-up". Wired. Archived from the original on 2016-12-27. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  14. ^ "Tiger Telematics, Inc. Announces a New Joint Venture to Develop the New Advanced Series of Gametrac Products". Tiger Telematics. 2003-09-29. Archived from the original on 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2013-01-14 – via Prnewswire.
  15. ^ "Xilinx, Plextek And Intrinsyc Enable CES Debut Of Gametrac - Latest Mobile Entertainment Device From Tiger Telematics". Xilinx.com. 2004-01-08. Archived from the original on 2013-01-12. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
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  18. ^ "Motorsport and Gizmondo didn't mix well – 2or4.co.uk – a motorsport blog". 2or4.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  19. ^ "Gizmondo Europe bankrupt". GameSpot. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
  20. ^ Winton, Jeffrey Fleishman and Richard (15 May 2006). "Life in Fast Lane Long Before Ferrari Crash". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2017-02-13. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  21. ^ "Direktörerna har fått långa fängelsestraff" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 2005-10-24. Archived from the original on 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  22. ^ "Rumor: Gizmondo execs with ties to the Swedish mafia have resigned". GameSpot. 2005-10-26. Archived from the original on 2007-02-16. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  23. ^ "Top Ten Worst Consoles". GameTrailers. May 6, 2007. Archived from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  24. ^ Rojas, Peter (2005-09-17). "Widescreen Gizmondo specs and pics". Engadget.com. Archived from the original on 2012-12-06. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  25. ^ "Gizmondo goes widescreen - Hardware - News - HEXUS.net". 19 September 2005. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  26. ^ "Widescreen Gizmondo specs and pics". Engadget. 2005-09-17. Archived from the original on 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2007-11-23.
  27. ^ "More woes for Gizmondo". Archived from the original on 2018-07-25. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  28. ^ "Gizmondo gadget hits the shelves". BBC News. 2005-03-19. Archived from the original on 2008-12-29. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  29. ^ "Gizmondo unveils 'adverts-for-consoles' scheme". The Register. Archived from the original on 2014-05-05. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  30. ^ a b News, games ch-Aktuelle Gizmondo (2005-04-19). "Gizmondo - Preis und Deutschland-Termin". games.ch (in German). Retrieved 2024-10-01. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  31. ^ Contributor, GamesIndustry biz (2005-05-20). "Tiger Telematics' Gizmondo™ Confirms New Tech and E3 Game Line-up". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2024-10-01. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  32. ^ https://www.gamer.no/artikler/gizmondo-kommer-til-norge/14943
  33. ^ "What Happened To: The Gizmondo handheld game system". GamerTell. 2010-05-24. Archived from the original on 2010-07-27. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
  34. ^ "how not to spell gizmondo". Archived from the original on 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  35. ^ Caie, Martin (2005-04-15). "In-service advertising reduces price of Gizmondo". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-08-27.
  36. ^ Gizmondo - all about smart ads. Archived from the original on 2015-07-08. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  37. ^ Privat, Ludovic. "Gizmondo, back from ashes?". Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  38. ^ "Carl Freer talar ut i Realtid.se". 13 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2016-08-27. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  39. ^ "Carl Freer startar om Gizmondo" (in Swedish). Realtid.se. 2007-11-13. Archived from the original on 2009-09-01. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  40. ^ "English translation: Carl Freer Promises to Resurrect Gizmondo". Archived from the original on 2008-01-27. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
  41. ^ "Carl Freer:"I m going to resurrect Gizmondo" -- indeed he is". Engadget. 2008-01-24. Archived from the original on 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  42. ^ "Carl Freer: Gizmondo Arrives Late 2008". 2008-02-18. Archived from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  43. ^ "The Nordic Link: Gizmondo 2 Is Here - Sales start in November/December". 2008-09-10. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
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  46. ^ Flatley, Joseph (2008-12-20). "Surprise! No new Gizmondo for 2008". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2008-12-24. Retrieved 2008-12-02.
  47. ^ "Bagger Points Finger At Swedish Partner". Copenhagen Post. 2009-06-10. Archived from the original on 2011-11-13. Retrieved 2009-07-09.
  48. ^ "msmobiles.com - Reflections: Gizmondo today is no more". 2010-01-31. Archived from the original on 2010-01-31. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
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