Tiger Telematics confirms US launch of Gizmondo
By Donald Melanson 
posted December 23rd 2004 12:54PM
posted December 23rd 2004 12:54PM
Despite our doubts, Tiger Telematics seems to be forging ahead with their Gizmondo handheld console and will be showing it at CES next month. They've also confirmed that the unit will launch in North America sometime during the first quarter 2005. The Windows CE-based device has some serious capabilities (it's certainly no Game.com) but we still haven't heard of any games that would make us consider this over a DS or PSP, especially at a price over $400 US.
The design team for the Gizmondo needs to go back to the drawing board...to really catch the eye of the consumer you need both great enginering and sleek innovative industral design...but this thing looks more like some cheap electronic you would get at Value City.
Yesterday I got a chance to play around with a development version of the console, and I have to say it's not anywhere near as dodgy as Engadget seem to think. Despite the images, it actually feels very solid and the buttons are pretty tactile.
The screen's also very good, so I think the software's going to be the make-or-break factor.
Oh, and I could be wrong but they're probably not going with the name "Bizmondo" for the business version...
If you believe Tiger Telematics past press releases:
1. They have already "launched" in the UK the first week of November and have shipped units to retailers, but they have yet to sell a single device. No games have been released. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041029/ukf006_1.html
2. They received over 500,000 "pre-orders" on their website. http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041202/ukth012_1.html
3. They are opening a store in London "in the run up to Xmas". One day to go, is it open? http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=133543
This thing reminds me of the aptly-named Phantom console, and it appears the Gizmondo will meet the same fate. IMHO the only thing they are really good at is pumping out stock-hyping press releases.
Probably not going to sway people on its own, but there are the following pros:
1) The shop is now supposed to be opening on Regents Street, London.
2) NVidia have signed up and the console has "proper" 3D graphics. The big advantage I see in that is that a) the graphics will be good, and b) it's a lot easier for developers to port Windows versions to the console. MS have already ported a few games with little problem, so let's keep our eyes peeled.
This thing looks like total sh*t.
It's nice to see people throwing constructive comments on something they have not yet had the priviledge of seeing first hand?
To see and hold this beauty is an experience. It looks far from "cheap", it feels solid, not "wiggling" buttons or shaking noices. It's also amazingly light compared to the PSP or DS, and the most portable of them all.
The device was not launched in November. It was "released" to the production plant, they just used a clever play on words so people could easily mis-interpret them. The actual device launch date is early novemver I believe. With 3 games included in the $400 ~ £230 price tag, including Stuntcar Extreme, Super Drop Mania and Angelfish.
3 games, a GPS device, SMS Messaging, GPRS, Music and Video player all for £230? Can't complain really.
With regards to NEW games being announced, there's M$ on board, including Age of Empires for the Giz. There's also Buena Vista, the gaming arm of Disney, with Tron 2.0 being completely redesigned to take advantage of the Gizmondo's GPS capabilities, Richard Burns Rally is a launch title and looks absolutely fantastic. As with Colors.
Find out more information on games at http://www.gizfocus.co.uk
This thing is total vaporware. Their own press release said "enroute to retail", so show me where it says that "shipping" or "launching" really means "released to our ODM for a production run." Where did they all go, because they haven't arrived at retailers, so it appears that they are misleading everyone (gamers, the media, investors) by saying they are currently in their launch period in the UK. Last I checked, publishing false press releases that can hype or manipulate their stock price is a violation of securities laws. Their stock price seems to have gone up quite a bit since since then, go figure.
I'm going to the London launch party tomorrow as a friend of mine works in the industry. So it does all seem set to go ahead.
I am quite interested in it, parcially to possible emulation possabilities if it gets popular.
If they manage to port alot (or even just one killer app) MMORPG onto the system for use over gprs it could really make it.
Ever since I bought that awful Game.com handheld, I've been skeptical of anything with the Tiger brand name on it. This thing looks good on paper, but unless they get some major game development going, the PSP and DS will kill this unit. Maybe it'll be popular in Europe with it's emphasis on SMS and GPS capabilities, but I foresee an early death.