Surprise! No new Gizmondo for 2008

A mere two-plus months since we were let in on plans for a Gizmondo app store, our favorite (well, second favorite) character in this epic tale of doomed handheld game systems and fiery car wrecks is back with yet another chapter, this one in the form of a Socratic dialog between Carl Freer and journalist Hans Sandberg. Apparently, the global economic downturn has made otherwise cautious investors even more cautious, prompting Freer & Co. to comb the streets of Shenzhen's Special Economic Zone in search of a new manufacturer -- a move which further complicated things by necessitating a major hardware redesign. The goal? Nothing less than a truly renegade, "truly wireless pocket PC, one that also happens to have a gaming engine," with current plans calling for both a Windows CE and an Android version. The present status of this tragic farce? No new Gizmondos for 2008, we're afraid. But we're guessing that you weren't really holding your breath anyways.

[KAIKAI @ Dec 20th 2008 11:35AM]

at least they tried :(

[Jacob @ Dec 20th 2008 11:36AM]

There's still time!

[Andrew Moulton @ Dec 20th 2008 11:38AM]

but i want it NOW!

[Bryant @ Dec 20th 2008 11:44AM]

I read that as "Gizmodo" and said to myself

"Well, that's not a surprise."

[Justin B @ Dec 20th 2008 5:31PM]

I got very excited for a second.

[Neha @ Dec 20th 2008 10:37PM]

Same here. Thought for a second I needed to ease back on the Sativa.

[Adderz @ Dec 20th 2008 11:44AM]

Kept reading that title as Gizmodo and thought hmph, bit odd for a gadget site to have a story declaring theyve beat down their competition.

Im going back to my corner now.

[Trevsweb @ Dec 20th 2008 11:45AM]

QUICK fix the flash template website with 2009 hurry before ppl notice!!

[Ryan Karolak @ Dec 20th 2008 11:54AM]

"truly wireless pocket PC, one that also happens to have a gaming engine,"

Sounds like the Tapwave Zodiac, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapwave) and while that was a really nice device, it failed commercially. An Android gaming PDA could be interesting, but wouldn't it make more sense now to make an Android Phone with more beefier gaming hardware? That could actually probably sell well.

[brandon @ Dec 20th 2008 12:27PM]

I still have my zodiac... god I love the thing but it's basically useless without any new software :(

[Christian Walters @ Dec 20th 2008 12:03PM]

HOLY SHIT! ARE YOU SERIOUS? Okay, who here is truly surprised that this did'nt happend?

[Origins81 @ Dec 20th 2008 12:08PM]

Seriously, I thought you meant the website, then you harshed my mellow!!!

[Juan @ Dec 20th 2008 12:09PM]

"truly wireless pocket PC, one that also happens to have a gaming engine,"

Sorry, you guys took too long. We have the Open Pandora for that, now.

[JeffM @ Dec 20th 2008 1:13PM]

Somewhere an Enzo just breathed a sigh of relief!

[Patriks7 @ Dec 20th 2008 1:40PM]

Who needs another "truly wireless pocket PC, one that also happens to have a gaming engine"? We already have one and it's great! It's called the iPh...

OK never mind..

[Shinigami @ Dec 20th 2008 1:45PM]

A pocket PC? iPho? Since when it can copy/paste??? My Pocket PC (WinMo2003SE) could do that since 2004 and iPho still can't do it???

[Patriks7 @ Dec 21st 2008 12:41AM]

Sarcasm meter down?

[Shinigami @ Dec 20th 2008 1:43PM]

Will it be able to play ps2 games on a psp-sized device?
No? Then I'll skip whatever it might be.

[Shugg @ Dec 20th 2008 3:30PM]

good stick with your 2004 device ,.u deserve it.oh wait but u got copy n paste ,we so jealous,,dee dee deee,.happy new years 2009!!!!!!!!

[Rav @ Dec 20th 2008 2:33PM]

Oh come on, it clearly says 'RISING' in 2008, in my book that's 'COOKED IN 2009', or at least 'AWAITING AN EGGWASH GLAZE', or something.

[tekdroid @ Dec 20th 2008 7:25PM]

Mmmm. Food! Now that's something I can relate to!

[o rly @ Dec 20th 2008 2:53PM]

...also hoping for no Gizmodo (or at least no Brian Lam) in 2009.

[cb88 @ Dec 20th 2008 3:05PM]

Pandora! faster GPU than iPhone ... probably faster CPU than the future Gizmondo and 256mb ram

It really runs desktop apps on a DS/n800 sized device... see the videos http://www.openpandora.org/blog.php (note that these videos are tech demos for enthusiasts not commercials)

While the gizmondo people have looked for investors the Pandora team has financed it on their own necks ... they believe in their product nuff said

[Abuzar Baloach @ Dec 20th 2008 6:23PM]

It's also fucking ugly, which matters to many people. It's obviously not going to take off as a commercial handheld video game system without major studios backing game development on it.

[tekdroid @ Dec 20th 2008 7:16PM]

Site is down as of this writing.

It takes:
1) significant marketing and development funds
2) great hardware
3) reasonable cost (to end-user)
4) great distribution
5) working websites
6) great, original software
...for a successful gaming handheld, IMO.

Not easily done for a start-up these days, especially given the sumo-weight competitors, but I wish them well.

[Alex @ Dec 21st 2008 7:59PM]

Has anyone actually read up on these gizmondo/freer etc?? biggest friggin crooks/liars/cheats going! Wired had a good article detailing it all.... they basically spent $100M+ VC money on hookers and drugs. to be fair though, there are worse ways to spend it (as long as your not an investor/idiot who bought the thing!)

[Christian @ Dec 22nd 2008 1:22PM]

OMG, I forgot about this company till engadget reminded me that they did promise sometime this year. I wonder what's their plan for next year then.

[Sergeant Luke @ Mar 11th 2009 7:40PM]

This.
Is a BAD IDEA.
Seriously, you already tried Gizmondo. It was a failure. People did not like it. When that happens, you should say "That sucks, we're going to have to make something new to recuperate the losses." You DO NOT try to reintroduce a system that was already a flop!