Gizmondo bringing Smart Adds to the US
The Gizmondo may have edged out the N-Gage as the portable game console everyone loves to hate on, but that isn't stopping Tiger Telematics from pushing ahead with their oft-delayed plans to introduce the new console here in the States. They claim that they're still on track to get this thing in stores by October (they're planning a major $30 million marketing campaign that will include an "emphasis on endorsements by rap stars" - nice, no one's ever done that!), but the big news is that they're definitely going to be importing their Smart Adds program to the States. It's only available in the UK right now, but basically the program lets you shave a little bit off the price of a new Gizmondo if you're willing to deal with three 30 seconds commercials per day which are delivered wirelessly over the console's GPRS connection (they swear that they won't interrupt gameplay with any ads). Actually, it's more than a little bit: they're charging $400 for the ad-free version and $229 for the Smart Adds version, but even so, why wouldn't you just drop an extra Jackson and get an ad-free PSP? Or save yourself a hundred bucks and get an ad-free DS?
[Thanks, Da Greasy Guide]
