The Gizmondo handheld game console |
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| Manufacturer | Tiger Telematics |
| Generation | Seventh generation era |
| Release date | 19 March 2005 |
| Discontinued | February, 2006 |
| Units sold | Fewer than 30,000 (as of 30 July 2007)[1] |
| Media | SD, MMC |
| CPU | ARM9 S3C2440 processor at 400 MHz |
| Online services | GPRS |
| Best-selling game | Sticky Balls |
The Gizmondo is a handheld gaming console which was released by Tiger Telematics in March 2005.[2] The electronics design was undertaken by Plextek Limited[3] and the industrial design by Rick Dickinson.
With fewer than 25,000 units sold, the Gizmondo was named by GamePro as the worst selling handheld console in history.[4] By February 2006, the company discontinued the device and was forced into bankruptcy.[5] In 2008, founder and CEO Carl Freer announced that he had reached an agreement with the liquidators, and planned to re-launch Gizmondo[6][7][8] as Gizmondo 2.[9]
Gizmondo was overshadowed by the involvement of one of its executives, Stefan Eriksson, in organized crime.[10][11] It was never released in Japan or Australia.
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Gizmondo was released in the United Kingdom on 19 March 2005, initially priced at £229.[12] Units enabled with "Smart Adds" had a reduced RRP of £129.[13] 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.
Gizmondo was launched in Sweden in the late Summer of 2005, with both "Smart Adds" and normal units available. Rather than opening flagship stores, the manufacturer relied on established retailers such as Webhallen. Fewer than 100 units were sold in Sweden. "Smart Adds" were never enabled for the Swedish market, even though the technology "was there".
In the United States, the Gizmondo launched on October 22, 2005. Retail price was $400 for a unit without "Smart Adds", or $229 for a "Smart Adds" enabled device.[14] It was available only through Gizmondo’s website or at one of several kiosks located in shopping malls. However, 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.
The Gizmondo launched with a line-up of fourteen titles, including a port of EA's FIFA Football 2005 and SSX 3, and SCi's Richard Burns Rally. 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.
The "Smart Adds" system was intended as a way for consumers 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.[15] 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 on the device. These advertisements would be downloaded via the device's GPRS data connection,[16] 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.[17] ' 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.
Tiger Telematics planned to release a widescreen Gizmondo in 2006. It was intended to have a larger screen and upgrades like Wi-Fi and TV-out support. 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.[18]
Former Gizmondo director Carl Freer announced in early 2008 his intention to relaunch the Gizmondo console as the Gizmondo 2.
The original planned launch date was May 2008,[19] but this was quickly pushed back to November 2008,[20] 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.[21] By December 2008, the console had still not appeared, and another announcement was made about a complete redesign as a Windows CE or Google Android powered smart phone.[22]
Since then, the Media Power website has gone offline, co-founder Mikael Ljungman has been arrested and convicted of serious fraud,[23] and nothing more has been announced about the console or smart phone.[24] The Gizmondo 2 was abandoned because Tiger Telematics went bankrupt when the Gizmondo was discontinued.
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