Gizmondo
The Gizmondo is a 128 bit handheld gaming console with GPRS and GPS technology, produced by Tiger Telematics. The Gizmondo includes a GPS module for in-car navigation (coming Autumn 2005) also used for multiplayer real time games used to track movements of your opponents. The Gizmondo also holds within its small interior a VGA camera mounted on the rear. It can send SMS / MMS messages, voice calls and email (coming Autumn 2005), play MP3 / WAV /MIDI music, play WMV/MPEG4 video, and a variety of 3D games.
Releases
Gizmondo was released in the United Kingdom on March 19 , 2005 , initially priced at �229. However, the price of the unit has since fallen to �129, if the user agrees to be sent a maximum of three 10 to 30 second advertisements per day through the Gizmondo Smart Ads service. These adverts will often include offers at the end of them, for example coupons, or free music downloads and will only appear when the user returns back to the main menu and not interupt any game or media playing. The device is due for release in several mainland Europe countries on September 30th, while it was launched on October 22, 2005 in North America. A catalog of over 90 games are in production for the Gizmondo with more added monthly, and it is predicted that at least 30 new games will have been released by December . The games line up includes; The Great Escape , Age of Empires , Tron 2.0 , Conflict Vietnam as well as many others. The games portfolio is being increased through Tiger’s recent purchase of Warthog and publishing deals made with SCi , Electronic Arts , UbiSoft and other major publishers.
The Gizmondo is currently available from the Gizmondo flagship store on London ’s Regent Street , also via Gizmondo’s online shop, and other highstreet and online retailers (such as Argos ). It is unclear if this product will be released in game stores everywhere.
Functionality and specifications
Jenson Button helps promote the Gizmondo The Gizmondo can play games, music tracks and movies , take and store digital photos and be used like a mobile phone to send text , multimedia and e-mail messages, voice calls will be coming via a bluetooth headset due out in the fall. Tiger have recently begun demonstrating augmented reality -based games using the Gizmondo’s digital camera .
In the UK, the phone service to enable people to send messages is being provided by pre-pay Vodafone accounts bundled in with the device. It can also access the Global Positioning System for use as a navigation aid. There are also plans to support a variety of location-based services, for example. GPRS and Bluetooth wireless connections are intended to provide multiplayer gaming.
The Gizmondo’s Camera also includes an added Gyroscopic Function. It will be used in FPS, action-adventure, and puzzle games. In FPS games The Gizmondo is turned instead of using a thumbstick or joystick.
Gizmondo is powered by a 400 MHz ARM9 processor and has a 2.8 inch 320×240 pixels TFT screen and an NVIDIA 128 bit GoForce 3D 4500 GPU featuring a programmable pixel shader, hardware transform engine and 1280KB of embedded memory. The GPU was added relatively late in the system’s design, causing some delays for launch titles and the system, as they were redesigned.
The system’s appearance and ergonomics were created by industrial designer Rick Dickinson, who worked in a similar role on various Sinclair products such as the ZX Spectrum .
Competition
The Gizmondo competes for marketshare with handheld consoles by Nintendo (the DS and Game Boy Advance ) and Sony (the PlayStation Portable ). Similar to the N-Gage , It has a comparatively small market profile with little visible advertising. In addition, it receives far less coverage from Internet gaming sources, such as IGN , and is to a degree difficult to locate at retail stores. This is possibly due to the fact that it is a newcomer to the handheld market as well as the video game market in general. More so, Gizmondo is losing its fanbase by continually delaying the launch of the handheld and dropping numerous titles. Right now nearly every title has been a port from a major console that has already been released and many players have already played.
See also
External links
- Gizmondo home page
- GamingMoz – Gizmondo games documentation.
- Gizmondo Spain – Para el mercado Espa�ol
- Gizmondo Gadget hits the shelves – BBC.co.uk on Gizmondo release
- Tiger Telematics
- Gizmondo Forums – Fansite
- GiZone – Fansite
- Gizmondo Central – fansite
- GizzedUp – Fanzine
- Gizmondo Forum – Fansite
- Gizmondo Fans US
- Gizmondo Elite – Fansite
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