Gizmondo Fights Apathy - Pledges 89 Titles in 2005

oooh i can't wait to get my filthy mitts on "race".

I read aghast your piece on Gizmondo which, apart from extremely poor journalism, seems to have been written without rhyme or reason.

Firstly, it makes no sense to say that the market has proven time and again that there is no room for anyone else in the handheld market. Are you really expecting us to believe and accept that this is a market for one product only - that produced by Nintendo? You must take us for fools. But I don't believe for a minute that the people at Sony or Gizmondo are. Have you met them or tried to talk to them. I expect not, because if you have been defeated so easily in getting hold of a Gizmondo it would seem that your resolve is pretty weak. Just go to the shop in Regent's Street - it's quite a well know street with good public transport links!

It may be a tough market with some big players but then I would give credit to any new entrant/s with bravery not ignorance. Time and time again there are examples of new entrants breaking the mould in mature markets so why do you believe that in this market it is an impossibility. You're a fool if you think the investors in these companies are crying themselves to sleep as opposed to making exciting new products that meet market needs.

If you have used a Gizmondo you'd understand that this is a new generation of handheld product. It is more than a gaming device, offering a wealth of new features that takes gaming to a new level. And as for the games themselves, well the list you published is just a portion of what they will be offering. What's more, these are new and exciting games never played before.

If you haven't used a Gizmondo and its software how can you possibly make a critique of it and the games it offers? Then, and only then, can you understand what it truly offers and expect readers to take you seriously.

Your opinion would be welcome and if you would really like to get your hands on a Gizmondo you are welcome to borrow mine.

Gizmondo is garbage, It is the biggest pile of fecal matter disguised as a gaming device I have ever had the displeasure of using in quite some time. Seriously, why those investors decided to throw away their money on something destined to fail is beyond me. Its worse then the Ngage, and that’s quite an accomplishment. They have NO real 3rd party support whatsoever. Hmmm, should I spend $300 on a PDA that plays poorly programmed games called “race”, and “moma, can I mow the lawn”…..by an unknown game developer, or pop in Metal Gear Solid, Ridge Racer, and Untold Legends on my cheaper, much better widescreen high definition PSP, that also plays movies, mp3’s, and lets me look at digital photos, and get online? Or My touch screen DS with free online capabilities and games from highly respected developers?? Seriously, who is going to waste money on this pile of BS. Whoever came up with the idea for gizmondo should be shot.

Well they say any reaction is better than no reaction & if it has to come from neanderthal man then so be it.
Hold on...yes I'm getting an image of you now through the ether... yes the eyes are open, the mouth moves, but the brain has long since departed!

Dude, you took the words right out of my mouth.

Gizmondo is a terrible name for a nice spec but terribly supported piece of kit. From the moment I heard of the thing my thoughts were "why bother with a third hand held". People might buy DS and PSP but not this Giz jibe too.

If it cost more than PSP (which is already expensive enough) why the hell would you buy it? True it's brave to try but like standing in the way of a tornado, you will be unpleasantly tossed aside, you might land on your head and it will hurt.

Gizmondo is like a Freeview tv service, nowhere near as good as the real quality Sky or NTL services. It's only a matter of time before Giz goes down the tubes. If GBA2 is in the works Gizmondo has no chance, since the former would take a possible third spot.

I half agree with Jake, i think its brave of gizmondo to enter the handheld market, i think its good to see some young blood on the scene and who knows they MIGHT be a big name in the future.
(although ill probably be buying psp)

(look at nokia a few years back no one even heard of nokia and few people thourght they were going to make it - now there one of the top mobile phone manufacturers in the world)

Having said that there plans do seem a bit optomistic, i mean do u really think there gonna
have 89 titles? and their not very well known to the great british public,and they havent really made a name for themselves yet, and that would make it very hard for them to compete with Sony and Nintendo.

Ha-ha.. how clever you must think you are. Gizmondo blows, and I’m starting to get the impression that your somehow associated with the company responsible for thinking up this contrived $300 coaster. It’s going to fail miserably because it’s worthless. The games currently available for it are horrible, its graphical capabilities are not as robust or scalable as the PSP yet the price tag is considerably higher. It offers none of the 3rd party support offered by Nintendo or Sony. At least Nokia is trying; their system at least has some 3rd party support. If you think Gizmondo is going to sell in masses with the likes of “race”, and “colors”, “goal”, “jump”, “moma, can I mow the lawn”, and a 10 year old port of a s**tty game called carmageddon then you’re hopeless. The Nintendo DS is a much better system and is half the price. If you can name a single VALID advantage that the gizmondo has over Sony’s PSP I will be impressed. I’d also be impressed to see you sell a tenth of the units Nintendo and Sony will sell. If your happy with your Gizmondo, then good for you, to each his own. I just think they are going to loose alot of money, they need a solid plan to eat into the market share and based on the list of upcoming releases it looks as though they dont have a clue.

I love these. The ones for whom any opinion not aligned with their own immediately constitutes poor journalism.



Yeah, you're right. Bandai Wonderswan, Sega GameGear and Atari Lynx all prove you right.

The Handheld market is a doddle to enter... which explains why NO-ONE except for Nintendo ever has successfully. Even now, only Sony with their HUGE market lead in the console world, is prepared to give it a go.



Well, we talk to Sony pretty often, and we have a PSP in the office. But Gizmondo aren't doing their own PR, and their PR agency has repeatedly told us they don't have any units to let us have...



Ah, so you want us to PAY for a Gizmondo in order to give them publicity by writing about it? That's not typically how it works... though that bold new strategy might work wonders for them.

And is it me, or Gizmondo the only prlatform ever released without an attendant magazine? So even those vultures at Future Publishing don't believe that it's going to fly.



Now, who was talking about poor journalism, when I was a journalist, I was told to never make crass generalisations that could not be substantiated. Go on, give us some examples, but remember, since you insist that his happens "time and time again" we'll expect lots of examples, not just one or two,



No one said that. We believe Sony are about to do exactly that. But they have a great piece of kit, with excellent software support, and they are actually sending review units to the press.



I'd be shocked it Gizmondo's investors were getting any sleep at all.



Whoa! You were doing so well, and then you blew it by lapsing in to the dull and trite company prose. Exactly how long have you worked for Gizmondo?

Or are you just cut-and-pasting from their (excellent) website?



If what you say is true - then they have a glimmer of a chance. But the list sounds like a few self-developed me-too games, and a selection of lacklustre old conversions.



We have used a Gizmondo. We weren't massively impressed. We have not had the opportunity to own one because they have not sent us one. When they do, it might completely change our minds. Don't hold your breath.



That's excellent, please send it to our Wakefield address, which can be found in the "about SPOnG" section at the bottom of every page.

Hi 'Shediesinred'...interesting name you have there!
Although...jabbering on like a monkey up a tree, would be more appropriate heh... what do you say?

Ok if this gets sniffed at then so be it!

1. The Gizmondo's specifications :

TFT screen ~ 240 x 320 pixels
400 Mhz ARM9 from Samsung
128-bit 3D Graphics accelerator from Nvidia
GPS tracking application
GPS mapping application
MP3 playback
MIDI/WAV formats
SMS
Speaker
Windows Media Player 9
MPEG 4 video playback
JPEG camera
SD flash card reader
Mini-USB client
Bluetooth class 2 for multiplayer gaming
Temperature range 0°C to 55°C
Removable SIM card
Removable battery
Polyphonic ring tones
Stereo headset socket for MP3 and games
Flight Mode
GSM tri-band
GPRS Class 10
WAP 2.0
MMS receive and send

& now emailing.

Power

Gizmondo blows other mobile gaming devices out of the water. With 400Mhz of processing power and a 3D co-processor, Gizmondo offers the fastest-loading games and smoothest-scrolling graphics ever seen on a handheld console.

Additional memory cards allow users to store images, music and movies.


2. Did you say no 3rd party support? Check this link out:

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5C04%5C05%5C31106360.html%26clientid%3D168%26
provider%3DCANADA_NEWSWIRE&symbol=TGTL

Tiger Telematics owns outright: Warthog studios, Indie studios, Gizmondo studios. 120 game developers working exclusively & flat out for Tiger.
Plus : SCI, Microsoft Games Studios, Team17,EA,Disney's BuenaVista Games,Fathammer,Ubisoft Entertainment, & more to come!

3.Pretty smart?! checkout the 'Examples'.

***n00b weblink removed*** />
4.Satellite Navigation system...don't you pay £400 alone for that on devices such as the 'Tom Tom'?!

GPS
Gizmondo's integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) brings mobile gaming to life.

Developed by SiRF, the GPS service also allows you to set geofences around a building or city. If Gizmondo leaves this assigned zone it can send an alert via SMS to a mobile phone or PDA. The potential for this technology is enormous and Gizmondo will lead the way in its development for the consumer audience.

For instance, the technology blurs the line between physical and virtual for Gizmondo's debut title, Colors. In Colors, you and your friends can form gangs to wage war for control of the streets. However, because the game utilises GPS technology, the virtual rumbles can take place on the streets
of the very village, town or city in which you live. When you've kicked sufficient butt, you and your mates can go elsewhere to challenge Colors gangs in another part of town or even in an entirely different city.

Not only can Gizmondo make the most of existing location-based services like searching for the nearest ATM or McDonald's, if your friends own a Gizmondo you can find them too - perfect when you're at a festival or concert!

5.Ok the list goes on...
All I can say is check it out before you shout!

www.gizmondo.com

Adequate, but really nothing special. But c'mon, keep it pertinent, what is this all about:

Speaker
Removable battery
Polyphonic ring tones
Stereo headset socket for MP3 and games

I mean WOW, they are really gonna sell it.



Said a man who had been paid to promote Gizmondo today.



Like they don't on the PSP.



Just more marketing b******s. EVERYBODY says they have tons of supprt from tons of developers.

The acid test is games in boxes on store shelved. When evaluated by this criterion, Gizmondo fairs poorly. Right now there are TWO games titles anbd one of those is "Arcade Classics" - and the website gives no details, and no screenshots. Impressive.



And you think that marketing s**t is a positive?

Another opportunity for amoral profit-driven corporations to warp the minds of our youth to drive them into an even greater materialistic frenzy. Yeah, big positive!



The only thing it has going for it that a PSP doesn't is the GPS/Mapping stuff. But you talk about it as if the map data and routefinder software are included in the price. I do not believe that they are. And really, it's just a Windows Mobile device, a PDA with a NVidia GPU.



It's a PDA, with GPS (which a whole bunch of PDAs already have). So what?

You're obviously working for & on behalf of Nintendo from what you've said.
If you can't see the journalistic inaccuracies then shame on you.
I can assure you I have absolutely no association with Gizmondo whatsoever. Just a keen onlooker.
Wake up & smell the coffee!!!
Yours in disbelief .

Spare me your shame, and stop dealing in implication. What are the journalistic inaccuracies. Gizmondo is hard to get hold of (of ALL the journalists we know, only one has had one in their possession, away from a Gizmondo representative), there are only two games available for it, and it's doomed.

Learn to deal.

Hey Mr MENSA, doh!

You work it out.

Let time itself evolve & be the judge...
Watch this space.

Um, what? As a (training, taking a degree course ;P) journalist myself, I don't see any journalistic inaccuracies in SPOnG's post there. The only thing I've been told that SPOnG appear to "break" is that "You can't put opinion into news stories, only feature articles" - but since niche (read: gaming) media journalist sources tend to merge news stories with feature anyway, it's hardly something to bring to light :P

DoctorDee's comments have nothing to do with being "linked with Nintendo". As a journalist, it's his duty to be as impartial as possible. Heck, if SPOnG actually had a Gizmondo to play on, I'm sure their perception of "your console" (since you, on the other hand, DO tend to act like you're being paid to promote it) would change dramatically.

Summed up, SPOnG's news story reads:
- Gizmondo cannot be found anywhere outside London/specific cities
- Two titles have previously been released at launch (frankly, pathetic attempt at best), but more are planned
- Against Nintendo, Sony and perhaps even NGAGE, Gizmondo is seriously out of its depth at the moment.

None of the above is false. It's all well and good to tell us to 'get our hands on a Gizmondo', but where do you propose we do that? I don't know about you, but I'm not willing to go out of my way to buy a console in a totally different city. The company has to come to the consumer and shout its product out. Not whimper in London and ask people to take a day trip to their specialist store just to pick one up.

I've seen no adverts for it. Not in print, TV or otherwise. The best I've seen is the website - actually wait, tell a lie. I was at GameStars Live last year (VIP baby) and there was a Gizmondo stand there. It's a shame that they never actually showed anything aside from a few "construction" banners and signs signifying the console's coming soon, and a poor Powerpoint style presentation. What bothered me was that it took up a large space of GSLive, and Tiger (because let's face it, Tiger are the ones behind this - more on that later) did absolutely nothing to try and grab the attention of the passer by. In the stand's defence, the poor people couldn't, because they had no material to pull punters in with.

And Tiger, surely they've learned their mistakes with the Game.com. Before Gizmondo there was the Tiger Game.com, and that sunk like nobody's business. That was said to "innovate" and "bring new ways of playing". Heck, the Game.com even had a touch screen. But the games for the handheld were trying to be 16-Bit, when the handheld obviously could only do 8-Bit monochrome at best. The best games for it were Solitaire (included in the console itself) and William's Arcade Classics (although STILL those basic graphics glitch and have slowdown). How do I know this... um... I'm ashamed to own one. It was only for collector's purposes... I had to get Sonic Jam for it... and now... now I played the worst Sonic game in existence (truly) on perhaps the worst handheld, I feel dirty.

I would hope that Tiger would not make the same mistakes they made before, but it looks like in their bullish attitude, they want everyone to have a Gizmondo, but WE have to be the ones to come get it. It's failure will have nothing to do on people's judgements on the console (because from what I've read so far on its website, it's pretty ok feedback...) or on how much more Nintendo or Sony will sell, it'll be first and foremost down to Tiger's complete incompetence at the handheld industry. Heck, if the Gizmondo was a home console it'd be dead by now.

Sure, I'm pretty unbiased. Like you said Jake, I tend to view everything in a somewhat optimistic light, and meet with new contenders with enthusiasm for daring to be different. I have a Game Gear and NGPC and love 'em. But, there's a reason the previous handhelds failed, but the reason I'm worried about Gizmondo is for something entirely different. While the Game Gear, NGPC and others were happily trying to advertise at least once in a blue moon and managed to get stock into major stores... Gizmondo's managed to bag itself a limited run in two northern Gamestation stores and precious few other retailers, performing the same trial run.

This is an industry where, whether you succeed or not, it's about being aggressive and saying "Hey! You! Idiot outside the shop window! You WANT me! Yeah, you do!". It's the tactic that won people over for the PlayStation 2 despite the fact that it had no games of worthy note at launch until about a year down the line when MGS2 was released. There's room for new competitors, but not competitors who pussy-foot around its consumers. This isn't the 1980's anymore.

You mention specs for Gizmondo. Yawn. I think everyone's kinda gotten bored with specifications now. And it's all well and good to be a jack of all trades, but the Gizmondo looks like it's a master of none.


I probably would have at least respected you for making at least some sort of mature debate in this topic, but that comments just shows to me you're a bit of an uncharismatic child. Cheers.

EDIT: http://www.gizmondo.com/news/item.asp?id=763
[Focusing on the Tom Green video, and neglecting his actual participation in the video as he never actually talks about Gizmondo]

When you have random unknown people (I can't tell if they're meant to be celebrities, that's the sad thing) drunkenly splurting their "own opinion" that the "Gizmondo is the best fing I evva sin!", you know you got problems.

Yea.. she dies in red is the name of my band, and it holds absolutely no relevance to the topic in discussion. I asked you to name one valid benefit that gizmondo has over Sony’s PSP, out of that ridiculous list you mustered up I see only one, and it's clearly the systems GPS capabilities, which personally means absolutly nothing to me.. i dont need to spend hundreds of dollars on a device that tells me where I am. Gizmondo is basically a PDA that plays slightly better games then one would normally expect from such a device, but it’s not even in the same league as Sony’s PSP, or Nintendo’s technically inferior DS for that matter. I live in the US so your PDA hasn’t launched here yet, but I did have a chance to play it through a friend of mine before I arrived in New York from London and its laughably weak compared to the aforementioned competition. It makes one hell of a PDA.. but a gaming device, it is not.