LOS ANGELES -- Undeterred by Sony and Nintendo's plans for flashy new portable gaming devices, two much smaller companies are also forging ahead with devices aimed at players on the go. Tiger Telematics and MoMA are both showing their upcoming devices at the Electronic Entertainment Expo here this week.
Executives at Tiger admit their new product--the Gizmondo--faces an uphill battle against the Sony and Nintendo devices announced here this week. But the company targets its device at a different set of buyers, says Patrick Wallgrew, a Tiger spokesperson.
"We are segmenting ourselves differently than those guys," Wallgrew says. "We're targeting 15- to 30-year-olds, and we aim to offer a product that does more than one thing." In addition to gaming and media-viewing capabilities, Wallgrew says the Gizmondo will have a built-in digital camera and global positioning system.
The Eve Mobile Gaming Console will differentiate itself by content volume, according to Keith Kowal, a marketing specialist with Via Technologies, which is working with MoMA (Ministry of Mobile Affairs) to produce the unit. Based on a Via chip set and processor, the Eve will offer PC capabilities in a handheld form factor, so users can play thousands of older PC-based games.
"This device will play more games than all of the other handhelds combined," Kowal says.
Gizmondo Up First
Wallgrew says Tiger expects to ship Gizmondo before the end of the year, putting it into the market before Sony's PlayStation Portable and MoMA's Eve, and about the same time as Nintendo's DS.
At least ten games should be ready with Gizmondo's release, and Tiger is working with numerous developers on additional games, he adds. Games will ship on SD (Secure Digital) memory cards. Tiger hopes to offer multimedia on those cards, too.
The Windows CE-based unit has a 2.9-inch display, stereo speakers, Bluetooth capabilities, and a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery that should offer about three hours of game play between charges. The device will also support numerous media formats via the included Windows Media Player 9 application, including MP3 music and MPEG 4 video, Wallgrew says.
One way Tiger hopes to differentiate the Gizmondo from the competitors is through innovative titles that use its integrated GPS capabilities for game play, he says. "We hope to get kids out moving around again," Wallgrew says. The GPS features will enable players to send messages to each other as well as find each other geographically.
Tiger hasn't announced pricing for the unit yet, but Wallgrew expects it to be between $300 and $400.
Eve for Classic PC Games
The Eve portable gaming console won't ship until the first half of 2005, which means it will likely arrive last among the new devices. But Via's Kowal says the unit's late start won't be an issue, as it will offer capabilities the others lack.
Essentially a handheld PC, the Eve will include a 533-MHz X86-based Eden CPU, which means it will play standard PC-based games. The low-power CPU can't run today's latest and greatest titles, but it will play the thousands of PC games that don't require a brand-new PC, Kowal says.
"It won't run the fanciest games out there, but it will run all the classics," he says. "Stuff like the original Half Life will run well on the Eve."
The device will sport a 4-inch LCD and will ship with 128MB of memory, a 20GB hard drive, S3's UniChrome Pro IGP graphics, and two rechargeable lithium ion batteries, he says. It will also include a compact flash slot, two USB ports, a TV-out jack, and built-in WiFi capabilities.
Users will download new games to the Eve via the built-in Wi-Fi connection to the upcoming Game Dweller Network, a subscription service. Members will get a basic set of games and be able to purchase and download more, he says.
The Eve will ship with a locked SIM card that restricts its gaming options to the Game Dweller Network, Kowal says. "That way we can test all of the games and make sure they are going to play well on the Eve."
However, MoMA will also sell an optional unlocked SIM card that will let users install any PC game they want on the unit using a USB-based optical drive.
MoMA and Via have not set pricing for the Game Dweller subscription or the Eve device itself, Kowal says. He expects the unit to sell for under $500.
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