Some random thoughts about the infamous Swedish portable game console Gizmondo:
- There is something compelling about the argument "it wasn't a total scam, they did actually make a console". Like, there was an actual machine (and in some ways a pretty ambitious one) that you could buy (even if only at a few limited locations), and they did hire actual game designers, some of them fairly well-known and experienced, to make games, some of which seems to have been genuinely interesting. That's more than can be said for certain other vaporware consoles.
- I'm curious about who actually designed the physical appearance of the machine. Most articles I've found only talk about the higher-ups at the company (and then usually focuses on their shady business dealings and mob connections), who may have come up with the general ideas for the console, but I'd love to know more about the actual design process, maybe see some concept sketches and such.
- I will never stop being amazed that nobody died, or even got seriously injured, in that Ferrari crash.
- I really hope that there will be a Gizmondo emulator some day. I'm genuinely interested in playing some of the games, but not enough to buy an actual console at the prices they're currently going for (especially not since many of them are apparently falling apart due to shoddy construction and brittle materials). There was one project for an emulator that didn't get very far before it was apparently abandoned, and another project that is currently ongoing, but still in its very early stages.
- Apparently the Gizmondo booth at E3 2004 offered free tattoos. Not sure if that meant that it would be tattoos of the Gizmondo logo, but if so, I wonder if anyone actually got one, and if they still have it.
- Whoever wrote the lyrics to the theme song for Sticky Balls knew exactly what they were doing:
