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This article is straight-up fantastic From Wired comes the sordid tale of Stefan Eriksson, the man we know as the Ferrari-crashing hoodlum responsible for the failed Gizmondo handheld console, but his story goes so much deeper than that.
Eriksson started his criminal career as a roly-poly teenager known as Tjock-Steffe (Fat Steve). He was suspected of small but clever crimes and received his first prison term at age 19 for robbing a bank van. Released after serving a short sentence, Tjock-Steffe rapidly transformed himself into a heavily muscled young man through anabolic steroids and karate lessons.
I knew virtually nothing about the Gizmondo or its insane affiliations until I read through this. Even little things like that Fat Steve started the Gizmondo as a way to make children carry GPS trackers, escaped my noticed previously and are now fascinating.
Apparently the financial records are so muddied up that the London firm that's been hired to sort it all out has little hope of ever doing so, so this may be the best insight into the whole mess that we'll ever get. Go give it a read. It's raw entertainment.
It also features stunning graphic novel illustrations by Jae Lee.
Gizmondo's Spectacular Crack-up [Wired, via Aeropause]
