Kotaku: Gizmondo

Gizmondo Honcho Gets 18 Months in Fängelse

Owen Good — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT

Fängelse" alt="Click here to read Gizmondo Honcho Gets 18 Months in Fängelse" src="http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/images/9/2009/07/504x_gizmondo_movie.jpg"/>

That's Swedish for "the slammer." Bo Eriksson, lesser known for his role heading the failed portable called Gizmondo, more known for bizarre behavior including wrecked cars and arson threats, is headed there. More »

The Sordid Story Of The Gizmondo May Come To Movie Theaters

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:20:06 EDT

Tiger Telematics' spectacularly failed Gizmondo portable game machine may be the most exciting industry misfires of all time. Someone thinks it's potentially exciting enough to be brought to the silver screen. More »

Gizmondo 2 Is, Yes, Delayed

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 05:00:00 EST

Gizmondo are itching for a rematch with the market. And this time, no Ferraris. Problem is, there's an economic downturn going on at the moment, which means Gizmondo 2 isn't in the best shape. More »

Gizmondo 2.0 DEFINITELY Out By Christmas (This Year!)

Stuart Houghton — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:00:00 EDT

There is absolutely no way this will not happen. Rich Jenkins of Media Power has let a Swedish journalist see the new Gizmondo and confirmed it will be on sale by the end of the year. This year, before you ask. More »

New Gizmondo Development Has Already Started

Mark Wilson — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:40:37 EST

Today during Carl Freer's Georgia Tech speech, he revealed that while his company plans to release the Gizmondo with unchanged hardware (save for a new graphics chip) to the market in the near future, the company is already collaborating with NVIDIA on a completely new circuit board for a future Gizmondo. More »

Liveblogging The Gizmondo GA Tech Lecture

Mike Fahey — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:00:27 EST

Carl Freer founded Gizmondo back in 2002, the idea for the ultimate handheld gaming system stemming from a child tracking product he had been developing. Three years later he resigned from his position as Chairman of the Board, the company and product both having failed miserably. Now three years later, Freer is spearheading the relaunch of the Gizmondo, ready to take another shot at the market. In a talk entitled "High Tech Ventures in Mobile Gaming and Media" at Georgia Tech, Freer will discuss his experience starting and running high tech companies, with a focus on the failure and forthcoming rebirth of the Gizmondo. Let's see what the man has to say. More »

Gizmondo Delayed Yet Again

Mike Fahey — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:30:15 EST

Time to party like it's 2005! Former Gizmondo chairman Carl Freer must be experiencing some pretty hardcore déjà vu as he reluctantly tells Swedish news site Realtid.se that the little handheld that most definitely didn't would be pushed back to late 2008, missing the originally promised May relaunch date. My sentiments right now neatly echo Ashcraft's from back in October of 2005 - the umpteenth time the Gizmondo was delayed in the State. Who gives a rat's ass? The only way I will ever own a Gizmondo is if they shipped me a free one, and even then it better damn well not say Gizmondo on the box or I'll refuse delivery. More »

Gizmondo Rising Again In 2008? Yes, Says Plextek

Mike Fahey — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:20:58 EST

Despite yesterdays excellent rumor smash performed by our sister site Gizmodo, it seems like the doomed Gizmondo handheld is destined to return to the market, thanks to the efforts of UK electronics design firm Plextek. Eurogamer spoke this morning with Plextek's technical director Ian Murphy, who confirmed the rumored resurrection.

"There are a few things to do, and it will be a while before that happens," Murphy continued. "But yes, the product has been recovered from the liquidators and we are bringing it back to market."

Murphy contends that the only reason the Gizmondo failed in the first place was an overall failure to get the product to market - a failure they plan to rectify later this year. While most of the Gizmondo folks - including convicted criminal and car abuser Stefan Eriksson - will not be attached to the project, former Gizmondo Europe chairman Carl Freer is fully on board. All I can say is that now is the perfect time to reintroduce another handheld to the market, what with how much the PSP and DS are struggling...oh wait. More »

Gizmondo Rising Again In 2008? No, Says Gizmodo

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:20:00 EST

Like you, sister site Gizmodo was recently informed of a web site for Gizmondo Live, one that promised a rebirth of the dead as a doornail handheld from Tiger Telematics. The reason for so many folks becoming familiar with the site that promises a new Gizmondo with an "open source environment" and "exciting psychic worlds" that will "democratize gaming" may be due to the prison release of a former executive. Regardless, hints that Gizmondo will rise from the ashes are greatly exaggerated, says sister site Gizmodo. More »

Gizmondo Exec Free To Terrorize Streets, Ferraris Once More

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:20:00 EST

Former Gizmondo-brand snake-oil salesman and Ferrari Enzo-killer Bo Stefan "Fat Steffe" Eriksson has been released from a Los Angeles jail. Good news for him, but bad news for exotic cars everywhere. The former executive with ties to the failed Gizmondo handheld was arrested on grand theft auto charges and later charged with embezzlement, to which he pleaded "no contest." Old Bo is on his way to either Sweden or Germany now, where we assume he'll start work on Gizmondo Advance or some such nonsense. We simply can't wait to never hear from him again. More »

Gizmondo Exec's Ferrari Crash Resurrected In Bizarre Twist

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 21:20:07 EDT

While the Gizmondo handheld device was almost immediately forgettable, the storied lives of its executives, especially notorious "Uppsula mafioso" Stefan Eriksson, have stayed with us much longer than the failed device. Today, the bizarre yarn of Eriksson's Ferrari Enzo crash in Malibu adds another thread. The mysterious "Dietrich", an otherwise unidentified German man whom Eriksson told police was driving the rare wrecked sports car, was finally arrested by police. More »

The Biggest Effe-Ups This Year

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 11:25:18 EST

Well, it's late December, and that means bring on the year end look-backs. From flying Wii-motes and Halo Hollywood pull-outs to crashing Enzos and Microsoft non-exclusive, game site Next-Gen has a look at all the muck-ups and fuck-ups. And this year's biggest loser? Well, we'll leave that to you to hash out in the comments section. Brian Ashcraft More »

Gizmondo Dude Gets Served

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 02:22:39 EST

It's been a wild ride, but it's over. Former Gizmondo don and career thug, Swedish born Bo "Fat" Stefan Eriksson has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years after pleading guilty to embezzlement and drunken driving chargers. Eriksson's California mansion has been seized and once he serves his time, Bo will be deported. What caused the plea? The Swede's attorney says: More »

Gizmondo Exec Gets Mistrial

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 21:20:39 EST

Steffan Eriksson, famous Ferrari Enzo smasher, former alleged Swedish mafiosa, and one-time Gizmondo executive, saw the judge declare a mistrial in his trial for "two counts each of grand theft and fraudulent concealment with intent to defraud." More »

Gizmondo Bo Says "No"

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 03:21:04 EDT

Car-lovin' sister site Jalopnik sends an update on the Gizmondo craziness. Former company honcho and Swedish gangster Fat Stefan Eriksson has rejected his plea deal. If Eriksson, whose real first name is "Bo," had accepted this deal and pleaded "no contest" to four counts, he would've been hit with a two year, four month sentence and a US $25,000 fine. There's more, including admitting previous felony conduct. More »

Wired's Gizmondo Exposo

egauger — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 22:40:27 EDT

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. More »

Prison Rape on the GizmoNdo: a Posthumous Review

egauger — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 21:20:49 EDT

Games-that-never-were review site LostLevels recently got ahold of Colors, which never made it to the Gizmondo. Colors is your basic thug-em-up, but is notable in that it includes prison rape as a key game mechanic More »

The Gizmondo Did Eye Toy

brownlee — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 13:40:25 EDT

Spending more time buying racehorses and model agencies than fine tuning their business strategy, Gizmondo crashed and burned like Fat Stefan in a Ferrari. But not all the ideas were terrible. In fact, this little prototype video of the unreleased Gizmondo game Catapults is pretty frickin' amazing. The game doesn't look terribly fun, but watch the Gizmondo superimpose three dimensional objects on a real space, appropriately adjusting the angle of their geometry with the angle of the mounted camera. More »

Gizmondo Exec Pleads Not Guilty

Brian Crecente — Wed, 31 May 2006 15:00:32 EDT

It would be an understatement to call Gizmondo exec Stefan Eriksson's plea of not guilty predictable. I mean, the man drives around (allegedly) stolen Ferraris, claims to work for (allegedly) national security, and worst of all, tried to launch a hybrid portable gaming device with a Sting-infested kick-off in London. Of course Captain Delusional is going to plead not guilty to his flying Ferrari shenanigans. More »

Best of E3 Nominees

Brian Crecente — Wed, 24 May 2006 22:00:50 EDT

Dean Takahashi, who has been a voting member of the nefarious Game Critics Awards "for a few years", has posted up the full list of nominees on his site. Now the 38 publications get together in some ginormous misshapen star chamber to decide who gets what awards and then vote on what ill-conceived portable gets pushed into the limelight for half a year before dying an ignoble death. You didn't think the Gizmondo happened by accident did you? Brian Crecente More »

Gizmondo's Unrealized Halo Game

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 04 May 2006 21:18:35 EDT

Simon over at GameSetWatch reports that Gizmondo had planned a 3D, FPS Halo title just before the company went bankrupt. Named Halo: Spartan, the game was being developed by Gizmondo Manchester, an insider tells GSW. If the game had been produced, it would've used the portable's back-mounted camera to detect motion and give a "mouselook"-like effect as you swiveled the handheld around. That means players could alter the camera POV just by rotating the Gizmondo. While the failed portable maker did have a contract with Microsoft Game Studios for Age of Empires, it never inked a deal with Bungie and was even trying to pass the portable off as the unofficial "Xbox Portable" in pitch meetings! Does that mean Gizmondo execs lied? There's no way we'd buy that. More »

Knucklehead Stefan: Career Criminal

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 02 May 2006 08:22:38 EDT

It's been one hell of a wild ride that's involved exotic cars, Homeland Security and a mysterious German driver. But, Stefan "Bo" Eriksson was behind the wheel, a Malibu police officer testified Monday. "He was driving the red Ferrari at the time of the crash, was knocked unconscious — he'd gotten sick and threw up," said Detective Zack Conner said during a preliminary hearing in Superior Court to determine whether "Bo" will go to trial. More »

Another Gizmondo Exec Arrested

Brian Crecente — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 14:00:46 EDT

Another Gizmondo exec has been plucked up by the boys in blue over the ever widening, increasingly bizarre case of the Farrari crash in Malibu, the LA Times reports. More »

Stefan Eriksson Declared "Flight Risk", Bail Upped

brownlee — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 11:40:21 EDT

More bad news for our boy Stefan Eriksson! Apparently, the five million dollar bail we reported earlier was inaccurate: it's actually been set at $7.5 million. More »

'Fat Stefan' Eriksson Charged With Grand Theft Auto

brownlee — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 14:40:29 EDT

Our favorite member of the Uppsala mafia, Stefan 'Fat Stefan' Eriksson, has been charged with a slew of felonies after his recent arrest. More »

Gizmondo Exec Eriksson Arrested

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 02:52:47 EDT

It seems that the hubbub surrounding Gizmondo exec Stefan Eriksson's car crash earlier this year is seeing a longer lifespan than the Gizmondo handheld itself. Eriksson is suspected of illegally importing his reportedly destroyed Ferrari Enzo, as well as black version of the same model AND his wife's former Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren that was seized weeks ago. I wonder if the Eriksson's are rocking the bus now? More »

Dumb Gizmondo Exec Loses Another Exotic Car

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 18:55:28 EST

Stefan Eriksson, former Gizmondo honcho and idiot supreme, just forked over another car. On February 21, he totaled his priceless Ferrari Enzo in a most bizarre traffic accident filled with unanswered questions, Homeland Security officers and a German fella named Dietrich. This past Sunday, Eriksson lost his $400,000+ Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. And a 13-year-old car nut happened upon the scene, catching the entire thing on tape. More »

The Crash Of Gizmondo

Michael McWhertor — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 09:07:17 EST

GameTrailer's new video is the best resource for anyone who wants to know all about the Giz, the biggest handheld disaster of all time, and the men who oversaw its production. Oh, and the destruction of Stefan Eriksson's million dollar Enzo Ferrari! (Yes, we're obsessed with this story.) More »

Gizmondo Ferrari Crash: The Movie

Brian Crecente — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 09:00:37 EST

God bless the LA Times. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department put together a little animated video showing what happened in the Farrari Gizmondo crash and the LA Times promptly placed it on their site so we could all watch and laugh. I love watching that pole just slice through the car. More »

Gizmondo Crash Continues to Baffle

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 08:23:10 EST

The Gizmondo Enzo crash keeps reaching new levels of strange. A couple weeks back, former company exec Stefan Eriksson's $1 million, non-street legal Ferrari slammed into pole doing 162 mph on the Pacific Coast Highway. More »

High Score: The Best of Kotaku

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 09:30:17 EST

It's a good thing so much seems to be happening in the world of videogaming this week, because it's damn cold outside. This hobby really makes being a shut-in tolerable. So what happened last week that was so damn interesting? Oh just this: More »

Gizmondo Exec's Ferrari Before Wreckage

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 08:22:24 EST

Late last week, Gizmondo Exec Stefan Eriksson got caught up in a fender-bender on a California highway, leaving one mangled Ferrari Enzo and alot of unanswered questions. Apparently, the car wasn't street legal, and the Gizmondo guy wasn't even driving. What a mess. More »

Gizmondo Ferrari Not Street Legal?

Brian Crecente — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 10:00:16 EST

Stefan over at Spong sends word of some interesting developments in the Gizmondo Ferrari crash story. More »

More from the Ferrari Wreck

lsmith — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 16:40:30 EST

The mechanically-inclined one of the Gawker family, Jalopnik, has some more from Gizmondo exec Stefan Eriksson's Ferrari crash. By "more" we mean grisly automobile destruction shots. Don't worry no blood, just car guts. More »

Gizmondo Exec Crashes Ferrari

lsmith — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 11:41:07 EST

Remember the Rod Stewart song "Some Guys Have All the Luck"? It couldn't possibly be any less true for Gizmondo exec Stefan Eriksson. Erikksoon plowed his Ferrari Enzo into a lightpole in Malibu. Thankfully, he's fine, but his Enzo is in about as good of shape as the Gizmondo handheld. More »

Gizmondo Europe: Game Over

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 05:21:48 EST

Things have gone from worser to worsest for Gizmondo. According to GameSpot, Tiger Telematics disclosed that its Gizmondo Europe subsidiary has been ordered to liquidate under British law. The company has tried to protect the struggling division from creditors back in January by filing a High Court application. This would have allowed Gizmondo to undergo financial restructuring. The application was denied last week. More »

Gizmondo Bankrupt?

Brian Crecente — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 13:00:23 EST

The maker of the loveless device filed for bankruptcy reorganization at close of business on Friday in the UK. There will be a hearing, featuring show girls and a racing horse, on Jan. 31 to make the request official. More »

Gizmondo Game Over...

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 14:21:43 EST

Poor, unloved Gizmondo. From the company's inexplicable no-show at CES and a lawsuit from one of its own developers to mafia-connected dudes on Gizmondo salary and pushing back its handheld in the US, the company has done everything possible to eff things up. And things are starting to catch up with them. The London-based Gizmondo Europe is broke, and is trying to secure a $5 million short-term loan until it can secure a planned $75 million in refinancing. That, my friends, will be used to pay off the short-term loan as well as the $21 million in overdue shareholder loans. Word of advice: Quit while you're ahead. More »

Mario & Sonic on Gizmondo?

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 11:22:57 EST

"You know what this little bad boy can do?" the Gizmondo guy asks, not even looking up from the portable he's playing. More »

Best and Worst of 2005

Brian Crecente — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 08:00:26 EST

The AP s Matt Slagle looks back at the year in games in a story that ran today on the wires. He writes that the high and lowlights of the year includes GTA s Hot Coffee, VG laws, the PSP, Xbox 360 and Gizmondo. More »