LGR - Gizmondo: The Worst-Selling Handheld Console Ever

Here in scandinavia we take 4-6 week vacations and noone expects people not to show up at work at the other end. Breaks are healthy! :)

Cleverly Blonde

Glad you are taking a break. We will be here for the long haul.

Ryan Yoder

Good question! I've never had a problem remembering what I've done a dedicated video on since each one often takes a couple dozen hours to complete. Gets pretty cemented in the mind by that point. I do, however, forget which videos I reference or show things that aren't the focus of the video. Like just the other day I couldn't remember where I'd talked about the Tandy Coco3, turned out to be a find in an episode of LGR Thrifts.

LGR

A very interesting little device just by itself, but just like the tragic story about Eagle Computers, the backstory of the persons connected to the company is even more interesting. Great video as always! Just a quick question unrelated to this video. As you've done 948 videos by this point, are you able remember which games/software/hardware you've done a review on, without looking it up first? I don't have any good references to compare to, so it's just a curious question. :)

Mark Tbom

Sure was. And that was even using a filter on the lens that cuts down glare!

LGR

Man, this looks like it was HUGE pain to film with how shiny that screen is. In a few shots, I can tell you were trying to angle it away a bit so it wouldn't be reflecting right at the camera.

Elizabeth Sullivan-Burton

Glad you enjoyed it! Lots of potential indeed, all of it squandered on excess in the wrong places and ludicrous mismanagement.

LGR

Thank you, happen to enlighten :)

LGR

If you take a step back and look at the whole picture then you see a market that was dominated by Nintendo all the time. You could produce anything you want, even Sony in the end packed and left the market for Big N. Devices i like and cherish, like the nGage QD are only a footnote here, sadly.

BastetFurry

I really wish the Gizmondo went somewhere... and y'know the owners weren't crooks and all. But in all seriousness, the unit is amazing. It really did put together a fantastic set of stuff into a beautiful package. It's a platform I would absolutely port a couple emulators over to if it wasn't for the fact that a) nobody seems to have one and b) those who do, they're all gummy and terrible. The integrated graphics chipset is now well understood, and it would be completely possible to create booter applications to go straight into games and really drive the hardware for everything it's worth. But again, nobody has one, so it's one of those platforms I could never ever justify putting any time into. Also I don't exactly own one, so that's a problem too, but seriously, what a fantastic little console especially for the time.

avfusion

This was fantastic, 29 and a half minutes well spent watching a very comprehensive video on something I never saw in real life, but have heard so much about. It seems to me it had potential, but was rushed to market, a little more product development and better management and the story could have been very different indeed.

Troy Wilkins

Great review! With you doing a video on the Gizmondo, I couldn't help but think a perfect follow-up would be the GP2X.... ;D My offer still stands if you're interested in me sending it out to you for a review!

Tktagmedia

I am 31 and I am ashamed to say I knew nothing about this back in the day. Great video.

It would be fitting enough to say they went for a market that turned out to not be there (the same market the Zodiac and N-Gage went for), but all the extra twists in the story really make it stand out amongst the others in the cesspit XP And yeah, would you believe they made the entire case out of that rubber coating? Who even invented that plastic? In retrospect it just made all those devices and old ThinkPads harder to maintain.

Devon the Rogue Supreme

Awesome video. I remember these coming out and being sold here in Australia at the time briefly but I ended up opting for a psp instead.

Bryndal Dwyre

I remember following the story of this trainwreck on the blog UK Resistance back in the day. What a bizarre thing the Gizmondo was...

Aleksander

This is amazing. I remember hearing about this product back in the day, but it didn't stick around long. I thought it was just an ill-conceived product like the Nokia N-Gage. I had no idea the backstory for the company was so much worse (and shadier!). Pure gold.

Corey Ruth

That intro video for Sticky Balls was amazing. I remember watching it back in 2007.

Evangeline Domenech

You finally did it! The Gizmondo video! I remember playing this at E3 (2005?) and thinking it was just so cool and out of left field.

Tbh this is making me wanna make a hand-help ps2 emulator. just because old games have that weird charm that putting em on tiny screens make em more fun cause there on tiny screens.

Thank you!

LGR

Yep, I've read there's a way to remove the Giz UI and run CE software. Although without a keyboard or touchscreen there's not much to do.

LGR

Great video! Maybe the Gizmondo didn't get a chance to shine back in 2005, but you sure gave it an amazing homage 13 years later

Frederic St-Georges

Windows CE? Is there a way to "hack" it to get a normal Windows desktop?

Eric Siegel

Life's just not fair, haha

LGR

A movie has been in the works (supposedly) since 2010! <a href="https://www.movieinsider.com/m7099/gizmondo" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.movieinsider.com/m7099/gizmondo</a>

LGR

"...pretty much every kind of LGR thing I do, all in one place." Only thing missing is a dill pickle spear :D

Haitani

It's more the fact that it doesn't connect well at all and can take half an hour to do so. There were plenty of articles criticizing it for that back in the day. Gizmondo reps even complained that it was hard to demonstrate the GPS to customers due to how bad it was at getting a connection. Just one such quote: "Every time they did a demo of the GPS, they had to walk out of the store and hold the machine up high for about half an hour while the customer was waiting..." <a href="https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-06-a-horse-named-gizmondo-the-inside-story-of-the-worlds-greatest-failed-console" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-06-a-horse-named-gizmondo-the-inside-story-of-the-worlds-greatest-failed-console</a>

LGR

That's why I called that section of the video "A Gizmondo Tale." It's pretty much a Tech Tales rolled up into a larger video.

LGR

LOL at the fake AR demo. The hand moves the console, but the video doesn’t match anymore.

Bastien Nocera

This really struck me as making a great Tech Tales, or does it in some way not qualify as a Tech Tale? I wasn't sure.

Steve Skafte

About the GPS, it’s pretty much expected to take that long without some sort of data connection providing it with some info about the position of the satellites in your area, I don’t think it’s a problem that’s specific to the Gizmondo.

Bastien Nocera

How does a handheld with a best-selling game called Sticky Balls NOT conquer the world. Some things just don’t make sense.

Jeremy

Haha. ok I'm only halfway through this video and I feel this backstory is worth a movie by itself! It's Beverly Hill Cop and any good Arnold Schwarzenegger movie combined.. maybe some british "Lock, stock and two smoking barrels" sprinkles. :D So glad I'm not affiliated with those two shady CEOs at all. Great entertainment as usual! We want more stories like these! :D

Anders Enger Jensen

Worst, for sure. Although they promised the world when trying to sell it ;)

LGR

Same, I was shocked someone still had the complete package in such good shape they were willing to loan me!

LGR

Stoked that you're able to cover this.

LITERALLY yesterday I watched Guru Larry's video in the worst selling consoles. Look forward to watching this after work

mychemicalbromance

It it supposed to be "world-selling" or "worst-selling?"

The 8-Bit Guy