The Technology Suits » Mobile Consoles

Tiger Telematics, Maker of the Gizmondo, Prepares for US Launch and NASDAQ Listing

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 07:35:38 +0000

Tiger Telematics recently filed its 10k (annual report) with the SEC and is planning on filing its 10Q (quarterly report) shortly to remain up to date. After the company files its 10Q on time, it will be able its stock to trade on the NASDAQ, if approved. According to Tiger’s press release, the listing of the company’s stock on the NASDAQ will allow it to be “considered a marginable security for loans.” This can be interrupted as a signal that the company plans to take out loans to help support the upcoming launch of the Gizmondo in the United States.

As mentioned in our reporting of the company’s annual report, Tiger still has a sizeable war chest for the release of the Gizmondo. The question is will it be enough to compete against the PSP and DS.

We have only spent a limited amount of time with the Gizmondo, but it is a nice device that more than competes with its rivals. However, few consumers know of the brand, and the “awareness” battle will be a difficult one and one that will likely be decided based on “buzz”.

Understanding and Innovation Needed for Location Based Games

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 23:51:43 +0000

While the industry saw a “few early pioneers brave the location frontier”, with titles such as BotFighters, Mogi-Mogi, and Undercover 1, the technology and networks simply were not available to support mass market location based games (LBG). Now, the technology has been rolled out and network bandwidth has been increased. Why have we seen no real mass market LBG?

Kurt Uhlir, Chicago-based technologist and IGDA Mobile-SIG Chairperson, believes that innovation and a better understanding of location technologies and source material by game developers has been the barrier, but that wall is falling…

The mobile games industry did see a few early pioneers brave the location frontier with titles such as BotFighters from It’s Alive (now owned by Swedish games company Daydream Software), Portuguese developer Ydreams’ Undercover and France-based Newt Games’ Mogi Mogi, along with several academic proofs, such as CitiTag, from the UK’s Open University.

…

With the technological advancement of handsets and other mobile entertainment devices, and the higher bandwidth of 2.5G and 3G networks, the gaming industry is beginning to rethink what “mobile” means to game play. It is inspiring to hear these intentions, but the industry still has many false impressions about LBG.

In order to truly move forward with the inclusion of location into game play, companies must first understand the definition of a location-based game. Second, they must understand the complexities, strengths and weaknesses of location technologies. And third, they need to move past the “all or nothing” belief that can be seen in most discussions on the topic.

…

LBG describes any game that incorporates the player’s location (even if relative) and/or movement into the game. This might include tracking a phone as it moves through a city during a virtual paintball match or a treasure hunt, changing the weather in the game to match the weather in the players’ location, or monitoring players’ direction, velocity and acceleration during a high-intensity “battle.”

…

PDF of Complete Article

Tapwave Closes Its Doors

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 00:14:58 +0000

Tapwave has announced that it is no longer selling or supporting the Palm-OS based Zodiac.

Official company announcement

The argument can be made that the Zodiac simply tried to do to many things (similar to the claims around the N-Gage). However, Tapwave simply took too long to roll out this device and it simply could not compete with newer devices in terms of power.

Is mobile 3D finally on the move for gaming?

The Technology Suits, Editor-in-Chief: Kurt Uhlir — Sat, 30 Jul 2005 00:07:14 +0000

From an article from July Edition of 3D World Magazine:

Two years ago, experts predicted that by 2005, 3D games on mobile devices would be everywhere. They were premature – yet recent stirrings suggest the sleeping giant is finally waking. The article includes quotes from Kurt Uhlir – IGDA Mobile-SIG Chair and Chicago-based technologist, Thor Gunnarsson – Ideaworks3D and David MacQueen – Screen Digest.

Link to PDF of full article, courtesy of the magazine’s editor