wraggster
May 6th, 2006, 10:42
Via Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/05/gizmondo-halo-project-used-cam-mouselook/)
Back before "Fast" Stefan Eriksson was crashing cars and lying to police, he ran a little portable gaming company called Gizmondo. Their scam? Defraud investors by promising them a way into the very attractive, and lucrative, gaming market.
One of their most effective tools was to promise a Gizmondo-exclusive portable Halo title. Gizmondo did have an arrangement with Microsoft Game Studios to produce some titles, including the popular MechAssault series, but Halo was definitely not a part of that arrangement. A former-Gizmondo employee told GameSetWatch that the title had only "a storyline and basic game structure at the very earliest stage of concept" and that it was all done "with a wink and a nudge to extract more cash out of the investors." Isn't that sweet?
It isn't all bad though: the engineers at Gizmondo managed to get code running -- using one of id's open-source game engines -- enabling the Gizmondo's rear-mounted camera to control the "mouselook", allowing for a uniquely precise handheld FPS control scheme. Who knows what could have come of the Gizmondo if the execs weren't busy lining their pockets?
Back before "Fast" Stefan Eriksson was crashing cars and lying to police, he ran a little portable gaming company called Gizmondo. Their scam? Defraud investors by promising them a way into the very attractive, and lucrative, gaming market.
One of their most effective tools was to promise a Gizmondo-exclusive portable Halo title. Gizmondo did have an arrangement with Microsoft Game Studios to produce some titles, including the popular MechAssault series, but Halo was definitely not a part of that arrangement. A former-Gizmondo employee told GameSetWatch that the title had only "a storyline and basic game structure at the very earliest stage of concept" and that it was all done "with a wink and a nudge to extract more cash out of the investors." Isn't that sweet?
It isn't all bad though: the engineers at Gizmondo managed to get code running -- using one of id's open-source game engines -- enabling the Gizmondo's rear-mounted camera to control the "mouselook", allowing for a uniquely precise handheld FPS control scheme. Who knows what could have come of the Gizmondo if the execs weren't busy lining their pockets?