Gizmondo fans may be disappointed, although not entirely surprised, to hear that the next generation of their favorite handheld gaming device will miss its end-of-year target launch date (after missing its May 2008 launch already).

Apparently something called “the economy” is slowing things down and Team Gizmondo actually started looking for a new equipment manufacturer after the original Chinese company hired to build the thing had been “dragging their feet,” according to tech reporter Hans Sandberg.

Upon searching for a better manufacturer, it was decided that the Gizmondo hardware needed to be redesigned altogether. Current plans apparently entail building added functionality into Windows Mobile and Android devices in the form of an advanced OMAP3 graphics chip from Texas Instruments. The software platform will also apparently be completely open, as in, no restrictions for developers whatsoever. You can code up a game, put it on the Gizmondo market, and see if it sells. There’d be no verification process by the company. Iffy? We’ll see.

As far as the device itself is concerned, it’ll actually work as a phone and will be available in two versions – Windows Mobile and Android. Says Sandberg,

The new Gizmondo will come in two versions, Windows CE and Linux based Android. And as it will be built on a smartphone platform, it will have a phone! But, it will not cost 99 dollars, for the simple reason that it costs more to by from OEM’s than if you have a large manufacturer who can build everything from scratch.

Of course, the actual launch date and definitive pricing will be pretty important – and we have neither of those figures yet.

[via Engadget]

A group of benighted acolytes dedicated to the dead god, Gizmondo, are talking now of porting the GPS/game device/flash in the pan to Android, thereby fulfilling the prophecy (In dark days a madman vanquished will make the Gizmondo dead/but hear me, followers, do not weep for on the eve of Gizmas the sun will rise and bring with it a compact mobile platform based on Linux/and the Gizmondo will come again.)

What does this mean for you and me? Nothing, but it’s fascinating to see that these people still love the Gizmondo even after it’s CEO stole all of the company’s money and blew a hole in an exotic car and then the founder vowed to bring the hardware back in a market already basically owned by Nintendo. Good luck, boys!

And why should the gaming community pay any attention at all to this ridiculous device? Why should they not focus their interest on other, more open, homebrew-focused devices like the GP2X and Pandora? Or perhaps the DS, for which the hacking possibilities are endless? Why should we care about this failed product from a calamity of a company? I don’t know — they didn’t ask that question.

Carl Freer says there will be a new graphics chip but other than that it’s unchanged. Also, they’re going open-source, or at least they say so, and will be talking to universities to provide content. Kind of a weird announcement.

New Gizmondo Development Has Already Started [Kotaku]

Some of you might remember Gizmondo as the almost-vaporware-like handheld gaming device that was the brainchildfart of some Swedes, notably Stefan Eriksson, who later totaled a rare Ferarri Enzo almost exactly two years ago today.

Now more details are emerging about Gizmondo’s rumored comeback, sans Eriksson, and it looks like the wheels have started to turn. In an interview on the blog Nordic Link, blogger Hans Sandberg has a nice chat with Gizmondo’s Carl Freer about the return of a new version of the device, production, and the company’s executives’ links to organized crime. It’s a good read and worth it: A new Gizmondo might shake things up when it launches later this year. The original wasn’t all that bad but was sadly overshadowed by the exploits of its masters.

Carl Freer: Gizmondo Arrives Late 2008 [Nordic Link]

You guys remember Gizmondo, right? Well, it appears the fabled handheld is making a comeback thanks to Plextek who rescued it from the hands of liquidators. Don’t worry, Stefan Eriksson is not involved, but Carl Freer is, even though his actions were somewhat questionable. No word on when Gizmondo will make its market debut, but it is, in fact, coming back.

Gizmondo is coming back – it’s official [Euro Gamer]

An LA court sentenced him to 3 1/2 years in jail after entering a guilty plea to charges of embezzlement and drunk driving, which was sparked by his spectacular crash of a Ferrari Enzo into a telephone pole. His multi-million dollar home was seized as well, and he’ll be getting a swift boot out of the country after his time is served.

Former Gizmondo exec is sentenced [bbc.co.uk]

The Enzo has less than 6 inches of ground clearance, and at that speed, it took only a slight scrape under the front bumper to launch the vehicle. The airborne Ferrari landed in a skid that in a blink became a sidelong drift. Tires shredding, the car bounced over the shoulder onto a grassy slope wet with dew. All Eriksson could do was hold on as the slithering, swiveling Enzo again achieved liftoff, then slammed broadside into a wooden power pole.

For those who forgot or don’t care, the Gizmondo team was populated by members of the Swedish mafia (I know!!) and burned through millions of dollars in a quixotic quest to create an advanced gaming platform that everyone knew would fail immediately. After holding lavish launch parties around the world and leasing expensive cars, the management team disappeared, the company fell into bankruptcy, and Eriksson nearly became a Swedish meatball.

The illustrations for this story are by Jae Lee and kick major ass.

Gizmondo’s Spectacular Crack-up [Wired]