Tapwave Zodiac = No More

[LeGIt]

I guess it should go here as it is quite rare even when it was in full blown production (almost no shops stocked it!), the handheld console has been pulled from whatever shelves it was hidden on and will be sold no more.

http://www.tapwave.com/

"We are sorry to inform you that the Zodiac business was discontinued and service and support are no longer available as of July 25th 2005."

To be honest I'm not really sure why they bothered trying to sell it anyway - it's not that it couldn't have contended with current handhelds had they made a decent product, but they made an uninteresting, uninspiring crock of shit. Those ASSEMbler folk who went to the show in London last September had a crack on it, tbh the game they had on display looked like micromachines but with piss poor 3d modelling and nasty physics.

I guess for the Game.com collector who wants an equally shit and rare handheld, they should be able to find them in bargain bins VERY shortly :D

[hl718]

It is somewhat amusing to note that there were decent games for the Zodiac, it was just a case of really poor market penetration (no shops wanted to carry it). That said, it's a right proper Palm Pilot underneath all the gaming stuff and it plays photos/music/movies as well so if you can find one cheap the hardware is worth it.

Oddly enough, the PSP feels almost inspired by it as the form of the PSP is similar, not to mention the function. The only thing the PSP doesn't have is a touchscreen.

-hl718

[socialdrone]

damn, i was kinda looking foreward to the zodiac...no shops near me sell them, hopefully ill be able to find one online.

[RyanGamerGoneGrazy]

*sniff* i remember reading about it when it was called the "helix"
its a sahme really, in todays market makes it impossible for small companies with interesting and unique ideas to get a foothold in the industry....

i dont think they really gave the zodiac its push towards marketing

all they really did was create the hardware and expected devs to flock to it....and unless your sony thats not gonna happen...


its sad to see any manufacture lose in the videogame race

[LeGIt]

hehe don't hold yopur breath though ;) I'd wager it won't be long before the Gizmondo goes under either :o

[Yakumo]

I thought the Gizmondo would have well been gone by now. Such a stupid name :p

Yakumo

[SuperGrafx]

damn, i was kinda looking foreward to the zodiac...no shops near me sell them, hopefully ill be able to find one online.

CompUSA was the sole mass market retailer here in the States, and some stores still have both the 32MB and 128MB models in stock.

[RyanGamerGoneGrazy]

i heard that microsoft games were onboard with the gizmondo...but the damm thing will fail missarebly anyways

[Hawanja]

Actually suprised that the Zodiac lasted this long. How long has it been out? Six months? They have a display at my local comp usa but the machine is never turned on, so I never got to play it. I'll be checking there next week to see how much they knock off it.

[hl718]

It's been out for more than 2 years...

-hl718

[SuperGrafx]

Actually suprised that the Zodiac lasted this long. How long has it been out? Six months? They have a display at my local comp usa but the machine is never turned on, so I never got to play it. I'll be checking there next week to see how much they knock off it.

Sadly, they still have em at full price. I checked last night.
They did run a sale on them about a month ago where they knocked about $100 off the price of the unit and included 4 free games. Perhaps we'll see this sort of deal soon.

[SuperGrafx]

i heard that microsoft games were onboard with the gizmondo...but the damm thing will fail missarebly anyways

Even EA is publishing games for the Gizmondo (as they did for N-Gage). Gives it some degree of credibility I suppose, but then I'm not a big fan of EA games to begin with. :)

[RyanGamerGoneGrazy]

a long time ago....people would claim "when a console gets companies like capcom or namco, you know the system is a sucess" and well ea fits the bill thses days for that....and the only game released under ea brand was madden 2005...a juiced up port of the palm version..

its kinda sad really, the zodiac was sorta gaining steam this year.....there was games like sticky dudes, mtx motorak...tomb raider...the system dies just as it starts to gain

[retro]

PC World stocked it!!

It is a shame, there was a good buzz around it. Remember seeing it in its early days, guys?

[Mark30001]

I remember those Tapwaves. I always wanted that Duke Nukem game that came with it... :(

[ASSEMbler]

It was like a big, fat, clumsy GP32

[AlbinoLove]

It was like a big, fat, clumsy GP32
...except a hell of a lot sexier...
Believe me. Big, fat, clumsy things can be pretty damn sexy...I've had my share of them :D http://assemblergames.com/forums/images/icons/icon6.gif

[JTI2K]

Old news, they announced it like 2 months ago


It was like a big, fat, clumsy GP32

If you see that screen, then the rest is way better than GP32.

Honestly, I think that Zodiac coulda been abble to emulate N64 if yoyo had more time with it.

[retro]

That is why the thread was originally started at the beginning of August! Check the small details first ;)

Yup, Zodiac was great - I was looking forward to working with it! :(

[JTI2K]

That is why the thread was originally started at the beginning of August!

My bad:smt042

[g_sepp]

YEah but how much are they selling for?

[SuperGrafx]

YEah but how much are they selling for?

CompUSA in my city has both versions (32MB and 128MB editions) for $229.99 and $349.99 respectively. Not cheap, but considering what you get in comparision to other shipping Palm PDA's, it's not that bad.

They had a sale about 2 months ago where you could snag a 32MB version for $199 plus 4 free games of your choice.

[negora]

I've one and I'm very happy with it, really.

[RyanGamerGoneGrazy]

CompUSA in my city has both versions (32MB and 128MB editions) for $229.99 and $349.99 respectively. Not cheap, but considering what you get in comparision to other shipping Palm PDA's, it's not that bad.

They had a sale about 2 months ago where you could snag a 32MB version for $199 plus 4 free games of your choice.

wow!..thats actually a great price when you look at what your geting


by the way...did anyone know theres a ps1 emulator for the pokect pc

[g_sepp]

I will wait til it drops more. clearnce time.

[negora]

G Sepp, if you get a Zodiac, I recommend you to visit www.zodiacgamer.com. And also althought you don't own one, since you can find good offers there too :) .

[g_sepp]

thanks going there now.