Wired reports on Gizmondo's high-speed crash-up

by Scott Jon Siegel { Oct 5th 2006 at 11:00AM }

In the tradition of upstanding journalism, Wired's Randall Sullivan follows the rise and fall of Gizmondo, framing the entire tale with company exec Stefan Eriksson's infamous crash of a rare Ferrari Enzo, which brought his company's financial indiscretions to the attention of both the law and the media.

Clocking in at over 6,000 words, Sullivan's piece delves deeply into the seedy history of both Gizmondo and Erikkson. The bizarre tale -- involving Erikkson's history as a drug dealer, and the company's close affiliations with Sweden's Uppsala Mafia -- has never been this extensively investigated, and the article covers a lot of ground in order to shed some light on a remarkable story which only gets stranger the deeper you dig.

Also worth noting are the story's outstanding accompanying illustrations, as seen above, done by comic book artist Jae Lee.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

pandlcg @ Oct 5th 2006 11:23AM

I'm halfway through this story and it's completely messed up....his early years could be a movie itself, but i wouldnt want him collecting any money on royalties.

LoveHertz @ Oct 5th 2006 11:26AM

It's really sad that the Gizmondo crashed as terribly as it did. While they did make some absurd business decisions, such as announcing the Gizmondo Widescreen prior to the US release of the Gizmondo, and other executive folleys, at its core it was a really fun machine. Near-final and final versions of Colors, an entirely-camera controlled puzzle game called Agaju, Catapult, Carmageddon, Conflict Vietnam, Alien Hominid, and others have been released, and were surprisingly pretty good.

The launch titles weren't the best by any means, but where they were going with the Gizmondo was really innovative. The gyroscopic functionality provided by the camera was actually very intuitive and accurate for such a small 0.3mp VGA camera. The GPS was fairly responsive as well, and various homebrew efforts have also given the Gizmondo the ability to run raw Windows CE programs and even TomTom. All in all, a great device.

Stoffe @ Oct 5th 2006 11:32AM

I know Stefan Eriksson, the real Stefan Eriksson.
He owes me a hundred favours.

TJOCK STEFFE ÄGER ER SÅÅ HÅRT!

Pixelantes Anonymous @ Oct 5th 2006 11:34AM

The principal operators of Gizmondo are yet on another startup scam.

Xero Mobile is a free cellphone service funded by advertising revenue, from what I can see. It's marketed to the college student crowd. $300M in funding. I'm sure most of those funds are going towards Rolex watches, fast cars and loose women, just like during Gizmondo.

http://www.xeromobile.com/

Launching in January 2007. I'll volunteer to have Uwe Boll punch me in the stomach, if it launches then.

Guy @ Oct 5th 2006 11:38AM

Dudes, this is so old. I read this seriously, like two weeks or so ago.

All Your Lost Socks @ Oct 5th 2006 12:06PM

Old, maybe, but this article was a fascinating read, and for those who hadn't come across it, I'm glad you pointed it out. Ironically, I read this yesterday, right before you put up this article.
This seriously could be a movie. And should be, once the guy is dead and no one can get any money for it. It might even make a good book, with a little artistic license. :)

Dietrich @ Oct 5th 2006 12:48PM

This isn't over.

rei @ Oct 5th 2006 2:04PM

When can we expect the hard-hitting expose on the ongoing Infinium scam with dirt on the drug OD death of Tim Roberts's brother and co-scammer? Hard-hitting interviews with Bacchus?

KYDS3K @ Oct 5th 2006 2:14PM

#3 LMAO!!!!

Jae Lee's art is wicked, one of my favorite artists . . .

flyNN @ Oct 5th 2006 2:30PM

Where's the link to that Flowchart that showed all the players/events? That was hilarious, scary, and an awesome easy way to see the big picture.

This flowchart was posted here on Joystiq b4, but I searched and couldn't find it. Anyone know how to specify an "And" operator for the Joystiq Search?

S.A. @ Oct 5th 2006 4:31PM

They should seriously make a novel out of this. It is a very intriguing story, hell, I should research it and write a novel myself, Ill make millions.

idioteraser @ Oct 5th 2006 5:40PM

As for them making a film I thought the Son of Sam law already prevented them from getting money on it. For those that don't know the infamous Son of Sam killer was going to make a lot of money from movies, books etc about him which outraged the families of his victims as well as many politicians etc. So laws were passed preventing a criminal from profiting on depications of their life or criminal activities.

rodan32 @ Oct 8th 2006 1:52PM

Dudes, I totally want a Gizmondo now. I will put it beside my Nomad and Virtual boy, in a lovely display case. It will have a little plaque with all the sordid details.