Remember Bo Stefan Eriksson, the Gizmondo bigshot that wrecked that sweet Ferrari Enzo and then went to jail? His life hasn't been too great lately, but apparently his trials and tribulations are interesting enough for a Hollywood movie. We guess driving drunk and running a company into the ground makes for entertaining cinema ...

But, we digress. The men who want to turn this sad tale into a sad tale starring more beautiful people for the silver screen are writer-director Craig Zobel and producer Beau Flynn. These two have optioned Wired's "Gizmondo's Spectacular Crack-up," which was written by Randall Sullivan and chronicles the events that led up to that infamous crash. Flynn's production company Contrafilm will handle most of the heavy lifting.

When you think about it, though, is this really movie theater entertainment? Wouldn't this be a good cautionary tale for an after school special or that Intervention show?

[Via Engadget]

Read - Film gets optioned
Read - The original Wired article

We didn't expect the biggest news of 2008 to hit so late in the year. Folks, we've got some bad, bad news for you: the Gizmondo is not making its 2008 rebirth as originally planned. We'll give you time to let that sink in. The culprit, according to co-founder Carl Freer (you know, the one who isn't a felon), is the global economy. To be sure, GIzmondo still lives and is expected to come in two mobile OS variants,Windows CE and Android, and as such the device will still be usable as a phone.

Although not officially priced, it will not come out for the onetime-announced $99. Said Freer, "The simple reason [is] that it costs more to by from OEM's than if you have a large manufacturer who can build everything from scratch." Fear not, true believers, the Gizmondo will rise again ... someday.

[Via Engadget]

We usually use the Wii Warm Up to discuss and dissect Wii-related minutiae, but today we want to know more about your non-Nintendo gaming habits. Which other consoles do you own (current-gen or otherwise), which is your favorite (after the Wii, naturally), and what did you last play/are you currently playing through?

After giggling off yesterday's Gizmondo teaser site for all its "the legend is reborn" and "exciting psychic worlds" posturing, we've now discovered that the spectacularly unsuccessful gadget will get to enjoy the last laugh. The menacing, synthesized cackling you hear originates from the halls of UK electronics design firm Plextek, which has confirmed to Eurogamer that the Gizmondo is indeed coming back.

Though "it will be a while" before the handheld system returns in some form, Plextek technical director Ian Murphy insists that "the product has been recovered from the liquidators and [Plextek is] bringing it back to market." Former Gizmondo exec and Ferrari killer Stefan Eriksson won't be along for the ride this time, but company founder Carl Freer is reportedly on board. He was recently quoted by a Swedish journalist as saying, "I'm going to resurrect Gizmondo." In the same interview, Freer saw the device's second coming happening as soon as May 2008.

Perhaps consumer applause will be a bit more rapturous this time.

Read - Carl Freer interview
Read - Engadget summary
Read - Eurogamer confirmation

Gizmondo is back! Sort of, anyways. Or not. A teaser for the device's phoenix-like return has been posted online, boasting "the legend is reborn," "exciting psychic worlds" and "we will democratize gaming." Also mentioned is open source gaming ("create your own games") and Gizmondo Live Marketplace, which we're guessing for the moment means a portal for open source software. The Gizmondo originally debuted in 2005 and has a rather storied history of failure and scandal.

More "information" is available at ekonominyheterna, for those who can read Swedish (there are some pretty shoddy translations out there, too). We wonder if the recently-released former Gizmondo executive Stefan Eriksson will be involved. If you liked the flash-based teaser, you can make your own here - it turns out the template only costs $66.

Update: In case the aforementioned template didn't make it explicitly clear, here's more on the Gizmondo's disappointing non-return.
Well, so much for the "rumor smash." The Gizmondo is coming back.

[Via Engadget]

In today's video pick, GameTrailers counts down its list of the top ten console failures, including the Jaguar, Virtual Boy, and 3DO. We were tortured by watching footage of these console failures, yet we couldn't turn away, wishing that the hardware had succeeded while laughing about all the obvious reasons the systems bombed. The list covers the systems we expected; would you have added others?

See the video after the break.

Industry shows are interesting beasts to witness. Frequently, we get clues about the future of gaming simply by looking at who decides to show up. There is one big surprise listing at the 2007 CES.

According to the CES website, "It's all fun and games for AMD, Apex Digital, ATI, Dell, Logitech, Nvidia, Alienware, Microsoft, Sony and Gizmondo." This is a fairly odd sentiment given the company is now bankrupt and isn't making games anymore. Maybe the CES doesn't pay much attention to the news (or found it near-impossible to decipher) or Gizmondo pre-paid over a year ago and gets an empty booth.

Gizmondo doesn't seem to be dying a graceful death. Stories like the Bo Stefan Eriksson story keep cropping up. Maybe the empty booth at the 2007 CES will be the dénouement of this pathetic riches-to-rags story; or maybe a huge surprise with the return of Gizmondo.

[Thanks, Falafelkid]

Former Gizmondo executive, Bo Stefan Eriksson, plead guilty yesterday to embezzlement and drunk driving charges. He will serve 3 1/2 years in prison, have his California mansion seized to pay debts and be deported from the U.S. after his prison sentence is over. So ends the epic of Gizmondo.

The plea comes a week after a Los Angeles jury deadlocked 10-2 of convicting Eriksson on embezzlement and car theft charges. The cars that Eriksson allegedly stole includes the $1 million Ferrari Enzo he obliterated. The Ferrari incident took the Gizmondo story of corruption, from passing fancy, to full-blown prime-time gaming industry soap opera.

See also:

• Wired reports on Gizmondos high-speed crash-up
• Gizmondo's Colors uses prison sex as game mechanic
• Gizmondo exec's Ferrari before and after
  

Los Angeles Times paints a vivid portrait of a courtroom scene seemingly cast to ease the transition into primetime TV drama.

The star of course, Bo Stefan Eriksson, the now infamous ex-Gizmondo exec, is squeezed into a tight blue suit. He's accompanied by Jim Parkman, the Alabama bred defense attorney who muses jurors with a "grand-mammy" saying: "No matter how thin you make a pancake, it still has two sides." Manicured Swedish interpreters relay the message to Eriksson who swivels in his chair, winking back at his wife.

Later, the prosecution calls its first witness. A banker with a thick British accent settles into the stand. Pushing his slipping spectacles back up, Mr. Hyett begins to recite the finer points of lease purchase agreements, licensing authorities, and registered introducers. Near the back of the courtroom, a family waiting for their lawyer dozes off.

They awake from a stir. The prosecution has just posted an enlarged copy of the Ferrari sales receipt, complete with a striking image of the exotic sports car. Murmurs ensue.

See also:
Former Gizmondo executive, two others linked to Swedish mafia
Former Gizmondo exec. involved in Ferrari Enzo crash
Gizmondo exec's Ferrari, before and after
Gizmondo exec's life continues to spiral into infamy
Ex-Gizmondo exec arrested, faces grand theft charges

GameSpot reports that the GP2X has sold 30,000 units since its European launch earlier this year. Craig Rothwell, Director of GP32/2x Distribution, expects the Linux handheld sales to total 50,000 by the end of the year.

Is 50,000 a lot? We think it's a reasonable amount and could sustain a well-run business. According to gamesindustry.biz, the ill-fated Gizmondo sold less than 5,000 units in its first three months. (Both devices were launched in the United Kingdom.) While the GP2X has had three times as long to reach 30,000, over its life-span, the GP2X has sold twice as well as the Gizmondo.

The European Nintendo DS launch dwarfed both systems, totaling 87,000 units in two days. Comparing the GP2X and DS is like comparing an office softball team with the Yankees, but that doesn't mean that both can't coexist. (And yes, the DS Phat was caught juicing, which is why the Lite is so scrawny.)

Read: Q&A: GP2X chief Craig Rothwell
Read: GP2X handheld expected to reach 50,000 sales by Xmas

[Thanks, JamesO]

We haven't had Gizmondo news in forever! In the last episode of the defunct handheld's now epic saga, Stefan Eriksson, the former CEO who was ousted after it was discovered he had committed fraud in the '90s, totaled his million dollar Ferrari Enzo.

The guys at Lost Levels got their hands, by nefarious means we presume, on a never-released title for the console and now have an "exclusive" review of the Gizmondo's would be killer-app, Colors. Although slightly embellished, Lost Levels' Frank Cifaldi swears that the game, and the soon to be mentioned game mechanic, are absolutely true.

Colors looks like your standard GTA knock-off, except when you get arrested by the cops, you'll be sent to jail. After talking to a few people in the cell, a tattooed bear named James Earl Wyatt will help you get out of jail -- for a special fee that won't cost you a dime! All the player has to do is agree to be (choosing words carefully) willingly violated in the backside of the moon region to the point that it will cause enough damage that your character will wake up in the hospital.

Well, it is a much easier method to get out of jail than what the guys on Prisonbreak had to go through!

So this is why that Gizmondo dude mutilated his $1 million Ferrari (other than street racing while drunk). Lumines on the sun visors.

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?

[Via /.]

Detective Zack Conner testified that ex-Gizmondo exec Bo Stefan Eriksson was indeed the (intoxicated) driver during the now infamous Ferrari crash this past February in Malibu, ruling out claims that "Dietrich" — Eriksson's imaginary friend — was behind the wheel. In addition to the DUI charge, Eriksson has been pegged with embezzlement, grand theft, and possession of a gun by a felon.

The gaming industry's bad boy is no stranger to the criminal lifestyle. He served 5 & 1/2 years in Swedish prison for assaults, threats, and extortion.

See also:

• Ex-Gizmondo exec's bail set at $7.5M, considered flight risk
• Ex-Gizmondo exec arrested, faces grand theft charges
• Gizmondo exec's life continues to spiral into infamy

[Thanks, elvisizer]

The Los Angeles Times reports that Carl Freer, co-founder and managing director of Gizmondo, was arrested yesterday for allegedly impersonating a police officer in order to obtain a .44 magnum handgun.

Police searched Freer's home and 100-foot yacht, turning up 12 rifles and four handguns.

A little advice from Joystiq to Freer and Ericksson: what with the guns, the millions wasted, the totaled Enzo Ferrari, the drunk driving, the garage full of "misappropriated" exotic cars, the swank mansions and the yacht, y'all can probably lay off building "street cred" now. We believe you. You're hard. Real hard.

Question is, will Fiddy believe you enough to make room for you in his G Unit?

[Update 1: Fixed an error in the number of rifles found on Freer's property.]