Blaze announces GameGadget hand-held

 

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Posted on 22 Nov 2011 at 11:38

Blaze Interactive, a company best known for its console add-ons and licensed Sega hand-held consoles, has announced that it will be entering the console market with an original product of its own: the GameGadget.

Designed to appeal to developers wanting to produce their own games and to retro gaming enthusiasts, the GameGadget is a Linux-based hand-held console which its creators aim to be the 'iPod of gaming.'

"GameGadget has been designed with the ultimate goal of playing every game on a single device, just as the 'iPod' was for music," GameGadget inventor Jason Cooper explained at the announcement. "Hundreds of thousands of games are currently 'archived' and no longer being enjoyed by gamers, with no value being generated for the developers and publishers.

"The launch of GameGadget creates a market for gamers to play the games they want to play. The GameGadgetGames service, just like Apple's App Store, allows the owners of these games to re-market their back catalogue, in their original format, set the appropriate pricing and gain incremental revenue, but with no additional investment."

The GameGadget looks to succeed where other hand-held consoles featuring emulation have failed, by packing games with digital restrictions management - DRM - technology to prevent copying, and by only offering titles with the full consent of their original publishers.

The result: a device that gamers can use to play all their favourite retro games, but one which is unlikely to disappear in a cloud of lawsuits when it launches.

"We have developed GameGadget to restore the video gaming experience to how it should be, for both gamers and developers," claimed Cooper. "GameGadget is a unique gaming device, a bespoke software application and digital store. Our catalogue is ever expanding; allowing users fast and secure downloads all supported by an online community, giving gamers the total gaming experience."

The device is due to launch in January 2012, priced at £99.99. Interestingly, Blaze has opted to sell the device exclusively through a dedicated website, rather than via its existing retail channels.

Author: Gareth Halfacree