What Exactly Is Gizmondo Up To?

from the doesn't-look-good dept

We've wondered about the Gizmondo gaming device a few times in the past. The company, which used to focus on in-car telematics systems jumped into the handheld gaming market with a lot of fanfare, but not very much else. The device was expensive, but they had the odd idea of subsidizing it with forced viewing of ads. However, even the subsidized price is quite high, and without much in the way of compelling games, it didn't seem to be going far. It was no wonder that they had delayed their US launch (with some rumors suggesting it would never happen at all). Russell Buckley, over at MobHappy has done a little digging into what's going on with Gizmondo and it doesn't look pretty at all. For a company that hasn't done much of anything so far, they're paying people some ridiculous sums and appear to be involved in quite a few lawsuits about questionable behavior. Most of their top executives are taking home over a million dollars a year. That might make sense if you're Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, but for a startup that's not doing particularly well, it certainly smells pretty fishy. At the same time, they've also been buying luxury cars for people associated with the company, including at least one that cost a quarter of a million dollars. Of course, while they're living it up lavishly, it appears that they're not actually paying their bills. Ogilvy Group in Sweden is currently suing the company, saying that it didn't actually pay for any of the marketing services they performed. You can make your own conclusions, but there's an awful lot here that seems quite questionable.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    RBasil, 29 Sep 2005 @ 1:15pm

    No Subject Given

    "At the same time, they've also been buying luxury cars for people associated with the company, including at least one that cost a quarter of a million dollars."

    "and provided her with a luxury automobile valued at $69,108 at the time of acquisition"

    Since when did $69,108 = a quarter of a million dollars?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Mike (profile), 29 Sep 2005 @ 1:22pm

      Re: No Subject Given

      Keep reading:

      "In the first quarter of 2005, Gizmondo Europe acquired a luxury automobile for Mr. Carroll. The automobile had a value of approximately $231,324 at the time of acquisition, which amount is included in his 2005 compensation."

      link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.