Tiger Telematics opened its Gizmondo London flagship store, and its launch party featured celebrities including rapper Busta Rhymes, boxer Lennox Lewis and actor Verne Troyer. The opening coincided with the launch of the Gizmondo portable wireless video game device in the United Kingdom.
Tiger Telematics managed to beat the release of Sony Corp.’s highly anticipated PSP video game device in the United Kingdom, but the company will fall behind Sony in the United States. Sony plans to release its PSP device in the United States Thursday, while Tiger Telematics has said it will release the Gizmondo in the United States as well as in continental Europe in the spring.
The Sony PSP features Wi-Fi technology for multiplayer gaming, while the Gizmondo features GPRS wide area network connectivity as well as global positioning system and Bluetooth technologies.
Indeed, the handheld video game market is seeing increased competition with Nokia Corp.’s N-Gage device and Nintendo’s GameBoy.