Citing the 800 million people in the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China (aka "BRIC"), Mike Yuen, senior director of games and services at Qualcomm, said that the $199 mobile-powered Zeebo will become the "fourth console."
"There are 200 million people in Brazil with a solid middle class, and a hungry, game-buying market," said Zeebo CEO John Rizzo to a 90 percent-filled room at GDC. "Our games only cost 10-20 percent more than the illegally-pirated games, that's $2 to $3 more, and substantially less than any of the major consoles' games.
The Zeebo will launch in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in late May/early June 2009 with 600 games bundled in, plus a total of 30 more in its online store. The simple console uses mobile chips, BREW software and basic connections (A/V, power cables and wi-fi hardware) to make it cheaper than the $249-priced PlayStation 2. In late 2009, Zeebo will launch in Mexico, followed by a launch in India in 2010 and at an undetermined date in Russia.
Zeebo has substantial third-party support as indicated by the live games demoed on-screen, including Quake 1, Crash Bandicoot Nitro and Tekken 2. Official on-board publishers and developers include Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Namco, Capcom, THQ, PopCap, TecToy, GameLoft, id Software and Digital Chocolate.
Games will be displayed in 640x480 resolution, and will be purchased via a simplistic interface enabling users to play, adjust settings and buy from an online store.
"We expect people to flock to this console the way they did to the iPhone," said an optimistic Rizzo.
I was tempted until I saw the games line up, a little old for my liking, just a bit too much money (for the console) to be paying for retro games, still, I'm sure a lot of old school gamers and retro fans will be pleased to hear about this, it's certainly intriguing.
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