Zeebo is a new video game console, intended for emerging markets worldwide, specifically BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India, and China, which represents 800 million people.
Zeebo is based on Qualcomm mobile technology, from the graphics chipset to the 3G wireless network, and has positioned itself as a piracy-free alternative to the larger, more expensive consoles. In Brazil, for instance, where the console is launching first, a PS3 costs the equivalent of US$1,100 new, and the Wii costs US$1,000, because neither console has officially launched there — the only alternative for those consoles is piracy.
Zeebo Inc. founder Reynaldo Norman stepped up to the plate to demonstrate the console live from the conference room. He was using a Brazilian launch unit with a U.S. SIM card, and it worked quite well. The console sports a game-by-game single screen UI with games rotating on a wheel in 3D space. In the top left corner, you see signal strength, and in the top right your number of Z-credits, similar to Xbox Live points.
It took about 30 seconds to connect to the shop, but Norman indicated this was not the norm, and depended on signal strength. From there, browsing was actually quite brisk, as Norman flicked through genre categories (though only Quake was actually displayed). He downloaded Quake live, and it took under 20 seconds for the full game to be downloaded and ready to play. As with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the Zeebo allows players to purchase additional credits via the UI.
Games shown to be eventually playable included Quake, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart Racing, Tekken 2, Double Dragon, and Zeebo Racing.
The console sports 1 GB of flash memory, and the games will be “between five and 50 megabytes,” says Norman. He deleted a game to demonstrate the process, and a notification window popped up indicating that if you delete any software, you will have to buy it again should you want to replace it.
The development process, Rizzo says, is “almost identical to BREW development but a little better in some ways.” Companies become a BREW developer, get Zeebo approval, develop with the BREW SDK, go through approval by testing firm NSTL, and then reach the console.
“There’s a question, the big elephant in the room, which is the iPhone,” says Rizzo. “There’s a big sucking sound with all the resources going to iPhone from the other platforms.”
But in Brazil, an iPhone plus a rate plan is $2,400. The Zeebo, which has no rate plan, and works on a normal TV, is $199. From a publisher position, there are 6,000 games on the iPhone app store, so new products are a drop in the bucket.
With Zeebo, there will be about 300 games, Rizzo estimates: “We want to have a smaller number of developers, focusing on quality.” Current publishers and developers include Com2Us, Digital Chocolate, Glu, id, THQ, Namco, Capcom, Pop Cap, EA, Activision, and others.
Zeebo plans to have 15 titles available at launch and 30 within 90 days, claiming to have the largest launch selection of any home console.
“We have low expectations but high hopes and high dreams for the future,” Rizzo summed up, saying that the console is entering retail in Rio de Janeiro first in May, in Mexico later in 2009, in India in 2010, in Eastern Europe in mid-2010, and then in China in 2011. No date has yet been announced for North America.