Blaze unveils new handheld GameGadget

If market success were achieved through ambition and self-belief, then Blaze’s new machine is a guaranteed winner.

After all, it takes a remarkable amount of confidence for a company announcing a new 99.99 portable games console to claim it will change the way that games are played, developed and sold”.

But that’s how Blaze is pitching its new GameGadget, which is due for release before the end of the year in the UK.

The firm says the handheld has been created to allow Gamers to purchase legal and secure downloads of their favourite games through an iTunes style application onto a single portable device”.

Blaze reckons it will be able to provide a simple and secure platform for programmers, publishers and developers to instantly monetize their back-catalogue.

It claims that publishers and content holders will be able to upload games in their original format” to the service, though how compatibility is handled by the GameGadget is not explained.

Specs have not been revealed though we do know that GameGadget runs a Linux based OS

The proposed downloads for the system will all use a unique form or DRM – though how much hunger there is out there for any form of DRM, new or otherwise, can certainly be debated.

Blaze even tries to argue that the device will help those looking for a career in gaming, as its open development platform can be harnessed by anyone. Much like the iPhone, of course.

GameGadget has been designed with the ultimate goal of playing every game on a single device, just as the iPod was for music,” GameGadget creator Jason Cooper stated.

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”.