Posted May 29, 2013
Here's the story:
I was derping around the Internet one day, checking out things like USB SNES-style controllers, when I've stumbled upon... this thing. What the hell ?
I recalled the GCW-Zero Kickstarter in all its innovative glory and started wondering what advantages it had over my finding. The gyroscope was the only thing I could come up with, though maybe the internals hold a key to this mystery...
From what little I was able to glean, the local product has a (somewhat) higher resolution, a bigger display and - puzzling as it may be - has already been out for some time. It has some crappy camera, can be used to record audio and generally possessed a hodgepodge of disconnected kinds of functionality.
OK - you might say - it's a cheap knockoff; a "KIRF". This was a soothing conclusion I wanted to put the issue to rest with... but then I've found out something peculiar. To be precise: I haven't found anything... more.
There is seemingly no info about the thing on the Internet, barring a few Polish forum posts and the product auctions themselves. No reviews, no Youtube videos, not a damn page dedicated to it in any way... even the company responsible ("Nostromo") doesn't seem to exist (Or DOES it ? I've literally found THIS while writing the post. EMPTY, deserted 0_o.).
So - a different theory came to my mind - is this a scam ? Is this too good to be true ? Is this product nothing more than a few pretty renders ? Everything seemed to add up... Except that the seller appears to be running a legitimate business - there's an address (Warsawian), a phone number and aside from selling tons of items (from mechanical keyboards to thermal paste) the reviews are not only overwhelmingly positive but really PLENTIFUL as well. Aside from that - the mysterious gizmo is REALLY CHEAP - it's about $70, so roughly half of what the GCW guys wanted on their Kickstarter for a unit.
But if this is a Polish-designed, Chinese-manufactured handheld emulator of SNES, GBA and whatnot... why is it cheap, only sold on Allegro.pl, only heard of (as far as I can tell) in Poland, has no marketing around it whatsoever and is sold in bundles of 5 to 10 at a time ? Is this the bizarro version of Apple, where the products are cheap and offer great value while existing in informational vacuum ? Alternatively - is this thing SO BAD that no one wants to talk about it, much less recommend it to anyone ?
I know this issue may be very local and strange but perhaps there will be someone capable of shining some light on the issue. Have you seen such devices already ? Are they popular in any way ? How do they compare to the Kickstarted gizmo that should be out any day ?
I was derping around the Internet one day, checking out things like USB SNES-style controllers, when I've stumbled upon... this thing. What the hell ?
I recalled the GCW-Zero Kickstarter in all its innovative glory and started wondering what advantages it had over my finding. The gyroscope was the only thing I could come up with, though maybe the internals hold a key to this mystery...
From what little I was able to glean, the local product has a (somewhat) higher resolution, a bigger display and - puzzling as it may be - has already been out for some time. It has some crappy camera, can be used to record audio and generally possessed a hodgepodge of disconnected kinds of functionality.
OK - you might say - it's a cheap knockoff; a "KIRF". This was a soothing conclusion I wanted to put the issue to rest with... but then I've found out something peculiar. To be precise: I haven't found anything... more.
There is seemingly no info about the thing on the Internet, barring a few Polish forum posts and the product auctions themselves. No reviews, no Youtube videos, not a damn page dedicated to it in any way... even the company responsible ("Nostromo") doesn't seem to exist (Or DOES it ? I've literally found THIS while writing the post. EMPTY, deserted 0_o.).
So - a different theory came to my mind - is this a scam ? Is this too good to be true ? Is this product nothing more than a few pretty renders ? Everything seemed to add up... Except that the seller appears to be running a legitimate business - there's an address (Warsawian), a phone number and aside from selling tons of items (from mechanical keyboards to thermal paste) the reviews are not only overwhelmingly positive but really PLENTIFUL as well. Aside from that - the mysterious gizmo is REALLY CHEAP - it's about $70, so roughly half of what the GCW guys wanted on their Kickstarter for a unit.
But if this is a Polish-designed, Chinese-manufactured handheld emulator of SNES, GBA and whatnot... why is it cheap, only sold on Allegro.pl, only heard of (as far as I can tell) in Poland, has no marketing around it whatsoever and is sold in bundles of 5 to 10 at a time ? Is this the bizarro version of Apple, where the products are cheap and offer great value while existing in informational vacuum ? Alternatively - is this thing SO BAD that no one wants to talk about it, much less recommend it to anyone ?
I know this issue may be very local and strange but perhaps there will be someone capable of shining some light on the issue. Have you seen such devices already ? Are they popular in any way ? How do they compare to the Kickstarted gizmo that should be out any day ?
Post edited May 29, 2013 by Vestin
