Is the iPhone the new Gizmondo?

I’ve been thinking about buying an iPhone (yes, I’m late to the party, but then again I’ve only just started blogging which is sooo 2005) and looking at its specifications it brought to mind another smart handheld device – the Gizmondo.

For those of you who don’t remember, or simply missed it, the Gizmondo was a short lived handheld game device released in the wake of the PSP and DS in February 2006. It had built-in GPS, could play MP3s and video, had a comparatively weak camera, and perhaps most impressively had games that you could play by tilting the handset. Instead of an accelerometer, the Gizmondo used its camera to register movement. For a brief period there was a rumour that this no-mark console would have a version of Halo where players controlled the FPS camera by moving the handset – an idea that is now coming to iPhone with a port of Bioshock.

Of course the Gizmondo never took off partly because despite its many features, it was a bit rubbish and mostly because it turned out to be a front for the Swedish mafia – which is one of the great new-media scandals of recent years.

The iPhone, I think it’s safe to say, has taken off, and I’m really interested in game uses for its accelerometer.  Monkeyball is probably the most famous example so far, but there are some other, smaller, but no less cool apps emerging.

Researching yesterday’s post I found mention on American McGee’s blog of a cool slashing game to promote the serial killer drama Dexter.

Over on Knitware they’ve been admiring Carling’s iPint game.

And for the extra geeky there’s always the phonesaber

I’m looking forward to someone building a Wii-esque multiplayer tennis game that I can play with all my iPhoney friends.  When I buy one of course.  In 2010.