The Gizmondo is a handheld gaming console developed by Tiger Telematics. It was released in the UK, Sweden and the U.S. starting in March 2005. Its first-party games were developed in studios in Helsingborg, Sweden, and Manchester, England. Gizmondo Europe, Ltd. was based in London, England, and was a subsidiary of Florida-based Tiger Telematics, whose chairman Carl Freer led Gizmondo's development. Before its launch, the Gizmondo had high expectations by some journalists due to its extensive feature set, and it was aimed to compete against Nintendo and Sony; it ended up as a major sales failure. The company extravagantly spent millions on promotions such as a celebrity party at London's Park Lane Hotel, and taking part at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, despite never making a profit. Its American debut was delayed several times, and a widescreen version was announced shortly before its release – resulting in low sales. With fewer than 25,000 units sold, the Gizmondo was named by GamePro as the worst selling handheld console in history. The Gizmondo was further overshadowed when Swedish press revealed criminal pasts of several executives, causing their resignations including Tiger Telematics CEO Carl Freer. Director of Gizmondo Europe Stefan Eriksson was involved in a Swedish criminal organisation, the "Uppsalamaffian" (the Uppsala mafia). By February 2006, the company was forced into bankruptcy after amassing US$300 million (£160 million) debt, and the Gizmondo stopped production. Weeks thereafter Eriksson crashed a rare Ferrari Enzo driving at 260 km/h (162 mph) in California, and was later jailed and subsequently deported for driving under the influence in connection with the crash and other criminal offenses. History The Gizmondo device was originally called Gametraq. Tiger Telematics first published on their website in October 2003 about the device being developed. This came in response to Nokia's N-Gage. During December that year, Gizmondo made its debut as a concept product at the Las Vegas CES in January 2004, and later appeared at the German CeBIT show in March 2004. The company and the console were renamed Gizmondo around April 2004. British Formula One driver Jenson Button appeared on magazine adverts for the Gizmondo, and also had his own licensed video game for the device, Chicane, though it never released due to a dispute with Tiger Telematics and the developer of the game. In London's Regent Street, Tiger Telematics threw a party with several celebrities invited to promote the device.