Tapwave officially announced that their Zodiac products and games for the Zodiac will be available, starting in June 2004, in CompUSA stores nationwide.
With hardware from ATI and support from developers such as iD and publishers such as Activision the Zodiac is slowly emerging as a considerable quantity in the upcoming handheld wars and this latest move to retail shelves in the U.S. further pushes the device into the industry mainstream. The Zodiac consoles, accessories and four of the most popular Zodiac gaming titles are scheduled to be on CompUSA store shelves by late June.
In addition to launching at retail, Tapwave will release up to 10 new premiere titles by the end of the year, along with 60 to 75 Tapwave Certified or Tuned titles, such as MicroQuad (arcade/racing game), Hellfire: Apache vs. Hind (helicopter combat game), Orbz (action arcade) and Acedior (RPG). Some of the Zodiac premiere titles for this year will include Activision's Moto MTX: Mototrax and Street Hoops, Eidos' Tomb Raider and Atari's Neverwinter Nights. Activision's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 just released in March, DOOM II and Duke Nukem: Mobile Mayhem will be launching in the next few weeks.
To ensure the continued success of the Zodiac, Tapwave is partnering with leading game publishers to bring other well-known premiere titles to Zodiac console users. Since launch, Tapwave has penned deals with leading titles from Activision, id, Eidos, Atari, Midway, Apogee, Fathammer, Sega and Epyx.
The Zodiac mobile entertainment console also provides a perfect platform to bring classic games back to life and quickly deliver more content to the Zodiac platform. With its ATI Imageon graphics accelerator and Motorola i.MX1 ARM 9 processors, the Zodiac is the first handheld device to have enough power to run full versions of "retro" game engines. Currently, Zodiac users are able to run the Sega Genesis, and Atari 2600. In fact, Sega Genesis classics like Golden Axe 3 and Altered Beast, and Atari 2600 games, like Centipede and Asteroids, are already available in the Tapwave online store. In the near future, the Commodore 64 engine will be available for the Zodiac, and will be supporting Bluetooth multiplayer play. Commodore 64 games will be sold in bundles, such as the C64 Sports Bundle, featuring Winter Games, Summer Games and a baseball game, or the C64 Action Bundle, including Sub Battle Simulator, Destroyer, Pitstop II and Super Cycle.
The company has also recently completed the Zodiac software 1.1 update, which has the following features:
- Background Music Play: You can play music in the background while playing games, viewing photos, managing your organizer or doing just about anything with your Zodiac console. An icon has been added to the status bar to provide one-tap access to music playback controls. In addition the Music/Preferences dialog features controls to customize background play behavior.
- System-wide Quick Launch: The Quick Launch feature lets you launch your favorite applications using the action buttons. With the 1.1 Software Update, Quick Launch works system-wide by simply holding down the home button while pressing the selected action button. This chording feature ensures that Quick Launch is always available, but never interferes with gameplay or other applications. In addition, Quick Launch settings are now made in the Quick Launch panel in the Prefs category. For users who still want one button Quick Launch from the Home screen, that feature is available in Home/Preferences dialog.
- Open Home to Last View: Some users expressed a desire to return to the last category viewed (instead of the top-level Home Screen) when they press the Home button. To allow this, we have included a new Open to: preference in the Home/Preferences dialog. You can select from three options: Home Screen (the standard radial menu), All Applications (the three column list view), or Last View (the view shown the last time the user exited Home).
Other subtle enhancements, based on customer feedback, were made as well. Examples include:
- Wake to Music in the Clock now plays the full song instead of stopping playback after 1 minute.
- Four new alarm sounds and enhanced MIDI capabilities to support downloaded alarm sounds.
- The ability to advance and reverse through Photo slideshows using the trigger buttons.
- Enhanced Bluetooth discovery dialogs that cache previously seen devices.
- Improved calibration, noise-filtering, and movement tracking for the analog controller.
According to Tapwave, in less than a year, more than 2400 developers have signed up for the Tapwave developer program and requested the software development kit (SDK). The majority of these developers are coming from established computing and entertainment platforms (e.g., Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Game Boy) and over 40 per cent are from international markets.
The Zodiac console offers 3D graphics, stereo sound, vibration effects, and wireless multiplayer gaming, but also everything required for a rich multimedia experience including music, pictures and video. From a work perspective, the Zodiac offers the added benefit of running a Tapwave-enhanced version of the Palm Operating System (5.2T) and provides immediate access to thousands of existing applications and games already available on the operating system.
The console is offered in two models -- the Zodiac(1) for USD 299 (32MB RAM) and the Zodiac for usd 399 (128MB RAM). Both models are currently available at the official web site, follow the download tab above, and will also be available at CompUSA nationwide this summer.
SurfaceInk has also announced an accessory for the Zodiac, the PowerPlay grip. This is an ergonomic grip created exclusively to fit the Tapwave Zodiac console. When snapped onto the Zodiac console, it transforms the ergonomics into that of a full-size video game controller. The PowerPlay grip easily attaches and fits inside the Zodiac sport case. It accommodates a variety of headphones including the Zodiac console's earbuds and includes molded rubber grips for a more stable gaming interface. The Zodiac console already comes with an AC adaptor, a USB/power cable, earbuds, wrist strap and a flip cover.
