The Red Jade was Ericsson's unreleased handheld console, intended to compete with the Game Boy Advance.
History
Development
Fredrik Liljegren founded Red Jade as a startup company[1] in February 2000. The startup included other notable developers such as RJ Mical.[2][3] Originally the developing team for the Red Jade approached Sony and Sega as potential partners but both declined.[4] Ericsson decided to invest US$10 million in the Red Jade,[4] It was to be released by Christmas season 2002[1] and would have retailed for $150.
Cancellation
When overall sales plummeted, Ericsson cancelled the Red Jade before production in April 2001 and cut 22,000 employees to help minimize losses.[4] The collapse of the Dot-com bubble left the startup in a position where it was unable to find other investors to continue development.[1] The number of existing prototype units is unclear along with possibility of games made for them. Quake III Arena was said to have received a port.[5] Ericsson's mobile phone division later divested into joint venture with Sony and rebranded as Sony Ericsson, until Sony acquired Ericsson's share and became Sony Mobile Communications. In 2006 Red Jade as a company would be restarted by Liliegreen to operate as a game development studio.[1][6]
Specifications
The Red Jade which was supposed to have PDA functions, wireless connectability, DivX movies, cell phone capabilities, a GPS server, MP3 audio playback, a web browser, the ability to download games from the website, game sharing utilizing Bluetooth technology, and graphics equivalent to the PlayStation or Nintendo 64.
The system used a 32-bit or 64-bit MIPS architecture processor[7] 3D polygon graphics[4] were said to possibly be handled by an NVIDIA chipset.[5] Graphics were displayed on a TFT LCD that supported 65536 colors. The system used multi-channel PCM audio. Bluetooth technology enabled wireless communication between 2 or more machines.[4] The system was powered by a Lithium-ion battery.
External links
References
- Alistair Wallis. Q&A: Fredrik Liliegren on Red Jade Studios Game Developer, 19 October 2006, retrieved 28 October 2021^
- Red Jade adds Experience GameSpot, retrieved 28 October 2021^
- REDJADE INC. APPOINTS STELLAR MANAGEMENT TEAM TO LEAD NEXT GENE 8 February 2001, retrieved 28 October 2021^
- GameBoy vs. Red Jade. The battle that never was. - Oct. 21, 2002 money.cnn.com, retrieved 5 February 2021^
- Red Jade = Dead Jade - IGN retrieved 7 February 2021^
- Former DICE crew opens new studio GameSpot, retrieved 28 October 2021^
- What is Red Jade? - IGN retrieved 5 February 2021^