Press F to pay respects. Remember the Smach Z? A handheld gaming unit where you could pick between Windows 10 and SMACH OS (Linux) - well it looks like it's all over now.
The situation surrounding the Smach Z has always been a bit of an odd one, with the team behind it often going completely silent with plenty of people out there who considered it a scam from the beginning. It's had multiple funding rounds with €474,530 from Kickstarter and a further bunch from IndieGoGo in 2016, and they had pre-orders available since 2018 too. Over time it seems they pulled in some investors too but the well has run dry.
In a forum post from the Founder, Daniel Fernandez, which isn't available to view publicly (but reposted to Reddit) Fernandez goes on to mention how they "might soon enter bankruptcy" due to their main investor pulling out of the project and they were the only thing keeping it afloat.
Fernandez makes it clear that despite all the money, "the project was way more ambitious than the budget we were managing" and they even had aid given by their government and private investors but "after a few missteps, the investors felt forced to decide to stop supporting the project".
What does Fernandez claim are the reasons? A mixture of COVID, the charging unit failed an emissions test and problems with the batteries heating up too with continued delays that has led to this.
Will anyone get their ordered devices? Considering some have pre-ordered units for close to £1,000, it's a lot of money to lose on your dream handheld gaming device. Sadly, it looks like a no and there's only three people on their team so it's clearly not going to happen. How about refunds then? If they do declare bankruptcy, anything they have left will apparently go towards refunds. They also claim to have been providing refunds "for a very long time" already but they can no longer do it now due to the investor pulling out.
Sounds like a clear message: It's dead, Jim.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I'd really hope that's just spare change for whoever does that cause otherwise it seems like a really damn stupid thing to do.
KS is always throwing money at a dream with the slight chance it might actually come to fruition.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 15 May 2021 at 11:12 am UTC
slaapliedje May 15, 2021
slaapliedje May 15, 2021
Quoting: denyasisIt's always a little dad to see projects fail, but, perhaps it's me, but I did not, and still don't, understand the appeal of playing a pC game on a mobile device. It's mostly a screen size thing for me. Too small to really enjoy.For me, it is more about the MASSIVE library of games that I have in Steam. Or emulation, etc. Being able to play those on the go is an appealing idea. But so was the idea of the Switch, but mine mostly just sits on its dock because I don't actually go anywhere...
Quoting: slaapliedjeQuoting: denyasisIt's always a little dad to see projects fail, but, perhaps it's me, but I did not, and still don't, understand the appeal of playing a pC game on a mobile device. It's mostly a screen size thing for me. Too small to really enjoy.For me, it is more about the MASSIVE library of games that I have in Steam. Or emulation, etc. Being able to play those on the go is an appealing idea. But so was the idea of the Switch, but mine mostly just sits on its dock because I don't actually go anywhere...
I get that and also have a switch. But the games made for the switch, I would assume, target the switch and it's tiny screen. I feel like the PC, without the advantage of the monitor, can't compete using a switch-like against something purpose built with games targeting that form factor. I'm trying to imagine playing a hardcore PC game, like Dominions 5, or KSP, or Rimworld and I think it would be difficult to enjoy.
You make a really good point about the emulsion though. I hadn't thought of that.
I don't get it why it's still so hard to make something like this project to succeed, I mean there's obviously an market for this kind of console (based on the people who donate to it), the costs with hardware is probably the culprit I think.
Mountain Man May 15, 2021
Last edited by Mountain Man on 15 May 2021 at 11:16 pm UTC
Quoting: BielFPsFor me the best "mobile console" so far is an Android Smartphone with Retroarch and an Ipega joystick, Relative cheap, it works and has a lot of games if you know how to do it.
I don't get it why it's still so hard to make something like this project to succeed, I mean there's obviously an market for this kind of console (based on the people who donate to it), the costs with hardware is probably the culprit I think.
Hard but do-able, there's several of these kinds of devices on (or coming to) the market (aya neo, gpd win).
It seems fairly clear to me that this project's underlying management problems are what are the real cause of it failing, not any inherent difficulty in getting such a niche product in costumers' hands.
Last edited by emphy on 16 May 2021 at 3:58 am UTC
but no, lets donate to that thing that might be an scam (and there are a lot of evidence supporting it).
the worst part is, even if this was sucessfull nothing would change in terms of marketshare for linux, people would just install windows on it (i mean, if they didnt already preo ordered with windows to begin with)
meanwhile donating to some open source project can make an difference.
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