History of video games/Platforms/Fuze Tomahawk F1

History

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In China

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Beijing, China in 2017, where Fuze Entertainment was based.

The Fuze Tomahawk F1 was developed by Fuze Entertainment, a company based in Beijing, the capital city of China.[1] The console received attention in the west due to it's similarities to major consoles, as well as backing from noted game developer Keiji Inafune.[2]

The Fuze 1 was released in China on June 1st, 2016[3] with the Play model costing 899 yuan and the Elite model costing 1499 yuan.[4] The system is also known as the Tomahawk F1.[5]

The SouljaGame Fuze

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Rapper Soulja Boy in 2018.

In late 2018 the console gained attention in the west after rapper Soulja Boy tried to bring it to market as the SouljaGame Fuze.[6][7] The version of Fuze sold by Soulja Boy was likely the Elite model.[8] The SouljaGame Fuze had a listed price of $639.98, though the system likely spent its whole time on the market on sale for $399.99 with either case being a significant markup over the MSRP of $320 for a non-SouljaGame Fuze at the time.[9][10] It is unknown is the SouljaGame Fuze ever sold, though the media frenzy created around the announcement alone is notable in it's own right.

Technology

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Compute

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The console is powered by a NVIDIA Tegra K1 system on a chip containing four ARM Cortex A15 cores clocked at 2.2 gigahertz.[6][11] For memory the system had four gigabytes of DDR3 RAM clocked at 933 megahertz.[6][11]

The Play model has 32 gigabytes of eMMC solid state storage,[6] while the Elite model has a mechanical 500 gigabyte hard disk drive.[4][11]

Hardware

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The Fuze supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.[11] The console requires a constant internet connection to play games, and is known to operate poorly outside of China.[8]

The Elite model can use qi charging for wirelessly charging controllers.[11] The charging is initiated when a controller is placed on top of the console, depressing dual diagonal plates on the top in the process with a stylistic flair.[8]

The console was intended to be able to run a VR headset,[1] though it is unknown if such a headset was ever released. The headset was set to launch at a cost of 1,100 RMB in 2016.[3]

Software

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The Fuze operating system is based on Android,[4] a popular choice for microconsoles of the time. As the console was only officially released in China, the interface is nearly exclusively in Chinese language.[8]

The Panda TV streaming service was supported.[8] This third party streaming service was shuttered in 2019.[12]

Notable games

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  • Dynasty Warriors 8[4]
  • Spy Chameleon[4]
  • Assault Android Cactus[4]
  • Half Life 2[8]
  • Sine Mora[8]
  • Virtual Tennis Challenge[8]
  • DuckTales[8]

References

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  1. a b "Fuze Tomahawk F1: The Chinese Android XStation 4". CGMagazine. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  2. "China's Newest Game Machine Seems So Familiar" (in en-us). Kotaku. https://kotaku.com/chinas-newest-game-machine-seems-so-familiar-1775708699. 
  3. a b "Fuze launching F1 console in China, with the aim to beat Sony and Microsoft". May 10, 2016. https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/272340/Fuze_launching_F1_console_in_China_with_the_aim_to_beat_Sony_and_Microsoft.php. 
  4. a b c d e f "Is China's New Fuze Console More Than a PS4 and Xbox One Rip-Off?". www.vice.com. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  5. Kain, Erik. "China's New Fuze Video Game Console Looks Like The Love Child Of Xbox One And PS4". Forbes. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  6. a b c d "Soulja Boy strikes again; famous rapper resells Chinese Fuze console". MSPoweruser. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  7. "Soulja Boy no longer selling game consoles". TweakTown. 30 December 2018. https://www.tweaktown.com/news/64284/soulja-boy-longer-selling-game-consoles/index.html. 
  8. a b c d e f g h i "Worst Soulja Boy Consoles Ever! - Rerez". YouTube. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  9. "Soulja Boy strikes again; famous rapper resells Chinese Fuze console - MSPoweruser". https://mspoweruser.com/rapper-soulja-boy-bizzarely-sells-his-own-souljagame-consoles-its-an-expensive-emulator-2/. 
  10. "Soulja Boy adds two more knock-off consoles to his brand". VG247. 19 December 2018. https://www.vg247.com/2018/12/19/soulja-boy-adds-two-more-knock-off-consoles-to-his-brand/. 
  11. a b c d e "The Fuze Is Basically PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Mashed Together OffGamers Blog". Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  12. "China Live Streamer Panda TV to Close Down". Variety. 8 March 2019. https://variety.com/2019/digital/asia/china-live-streamer-panda-tv-to-close-1203158142/.