InfoMan Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Somebody wanted me to post Gameband updates from the Kickstarter project (see https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gameband/gameband-the-first-smartwatch-for-gamers/description). Here's the latest. Roll on 2018!! For backers only Posted by FMTwo Game Inc. (Creator) All, Happy New Year to all of you! We sincerely hope everyone had some great time out over the holidays with family and friends, and that this year is off to an amazing start. Here’s to 2018 being an outstanding year for everyone! We are really sorry for the radio silence on our side over the holidays. After some very difficult weeks the team took some much needed downtime. We’ve also had some changes and some fantastic new people come onboard. We are back hard at it, and super excited about for 2018! As well as being late again on this update, we are also behind on DM’s. We will get fully up to date on them by early next week, and really appreciate everyones patience with us. Quick update on our side. Hardware: We have continued to work with out partner on this for DVT tooling. They have not made as much progress as we hoped over the holidays, so it is fast looking like we will be delayed until after Chinese New Year (i.e. March). We are working to confirm final adjusted dates with them asap. With Software and design issues out of the way, and board design etc all good, we are not expecting any more technical issues once we head into tooling phase. We know people are anxious to get Gameband in their hands, and we share your eagerness to get this done! Software: Continues to go really well, team have done and continue to do a great job. Often Software can become a gating item, but for now we are not concerned on this front at all. The companion apps have continued to be improved and updated weekly for bugs etc. Definitely ahead of the curve on software so far! SDK: Thanks for the continued 1/1 feedback on this, we expect another update to be released soon. Happy to continue to have people sign up (gblaunch_at_gameband.com)….and for anyone that has reached out to be added to the list in the past 2 weeks we will respond and send you the download instructions in the coming days. Pixelfurnace: We’re still not in a position to say much about the Ataribox side of things, but will comment more as soon as we can! Either way anything with Atari does not impact plans on the Gameband side. Gaming: Per last update we are hoping to show more on this this month. We have also made progress on negotiating with additional big brands on bringing developing additional titles for both Gameband and other platforms. Some really exciting discussions that we hope to be able to announce soon. We’ve been consistently missing update deadlines, especially since late last year, but will aim to do a lot better on this front in the coming weeks, even if it’s just a ‘we’re working on it’ message. We really appreciate peoples patience with us on this front, probably more than we deserve. As we intimated in our last update we’ve had some rough weeks inside our team, but are confident we are pulling out of that and are ready to roll on an awesome 2018! Lastly a few people have asked us the status on the official website. Happy to say it is ready from a design point of view, and we think it looks really good. All we have to do is complete work on texts and release it, and plan on doing so within days. Stay tuned. Thanks again for all the support, The Gameband Team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Ivi Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 M Feargal Mac Conuladh still on the team? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 We’ve been consistently missing update deadlines, especially since late last year, but will aim to do a lot better on this front in the coming weeks, even if it’s just a ‘we’re working on it’ message.... but are confident we are pulling out of that and are ready to roll on an awesome 2018! middle of the third week in January, off to a blistering start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 I stopped reading after this: "A powerful Smartwatch with a built-in upgradable MicroSD drive, gaming design and exclusive content." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfoMan Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 M Feargal Mac Conuladh still on the team? Yep. And he's named the OS after himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfoMan Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 middle of the third week in January, off to a blistering start Yeah, it's only about a year behind so far. :\ I hope people interested in the Ataribox are watching. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfoMan Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 I stopped reading after this: "A powerful Smartwatch with a built-in upgradable MicroSD drive, gaming design and exclusive content." It definitely won't be waterproof. I admit I was only interested in the Atari logo on it, and hadn't actually planned to wear it daily. I have a Pebble that I couldn't do without. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 (edited) Yeah, it's only about a year behind so far. :\ I hope people interested in the Ataribox are watching. I dont think too many people round these parts were actually interested in the atarweebawx other than seeing the train wreck, and frankly its hard to take you seriously when you promise to do stuff in the new year, that's already a year delayed by your own admittance, damn near a month after the new year started its like a getting a promise from a hung over frat boy that yea tomorrow he will show up at work at 8 am instead of getting out of bed at noon... Edited January 19, 2018 by Osgeld 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfoMan Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 I dont think too many people round these parts were actually interested in the atarweebawx other than seeing the train wreck, and frankly its hard to take you seriously when you promise to do stuff in the new year, that's already a year delayed by your own admittance, damn near a month after the new year started its like a getting a promise from a hung over frat boy that yea tomorrow he will show up at work at 8 am instead of getting out of bed at noon... You do realize I'm not involved with the Gameband, other than having given them my money and hoping to someday get something for it, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 no I don't you posted a wall of text in behalf of someone of game band, how does that automatically make you a distant 3rd party Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfoMan Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 I posted it here because someone had requested that I post the Kickstarter updates that I get as a backer. I didn't realize anyone would think I actually had something to do with it. Sorry for the misunderstanding. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBerel Posted February 18, 2018 Share Posted February 18, 2018 So over a month passes and no response from the gameband folks to their backers, no sign of the website, or anything else. Total radio silence sounds like their prior project or the aborted Ataribox. How long until the "really hard email to write"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfoMan Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 I hadn't realized it had already been that long, but you're right. I've backed 7 Kickstarter projects and only 4 have come through so far. I guess I'm learning my lesson. :\ I hadn't yet heard that the Ataribox was aborted. It sounded like a bad idea in the first place - another Linux box. but with the Atari name on it so they could make it overpriced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 I wonder what's the average number of kickstarters one must support before he/she learns their lesson. As far as ataribox, I just like watching the fumbling and BS'ing these sorts of things generate. Cheap entertainment between emulator updates. Gameband.. Not interested in exclusive content. Not interested in more wearable electronics. I stopped buying wearables after my 1980's Casio watch. Which still works btw. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 (edited) Gameband update #30: All, It’s hard to believe we are already almost at the 2nd month of 2018, and we hope that for all of you the year has gotten off to a great start. For us it’s hard to know where the time has gone, it’s flown by in the blink of an eye. We know we have continued to struggle with communication, DMs and comments. We’ve been holding out on updates to try to have better news, and we know that is not a good strategy. We have said on several occasions we will get more consistent on this and have not managed to achieve that yet, much to everyone's frustration. Some of you are justifiably fed up with us and we fully apologize to you. We know we owe it to everyone to do better in communication in the weeks ahead. On to the Updates: The weeks before Chinese New Year are hectic for development and manufacturing, as many companies push to get their last orders and work done before the holiday slow down (effectively for 2-3 weeks in the region). As a very small player, and with plenty of development challenges (expected and unexpected), attention levels on our project were even harder to maintain than expected. We are pushing ahead as hard as we can on getting Gameband through the next critical hardware phase, however we did not manage to make firm schedule progress before Chinese New Year with our partners. We are doing everything we can to fix that post-CNY holiday. Core software continues to be on schedule, companion apps are almost bug-free at this stage. The new SDK release coming along quite nicely. We rolled out our new website yesterday: www.gameband.com (after a lot of "Murphy’s Law" issues in the past few weeks). Please check it out if you can and let us know what you think in comments or DM. Thanks as always for your patience and support; we will be back next week. The Gameband Team. Edited February 24, 2018 by roland p 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Thanks for sharing. I will never understand this -- surely there are more efficient ways to carry a MicroSD card without waiting for years or paying $180+? We also added a MicroSD port to give access to massive amounts of data, right on your wrist; Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 There are indeed. I can even tape one to the back of my real CASIO watch from the 80's! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfoMan Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 (edited) Thanks for posting the new update. I didn't realize there had been one and had to go looking in my spam for it. I love how the new website has a buy link that goes to IndieGoGo where it says expected delivery in October 2017. And how the updates still claim anything is "on schedule." Edited February 24, 2018 by InfoMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Don't know which is worse, this gameband stuff or Hasbro (a multi-million dollar company) crowdfunding new StarWars toys.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBerel Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 I love how their apologists keep reminding the irritated backers in the comments section that they all need to remember they did not order a gameband, and they only supported an idea. This being typed repeatedly just inches below the "Pre-Order Now" button. It's pretty sly how they use the excuse of not having news for not communicating, but anyone not dazzled by bullsh#t can see they continue to post no news, except that they are further behind and failed to get production scheduled again. Is a May delivery date even feasible for their backers at this point? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Don't know which is worse, this gameband stuff or Hasbro (a multi-million dollar company) crowdfunding new StarWars toys..Gameband is worse. It's not hard to understand why. Hasbro is putting their mainstream toys in stores, and you can buy them. Their crowdfunding initiative is for die-hard collectors, and it isn't a scam to steal money, it's narrowcasting a speciality item to those who really really want it. Their first thing: a scaled up toy of Jabba's Sail Barge, four feet long for five hundred dollars. They have the skills to deliver this as promised. https://www.hasbrolab.com/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBerel Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Yeah, definitely gameband is worse. Hasbro is just verifying they have enough sad, nerdy lunatics willing to put up $500 to justify making the molds for such limited edition toys. Makes total sense to me. (the approach, not buying the toys) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 Update #31: All, Wanted to drop a very quick update heading into the weekend (even though we do not have a lot of new details to share). Just a follow up to last week post to let you know we will be continuing to work with Partners post-CNY on schedule and development plans (and are not alone in doing so, with things starting to get back to normal there from this coming week). Meanwhile: we are still moving ahead on SW and everything else we can, as we work towards the next development breakthrough we all want to see. Also we wanted to say thanks a lot for all the feedback on the new website. We will be tweaking and expanding it in the months ahead, so thoughts and feedback on it still welcome! Hope you all have a great weekend! We'll be back within 2 weeks or less. The Gameband Team. PS: What sort of watch-faces would you like to see on Gameband? Drop a reply or DM with an Artist, Brand, Concept, that we might not have thought of. Maybe not be #1 priority, but we would love to start gathering ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBerel Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 Update #31: We'll be back within 2 weeks or less. Translation...."You may hear from us again in a month, but more than likely this is the last anyone will hear from FMTwo Game. Looking forward to the new company name!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 How long have they been farting around with this gameband? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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