Fuze Tomahawk F1
The Fuze Tomahawk F1 is a microconsole running Android TV released in 2016.
History
[edit]In China
[edit]
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 its similarities to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, 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
[edit]
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 if the SouljaGame Fuze ever sold, though the media frenzy created around the announcement alone is notable in its own right.
Technology
[edit]Computing
[edit]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
[edit]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 wirelessly charge controllers.[11] The charging is initiated when a controller is placed on top of the console, depressing dual diagonal plates on the top.[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
[edit]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 originally supported,[8] but this third party streaming service was shuttered in 2019.[12]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Fuze Tomahawk F1: The Chinese Android XStation 4". CGMagazine. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
- ↑ "China's Newest Game Machine Seems So Familiar". Kotaku. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
- 1 2 "Fuze launching F1 console in China, with the aim to beat Sony and Microsoft". May 10, 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
- 1 2 3 "Is China's New Fuze Console More Than a PS4 and Xbox One Rip-Off?". www.vice.com. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ↑ Kain, Erik. "China's New Fuze Video Game Console Looks Like The Love Child Of Xbox One And PS4". Forbes. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- 1 2 3 4 "Soulja Boy strikes again; famous rapper resells Chinese Fuze console". MSPoweruser. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ↑ "Soulja Boy no longer selling game consoles". TweakTown. 30 December 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Worst Soulja Boy Consoles Ever! - Rerez". YouTube. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ↑ "Soulja Boy strikes again; famous rapper resells Chinese Fuze console - MSPoweruser". Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ↑ "Soulja Boy adds two more knock-off consoles to his brand". VG247. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "The Fuze Is Basically PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Mashed Together OffGamers Blog". Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ↑ Frater, Patrick (8 March 2019). "China Live Streamer Panda TV to Close Down". Variety. Retrieved 3 March 2021.