Lenovo’s eeDoo iSec, the first gaming console planned for release on the Chinese market, may not hit that market as quickly as originally expected. It was supposed to go on sale this month, but insiders at the company have divulged to Sina Tech that there is little chance the product will be ready that soon. Although technical work on the console is done, the company is still working on solidifying sales channels. The same source also told Sina that the first models of the iSec released will likely be display models meant to help drive pre-orders of the console which will then be released a month or two later.
The iSec — its official Chinese name is the aisaike — is Lenovo’s entry in the Chinese gaming console market, a market which technically does not exist since the sale of game consoles is illegal in China. For this reason, the iSec is technically classified as a “home entertainment device,” but in actuality the system is a gaming console with games based on a motion sensor copied from similar to Microsoft’s Kinect. If its official site is any indication, the similarities don’t end there. The lime-green and gray/white swooping designs will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s ever seen the packaging of an Xbox 360.
Previously, I’ve expressed some healthy skepticism about the console’s — excuse me, the “home entertainment” device’s — potential, and I remain unconvinced. For example, what I said then about their video views remains true — this console was supposed to come out within the month and they can’t even get more than 2,000 views on their promotional videos? That’s not good. There doesn’t seem to be any real hype surrounding this release, and given that Lenovo is trying to create a market more or less out of thin air — there is a thriving gray market for consoles, but that’s another issue — they’re going to need all the hype they can get.
That said, the fact that they plan to release playable display models a month or two before the official release of the console is a sign that the company is confident in its product, at least. If it’s not a solid system, of course, such a move would be disastrous, but if it is fun to play, a month or two of word-of-mouth buzz could be exactly what they need to build hype (and pre-orders).
A list of games for the system — all motion-controlled games so far — is available here. We’ll keep an eye on the iSec and see if we can’t go a few rounds with some of these games once the demo machines are released into the wild.