Zeebo: Brazil’s PS3 Killer?

Brazilian electronics company Tectoy and American development company Qualcomm have released its first locally-designed gaming console, which they hope would become a hit in a country that puts ridiculous taxes on imported luxury items such as gaming consoles.

Zeebo game console is on sale in Rio de Janeiro and will become available across the Brazilian countryside later this year.  Because it’s a local product, it is sold way cheaper at about US$299, compared to US$700 worth of PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 (that is, if they are going to buy it legally).

Buying a Zeebo today and you get three games stored in its memory:  FIFA 2009, Need for Speed Carbon, and Brain Training, all of which are in Portuguese.  Also, the console provides credit for three free downloads.

The console contains a Qualcomm chipset similar in mobile phones.  Since Zeebo can be operated through 3G or Edge, the player is able to buy and download the games.

However, Tectoy and Qualcomm have bigger plans for this seemingly lowly-prized and lonely Zeebo.  They are aiming at selling this game console to hugely-populated developing countries such as Russia, India, and China.

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