Engineering:Fuze Tomahawk F1
The Fuze Tomahawk F1 is a microconsole running Android TV released in 2016.
History
In China
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
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
Computing
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
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
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]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Fuze Tomahawk F1: The Chinese Android XStation 4" (in en-CA). https://www.cgmagonline.com/2016/05/11/fuze-tomahawk-f1-the-chinese-android-xstation-4/.
- ↑ "China's Newest Game Machine Seems So Familiar" (in en-us). Kotaku. https://kotaku.com/chinas-newest-game-machine-seems-so-familiar-1775708699.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "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.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Is China’s New Fuze Console More Than a PS4 and Xbox One Rip-Off?" (in en). https://www.vice.com/en/article/3davqn/is-chinas-new-fuze-console-more-than-a-ps4-and-xbox-one-rip-off.
- ↑ Kain, Erik. "China's New Fuze Video Game Console Looks Like The Love Child Of Xbox One And PS4" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2016/05/11/chinas-new-fuze-video-game-console-looks-like-the-love-child-of-xbox-one-and-ps4/.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Soulja Boy strikes again; famous rapper resells Chinese Fuze console". https://mspoweruser.com/rapper-soulja-boy-bizzarely-sells-his-own-souljagame-consoles-its-an-expensive-emulator-2/.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "Worst Soulja Boy Consoles Ever! - Rerez". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqXuAuTFXpA.
- ↑ "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/.
- ↑ "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/.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 "The Fuze Is Basically PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Mashed Together OffGamers Blog". https://www.offgamers.com/blog/the-fuze-is-basically-playstation-4-and-xbox-one-mashed-together/.
- ↑ "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/.
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