The Fuze Tomahawk F1 video game console (Photo : Twitter)
A Chinese gaming company is set to go toe to toe against Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Box One with a console that looks like a lovechild of both.
Chinese digital entertainment provider Fuze Entertainment Co. Ltd. unveiled its Tomahawk F1 gaming console in Beijing on May 10. The new console's body bears a striking similarity to the PS4, albeit a bit smaller. On the other hand, the controller appears to take cues from the Xbox One's gamepad, Zhugeex reported.
However, the F1 is expected to be considerably less powerful than the two frontrunners of the console gaming market, as the Chinese-made gaming machine will be running on the Android operating system instead of a dedicated OS.
The F1 is also going toward a different direction to its competitors when it comes to games distribution, as it does not have the usual drive for DVD's or Blu-Rays. Instead, the console only comes with an internal drive where users can download games from Fuze's own online store or from other vendors.
According to the company, the design decision was made to cut down on the cost of games and attract more people to buy gaming consoles.
China banned foreign gaming consoles in 2000, only allowing them to be sold domestically in 2014. Both Sony and Microsoft have yet to get a firm hold of the fledgling market.
However, Fuze CEO Wang Feng is optimistic that their console will be able to capture a significant portion of that market. Wang said that they are currently working with well-known game developers like Koei Tecmo, Ubisoft, Arc System Works, Comcept Codemasters, and others to bring in titles to the new console.
The CEO also revealed future plans for the Tomahawk F1, including a VR headset and the capability to download music, TV shows and movies from online stores, Kotaku reported.
The F1 is expected to be released in June, with prices starting at 899 yuan ($138) for the regular version and 1,488 yuan ($230) for the elite version.
