The Gizmondo, produced by the company of the same name, is a new entrant into the world of handheld gaming. This system, though, is more than just a handheld gaming console. Music, video, text messaging (if you add a SIM card), a GPS system and more are all there.

You’d think that a system with all these features would be heavy and clunky. Gizmondo shatters those expectations by having a unit that is incredibly light (it weighs less than my wallet), has well placed buttons and still pushes some high quality games.

To push those games in such a high quality, the system needs some excellent hardware and, once again, the Gizmondo does not disappoint. Armed with an actual hardware video processor (an Nvidia 4500 GoForce chipset), Gizmondo can run games well in full 3D. The screen is a good size, too, and does a good job of showing the action.

One of the games I got to play, Johnny Whatever, was very interesting and full of character. At the start of the game, an old man gave me this guitar. It wasn’t a normal guitar, mind you, but actually shot stuff out of the end. You look towards an enemy, shoot, and a beam of energy flies from the guitar. The best part, though, was that the game ran in full 3D and did a good job of showing off the system’s capabilities.

But, as already mentioned, the Gizmondo is far from just a gaming device. On the bottom of the system is an SD card slot. On this card you can put movies, music or even some random files you need to transfer to another computer. You could then take it to the new computer, plug it in, and move the files with ease. The GPS system could allow for some extremely creative developers to add in features for games that actually know where you are and adjust themselves accordingly.

Of course, a common question with handheld systems involves their battery life. The Gizmondo gets a little under three hours of life (or 100 hours on Standby) on an hour-and-a-half charge. Now, that may seem like a small amount, but it actually works out well. If you’re playing a game for more than a few hours, you likely have the capability to also plug it in. Also, since it only takes an hour and a half to charge, it’ll be back up and running in no time.

Gizmondo has also implemented a very interesting and unique price scheme for their system. The original retail price will come in at $399, which can seem incredibly high for a handheld. There is a catch, though. If you’re willing to view ads on the system, the cost is cut by $170 – you’ll only pay $229.

The planned ads won’t even interfere with your gaming or watching of movies. You’ll simply have to view them when you leave a game and go to the main menu. This is one idea that could have an impact on many more industries – I’m glad to see Gizmondo embracing it and working with it to bring a quality handheld system to gamers at a good cost.

Gizmondo has already had a limited release in Europe and will see a full release in June. The North America release date was just announced for August 11th of this year.

This system has a good chance to succeed here in the States. Provided you purchase the ad-subsidized version, it costs less than a PSP and performs nearly as well as one. The kicker, though, is that it weighs far less and is also much less fragile. The system will manage to find a niche no matter the success that it has – with such a multipurpose feature set packed into a light handheld, it will be a great fit for those who want to have it all in their pocket.