Eedoo iSec is Now Called the CT510, To Be Released Next Week

Well, no one can say that the folks over at Eedoo don’t like a good surprise. Last we heard, the eedoo iSec — eedoo’s motion-sensing video game console — was being delayed again and wasn’t likely to see release before late 2012. But now, China Daily reports that the console has been renamed the CT510, and that it’s coming out on April 29. As in, this upcoming Sunday.

The overpriced console has also apparently gotten even more expensive. Last time we checked, it was slated to cost 3,000 RMB ($475), but now that price has been hiked to 3,799 RMB ($603). The specs don’t seem to have changed at all, although the console will apparently come bundled with eight games.

In the past, I have been extremely critical of the iSec CT510, and the price hike and extremely awkward name change haven’t done anything to change my opinion. Setting aside that most of the games for it look dreadful, even if they didn’t, who would buy it? Remember that western consoles are widely available in China. For the same price as one CT510, Chinese gamers could purchase a full two XBox 360 systems with two Kinect motion-sensor attachments and still have enough money left over to buy any eight pirated games the choose from the Xbox’s library of hundreds, if not thousands, of games.

I expect the absurdly high price is a desperate attempt to recoup some of the money that went into R&D, but honestly, who is in charge of this company? Making the device more expensive is not going to help it sell, and neither is giving it an even stupider name than the iSec. Granted, the company had done such an awful job marketing the iSec that they haven’t lost much brand recognition by changing the name — you can’t lose what you don’t have — but the new name is totally forgettable and most people won’t even have heard it before the device is released since we’re hearing about this launch just a few days before it happens.

It’s possible that I’m wrong, and that the eedoo whatever-it’s-called will take the until-now uninterested Chinese market by storm, selling millions of units and raking in a handsome profit. But I think it’s very, very unlikely. If such an overpriced console with such awful-looking games somehow achieves mainstream success, this will be my response:

That said, I like watching a good disaster as much as anyone, so we’ll be keeping an eye on the CT150. Or the CT510, I guess. Whatever. Join us next week, as I set out in Beijing to see if I can find a working unit and maybe try my hand at a few games!