A new portable gaming device

[monkeychemist]

Thank you everyone for your input. to answer some of your questions here is a little more information:

We are working on something that will have a size similar to an iPhone so that it is small, portable and professional looking. As far as the gaming ergonomics, we are working on an accessory that you put it in that makes it become a controller. That way it is still nice and comfortable to play.

Touch screen, I am not sure yet. Although that would be amazing, I don't know if we can feasibly put that feature in at a price below 250. Unlike Sony, we won't be able to sell our console at a loss because we would have nothing to make up the difference.

Battery will be a rechargeable one, also will synch up to PCs via USB. There will be a SD card port so that storage memory is what you want make it.

I am not sure about the operating system yet, however I will ensure one thing: it will be fully and explicitly for your own customization and cater to homebrewers. There is nothing that bothers me more than the current commercial handhelds that you have to “crack” in order to do what you want.

To answer the questions about price vs. a DS or PSP… you can’t just consider the $130 and $199 prices. You need to also buy flash carts with a poor interface/complicated synch to PC or buying a game to downgrade and play what you want. So to address the price issue I would say you are paying for better hardware, convenience and unlimited possibilities.

So yes, it sounds sorta like a Zodiac or a GP2x, just upgraded and with more versatile functions in a nutshell.

I hope this clarifies things.

Jeremy

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I think the two main concerns here are with design aspects. People are going to compare it with PDA's and / or Gizmondo, Zodiac, and GP32 / GPX2 etc.

Touch screen isn't too important to me. That's what a PDA is for in my opinion. Unless it's going to be a PDA that plays games, there's not really any need. I would imagine it's primary function is to play games, and the other aspects will be secondary. Something Sony's marketing division doesn't seem to understand. Similarly, mobile phone design these days is centered on making the device something other than just a device to make calls. But these days, more emphasis is on making a mobile phone more of a camera / MP3 player that makes calls, rather than a phone that can take pictures or play music.

Compatability. In an ideal world, you'd have Memory Stick Duo and SD Card compatability. This opens up the option to use Micro SD / Mini SD and Micro Memory Sticks too. USB is always important with uplinking to a PC / Mac, so long as there isn't any unnecessary software interface. Drag and drop is good, but something along the lines of Nokia's PC Suite, Sony's SonicStage, or Apple's iTunes is just plainly annoying.


As for the design... I think most people would prefer a panoramic landscape screen rather than a portrait screen. Portrait is good for mobile phones and PDA's, but for gaming you really need a landscape screen. The GameBoy Micro proved that you can have a small hi-resolution screen, and the Nokia N95 mobile phone also has a nice screen. The N-Gage showed us exactly how not to make a gaming device though ~ I also believe that the PSP size and shape is ideal. The Gizmondo, Zodiac, and GP32 / GPX2 are of a similar size and shape too. Just don't go the route of the WonderSwan and put the buttons in such an awkward position that makes it impossible to play!!! PDA size is perfect, so long as the battery life is good and the unit is comfortable to use. As mentioned above, the Nomad and Lynx were too bulky (In my opinion, both consoles were ahead of their time and they wanted too much too soon ~ The PSP is the evolution of these consoles)


If it were an upgraded Zodiac / GPX2 clone with better compatability, better screen, better battery life, and with the main intention to run hi-end emulator's, then I would buy one at any price. If you could make a system that would run all emulator's perfectly upto PSX and N64, and had good storage (Ie, maybe an internal hard drive ~ iPod's have 80GB hard drives now...), then it could work. Oh, and also assuming it had good connectability too

[monkeychemist]

Thanks everyone for your input. I will do my best to incorporate everything and get this handheld ready soon. I will give updates as we reach landmarks.

Jeremy

[MrSparkle]

I think the two main concerns here are with design aspects. People are going to compare it with PDA's and / or Gizmondo, Zodiac, and GP32 / GPX2 etc.

the the gp32 and gpx2 are pretty much what im thinking here. I never really considered them to be pdas more of an open source handheld gaming platform. But they've actually gotten a bit tricky to come across these days. that being said there are several dozen generic little handheld platforms out on the market right now. But if someone on dp puts one out you can be sure its going to win some major points over the others in my book just by default lol. If you build it we will buy.

[DeputyMoniker]

To sell it to me, you would really have to set it apart from the competition, which includes quite a lot of players. It sounds like you're describing the G1 without a phone and with a controller. I like your idea and I would like to have one, but I wouldn't buy it.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

So ... for the benefit of those who don't check the dates on threads while skimming/reding - since this thread is about a year old ...

... has there been any progress on the development of this device?

[MrSparkle]

Hmm weird now i dont even remember how i came across this dead for a year thread... odd.