German Pandora Article - Translation

[chris_r]

I came across an article about the pandora in German and I thought I'd translate it for everyone to read. My german isn't perfect so there are a few bits which don't make much sense so I translated them to the best of my ability. I especially had trouble with the second from last paragraph so if anyone could help it would be appreciated.

Edit: This is the slightly edited version by Kyosis. He helped with phrases I couldn't get my head around.

The article is here with some pictures of the pandora prototype.
http://www.planetds.de/index.php?page=arti...artikel=pandora

QUOTE
Not just professional companies develop for consoles. There is also a wide scene of hobby coders, who simply do it for the fun of it. Anyone can write software on the PC and start without problems. But whoever wants to develop for consoles will hit some very big hurdles. Console manufacturers don't earn their money through selling the hardware, but with licensing fees that third parties have to buy. Free games are not appreciated by them.

Developers find a way to overcome these hurdles, though: Whether with custom firmware on the PSP, a modchip installed in the ps2, buying a flashcart for the DS or with the help of bugs on the Wii - in the end you can run your own programs. It is cumbersome, often throwing the warrantee into the air and especially with modchips and flashcards the threshold of piracy is low.


But there is another way: There are now a few handhelds that are aimed at and depend on the hobby developers. The GP32 from the small korean company Gamepark made the first step in 2001. It was originally designed as a competitor to the GBA, but didn't inspire professional game developers enough. The success came when GP started allowing everyone to develop for it without limits. As a result, a big international community of developers was built. Its successor, the GP2X was released in 2005 , developed by Gamepark Holdings also from Korea. It too relied completely on hobby developers, but there were also problems with communications to Korea, as the absrupt halt in production clearly showed. The GP2X scene therefore decided to develop their own handheld. A few skilled handymen have come together and developed the Pandora.


Its specs sound like a wet dream of every technology freak: 600MHz CPU, 128MB RAM, in-built Wi-Fi, bluetooth, a touchscreen with a resolution of 800x480 pixels, two analog sticks, a full QWERTY keyboard and - of course - Linux.


At the "Games Convention" we had the opportunity to be one of the first to take this new handheld under the microscope, and to have a chat with Michael Mrozek aka Evil Dragon, owner of GP2X.de and the german distributor of the Pandora, about his mark on the scene as a scene leader.

We were able to see the Pandora with the final Mainboard, but with unfinished housing. Since this was still a prototype and very rattley,we didn't have a chance to really play on the device. To start the pandora, it even had to be taken apart. A first impression was possible, though.

The display made a very good impression. It is large and razor sharp thanks to the 800x480 resolution. It is also very colourful from the side and it is very easy to recognize everything. In the GP2X forums after pictures were released, people expressed their concerns, that the controls would be hard to reach. When you hold the Pandora in your own hands these concerns quickly disappear. It sits well in your hands and there is no problem reaching the two analog sticks. The other buttons are easy to reach as well. The keyboard in our test model was still not assembled. How well this will turn out in the end is hard to say. Otherwise the buttons aren't too small and easy to reach.

Michael Mrozek showed us the emulator "Final Burn", which was comforting as it played old arcade at full speed. What the device can do shows a fully unoptimised version of Quake 2 that ran almost without lags. Also another fact is impressive, up to 5 Super Nintendo Emulators will run side by side (Yes that's just to show off, no one actually wants to do that...). Therefore there should be sufficient power available for more sophisticated Homebrew games. DOSBox is expected to reach new regions and there's also enough juice for emulators.

For creators and modders it's also interesting that the contacts are the mainboard are deliberately left quite large for those who want to add additional hardware, so that you can add hardware through normal means without the need for an education in electronics. It is also worth noting that all contacts are properly labeled.

The pre-orders for the pandora begin on the 30th of September 2008 and will be delivered on 13th November 2008.

 

[gruso]

Thanks for that. Good little article, the opening paragraphs set the scene nicely for "outside" readers.

 

[Game_over]

Awesome read, I think the article means "it ran quake 2 almost "without" a glitch. I'm still trying to find that perfect distro to dev with it's architecture in mind. any suggestions?

 

[Balzac2m]

My approach for the second last paragraph:

The contacts on the board are intentionally big which should be interesting for Hobbyists and Modders. This alloes you to build additional hardware or mod other things without having finished an electricians apprenticeship. Furthermore all contacts are properly labeled.

Well, basicly the same.
A for effort, chris!

 

[ingrin]

Great review. Sums up 'the story so far' and gives an outsider's impression. One question I have though is... Does this mean they were able to play with the actual built-in game controls, or were they just able to confirm it 'felt' ok.

 

[Kyo]

Here is my version, it's yours with some minor corrections. Your german isn't terrible at all.

QUOTE
Not just professional companies develop for consoles. There is also a wide scene of hobby coders, who simply do it for the fun of it. Anyone can write software on the PC and start without problems. But whoever wants to develop for consoles will hit some very big hurdles. Console manufacturers don't earn their money through selling the hardware, but with licensing fees that third parties have to buy. Free games are not appreciated by them.

Developers find a way to overcome these hurdles, though: Whether with custom firmware on the PSP, a modchip installed in the ps2, buying a flashcart for the DS or with the help of bugs on the Wii - in the end you can run your own programs. It is cumbersome, often throwing the warrantee into the air and especially with modchips and flashcards the threshold of piracy is low.


But there is another way: There are now a few handhelds that are aimed at and depend on the hobby developers. The GP32 from the small korean company Gamepark made the first step in 2001. It was originally designed as a competitor to the GBA, but didn't inspire professional game developers enough. The success came when GP started allowing everyone to develop for it without limits. As a result, a big international community of developers was built. Its successor, the GP2X was released in 2005 , developed by Gamepark Holdings also from Korea. It too relied completely on hobby developers, but there were also problems with communications to Korea, as the absrupt halt in production clearly showed. The GP2X scene therefore decided to develop their own handheld. A few skilled handymen have come together and developed the Pandora.


Its specs sound like a wet dream of every technology freak: 600MHz CPU, 128MB RAM, in-built Wi-Fi, bluetooth, a touchscreen with a resolution of 800x480 pixels, two analog sticks, a full QWERTY keyboard and - of course - Linux.


At the "Games Convention" we had the opportunity to be one of the first to take this new handheld under the microscope, and to have a chat with Michael Mrozek aka Evil Dragon, owner of GP2X.de and the german distributor of the Pandora, about his mark on the scene as a scene leader.

We were able to see the Pandora with the final Mainboard, but with unfinished housing. Since this was still a prototype and very rattley,we didn't have a chance to really play on the device. To start the pandora, it even had to be taken apart. A first impression was possible, though.

The display made a very good impression. It is large and razor sharp thanks to the 800x480 resolution. It is also very colourful from the side and it is very easy to recognize everything. In the GP2X forums after pictures were released, people expressed their concerns, that the controls would be hard to reach. When you hold the Pandora in your own hands these concerns quickly disappear. It sits well in your hands and there is no problem reaching the two analog sticks. The other buttons are easy to reach as well. The keyboard in our test model was still not assembled. How well this will turn out in the end is hard to say. Otherwise the buttons aren't too small and easy to reach.

Michael Mrozek showed us the emulator "Final Burn", which was comforting as it played old arcade at full speed. What the device can do shows a fully unoptimised version of Quake 2 that ran almost without lags. Also another fact is impressive, up to 5 Super Nintendo Emulators will run side by side (Yes that's just to show off, no one actually wants to do that...). Therefore there should be sufficient power available for more sophisticated Homebrew games. DOSBox is expected to reach new regions and there's also enough juice for emulators.

For creators and modders it's also interesting that the contacts are the mainboard are deliberately left quite large for those who want to add additional hardware, so that you can add hardware through normal means without the need for an education in electronics. It is also worth noting that all contacts are properly labeled.

The pre-orders for the pandora begin on the 30th of September 2008 and will be delivered on 13th November 2008.



There were only few mistranslations in your version, though (you also left out a sentence)

 

[Balzac2m]

Great review. Sums up 'the story so far' and gives an outsider's impression. One question I have though is... Does this mean they were able to play with the actual built-in game controls, or were they just able to confirm it 'felt' ok.

Looking at the last picture I guess they played using the serial console on the notebook. If they played at all.

 

[Trip]

Pretty good article. It's nice to see a reviewer that did their homework for a change and that actually managed not to compare the Pandora to a finished PSP or DS

 

[Tensuke]

Great review. Sums up 'the story so far' and gives an outsider's impression. One question I have though is... Does this mean they were able to play with the actual built-in game controls, or were they just able to confirm it 'felt' ok.

If they played anything it was on the laptop, but they probably held the case and messed around with it, to see how it felt.

 

[TaG]

Interesting. Thanks for taking the time to translate guys - so much better than Google translate.

Is that the first time someone independent has got their hands on a Pandora? Nice to know it 'feels' good.

Brave to take a 'bitsa' to a show - can sometimes backfire.

 

[chris_r]

Here is my version, it's yours with some minor corrections. Your german isn't terrible at all.

There were only few mistranslations in your version, though (you also left out a sentence)

Thanks for your help, it is very much appreciated and I've updated the first post with your version.
As for the missing sentence, I'm assuming you mean the "Wasser im Mund" sentence, as I assumed that's a german figure of speech as a literal translation doesn't make much sense.

 

[kloplop321]

thanks, cleared some things up and a laugh.

 

[sbock]

The article is from SatanClaus, a gp2x.de and gp32x.de forum member. He met EvilDragon wednesday on the Games Convention.

Regards,
Stephan

 

[Kyo]

Here is my version, it's yours with some minor corrections. Your german isn't terrible at all.

There were only few mistranslations in your version, though (you also left out a sentence)

Thanks for your help, it is very much appreciated and I've updated the first post with your version.
As for the missing sentence, I'm assuming you mean the "Wasser im Mund" sentence, as I assumed that's a german figure of speech as a literal translation doesn't make much sense.

No, I didn't translate that either. It was in the third paragraph or so.

 

[Fishbong]

Here is my version, it's yours with some minor corrections. Your german isn't terrible at all.

There were only few mistranslations in your version, though (you also left out a sentence)

Thanks for your help, it is very much appreciated and I've updated the first post with your version.
As for the missing sentence, I'm assuming you mean the "Wasser im Mund" sentence, as I assumed that's a german figure of speech as a literal translation doesn't make much sense.


QUOTE
Jeder, dem jetzt das Wasser im Mund zusammengelaufen ist, sollte erstmal ein Schnitzel essen: Die Vorbestellungen für den Pandora beginnt erst am 30. September 2008 und ausgeliefert werden soll er ab dem 13. November.

If that got you drooling, better eat a cutlet for now: Preorders for the Pandora will be taken from the 30th of September and shipping starts at November 13.


There you have it

 

[SatanClaus]

The article is from SatanClaus, a gp2x.de and gp32x.de forum member. He met EvilDragon wednesday on the Games Convention.

Regards,
Stephan



Yes, I wrote it. Thank you for the kind comments
To clear some things up: I couldn't play with the Pandora in my hands, because ED had to dismantle the unit to boot it up (and use a laptop to do it). It's difficult to play without controls. ED showed some tech demos (Final Burn, Quake 2). They were running nicely. Final Burn was full speed. Quake 2 did run in software mode and in an early version without much optimisation. It was a little, little laggy, something like 25 FPS. I'm sure ED is going to post some vids soon.

QUOTE

If they played anything it was on the laptop, but they probably held the case and messed around with it, to see how it felt.


The final case is somewhere in the mail between somewhere and Germany so ED had an early version there which was a little bit worn down and shaky. But if you take it in the hand, you'll get a feeling how the buttons on the pandora are accessible. I was actually surprised how good the analog sticks are accessible.

QUOTE
If that got you drooling, better eat a cutlet for now: Preorders for the Pandora will be taken from the 30th of September and shipping starts at November 13.


That's the right translation. It's a little (and a bad ) joke and not easy to understand, if you're not a native speaker.
I'm driving home from the GC in a few hours. Tomorrow I'll post the pictures in a better resolution. And feel free to ask some questions.

 

[mechanizeddeath]

thanks for the article and pictures

 

[openthebox]

Thank you SatanClaus, Chris_r, and all other translators.

That is a very nice article, especially with the intro.

SatanClaus, you mentioned that the buttons feel quite comfortable. How large are your hands?
What type of lighting were used at the convention? Did you notice any glare from the screen when reflecting off the lighting above?

 

[EvilDragon]

The final case is somewhere in the mail between somewhere and Germany so ED had an early version there which was a little bit worn down and shaky.

Not yet - as it wouldn't arrive in time it never got shipped. We PLANNED to have it here by that time
But basically correct. The final case should get some pictures soon.

 

[mechanizeddeath]

Not yet - as it wouldn't arrive in time it never got shipped. We PLANNED to have it here by that time
But basically correct. The final case should get some pictures soon.

looking forward to it! i'm curious, will this case also include the stylus?