Getting closer... (2011 - 12 - 01)

[Linux-SWAT]

Indeed, but a pressure sensitive one can be fun to play with when having some guitarist fingers ^^.

 

[FRZ]

I already knew android was unoptimized but what I didn't know is how fast the pandora works. The device is actually very useful. I guess what I don't understand is why anybody would play games on it as opposed to a PS. But what I don't understand is why it has to be so small, is it really that hard to carry around a backpack with a 6 pound desktop replacement notebook and a smartphone?


The pandora is very unique and optimized but is it really worth it for that small amount of use?

One word: pocket.


There were a couple of occasions when I played something simple on my Pandora while I was waiting for the rest of my family to finish shopping (Mahjong Solitaire, Bejeweled, and exploration in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night). Obviously, a laptop wouldn't have worked in this scenario.

Is symphony of the night any good? I've never played any Castlevania outside of Nintendo and I love these games.

 

[T.T.]

Could you imagine what Spock would say if you told him he could only use his tricorder for games and that there was no way to program it to do anything else? (yes I know I'm mixing up my trek, sue me)


- Neelix

That's highly illogical

 

[diligentcircle]

Is symphony of the night any good? I've never played any Castlevania outside of Nintendo and I love these games.

Yup, it's good. Very different from the earlier games, but to me at least, the changes are welcome. Plus, after you beat it, you're given the option to go through the castle as Richter Belmont, which is more like the older games.


Actually, my only complaint is that a lot of secrets are hidden behind breakable walls which are definitely less than obvious, and even some floors and ceilings can be broken through. It was also less than obvious to me that you needed to slowly lure a monkey skeleton to a bridge so that it would destroy the bridge and allow you through (whereas if you just approached it normally, it would never destroy the bridge). I tried everything else for hours before I finally looked at a walkthrough which helped me through that part.


Other than that and the god-awful voices, and the hilariously cheezy ending that made me laugh (which it clearly wasn't supposed to do), the game was awesome.

 

[Zelest]

Other than that and the god-awful voices, and the hilariously cheezy ending that made me laugh (which it clearly wasn't supposed to do), the game was awesome.

"What is a man?! A miserable little pile of secrets! But enough talk, have at you!"

 

[PaulForey]

Symphony of the Night is one of my all time favourite games. I wish that I could have some very specific amnesia so that I could truly replay it.

 

[EvilDragon]

Back to topic, some quick info:


The packages have finally been picked up in Texas and according to FedEx tracking, they should arrive tomorrow in Germany.


I guess it will be Friday or Monday (never trusted FedEx estimations ), but that means we only got a slight delay with the prototype run and we're still planning the full production to happen in January

 

[Blue Protoman]

You teach? Mind telling a bit more about that, I'd like to hear it. Are you an adjunct professor at some nearby college?

 

[Gein07]

Back to topic, some quick info:


The packages have finally been picked up in Texas and according to FedEx tracking, they should arrive tomorrow in Germany.


I guess it will be Friday or Monday (never trusted FedEx estimations ), but that means we only got a slight delay with the prototype run and we're still planning the full production to happen in January

Uggh, I swear the wait is more painful this time then before I ponied up for my premium Pandora. I've been on RMA since May and I'm losing my mind reading about all the great things happening in the Pandora community since then. Still keeping the faith though, only two more months....

 

[dreamer]

Hmmm, ED, maybe you can shed some light on this:


Do you have any statistics on the reasons units are sent for RMA?


What percentage is PoD? Faulty nubs? Cracked cases etc.?

 

[trevj]

[...] still planning the full production to happen in January

Great! Thanks for the update.

We found some companies that could produce the TV Out Cables and are currently waiting for quotations.

Any more news on this? Is it possible to add these cables to an existing Pandora order?

 

[trevj]

Oh, and as you might've seen: The repository now offers commercial games!

There's a typo on the 'Account Details' page. "A weekly email summerysummary"

 

[scoobydoo]

So let's hope it's not deja vu all over again .

 

[PowerGod]

So let's hope it's not deja vu all over again .

^ this

 

[Binky]

So let's hope it's not deja vu all over again .

Haven't you said that before? <_<

 

[scoobydoo]

So let's hope it's not deja vu all over again .

^ this

^ you

 

[scoobydoo]

So let's hope it's not deja vu all over again .

Haven't you said that before? <_<

you must be a historian kinky ^_^

 

[Darkknight512]

Hey ED, with all the buzz around small computers you can just take with you (the talk about usb stick sized computers, and stuff like the Raspberry PI). What is the price on a bare Pandora PCB, say if someone just wants to use it with TV out and nothing else.


Could be a nice second market.

 

[mcobit]

Craig had this idea early on, but I don't know what happened to it.

 

[Neelix]

Hey ED, with all the buzz around small computers you can just take with you (the talk about usb stick sized computers, and stuff like the Raspberry PI). What is the price on a bare Pandora PCB, say if someone just wants to use it with TV out and nothing else.


Could be a nice second market.

How would you control it? There are no physical buttons on the PCB other than the shoulder buttons. I suspect your fingertips would have enough resistance to be undetectable as a keypress if you touched the pads directly, not to mention you'd have to memorise all the key locations.


how would you power it? Not every board is guaranteed to boot without a battery, and without a case how would you attach one?


I can think of a few ways around these issues but most are rather cumbersome, and so would defeat the purpose of carting around a bare PCB for the sake of portability.


I suppose you could distribute the bottom half of a case, with no LCD attached, and distribute it with just the TV-Out cable. not sure how cost effective that would be though, and you'd have no way of protecting the controls when lugging it about.


- Neelix