I have some ideas for a Pandora 2:

[GoldenSun3DS]

Some things you could do:


• Keep the clamshell design.


This helps protect the screen


• Add L2/R2.


PS1 games have them, and it's emulated by P1.


• Make L1/R1/L2/R2 clickable(like how the Gamecube controller did it).


Gamecube has L/R able to sense if you applied enough force to make the shoulder button go all the way down, which adds 2 more input options that are needed.


• Keep resistive touch screen.


Capacitive screens are annoying and force you to smear the screen with your fingers.


• Increase the resolution.


• Increase the power so it can atleast emulate DS, PSP, PS2, and Gamecube. Maybe have RAM be extendable by a high-class SDHC Card.


I can't think of any other improvements right now.

 

[slaeshjag]

PS2/Gamecube? Not on this side of 2015. I believe OLED-under-keys is patented, and would still at least double the price of the pandora. I'd like game-cube style shoulder buttons, but they would be very hard to implement on a portable device.


RAM over SDIO isn't that feasable since there's no RAM-devices for that. Although UHS might just be fast enough to justify swapping there.

 

[GoldenSun3DS]

PS2/Gamecube? Not on this side of 2015. I believe OLED-under-keys is patented, and would still at least double the price of the pandora. I'd like game-cube style shoulder buttons, but they would be very hard to implement on a portable device.


RAM over SDIO isn't that feasable since there's no RAM-devices for that. Although UHS might just be fast enough to justify swapping there.

Since OLEDs under keys are patented, there could be small screens under the keys.

 

[Binky]

Since OLEDs under keys are patented, there could be small screens under the keys.

How would you justify the extra cost?

 

[albo]

P2 won't really need an OLED screen, it would be a waste of money. GoldenSun3DS if you want a gaming console buy a PSVita or a 3DS

 

[GoldenSun3DS]

P2 won't really need an OLED screen, it would be a waste of money. GoldenSun3DS if you want a gaming console buy a PSVita or a 3DS

I already have a 3DS(I pre-ordered and bought it at launch).I only mentioned extra gaming controls so it could properly emulate PS1/PS2/GC games without botched controls(keyboard buttons for the extra buttons supported by the emulated system is akward), but since P2 won't be able to have enhanced power due to increased costs, there'd be no point in adding more gamepad buttons.

 

[GoldenSun3DS]

Forget the part about the changeable keys; I'll edit that out later when I get on a PC.

 

[Binky]

The P2 will be able to have increased power, just not a huge amount due to small volumes etc


As a very rough gauge it could be a twin core A15 @ 1.5GHz - which is six times better than the current model, but not enough for a gamecube/PS2


Please not that it is not even known whether such a thing will be available for the P2, and has not in any way be decided upon.

 

[GoldenSun3DS]

How powerful is the P1 when compared to PS1, PS2, DS, 3DS, Gamecube, original Xbox, and Wii?(would it be more powerful, less powerful, or about equal to those systems?)


I would guess about equal to Wii since they both can emulate PS1 and N64, but nothing more powerful than those(although Wii can barely emulate DS).

 

[SNESFAN]

A rule I've heard and regurgitate quite often is the 10x rule


If you want to emulate a processor of a lesser type with a greater type it must be 10x more powerful.


Things get complicated when you throw in multi cores and multi processors etc. On both the device emulated and on the device doing the emulation.


I'm on my phone or else I would link to the Wikipedia article on console emulation... its surprisingly filled with some quite good information.


For a bluf ; a a15 should give us at least playable Nintendo Ds, Sega saturn, and dream cast seeing the current state of each existing project running on top of the line cortex dual core a9 devices


Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[Binky]

For a bluf ; a a15 should give us at least playable Nintendo Ds

This would be confirmed by another very rough guage - given that a 1.5GHz dual-core chip is 3x2=6 times better, and that DS emus run at 5fps on a P1, you should get 30fps on a P2, which is decent.


Obviously a huge simplification, though...

 

[Prometheus]

you should get 30fps on a P2, which is decent.

But the DS is locked to 60fps, if memory serves, so that would be half-speed...

 

[craigix]

Also, I doubt many apps on dual core phones use the dual cores in anything like a way which would make them twice as fast.


It would be very tricky to run an emulator over both cores, aside from maybe offloading the sound.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Also, I doubt many apps on dual core phones use the dual cores in anything like a way which would make them twice as fast.

Especially with Java multi-threading, which usually gives worst results than single-threaded ones.

 

[Binky]

Although newer arm chips have other optimisations that clock speed, and the DS emus will be a few years more developed


Maybe DS for the P2 will be like Dreamcast emulation for the the P1,...

 

[Grench]

I don't use multiple cores so much for any ONE application to take advantage of.


I use multiple cores so I can have multiple applications running at full speed - and still have the OS be responsive.

 

[WizardStan]

given that a 1.5GHz dual-core chip is 3x2=6 times better

Emulation especially does not work like that.

 

[Binky]

Yes. If you want to be serious about it, what I said there was rubbish


Is it even possible to make a direct comparison between such processors?

 

[Green7]

Yea, they all sound good.

We all really want this.

 

[Binky]

What we want, is a mame cab that follows you around automatically