New website request

[Binky]

The following would require lots of people to say one sentence each


<narrator> "So just what is the openpandora?"


<person one> "its a way to carry hundreds of indie games in my pocket"


<person two> "its a miniaturised laptop"


<person three> "the ultimate in console emulation"


<person four> Every classic gaming system, but portable!


<etc> "kinda like an electronic notebook, but much more flexible"


"it takes me back to my childhood"


"serious programming on the move"


"android games with real controls"


"a perfect way to relive computing history"


"pandora has the best audio quality I've ever heard"


"all my videos, all my documents, all my music, all my games, always with me"


"its the epitome of software freedom"


"a handheld with intuitive controls"


"hardcore multibooting linux"


"a vibrant online community with a common goal"


"the most versatile handheld on the market today"


<narrator> "to find out what else pandoras do, go to double-you-double-you-double-you-dot-open-pandora-dot-org"

 

[White Demon]

I think I'd not change the "no"'s to "and"s , I might opt for "or" instead? The main point of what I was suggesting was to make it sound unlikely that one tiny device could do all these things!(until the big reveal at the end)


Hope that makes sense?(puts on Don Draper hat and starts sipping whiskey!!)

I think it would be better to say 'and' rather than 'or'.


If I was viewing such a video, saying 'or' would make it sound to me like I would have to make a choice as to which of those I wanted one to do, in other words if I were to buy one I would only be able to choose one of those things to do with it and not be able to do any of the others.


By saying 'and', it would leave no doubt that it can do ALL of those things out of the box.

 

[darkborn]

I've got similar idea... does anybody remember old newspaper ad for Elite?


If I remember correctly, there was a bunch of aliens (!) sitting in front of comp. monitors, mixed along with humans, all of them playing Elite.


It is the same case now: let's suppose picture of a happy family (could be made as a funny sketch): father is doing "serious business", mother is at web-shopping, son is playing video games, daughter is hanging at Facebook, baby's watching movies/cartoons... and all of them are doing it on (plenty of) Pandoras.


And some alien probably (I like it more)


(Edit: alien should painting & sketching with stylus )

 

[WizardStan]

I think it would be better to say 'and' rather than 'or'.

I think it's better to say "no" rather than "and". The commercial described was trying to set up a narrative where the user isn't sure what it is, and then in a moment of clarity he realizes it is all these things and more. People like moments like that, especially when they knew it was coming, it makes them feel smart.

 

[hmc]

The following would require lots of people to say one sentence each


<narrator> "So just what is the openpandora?"


<person one> "its a way to carry hundreds of indie games in my pocket"


<person two> "its a miniaturised laptop"


<person three> "the ultimate in console emulation"


....

This sound like those funny commercials where "random" people on the street are interviewed.


Just imagine, if we could really just ask random persons on the street, and all would know, what the Pandora is. Goal more than reached, I guess ;-)

 

[vcoleiro1]

I say employ the narrator that did the OTON video

 

[klapse]

Craig and Ed have both sold thousands of units (with Craig having sold more). It is very interesting that they seem to have some differing impressions of what actual paying customers


buy the unit for!


Perhap's Ed's actual customer base is more linux fans and Craig's is more gamers.

 

[EvilDragon]

Craig and Ed have both sold thousands of units (with Craig having sold more). It is very interesting that they seem to have some differing impressions of what actual paying customers


buy the unit for!


Perhap's Ed's actual customer base is more linux fans and Craig's is more gamers.

Nope, you can't compare that.


Craig sold 3000 units with the first batch. Back then, there was no other similar device, none with such awesome stats and a great price (250 USD!).


Back then, most of my customers were mostly gamers as well.


I've sold about 1500 units this year to new customers.


Times have changed. The CPU is nothing special, gaming can be done with smartphones, etc. There are some alternatives for gaming, but nothing when seeing the Pandora with all it's possibilities.


While most of my customers these days are also gamers, they also love the idea, OpenSource and the possibility to run Linux with all it's programs on it.


It's not mostly Linux users, but it's certainly also not your typical gamer anymore.


It's people who love both. So when doing a general video, it should contain both. There's no need to have lengthy areas of desktop stuff. Once you see something running (XFCE, Deadbeef, FireFox, ClawsMail, etc.), you understood that it has a full desktop. No need to show more.


With emulators and games, there's lot more to be shown.


So my idea is:


One general video showing all the aspects of the Pandora (hardware (keyboard, USB, DPad, etc.), desktop, native games and emulators). Right now it's 99% emulators, but Craig is still working on the video.


One video showing the desktop stuff with a bit more detail, for users who are interested in that.


And a section on the website for retro-gamers, where you can select your emulator and see videos just for that particular system.


That's what I was preparing with my latest videos.


Gathering footage for a general one (which Craig is currently editing) and also showing single emulators on demand.

 

[rohezal]

Maybe make a button clickable at the pandora (and highlight it) to open a menu where you can choose from videos which plays in the pandora of the site? This way you can "see" what the pandora does by "using" it.

 

[Link]

^


I was just thinking that while reading EDs post above.

 

[HolySmoke]

Reminds me of the (quite good) N900 welcome video tour.

 

[Rockthesmurf]

Probably not a good idea, but the video could have:

1. On desktop, email notification coming up 'Latest N64 emulator'

2. Jump to mail package (as if user clicked on link), with a message, 'Hey Happy Pandora Owner, have you checked out the latest N64 emulator? It runs Mario 64 pretty sweet!'

3. User switches task to chat client and types "Be right back, going to play a bit of Mario 64!"

4. Jumps to PND Manager downloading latest emulator (of course with download/install bar going up in one or two seconds)

5. Jumps to Mario 64 quick booting up

6. Jumps to Mario running around the first level stomping some bad guys

7. Rest of video plays, showing crap loads of games

8. Goes back to chat client, the friend has left a message 'Hey, where did you go...' then 'You still there...' and to which the user replies 'The Pandora rocks!'

9. Cuts to Matt Damon, saying 'MATT DAMON!!!'

10. ???

11. Profit!

As I say, I am not convinced this is actually a good idea, but it is an example of how the desktop environment could be intertwined with the playing retro games. A hell of a lot easier for me to come up with suggestions than the work required to implement them, but there we go!

 

[mcobit]

The person should be coding in codeblocks while getting the notification

 

[aatu]

Well, might as well chime in on this one, too. The commercial should be something in this manner:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/owGykVbfgUE?feature=oembed



Though coming up with something like that and succesfully tying it with the Pandora might be easier said than done.

 

[hmc]

ED, hope you're following this thread.

An - IMHO very important - quick fix suggestion for the new www.openpandora.org:

I suggest you add - e.g. at the bottom below the Pandora picture - two lines with links, the two most important links to get people going with their new Pandora, or with the need to reset it, in which case they WILL come to www.openpandora.org, if they don't know the exact places to look for what they need:

"Firmware download / reflash your Pandora" linking to http://pandorawiki.org/Firmware

"Get software for your Pandora" linking to http://repo.openpandora.org

 

[porg]

Content of this video: Emulators, emulators, emulators! 

 

It is a slap into the face of all the developers who wrote and write ORIGINAL games & apps for the Pandora.

They are mentioned no second of this video! With this the Pandora seems as nothing but a pirating device!

 

[EvilDragon]

Well, Craig told me he'll update it with apps and games as well... shortly after he created that video.


I'm not sure it'll ever happen, so I'll do it whenever I find some time.

 

[Askarus]

Emulation is not pirating.

I bought about 40 PSX games because of the Pandora .

Of course developers should get honor for their work but lots of people grew up with classic video games. If they see that "their system" is playable they will get interest.

Also emulation shows the power of Pandora.

As original games are not that popular I think a "community projects" topic would be the place for such stuff.

So it's an extra topic for native Pandora games.

In the first visible video should be what attracts people: Stuff they already know and which is usable/playable in Pandora:

Emulated systems, ported Games and applications (LibreOffice...).

Of course there should be some native Pandora games/applications but it should not be the main focus.

Native stuff is community work and should be in some extra topic.

 

[porg]

Askarus: I agree with your marketing logic, but ask for about 30 seconds of showcasing the top native games within a 5:21 video. That's representative I'd say.

 

[hmc]

I'd vote for including applications and native games into the video. The video is meant to show, what the Pandora can do. And that's also applications and native games.

I'd also vote for mixing those categories within the video well, so that there is e.g. first an emulated game (or a section about an emulator with several games showing); then LibreOffice, then a native game, then another emulator, then a web browser, then emulator, native game, Email program... etc.

Otherwise people mainly interested in applications would give up watching the view before the applications are shown. People not interested in classic gaming stuff would miss the great new native games. And so on.