Our New Machine, Pandora

[God Ginrai]

Oh god.
Nice screen, although this thing is going to be clunkier than the xbox controller!

First off, I liked the XBox controller.

Secondly, how can you tell it will be clunky by looking at its screen?

-God Ginrai

Ok, well, it needs a space for the larger screen, two analog sticks, a DPAD, probably some shoulder buttons, 3 or 4 face buttons, and possibly more?


IMHO, there is always unused space on the left side of handhelds, so there shouldn't be trouble putting a Dpad and a Stick there. Shoulders don't make a handheld any bigger. This thing will have at least 4 face buttons probably at least 6. (Start and Select) but once again, that doesn't take up too much space.

-God Ginrai

 

[zacaj]

Does anyone think there should be a 'Menu' button?

 

[Alex.]

Yes, maybe Select should be labeled as Menu, because you hardly use Select to select anything, ever.

 

[God Ginrai]

Yes, maybe Select should be labeled as Menu, because you hardly use Select to select anything, ever.

Or we could have a seperate "Menu" button that is below the screen, that way we can go to the emulator menu with the push of a button, without wasting buttons for play.

-God Ginrai

 

[TyBO!]

Yes, maybe Select should be labeled as Menu, because you hardly use Select to select anything, ever.

I don't think that's a good idea. A "Menu" button should take you to the dashboard no matter when you press it, and regardless of what application is running. If it were the same as the "Select" button, some emulators would use it as a "Select" button (instead of "Menu") and it wouldn't take you to the dashboard when pressed.

 

[zacaj]

Thats what I was thinking. I always hated how every games and emulator uses a different control scheme....

 

[StealthBagel]

amazing ..
i sense a "personal crisis" . .. what next?
1.wait for the new console?
2.say goodbye&thankyou gph and pray for 30.000+ craiginator sales?
3.burry the gp2x console with 2gb card and all fantastic emus and homebrew?

I wish people would stop turning this into a competition of 'gp2x vs. the future'.... there is nothing so special about the gp2x that another platform with an arm processor, sufficient RAM and a sufficient-resolution screen can't do. And if it has a faster CPU, better graphical acceleration, less bottlenecks etc. it will do the same things better and then some. And after the gp2x controls and battery life there are a lot of other aspects that can improve. Technology moves fast and that's not news to anyone.... I know the $170 someone shelled out for a gp2x shouldn't feel 'wasted' but that software's not wasted either, it would all run better on more advanced hardware.

I mean, people said the same thing when the gp2x was first announced, 'what will happen to the gp32'? Most things run better on the gp2x and most people have never looked back. You don't have to physically bury your gp2x to use something new either.

Also who cares if there are 30,000 sales? I don't know why this would concern any consumer. What should concern a consumer is, "when I buy this product am I getting my money's worth and am I satisfied with my purchase" and nothing more.... not worrying about the commercial success of Nintendo or Sony when I go out to buy a DS or a PSP am I? No, I want to play some damn games....

 

[Nova]

Yes, maybe Select should be labeled as Menu, because you hardly use Select to select anything, ever.

I don't think that's a good idea. A "Menu" button should take you to the dashboard no matter when you press it, and regardless of what application is running. If it were the same as the "Select" button, some emulators would use it as a "Select" button (instead of "Menu") and it wouldn't take you to the dashboard when pressed.


Yes, a universal menu button for back to the dash would be ace. I also previously mentioned an action button for every section of the menu (music, video, gaming, web apps, etc), but some members disagreed on this.

 

[mavsman4457]

Also who cares if there are 30,000 sales? I don't know why this would concern any consumer. What should concern a consumer is, "when I buy this product am I getting my money's worth and am I satisfied with my purchase" and nothing more.... not worrying about the commercial success of Nintendo or Sony when I go out to buy a DS or a PSP am I? No, I want to play some damn games....

Well you probably should start caring because if the your favorite console's company goes out of business then you won't be getting your next favorite console anymore. Especially with something with such a small developer like the Craiginator. If this thing sells really well then maybe Craigix can make the Craiginator 2 in about 10 years that would be able to emulate PS2 and xbox while having a built in projector or something ridiculous like that. Just hypothetical of course.

 

[God Ginrai]

Yes, maybe Select should be labeled as Menu, because you hardly use Select to select anything, ever.

I don't think that's a good idea. A "Menu" button should take you to the dashboard no matter when you press it, and regardless of what application is running. If it were the same as the "Select" button, some emulators would use it as a "Select" button (instead of "Menu") and it wouldn't take you to the dashboard when pressed.


Yes, a universal menu button for back to the dash would be ace. I also previously mentioned an action button for every section of the menu (music, video, gaming, web apps, etc), but some members disagreed on this.


That's because that's too many one-purpose buttons. It's not that much work to choose them from the menu, and besides, you could probably even set up the menu so that it can use the buttons as hotkeys for that, then it's only 2 button presses away.

-God Ginrai

 

[zacaj]

Going back to the dash sort of defies my point... I think, pressing it should do whatever the programer wants

 

[realyst]

Niiiiiiiice screen

 

[God Ginrai]

Going back to the dash sort of defies my point... I think, pressing it should do whatever the programer wants

That's what I want, too; actually. But I still think it should be placed below the screen, since it wouldn't be meant for actual gameplay so much.

-God Ginrai

 

[Javacat]

I want a button like the button on the wiimote! The one between the - and + buttons, so that when you press it the game freezes and a standard menu appears over the game screen. Or I could just use the keyboard to change between 'desktops'...

 

[zacaj]

I aggree

 

[kfuse]

holy smokes...that has got to be like the most godliest lcd I have ever seen on a handheld...

oh man it looks so sweet...

 

[Squidge]

Yes, a universal menu button for back to the dash would be ace. I also previously mentioned an action button

I want a button like the button on the wiimote! The one between the - and + buttons, so that when you press it the game freezes and a standard menu appears over the game screen.

Nice ideas, but both would require every program to use a standard library for accessing the keyboard and screen (so it can overlay that screen with the menu/pause the program/take over the buttons/etc). This could add an extra abstraction layer to the hardware, meaning some emulators couldn't take full advantage of the hardware. I don't think it's wise to expect every developer to implement the functionality - they should be developing there own app instead.

 

[icurafu]

Yes, a universal menu button for back to the dash would be ace. I also previously mentioned an action button

I want a button like the button on the wiimote! The one between the - and + buttons, so that when you press it the game freezes and a standard menu appears over the game screen.

Nice ideas, but both would require every program to use a standard library for accessing the keyboard and screen (so it can overlay that screen with the menu/pause the program/take over the buttons/etc). This could add an extra abstraction layer to the hardware, meaning some emulators couldn't take full advantage of the hardware. I don't think it's wise to expect every developer to implement the functionality - they should be developing there own app instead.


Why not just have the button kill all processes not tagged as generated at startup? And then reload the menu?

 

[earx]

the analog control and especially the screen look good (for both 16:10 and 4:3 modes! really love it!). i was slightly disappointed by the analog control being flat like the PSP's. but i guess it will have to be an improvement (the PSP's thing slips and can't be used as a button either).

someone mentioned a battery-backed RTC. that's a really good idea if you want to give it some palmtop functionality. i recommend using a type with an exchangeable battery, not the things you have to solder (!) when they run out. my atari falcon has one of these (ok, it lasted for twelve years but still.. now i gotta do soldering, bah..)

overall, i'm damn excited, although i'll be using the F-200 in the meanwhile. i guess we'll have to wait till 2008 to see the first prototypes of the craiginator.

my 2 cents

 

[Squidge]

The only way I see of doing that is by having a background app that constantly checks for the button push and then initiates the process killing and execution of the main menu. However, that polling will waste processor time and dirty the caches.