Our New Machine, Pandora

[dodgyville]

I want a successor to the gp2x as much as anybody else. But this thing sounds over the top.

All it needs to be a kickass machine:-
- some buttons
- a stick/controller (maybe two for emulation)
- a 3D chip
- a fast CPU
- 128mb+ memory
- a screen
- wifi
- SD-like cards (mini or equiv)
- USB port
- decent battery life
- no larger than the existing gp2x.

It doesn't need a keyboard. It doesn't need touchscreen.

 

[b._.o._.b]

It doesn't need a keyboard. It doesn't need touchscreen.

:huh:

Of course it does, don't be silly.

 

[zaffercharles]

I seriously doubt it could be shipped from the UK to USA for $10. At today's rate (on xe.com) $10 = £4.78, which would only just pay to ship, say, a boxed GP2X within the UK. If you want it sent to the USA at a decent speed and with insurance, I'd guess $20 would be the minimum you'd pay.

It's good to see some people willing to debate this properly BTW - it's obviously supposed to be a thread for discussing the craiginator's potential weaknesses, so all the "so don't buy it" posters have completely missed the point.

Well what would you, or the original poster like to see from a new device? considering that we don't know the full story on its strengths yet how can we talk about its weaknesses? other than it will be expensive for some.

I said before that I would have been happy with no frameskip on all gp2x can do plus some updated mame but, opening up ps1 and 64 adds a hell of a lot of good fun 3d games for it. Being able to play my avi properly in w/s without modifying them is another bonus, as is using it for appointments and reminders, net surf etc.

Yeah, if you've already experienced most of it or parts of that on multiple other systems it's not going to be so much of a novelty but again, what would you have liked to hear about it bearing in mind that we don't even know the full finished spec, and it isn't an official 'next gen' gp2x anyway

 

[A_SN]

It doesn't need a keyboard. It doesn't need touchscreen.

Your short-sightedness truly is admirable. And if you don't get why I'm saying this, just think of all the things people would like to do on a hi-res screen WiFi device that they couldn't do without either a touchscreen or keyboard.

 

[Squidge]

It doesn't need a keyboard. It doesn't need touchscreen.

But if it did, it would appear to a greater market rather than just gaming geeks. Greater market = more sold and more applications. Better for us, and better for Craigix

I for one wouldn't mind using it for web browsing whilst sitting in front of the TV rather than just a games machine. Should be much better than buying another laptop thats smaller than a full size one (Full sized laptops are uncomfortable for simple browsing)

 

[narmak]

There are two reasons I am not considering the craiginator. One is the outrageous price tag, something that I believe will keep the dev scene on this thing to a bare minimum. Second is the name, honestly, the craiginator? Are you guys trying to get me to take this system seriously? Why not get a name that shows you are serious? I'm not paying 400 dollars for a system with a name like that, sorry. Oh, and one more thing, there is this line you are approaching, that upon crossing, you enter into the realm of pc. I already have a pc, and I already can play amazing 3d games on it. Making the margin between your home pc and your portable system smaller only seems to hinder the creativity from my point of view. Part of the joy of working on a handheld system is creating handheld games, just taking concepts from consoles and implementing them simply because you would like to emulate them doesn't seem like a good driving factor in determining the development of an open system in my opinion (I say this because that IS what is driving these decisions. I have yet to see a homebrew game for the 2x that felt constrained by the hardware, most of the software falling into that category of being held back by the hardware is emulators). So the hardware isn't being pushed by homebrew games, it is being pushed by homebrew emulators, and while I see these emulators as a godsend for the gp2x, I'm not that disappointed to see that I can't run psx or n64 games, cause honestly I've been enjoying trudging through the stockpiles of homebrewed games and applications for this thing. Maybe you dev's out there are really just dying to get some dedicated 3d hardware or something, but why? If it's gonna raise the price of entry by some 240 dollars, I think I'll just stick to my pc to get my 3d kicks.

 

[peelie]

Second is the name, honestly, the craiginator? Are you guys trying to get me to take this system seriously? Why not get a name that shows you are serious? I'm not paying 400 dollars for a system with a name like that, sorry.

cue hilarious anglo-american humo(u)r misunderstandings/flame/lack of irony etc etc

 

[jpic3yk]

One thing I know a lot of people found frustrating with the gp2x was that all the emus had different quirks, the menus were different, the commands to pause, save state, etc. were different. Rom paths were usually different and confusing.
The craiginator should have standards set up (if they aren't already) for all these things. To many newcomers testing the open source handheld market emulators can be very confusing and this should all be "dumbed down" as much as possible to encourage new users.

 

[senquack]

I am going to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for months if that's what it takes to afford the Craiginator. But I don't think I'm going to have to do that.

And I suppose it is only fair us Americans get to pay a larger sum than the Brits for electronics once or twice in our lifetimes. Even if it's not much more

 

[b._.o._.b]

One thing I know a lot of people found frustrating with the gp2x was that all the emus had different quirks, the menus were different, the commands to pause, save state, etc. were different. Rom paths were usually different and confusing.
The craiginator should have standards set up (if they aren't already) for all these things. To many newcomers testing the open source handheld market emulators can be very confusing and this should all be "dumbed down" as much as possible to encourage new users.

We don't want to attract morons to our nice community do we?

No standards, really, let the dev decide what they thinks is best. It should be fun to develop for, so no restrictions, no guidelines.

 

[God Ginrai]

I think there should be a suggested standard for the roms and bios directories. (I do agree that it's a pain having your roms all around the card) Suggested tho', so that if they felt like it, the dev could use a different directory. But as far as GUI and other quirks are concerned, I believe that should be fully at the dev's liberty to decide.

-God Ginrai

 

[javaJake]

It doesn't need a keyboard. It doesn't need touchscreen.

But if it did, it would appear to a greater market rather than just gaming geeks. Greater market = more sold and more applications. Better for us, and better for Craigix

I'm part of that greater market - the reason I'm getting it is because it could accomplish the basic functions of a PDA or UMPC - it would be a perfect replacement for my dying laptop (of which I only used to VNC or SSH "-X" home to read e-mail, etc., or used its 8MB card to play a few games.)

 

[A_SN]

One thing I know a lot of people found frustrating with the gp2x was that all the emus had different quirks, the menus were different, the commands to pause, save state, etc. were different. Rom paths were usually different and confusing.
The craiginator should have standards set up (if they aren't already) for all these things. To many newcomers testing the open source handheld market emulators can be very confusing and this should all be "dumbed down" as much as possible to encourage new users.

I think you've got a point here, which is why I think that Craig should publish design guidelines, even maybe graphical interface elements for devs to base themselves on. With well defined and explained guidelines to give the final user a smooth and consistent experience, most of us would adhere to that, I think.

No standards, really, let the dev decide what they thinks is best. It should be fun to develop for, so no restrictions, no guidelines.

Surely we don't want to be told "Do this, not that!", but we often have only too much choice, and having official guidelines could help. Also, if you know that users are used to a certain button for a certain operation in 90% of all other programs, you'll surely want to adhere to that as much as possible.

 

[Squidge]

On the gp2x, there is a kind of standard for where roms should be stored (eg. /sd/roms/<name of system>) and I think this should stay, as it lets you use multiple emulators for the same system without having multiple copies of roms around. Everything else should really be left to the individual developer. Maybe a "preferred standard button usage" should be suggested, such as two buttons always exit an emulated game or show the emulators menu system.

Those emu's matching the above would then get a "Craiginator Community Seal of Approval"

 

[trooper]

I am going to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for months if that's what it takes to afford the Craiginator. But I don't think I'm going to have to do that.

And I suppose it is only fair us Americans get to pay a larger sum than the Brits for electronics once or twice in our lifetimes. Even if it's not much more

Why can`t the rest of you americans take this sort of attitude that Senor Quack has ?. As has been said, The FULL specs have not been revealed for this machine yet, But people (Mostly the americans on here) continue to moan about the price, When they don`t actually really know what they will be getting for their money. Just give the guys who are developing this machine a chance to reveal more details of the spec before wingeing about the price, Please.

Trooper

 

[jpic3yk]

I really don't mind as long as nothing is as bad as that gameboy/gameboy color emulator for gp2x where you had to click in the joystick and press the shoulder buttons in while simultaneously running your microwave at the correct frequency, standing on your head just to get to the menu. I realize that the gp2x had limited buttons but a few emulators were bordering on ridiculous.

 

[javaJake]

Since no one else has, I've taken the liberty to reply to each of this guy's points.

To me, buying a handheld with no commercial support to play modern 3d games seems pointless.
It may not be from GamePark Holdings, but the support provided will be the equivalent, I'm sure.

The large, high res screen doesn't seem to lend it self to older 2d games. OTOH, if older 2d games is what you want, you could always stick with the gp2x as I suspect it will be supported due to the ease of porting linux games and emulators over to the gp2x.
This is true, it doesn't. But that isn't a negative - in fact, if anything, other apps will benefit in many ways (i.e., larger view of lists of things) and nothing will be hurt by its greater resolution.

So really, who is it that will want The Craiginator? People who want to emulate newer systems and people who have no open source system already.
People who want to emulate newer systems, people who don't have an open-source system, and people who like its more universal abilities *cough*. Really, the same mostly applies to any electronic.

But I'm really turned off by the price tag. Estimated at $350 + VAT (17% tax?), shipping from England probably around $20 or more if the dollar keeps falling. This could easily be a $400 investment when all is said and done and that doesn't include memory cards (unless you are upgrading and can use your old cards, but most likely you will want the larger cards).
It very well could be $400 with the necessary accessories some will buy. But if you compare the specs and abilities (and the fact it is open-source! that's worth a lot!) with other devices, you'll find the price is reasonable.

Add in a new battery charger and extra battery and you may be apraching $475 to $500 (american dollars).
Eh, that's pushing it. If the battery is standard, it shouldn't be $75 IMO.

The weak dollar is making matters worse and the dollar is probably going to be worth even less by the time The Craiginator is available. Remember, that significantly increases price, as well as shipping. It just seems like this is a great piece of tech, but too expesnive and doesn't really know where it wants to be.
Actually, that's not true. CraigIX and friends didn't just say "hey, let's dump whatever they want into this and sell it". From what I hear, they took the GP2X's failings and made them positives for the Craiginator.

Is this kind of money worth gba, snes sfx chips, psx and N64 (most likely saturn and jaguar won't work
...at full speed. You never know what's down the road. And, this part specifically is up to you. Is that all you'll be using it for? If so, do you want the power with portability?

But if The Craiginator is going to cost $350 + 17% vat + $20 + dollars shipping, I will be forced to skip no matter what, because I just can't justify a $400 investment for a handheld video game system, especially when it really isn't ideal for what I want (2d games and emulators)
Again, it is just as good, if not better, for 2D as the GP2X was, so I'm not sure what you mean by "isn't ideal".

I'll have to look at lots of black bars or scalled video which I think is ugly (at least on the other systems.)
And you didn't mind when DVD's had the black border when playing in widescreen on 4:3 TVs? Do those look ugly?

 

[DisgruntleElf]

Price won't kill the "Craiginator", the delays will. These gaming devices live and die by the quantity of developement. Even if the JXD 301 doesn't appeal to every developer, some other future gaming device might. The longer the "Craiginator" takes, the greater the chance something else might steal its thunder.

 

[Squidge]

There are two reasons I am not considering the craiginator. One is the outrageous price tag, something that I believe will keep the dev scene on this thing to a bare minimum. Second is the name, honestly, the craiginator? Are you guys trying to get me to take this system seriously? Why not get a name that shows you are serious?

Some people have no clue

 

[coldfish]

my $0.02

I'm more than happy with my GP2X, so the craig-whatever isnt really on my wish-list atm.

Down the track, I wouldnt mind a bit more power, but all the extras of the craig-a-thingy just dont justify the outlay to me. Ideally, a GP2X compatible/like handheld with higher clock and maybe hardware 3D at similar pricing to the current models would suit me fine.

If I want more polished (or 3D) software, I'd forget open-source and stick with the PSP and DS.

If I want an full open-source computer Id buy the EeePC.