Pandora Killed The Wiz

[WizardStan]

Because the Pandora got so much attention worldwide it also created a little more publicity for the open source handhelds in general. Which includes both the Dingoo and the Wiz.

Hmm... I have recommended the Wiz or Dingoo to a number of people that were at first interested in the Pandora (after digging for their requirements and finding the Pandora to exceed them by too much for the cost difference)
Perhaps these additional sales outweigh the losses incurred by the Osborne Effect.

 

[Monk]

Hmm... I have recommended the Wiz or Dingoo to a number of people that were at first interested in the Pandora (after digging for their requirements and finding the Pandora to exceed them by too much for the cost difference)
Perhaps these additional sales outweigh the losses incurred by the Osborne Effect.

Well, possibly not all by yourself but the increased awareness factor WOULD (/could?) be something to take into account.

It's starting to look like meteorology - initially it looks complex, but once you start looking deeper it's actually mind-bogglingly complex Chaos theory is great.

 

[grahamr]

Because the Pandora got so much attention worldwide it also created a little more publicity for the open source handhelds in general. Which includes both the Dingoo and the Wiz.

Hmm... I have recommended the Wiz or Dingoo to a number of people that were at first interested in the Pandora (after digging for their requirements and finding the Pandora to exceed them by too much for the cost difference)
Perhaps these additional sales outweigh the losses incurred by the Osborne Effect.

The Osborne effect is based on a misunderstanding of what took his company down. I think this shows how over-ly ready people are to believe in it when the real situation is much more complex.

Osborne's memoir :

"They had transitioned to a new model, and it was finally shipping. Sales were going well, and money was flowing back into the company after months of postponed sales (the alleged Osborne Effect). But then a VP discovered the company had $150k of fully equipped motherboards from the previous model, but no parts to build them out, no CRTs, RAM or floppy disk drives, and in worst of all, no plastic cases and bezels. The injection molding company that made the complex Osborne cases had already destroyed the molds since the product was discontinued and no further orders were expected."

"The VP pitched Osborne to build out the old models, so they could get some money out of their stock of old parts, but Osborne didn't realize what sort of expenditures would be involved. Before Osborne pulled the plug, the VP spent $2 million to build out the $150k of old parts, the biggest expense was getting the injection molding company to build new molds and start up production on cases. Osborne described this as the classic example of 'throwing good money after bad.'"

 

[u9i]

Hey guys,

Though i would share my thoughts on the matter. To me it seems the Pandora killed this community, not the Wiz. What appears to be going on right now is discussions about meaningless things regarding Pandora. Probably because they really don't have anything else to do while waiting, as many (myself including for quite a few months) opted not to buy a Wiz as the Pandora was right around the corner. And they have been waiting for years now, with nothing to do.

It is my impression/belief that had people known the Pandora was years away, they would probably be more active in anything, GP2x, Wiz, Dingoo (as pickle has been, thanks mate), instead of idling all this time.

It is fair enough, it is marketing, and i think OpenPandora won over GPH.

I will still be making games for the Wiz though... well, i've only made one hehe

/Uni

 

[Monk]

The Osborne effect is based on a misunderstanding of what took his company down.

Yes, the Osborne effect was named after a misunderstanding of what actually happened. However, that doesn't in any way affect the possibility that "The Osborne effect" exists, only that it wasn't what happened in the Osborne case.

The Wiz case is, similarly, more complex. That doesn't mean that the Osborne effect played no part. If I fall off a cliff, I won't claim that gravity played no part in my injuries because "It's more complicated than that - there was wind resistance and all sorts involved".

 

[grahamr]

The Osborne effect is based on a misunderstanding of what took his company down.

If I fall off a cliff, I won't claim that gravity played no part in my injuries because "It's more complicated than that - there was wind resistance and all sorts involved".

By strange co-incidence on Saturday I actually saw someone who had fallen off a cliff. He was lying on the rocks for half an hour before anyone noticed. It was not pretty. Somehow he is still alive (but in critical condition).

 

[Monk]

By strange co-incidence

Life seems to be jam-packed with those, to the point where "strange" is losing it's cache

Gravity - a powerful force. Not to be messed with. More powerful even than marketing

 

[Dunny]

There's a famous suicide point (Beachy Head) on the south coast of England and my brother lives nearby. Apparently a while ago, a young lad passed his driving test and took his mates out to Beachy Head one evening. When they'd had a look at the sea and whatnot, he went to put the car in reverse and accidentally forgot to raise the gearstick collar, putting it into first gear instead. Released the handbrake, accelerated and went off the edge. Hit the bottom about 500 feet down.

Driver and all the passengers lived, with cuts and bruises.

D.

 

[BackAssward]

Gravity - a powerful force. Not to be messed with. More powerful even than marketing

"Gravity is a harsh Mistress"

 

[hitbyambulance]

even if not for the Pandora, i would've kept my GP2X until the *next generation of open-source handhelds were around. the Wiz wasn't enough of an upgrade to justify the cost.

 

[Alex.]

Responding to earlier replies in this thread - is there interest for an introductory Wiz/GP2X development guide? What I have in mind is detailed steps on setting up all the tools on Linux and Windows, the basics of C and SDL, and a simple game tutorial at the end.

I wouldn't mind throwing something together this month, if you think it would be useful in getting some more activity going

 

[torpor]

All I want is a Makefile and the right lib file, and directions on how to package it properly, to do 3D accelerated graphics ..

 

[Pickle]

All I want is a Makefile and the right lib file, and directions on how to package it properly, to do 3D accelerated graphics ..

its still on my todo to finish the 3d pack, i promise ;-)

Alex: id be happy to contribute to a guide, i think though the current gp2x wiki should be checked cause a lot of stuff is similar.

 

[may88]

Responding to earlier replies in this thread - is there interest for an introductory Wiz/GP2X development guide? What I have in mind is detailed steps on setting up all the tools on Linux and Windows, the basics of C and SDL, and a simple game tutorial at the end.

I wouldn't mind throwing something together this month, if you think it would be useful in getting some more activity going

Sounds useful to me.
I've had a stab at python and pygame, mainly to get over the mountainous learning curve I perceive coding in C(++) and raw SDL would be.

 

[Orion4874]

Responding to earlier replies in this thread - is there interest for an introductory Wiz/GP2X development guide? What I have in mind is detailed steps on setting up all the tools on Linux and Windows, the basics of C and SDL, and a simple game tutorial at the end.

I wouldn't mind throwing something together this month, if you think it would be useful in getting some more activity going

Yes, please do. This would be very helpful for people like me trying to get their foot in the programming door.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[quadomatic]

Wiz didn't offer enough of an improvement over the GP2X, especially at the price point. I do feel bad for people who decided not to buy the Wiz because they thought Pandora was coming very soon. However, Pandora offered (and of course still does) far more over the Wiz. Pandora will probably be coming in the next couple months, and though it has been a long wait, a lot of people saved about $180 on a handheld they would've used for a little over a year.

On top of that, once Dingoo hit the scene (which someone in this thread said came out before the Wiz...I don't remember so I'll assume the poster was right) Wiz wasn't the only open handheld on the block. Dingoo was at a much fairer price point (1/2 as much I believe...) and has an excellent build quality. Performance is similar to the Wiz as well.

 

[x68000]

IMO, the wiz was screwed as soon as we saw the control layout. Not as bad as the gp2x's but still rubbish.

The soon to be unveiled new GPH handheld will likely be more of the same.

The only people killng the Wiz are GPH themselves with it's crippled design and CPU.

 

[EvilDragon]

Pandora surely didn't kill the WIZ.
After a Press Release (which was about the Pandora) which gained publicity, I sold 7 WIZ a day (still sell at least 2 WIZ a day right now)

Before that happened, I sold about 3 per week...

 

[kingoddball]

I got the gp2x (f200) and was not impressed with it, unfortunately. That is what killed the Wiz for me..

I enjoy open source and can live without the gp32x.de community!

 

[mindlord]

I owned a GP2X F100, and would not have bought a WIZ even if the Pandora wasn't in the works. The specs weren't impressive enough to warrant the price. I probably would've (and probably should've considering the Pandora delays) bought a Dingoo, though.