"Smach Z is Back!" ...?
- Thread starter kev_os
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vcoleiro1
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It will be supper expensive apparently, which will put most people off. Personally I hope it comes out , the more the merrier
Nintendo
Nintendo Switch
DOA
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
That 'doctor' who was investing probably had 51% of the company or something in exchange for his investment. With that you can basically run the company, and even switch out the board if you can get someone else with 19% of the company to agree with you (assuming Spanish company law is like the UK).
Anyway, a working-looking unpopulated PCB means working prototypes will be coming soon?
/me looks suspiciously at the pre-pre-order Pyra PCB I have
Anyway, a working-looking unpopulated PCB means working prototypes will be coming soon?
/me looks suspiciously at the pre-pre-order Pyra PCB I have
I think the idea behind the SmachZ was sound, but the guys who thought up a mobile Windows x86 gaming device didn't really have an idea of what they would have to do to make it a reality. As a result, like Ian says, I think they bit off more than they could chew. They saw several devices (Tablets, Steam Controller, Nintendo Switch, Tablets with extendable controllers) that had some components they could visualize all being put together into one unit. When the time came for them to shoehorn what they took apart, they realized it wasn't all going to work. Some of their guys who were responsible for product design came up with some ideas of what it should look like, and the rest of the guys spent their time trying to figure out how to make it fit that design, rather than design a shell around what they could actually fit together.
They didn't have all of their components picked out, and were picking out off the shelf components they could conceive be shoehorned into their device without thinking about how it could all fit together.
Then of course, they began dealing with the bad press because they were scrambling to try to make a cohesive product and spent entirely too much time on 'Proof of Concept' before they had anything locked down. Protip guys, get your Proof of Concept together FIRST, either with 3d printed parts, shoehorned components, something semi-functional BEFORE beginning a Kickstarter.
It doesn't help that they've been known to spend the Kickstarted money on frivolous things before they have a viable product as well, and have videos showing them with effectively a second screen shoehorned into a 3d printed case with an umbilical to a gaming laptop. That's not a proof of concept, that's just scheisty.
Now that they've gotten this far into things, it's become a runaway train and the only way they can save themselves is if they either 100% refund their backers or actually knuckle down and produce real, tangible work like ED does with the Pyra, as well as updates to the status fo their production process. Not easy for an amateur operation but their credibility has taken a severe nosedive.
They didn't have all of their components picked out, and were picking out off the shelf components they could conceive be shoehorned into their device without thinking about how it could all fit together.
Then of course, they began dealing with the bad press because they were scrambling to try to make a cohesive product and spent entirely too much time on 'Proof of Concept' before they had anything locked down. Protip guys, get your Proof of Concept together FIRST, either with 3d printed parts, shoehorned components, something semi-functional BEFORE beginning a Kickstarter.
It doesn't help that they've been known to spend the Kickstarted money on frivolous things before they have a viable product as well, and have videos showing them with effectively a second screen shoehorned into a 3d printed case with an umbilical to a gaming laptop. That's not a proof of concept, that's just scheisty.
Now that they've gotten this far into things, it's become a runaway train and the only way they can save themselves is if they either 100% refund their backers or actually knuckle down and produce real, tangible work like ED does with the Pyra, as well as updates to the status fo their production process. Not easy for an amateur operation but their credibility has taken a severe nosedive.
vcoleiro1
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The Smach Z project is still going , they have developed their own populated pcb(s), and are partnered with AMD. It will use the V1605b
Things are going very slow as they had to change hw dev partners. On the plus side they have a couple of investments coming in from both governement and private, ie they have the money to see it through.
Things are going very slow as they had to change hw dev partners. On the plus side they have a couple of investments coming in from both governement and private, ie they have the money to see it through.
If they stick the project through and make sure they keep updates coming. All stuff they should have done before the fiasco got to where it was. I'm rooting for them to produce a product, even if it's not 2018 AAA game capable, but it doesn't have to be. Even a device with similar capability as the GPD Win 2 or Pyra when it comes to gaming would be fine. It doesn't have to exceed, just be competitive.
Nintendo
Nintendo Switch
It'll be underpowered by the time it hits.
WizardStan
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That's literally what people said about the Pandora, and are saying about the Pyra, almost word for word.
True, but both the Pandora and Pyra have a different target audience.
The Pandora would've been outdated for a long time already, if devs wouldn't have optimized the stuff so it runs fine on the Pandora
The SmachZ is aiming at Windows gamers... and Windows games are anything but optimized :/
TeDaDeS
Forum Addict!
I played with the SmachZ at Gamescom ?2016? and it felt like a GameGear. It was actually okay, but the Pandora is more portable.
Same as with the Switch, you could use it on the go but I think it's just easier to have something smaller (like your cellphone, GPD or a Pyra).
To compete with the GPD-Win2 it needs to be a lot faster (it could as it has space to put some cooling in), but that would also make it more expensive.
With all the negative news they are fighting an uphill battle. Compare that with the Pyra: not the fastest project but we do trust ED so development is still going strong (and we actually get updates).
Same as with the Switch, you could use it on the go but I think it's just easier to have something smaller (like your cellphone, GPD or a Pyra).
To compete with the GPD-Win2 it needs to be a lot faster (it could as it has space to put some cooling in), but that would also make it more expensive.
With all the negative news they are fighting an uphill battle. Compare that with the Pyra: not the fastest project but we do trust ED so development is still going strong (and we actually get updates).
fusion_power
Advanced Member
Lol, I somehow think onto this quote when I think about the entire Pyra development, no offense. ^^"""
Except in this case, ED is Tony Stark.
fusion_power
Advanced Member
Yupp, but with more hair on his head and less on his face.
oh wow, they did something! i hope they'll have a prototype/almost finished console next year at gamescom; i really want to try out the controls and see how heavy it is
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