The Race Is On!

[ronnieB]

For the benefit of all I have compiled this short list. Please feel free to correct me or add info
------consoles---------
PSp - http://www.digitalbackspin.com/pspinfo.htm
$199.99 (subject to change)

PROS - will probably have a large game base; widescreen resolution for movies.
CONS - the wide screen probably will be wasted when running emulators, resulting in 'blank space' ;regional protection :angry: ; quoted -“2.5 hours or so for full DVD quality movie playback from UMD disks” (the battery life for games and mp3 is more reasonable).

Nintendo DS - http://www.nintendo.com/e3_2004/ds/ds_overview.jsp
150$ ?

PROS - backward compatibility (will DEFINITELY have a large game base); touch screen; wireless?
CONS - Reliance on 1st party titles means that you will probubly have to purchase 'unofficial' flash cartridges to enjoy fanmade games and software (like with the gba)

GP32 gp32_console - http://www.gp32x.de/
213$ +shipment (BLU, found at http://www.gbax.co.uk)

PROS - large and lively community; already emulates many 8bit systems semi-perfectly: NES, MSX, PCengine and more; close to perfect 16bit emulation.
CONS - the manufacturer seems content to sit on its ass and contribute nothing to the scene; 128MB's of SMC can be limiting at times.

------PC based---------
all PC based platform have the added benefits of large storage (at least 20gigabyte) and tons of ready to use PC games

Rogue - http://www.sl-interphase.com/home.htm
around 1500$ (suggested by http://www.hwhell.com)

PROS - the most powerful of all reviewed platforms; 10 inch screen; doubles as a desktop computer and LAN party machine; claimed to be highly upgradable.
CONS - batteries will only feature about 3 hours of gaming (more for applications); way too big to be carried in your pocket; high cost; uncertain future?.

oqo - http://www.oqo.com
$1500-$2000 (suggested by http://www.pcstats.com)

PROS - small and compact; comes equipped with integrated keyboard; seems to be able to make it in the 'mainstream' market
CONS - was not designed to be a gaming platform and is underpowered for modern PC games; no joystick (though a USB one should be usable)

eve - http://www.ministrymobile.com/
under $500 (suggested by http://www.extremetech.com)
PROS - geared towards mobile gaming; screen can double as media player; hot swappable batteries; very economically priced.
CONS - specifications are still uncertain as the E3 prototype does not show off all of the promised features; might not make it; no touch screen.

------palm/console hybrid-----

zodiac - http://www.tapwave.com/
299$ or 399$ (depending on the model)
PROS - lots of palm games
CONS - non-user replaceable battery, DAA signing of apps, means only developers can really get the most out of the console. For players that means long waits for fully approved software..


------------contributions---------------
lizard808uk

EDIT: added 'contributions' section and prices (mostly estimated)

I probably left out a lot, so write in your corrections and i'll edit this post - the goal is having an updated summarized list.

ronnieB

 

[NssOne]

OK, the problem I have with your cons for the PSP and DS (i.e emulators, PC Link), is that they weren't designed for such uses. Just because they can, doesn't make the inneffectiveness of those uses cons. Hell, the fact that those devices can be used in that way at all should be considered pros.

 

[ronnieB]

OK, the problem I have with your cons for the PSP and DS (i.e emulators, PC Link), is that they weren't designed for such uses. Just because they can, doesn't make the inneffectiveness of those uses cons. Hell, the fact that those devices can be used in that way at all should be considered pros.

the DS is the only platform in this list which is unable to link to a pc, so in comparison to the other competitors is a 'con'
in addition, this list is not ment to reflect a 'good console vs. bad console' but merly to reflact the indevidual strenghs and weaknessess of each and thus making it easyer to choose the best one for you.
i'm sorry if i gave the wrong impressions, we are indeed lucky to have this selection where once we only had the gameboy (the only other competitor which made it to israel was the game gear)

ronnieB.

 

[Daz_Genetic]

The DS will be able to link the the PC.. it has full WiFi capabilities and most likely a "USB" connection just like the GBA.

 

[ronnieB]

Daz_Genetic,
would you be kind enoth to post a url to where you got the information? none of the place i checked menciond a usb link...

ronnieB

 

[lizard808uk]

PSP Con: Battery is complete crap. 2.5 hours of video? Esp. when my GP can do 4.5 hours @ 166 GP cinema. Looks like I wont be watching LoTR on the PSP then!

DS Con: Reliance on 1st party titles. Sure some may see as a strength, but in business terms is a weakness and partly led to the demise of the Dreamcast.

Zodiac Con: The use of the DAA signing of apps, means only developers can really get the most out of the console. For players that means long waits for fully approved software.

@ RonnieB Please add to your post, if possible

 

[ronnieB]

thanks lizard808uk!
i'll add your stuff now

ronnieB

EDIT: could you send me a link which explains about DAA signing? i want to add this only when i will understand everything it entails.

 

[mr twit]

DS: wireless?

Yes, definately. It's one of their main focus points.

CONS - Reliance on 1st party titles means that you will probubly have to purchase 'unofficial' flash cartridges to enjoy fanmade games and software (like with the gba)

Same with PSP, when did they ever say you would be able to buy blank UMDs and write software to them?

Daz_Genetic,
would you be kind enoth to post a url to where you got the information? none of the place i checked menciond a usb link...

Again, this is one of their main focus points, you will be able to connect it to the PC and play multiplayer over the internet.

 

[ronnieB]

CONS - Reliance on 1st party titles means that you will probubly have to purchase 'unofficial' flash cartridges to enjoy fanmade games and software (like with the gba)

Same with PSP, when did they ever say you would be able to buy blank UMDs and write software to them?

but the PSp does support memory stick, which presumably will enable some outside development.

i am still unsure as to how much use the wireless option will get... and i would not advise anyone to buy a gaming platform solely becuse it has wireless connection, espesially before the platform becomes widespread enough to try it.

 

[CrazyDesi]

Don't forget the Asus. It doesn't really have good controls but if you get used to it. Its got the best support for games.

 

[ronnieB]

Don't forget the Asus. It doesn't really have good controls but if you get used to it. Its got the best support for games.

please provide a link so i could check out the specs

 

[NssOne]

OK, the problem I have with your cons for the PSP and DS (i.e emulators, PC Link), is that they weren't designed for such uses. Just because they can, doesn't make the inneffectiveness of those uses cons. Hell, the fact that those devices can be used in that way at all should be considered pros.

the DS is the only platform in this list which is unable to link to a pc, so in comparison to the other competitors is a 'con'
in addition, this list is not ment to reflect a 'good console vs. bad console' but merly to reflact the indevidual strenghs and weaknessess of each and thus making it easyer to choose the best one for you.
i'm sorry if i gave the wrong impressions, we are indeed lucky to have this selection where once we only had the gameboy (the only other competitor which made it to israel was the game gear)

ronnieB.

You failed to mention anything about PC linking on the other consoles. And from what perspective as a gamer are you basing this on? As a homebrew/retro/emu game? As a warez gamer? You should really be just basing this from a truly commercial, legitimate use, no outside software perspective, which is what 90% of the people who will buy these will be and what these devices are marketed for.

Also, as you mentioned, you're from Israel. Are you basing this from the major consensus of gamers in your region? What about the US or European market? They may not seem unalike, but things like PC hookup may not be as big of an issue amongst certain regions where less consumers have or use cmoputers.

 

[ronnieB]

I admit, I am a homebrew/emu Gamer but that does not mean that my list is useless to the casual buy-new-game-every-month Gamer. Nor should it neglect to mention those little quirks that our homebrew niche finds so important.
What would be the point of me putting up a list that my crowd will find meaningless? Especially when composing a fact-sheet with all the important data for all groups is not all that hard?

This aside for the moment, you seem a tad overzealous defending the DS, a system that already seems like the obvious choice for the casual Gamer who does not feel like tinkering with his new hand held.
As my list reflects: it's the cheapest system, will run all those GBA cartridges you got from your previous hand-held and got none of this "2.5 hours of movie play" nonsense that the PSp will feature and our Gamer has no patience to use anyway.
The only disadvantage is no homebrew scene and I don't really have to list Mr. casual's reaction to that, do I?

No, I’m not writing this list out of consensus of gamers in my region and no, PC link is not a major issue to gamers here unless warez are involved The obvious choice for Israeli gamers is probably the PSp (but only if it can play divx movies with subtitles).

All in all I think that my list is rather fair, since only the DS have not even an option to upload mp3 and movies I think it's only reasonable to list that.
Likewise, the only qualm I got with the zodiac is the non-user replaceable battery, another unique trait amongst the competing consoles.

Hmm.... can't think of anything to add to all this, but I bet you can, NssOne

 

[lizard808uk]

@ RonnieB Tapwave's Developer Agreement (I think this is the right link, but I could be wrong??)

 

[ronnieB]

Zodiac Con: The use of the DAA signing of apps, means only developers can really get the most out of the console. For players that means long waits for fully approved software.

added.

 

[mr twit]

i would not advise anyone to buy a gaming platform solely becuse it has wireless connection, espesially before the platform becomes widespread enough to try it.

Why on earth not? I'm sure you would advise people to buy a PSP solely because it has better graphics?

 

[ronnieB]

the point, mr twit being that i'm not so sure the wireless function will see much use, so i wait to see it in action (and in numbers) before i praise it

 

[NssOne]

I admit, I am a homebrew/emu Gamer but that does not mean that my list is useless to the casual buy-new-game-every-month Gamer. Nor should it neglect to mention those little quirks that our homebrew niche finds so important.
What would be the point of me putting up a list that my crowd will find meaningless? Especially when composing a fact-sheet with all the important data for all groups is not all that hard?

This aside for the moment, you seem a tad overzealous defending the DS, a system that already seems like the obvious choice for the casual Gamer who does not feel like tinkering with his new hand held.
As my list reflects: it's the cheapest system, will run all those GBA cartridges you got from your previous hand-held and got none of this "2.5 hours of movie play" nonsense that the PSp will feature and our Gamer has no patience to use anyway.
The only disadvantage is no homebrew scene and I don't really have to list Mr. casual's reaction to that, do I?

No, I’m not writing this list out of consensus of gamers in my region and no, PC link is not a major issue to gamers here unless warez are involved The obvious choice for Israeli gamers is probably the PSp (but only if it can play divx movies with subtitles).

All in all I think that my list is rather fair, since only the DS have not even an option to upload mp3 and movies I think it's only reasonable to list that.
Likewise, the only qualm I got with the zodiac is the non-user replaceable battery, another unique trait amongst the competing consoles.

Hmm.... can't think of anything to add to all this, but I bet you can, NssOne

Actually, I'm far from defending the DS. I think it sucks, even though I love the Gameboys (and hate Nintendo otherwise at the same time)

You never made it known that those other consoles had the ability to link to a computer somehow. I searched up and down the post: nope, not there. So why make that a con? Why not make the PC linking ability a pro for the others? I understand that would be redundant. Would you assume that people who are reading this just looking at this small list of consoles instead of researching each console themselves would understand that without researching each console themselves? The PSP technically doesn't come with any PC linking capability. And it has region protection for licensing issues. It's not a drawback of the hardware, it's legal issues (basically, it's hard to go into it).

Once again, these were things the console was not designed for. Oh darn, the widescreen was a waste for emulation. Boohoo, it's not like the emulators were made as licensed software to run on it. And the DS doesn't have PC-link compatibility and doesn't have rewriteable media officially built for it. Wahhh. Did Nintendo care about being able to hook it up to a computer? No, they just don't, oh well. And you expect flashcarts to be made for this thing right away let alone at all. The thing isn't even released yet! Flashcarts have been some unofficial third party development for previous consoles. It's not an official thing recognized by Nintendo. These manufacturers would have to get their hands on a DS cartridge to be able to design ones themselves and manufacture them.