What is missing

[levi]

Difficult because of the clamshell design. Either it's around the closed one in one piece, thus needs to be peeled of  for using, or 2 pieces, which might not be possible, because it would hinder closing the lid...

Not a silicone case, my my second hand DS-lite came with a crystal case which incorporated a hinge to match the one in the DS itself.  I guess it was slightly less grippy that a silicone rubber case would be, but I have never dropped the unit, so I can't say that grippiness is important in such a form factor.

 

[Inqui]

external Battery charger:
I could think of something like the external HDD docks, where you slide it in from top.

Spoiler

that would be 1 piece in the mold (open on the bottom) and losed with a flat sheet of lasercut plastic an 3-4 screws.


@EvilDragon That COULD be a piece for the "rest of the small parts" mold.  But I guess that mold is to far built already to "just mill another cavity" in right?


could you hand be the measurements of athe batteries (incl. the contacts) and the PCB component, which connects the battery?


We have a guy in our hackercommunity, who owns an old mold injecting machine, which should be good enough for that kind of mold.


And because I'm in the mood: I'll offer a bet, that I'll have the first working ext. charger build, before I get my Pyra (I did a Pre-preorder for the "standard" Pyra).  I will donate the first 10 chargers to the community, if I loose my bet (provided someone offers an acceptable prize, if I win ;-)  and of course ED says, it can't be done in the official Pyra mold)..

Include that loader in the Pyradock.


So that you simply plug the baterie with the connector first, 4/5 way in and load it.


So it would be one piece with electronic. And a dock is also still missing

 

[Grench]

On SSD drives:


The eMMC has theoretical capability of running at up to 200MB/s.  Yes, mini PCI express cards can be faster, but those require a pci express lane which does not exist in the vast majority of mobile device SoC examples.  For those that need reboot speed, the eMMC should be adequate.  For those who want sheer size/space on the internal storage there is microSD.


On add on modules:


This is not project Ara.  The device has 3 externally facing USB ports.  Add on all you want.  Put a chunk of Velcro on the bottom of the case or top of the lid and be modular.  Knock yourself out with the variability.


On "Cloud thing":


The device has built in WiFi, Bluetooth and optional 4G.  There is nothing preventing you from connecting to and using 'cloud based' storage.  How this differs from Chrome is we have a CHOICE of whether or not to use the cloud as we have local, on-device storage capability of well over a terabyte if you're willing to buy the SD cards.  Your chrome books MUST use cloud storage as they don't have local provisions to store much more than the OS.


On Network Gaming:


Nothing in this device prevents network gaming.  There isn't a centralized walled garden gaming community like you see on major consoles or Steam.  So there isn't an explicit multiplayer meet up and support infrastructure.  There isn't anything in the way of building that if you have the resources.


On multiple battery and external charging 'needs':


It feels like people want to run down a track to nowhere based on someone making a statement that relies on a basic false assumption.


To stomp around about the need for an external battery charger, you're implying that you'll need a 2nd battery.  That implies that the battery included with the device is too small or inadequate to your needs - which are unstated.


The 6000mAh battery planned for the Pyra is a VERY big battery for a pocket mobile device.  The Galaxy Note 5 has almost exactly HALF of that (3020mAh).  On the Pyra's stock battery it's already like having two batteries on board.


So - please re-evaluate your basic assumption of actually needing to charge a 2nd battery - which is based on the assumption of needing a 2nd battery to begin with - which ignores how freekin' high of capacity the stock battery is.


Let's get a few units out, get some of the power management software built and online - then assess whether or not external battery charging and 2+ battery living even makes sense for more than a niche of our niche community.


On Connectivity:


3 USB host (2 USB 2.0 and 1 USB 3.0 OTG), bluetooth, WiFi and you want proprietary connections?  Your console with proprietary connectors is the issue here - not the nearly open handheld device.  Try asking Microsoft to use their own Windows HID connectivity standard for their gaming consoles instead of locked up proprietary stuff.


The device should connect to your Pi pretty much straight up as a USB host or device or bluetooth controller or usb game pad or WiFi peer, ssh or whatever.  Nothing but software support preventing those from talking.


Using the Pyra as the brain for other projects - again nothing stopping that.   You have multiple higher level IO points.  If you need low level IO for your project, the Pi would be a much cheaper alternative.

 

[TeDaDeS]

First of all, these are not bad ideas. But the team doing the actual work (without all helping forum people) is quite small. So the primary focus is getting the hardware made, which is challenge already.

On cloud thing / network gaming: You underestimate how much work these kind of things are. Any existing cloud based application could probably be used on a Pyra (google stuff, office 365, netflix) but creating our own is a lot harder. And I don't see ED doing it with all the stuff he's doing already (does ED ever sleep?).
Network gaming is probably a similar issue, but it also heavily depends on your network connection. Being a portable device your internet connection quality might differ a lot, especially while on the move. Even when the connection is good you still need to have an infrastructure to support fast gaming. For this to work you need multiple locations on the world to host these things (which can be done with an amazon/azure cloud, true) but those also cost money. So this would introduce an subscription fee, which not all people will use. So it will heavily depend on the amount of users.
If the Pyra sells a lot and a lot of people are cloud/network-gaming it could probably be done, but first things first (getting the Pyra made and the software working).

If it would have existed I would also like to have the USB chainsaw in a bundle, pretty nice to cut down a tree with a Pyra.

 

[Grench]

If it would have existed I would also like to have the USB chainsaw in a bundle, pretty nice to cut down a tree with a Pyra.

Sure - why not?  There are already USB wood chippers that would work.


http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Sharpener--Automatic-USB-powered-Guarantee/dp/B00J91TOU8

 

[darkborn]

A Pyra extension template would be pretty cool. I could imagine it replacing the battery-compartment-lid or holding on with magnets. Would it be possible to print something like this or are the tolerances for the battery-cover too small for a 3D printer?


Or one could attach some elastic straps or a pocket made of mesh to the bottom of the Pyra somehow. Maybe into the screw holes? This way you could store any hardware like a powerbank or an external HDD directly below the Pyra with the least amount of thickness added.


(Slightly unrelated: I just found this mSATA to USB3 case while searching for external SSDs for the Pyra. Now I want one, this thing is minuscule!)

My man!
Seems that thinking outside the box IS possible here, after all...
THIS: Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas

 

[darkborn]

This is not project Ara. (...) Put a chunk of Velcro :rolleyes:
There is nothing preventing you
Nothing in this device prevents
(more than a) "niche of our niche community" :wub:
Nothing but software support preventing those
nothing stopping that

Great attitude. So negative.
Please, try to sell it to anybody with that negative attitude. Beside your "niche community".
"We are so smart, because we are niche, you consumers are so stupid, nothing prevents you to..." buy something else? Craigology still dominates here.

 

[darkborn]

While there are some nice ideas here, I'm not sure they can even be practically implemented.


* Network gaming: That's a thing of the coders, doesn't have anything to do with the hardware itself.


* SSD: Well, the possibility exists.. there is an eSATA-Port available at one of the USB ports, so it would be possible creating an addon where you can put in an SSD device below the battery... but that would make things thick. That's why we got 3 SD Card slots instead.


* Battery charging: It's a standard LiPo battery, so any proper LiPo charger will be able to charge it. An adaptor for use with a standard charger could be created.


* Connectivity: It has basically everything that is needed. Xbox Controller, PS3 controller? Can be used via USB or Bluetooth... but including any propiertary stuff that only one company uses...?


So not sure what's really missing.

* I'll start with last one: "not sure what's really missing."
I'm not a Steve Jobs  but he'll probably tell you something like: "EXPERIENCE". For customers. "I want it all, I want it now, ready" (of course, it is PR thing - so this is all about ideas, concept, even dreams: blueprints and virtual devices, 3D rendering instead of existing add-on hardware)
* "Network gaming: That's a thing of the coders"
Do you remember flaw of MSX (vs hardware inferior 6510/Z80 8-bit microcomps)? Lack of software, lack of compatibility (more about it at the end).
FUD is your enemy, you should provide anything possible to fight it. You should provide software bundle, and "Pyra way of life - Pyra way of gaming".
You need ready-to-start/play package (SD Card images ready for dowloading, or included with, on cheap cd/dvd), with bunch of free/open source network games *tested* and *set* to work at once.
You're selling experience, complete product, dream: "The opportunities of man are limited only by his imagination." (But so few have imagination that there are ten thousand fiddlers to one composer.")
* SSD > "that would make things thick"
Agree, but it is important solution, for those who need it. Or think/fear they could need it (in some undefined future)... You should provide blueprint, Pyra extension template, DIY solution, possibility to purchase on demand.
If I'm sailing around the world, or I'm stucked in desert somewhere for some time, or something similar, I need BIG drive and BIG battery - and it's never enough!
You are not selling hard drives, but solution for. Mobility, remember?
* "including any proprietary stuff that only one company uses...?"
One? It is not about quantity, but wide standards - market share. Of course I do not like proprietary things, but you should look at this like in this project (below) - And this goal is at Pyra already achieved, but just at a software side (emulators):
http://fffff.at/free-universal-construction-kit/
And look at that video, please! ("A Lesson in Interoperability")
Again, I'm talking about solutions, not ready to sale products. I mention this Xbox controller just because I heard about it so many times... I think it is just a good PR, but ... we are not making the rules, we are just players here...
IMHO, WII add-ons are looking much more promising (but I don't have a clue about it).

 

[rygD]

Based on that

I think somebody is confused, I am just not sure if it is me or you.  I don't want the cost of the Pyra to go up so that we can see pretty pics of interesting ideas, or so ED can hire some programmers for stuff I and many others don't need.  There are already some plans within the community to work on some online gaming things.  If more storage and battery life are needed there are already things on the market for this.  If those aren't good enough there are other devices out there that will have more power (and the extra special software, etc.), they just might be a bit larger, but you seem fine with that idea.  USB provides plenty of options, plus we have bluetooth and such.  Not sure what you want that these can't provide.

 

[Yoyobuae]

I think the OP is missing the point of the Pyra (and it's Pandora predecessor).


First and foremost is a portable mini-PC/gaming handheld. To achieve that it needs to have good a good core, display, controls, battery, connectivity. All the stuff mentioned above are just extra burden which probably are not all that important for the success of Pyra.


Two full size SD cards provide a lot of storage. I'm personally completely satisfied with the two 64GB SD cards I have on my Pandora, lack of space has never been an issue. And there's always the option of USB HDD. Battery has also been quite excellent.


Software bundle images are just a bad idea. What if one of the software packages in the image needs to be updated? Then the whole image needs to be created again. Or people which download the image would end up getting outdated packages. -_-

 

[EvilDragon]

* I'll start with last one: "not sure what's really missing."
I'm not a Steve Jobs  but he'll probably tell you something like: "EXPERIENCE". For customers. "I want it all, I want it now, ready" (of course, it is PR thing - so this is all about ideas, concept, even dreams: blueprints and virtual devices, 3D rendering instead of existing add-on hardware)

And that's exactly what we DO NOT want  My marketing strategy (for everything I sell at my shop as well) is be honest and do not exaggerate.


No PR crap. That's probably the reason the return rate in my shop is A LOT lower than for any other shop.

* "Network gaming: That's a thing of the coders"
Do you remember flaw of MSX (vs hardware inferior 6510/Z80 8-bit microcomps)? Lack of software, lack of compatibility (more about it at the end).
FUD is your enemy, you should provide anything possible to fight it. You should provide software bundle, and "Pyra way of life - Pyra way of gaming".
You need ready-to-start/play package (SD Card images ready for dowloading, or included with, on cheap cd/dvd), with bunch of free/open source network games *tested* and *set* to work at once.
You're selling experience, complete product, dream: "The opportunities of man are limited only by his imagination." (But so few have imagination that there are ten thousand fiddlers to one composer.")

Um, nope. We simply don't have the manpower nor money to provide the full software, and I don't plan to lie about that.


We will ONLY offer the hardware and of course try to hire some coders to get hardware drivers working in case need be, but the software side is made by the community.


Unless you can provide me with vast amounts of money or enough free coders that would code all that, it's a dream, a fantasy, but definitely not realistically possible for a small company.

* SSD > "that would make things thick"
Agree, but it is important solution, for those who need it. Or think/fear they could need it (in some undefined future)... You should provide blueprint, Pyra extension template, DIY solution, possibility to purchase on demand.
If I'm sailing around the world, or I'm stucked in desert somewhere for some time, or something similar, I need BIG drive and BIG battery - and it's never enough!


You are not selling hard drives, but solution for. Mobility, remember?

Well, I also often need more space in my car, but my car manufacturer never offered me blueprints or an easy way to increase the size...


Everything you ask for right now needs vast amounts of money - where are these coming from?

* "including any proprietary stuff that only one company uses...?"
One? It is not about quantity, but wide standards - market share. Of course I do not like proprietary things, but you should look at this like in this project (below) - And this goal is at Pyra already achieved, but just at a software side (emulators):
http://fffff.at/free-universal-construction-kit/
And look at that video, please! ("A Lesson in Interoperability")
Again, I'm talking about solutions, not ready to sale products. I mention this Xbox controller just because I heard about it so many times... I think it is just a good PR, but ... we are not making the rules, we are just players here...
IMHO, WII add-ons are looking much more promising (but I don't have a clue about it).

What standard ports or connectivity things are you missing on the Pyra?

 

[darkborn]

I think somebody is confused, I am just not sure if it is me or you.  I don't want the cost of the Pyra to go up so that we can see pretty pics of interesting ideas, or so ED can hire some programmers for stuff I and many others don't need.  There are already some plans within the community to work on some online gaming things.  If more storage and battery life are needed there are already things on the market for this.  If those aren't good enough there are other devices out there that will have more power (and the extra special software, etc.), they just might be a bit larger, but you seem fine with that idea.  USB provides plenty of options, plus we have bluetooth and such.  Not sure what you want that these can't provide.

Could you paste bigger DO NOT WANT picture, please? I like this "argument" a lot.
So, if somebody make DIY solution for e.g. handy SSD module, it will make "cost of the Pyra to go up"? Interesting.
Btw, anybody heard about Thingiverse or alternatives? 3D print on demand?
And providing link to "Pyra portal", with links to Pyra approved games, will force ED to "hire some programmers" (and cost of the Pyra to go up)?
But:

"There are already some plans within the community to work on some online gaming things."

All hired, payed for?
And what about already existing network free games, are they prohibited? I mentioned Pardus, I'm sure there are more. Maybe here:
http://www.stuff.tv/features/kill-your-productivity-stuffs-top-30-free-browser-games
http://www.mmobomb.com/browsergames/

there are other devices out there (...) Not sure what you want that these can't provide.

And what about fiddling with cables, "chunks of Velcro" (Grench™) ?
You're right. There, I fixed it - Apple emulator:

 

[Wally]

* SSD > "that would make things thick"
Agree, but it is important solution, for those who need it. Or think/fear they could need it (in some undefined future)... You should provide blueprint, Pyra extension template, DIY solution, possibility to purchase on demand.
If I'm sailing around the world, or I'm stucked in desert somewhere for some time, or something similar, I need BIG drive and BIG battery - and it's never enough!
You are not selling hard drives, but solution for. Mobility, remember?

The main problem with SSDs is that the technology changes too often, sizing and port requirements continuously decrease. You'll eventually lose out there. With SD cards the technology stays relatively the same, the speed may increase occasionally but if you look at the Pandora, it really doesn't impact on anything.


I run 2 * 256GB SD cards in my Pandora and feel I never run out of space. Even though I will have more custom built DBPs for the Pyra, the space required will still be at a low, if I find I run out of space. I will upgrade to whatever the next available size in SD cards is.


The Pyra OS boots to the login screen in under 20 seconds which to me is amazing and that's running off a MicroSD card.

 

[darkborn]

The main problem with SSDs is that the technology changes too often, sizing and port requirements continuously decrease.

I thought about standard 2,5" mobile disk drive. Just I don't like idea with cables and Velcro. I can print case by myself (or order it) - if I have proper .stl file.
This case (blueprint) should be a standardized  for Pyra.
I admit that I did not know about 256GB SD cards performance/price, but there must be a catch. Anyway, my movies collection is at 2,5" HDD (just for example). 1TB.

 

[Wally]

Do you REALLY need your entire movie collection whilst on the go? If so take a USB HDD and transfer the movies whenever you need them?


The 256GB SD Cards work fine for the price / performance. $90 each from TigerDirect,  a few of us have them

 

[darkborn]

My marketing strategy (for everything I sell at my shop as well) is be honest and do not exaggerate.

I did not think about lying or cheating. Just providing ideas and possibilities (solutions). Nothing more.

and I don't plan to lie about that.

As I said.
I think that Pyra is a serious product, and this is serious money involved here, so if Pyra depends on good will of closed community (software side), it is a big hole here.
It is all about egg/chicken dillema: plenty of software (games) will be written if Pyra is sold well, and Pyra will be sold well if there is a plenty of software (games)?
How to break this loop?
IMHO, you should delegate some things to community, guides or something, what should/could be done. This is the way to include community in the process.
I like democracy (and forum anarchy), but ur ass is in charge (and money of course).
 

but my car manufacturer

"great" analogy; you're spitting on usual marketing customs, and then you provide archaic proprietary concept as an example.
Btw, could you replace any part of your car with some other part of other vendor? I don't think so. It's closed concept. You won't get blueprint for anything, it is IXX century concept, Pyra is XXI.

What standard ports or connectivity things are you missing on the Pyra?

I think about nothing in particular, nothing specifically. What comes to my mind is ... adaptors for RS232, old Atari joystick port, proprietary consoles connectors (old and new) and so on. I just googled around and found this - just as idea:
http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu/accessories
 


Anyway, look at this "study case":
I made my "Lapdock Pi" in a time, great thing, just.. my 3D printer broke and I never finished special RPi case. This tiny lapdock (originally intended for use with mobile phone as a "brain") has a metal case, so I found tiny magnets - idea was to get RPi conected in a little, tiny module fixed on a lid by magnets.
Rpi already has HDMI, USBs so only this case, with adapted connectors (instead cables), was missing. Perfect mobile, light, mini-laptop.
Without this specific RPI case, it "works" but... actually is almost useless (outside). Too much fragile and looks like Borg shit.
I just forgot about it and now I could finished it (if battery is still working); 3D printing on demand was expensive at that time, now it's affordable.
3rd picture is reminder what is missing on the Pyra: standard for "unstandard" purposes (unstandard today, not in the future).
Those guys in Motorola did not have a clue how great product they made... but it's almost useless w/o fiddling around.

 

[rygD]

Could you paste bigger DO NOT WANT picture, please?

I don't think so.  As far as I know the board software limits the size of images.

So, if somebody make DIY solution...

If that is all you want, get started on it.  Others will probably help out where they can.  Your initial post (and some later ones) make it sound like you wanted these things to be "official" stuff from ED.  Those would cause the price to go up.  If that is not what you are after, I take my tortured Picard back.  This community does some really cool stuff, and I am fully behind everyone that wants to throw something together for use with their Pyra.  For your 3D printed stuff, maybe the people that are printing cases can give you some pointers so you can make one that fits a SSD without printing a ton of revisions.


I think ED is planning on releasing all schematics and such for the Pyra at some point after it is released.


There are many USB solutions for connecting to legacy serial ports (something I need, as well) and controllers.  It is because of this community that I came across some of the more interesting controller adapters, although I will probably play on the original consoles if I am at home, and will use the built in controls for when I am not.

 

[thatgui]

I do not doubt about that Pandora/Pyra sect here will crucify me and my ideas both; after all, those 7 years shows that we don't need another Craig to show us how much smart-asses are really smart.

Ah come on, the sect of "common sense" isn't that bad, too overcritical from time to time but all in all there are a lot of worse sects out there.


I have a feeling you do not understand the situation ED and thus the project is in and while you surely have nice ideas (which most of have already thrown around here to the death, but whatever) which are horribly callow, but you throw them around anyway.


You talk about ED should sell an experience (and bring in Jobs for the ride) without looking at the aspect that is critical for it to work out: a hell lot of work. Sure, you could slap some free games together in some sort of compilation, but that does not automatically mean you have an experience at hand: All these games or programmes would need a unified look and control scheme, otherwise it would just be a compilation, which as the compilation itself would involve man hours to be kept up to date - at least if you want to keep people happy for longer than one or two months.


Who should do that ? ED ? He repeatedly said that he does not have the money to do it. And it would be business suicide to do it, he would either need to increase the Pyras price to do it (bad) or spend money from his own pocket (not much there, obviously so also bad). You talk about "delegate things to the community", which means you obviously have no clue about how communities work. You can't just delegate things to a community! You can ask the community if they want to help, and you can be happy if there is a "response" that lives longer then a couple of weeks, till the first "wave" of enthusiasm is gone and people start to realize that its just work they do for free. Those that still do it after the first phase, are usually doing it because they see something they can identify with in the project, and it surely isn't some experience blabber but Eds view of what a device should offer to its users in terms of openness and practicality.


Additionally such a community, or members of it, can be quite "stubborn" at times. Which means they do things, they want, when they want to do it. They certainly won't (or just can't) adhere to some sort of schedule Ed would need to have, to get things going for a proper release.


Community isn't some sort of "resource" you can just plan in and assign tasks to your liking.


Regarding your hardware additions, leaving the plain out silly 2,5" drive idea aside are nice (but again, old news), but what incentive should Ed have to offer them ? A big part of the Pyras appeal comes from its size, so it can only be addons, nothing you would like to ship your device with. Addons there currently is no real need for: The Pyra will already offer a lot more (potential)storage capability then anything that is slightly comparable the market currently offers (tablet, mobile gaming consoles, smartphones), why invest time and money in to it ? And yes creating and supporting the proper design isn't for free. Same with the battery addon, sounds like a good idea, but it costs money with the Pyra probably beeing at least on par with the rest of the market in terms of runtime. Especially the support part is crucial in that regard, if you give people something with the "official" seal on it, they will come to you first if something isn't right (which is extremely likely if they are responsible for the physical part of it), which binds time and man hours, which ED is already almost out of stock. 


So how about a new start, without riding in on a high horse telling everyone that, if they don't find your ideas to be the greatest thing right after the invention of boiled water, they are brainwashed idiots and actually thinking your ideas through ?

 

[bzar]

Do you remember flaw of MSX (vs hardware inferior 6510/Z80 8-bit microcomps)? Lack of software, lack of compatibility (more about it at the end).
FUD is your enemy, you should provide anything possible to fight it. You should provide software bundle, and "Pyra way of life - Pyra way of gaming".
You need ready-to-start/play package (SD Card images ready for dowloading, or included with, on cheap cd/dvd), with bunch of free/open source network games *tested* and *set* to work at once.

I think that Pyra is a serious product, and this is serious money involved here, so if Pyra depends on good will of closed community (software side), it is a big hole here.
It is all about egg/chicken dillema: plenty of software (games) will be written if Pyra is sold well, and Pyra will be sold well if there is a plenty of software (games)?
How to break this loop?

I think you may underestimate how much "commercial quality" software is required for anyone to consider taking a risk with a non-mainstream platform. There were some commercial games on Pandora, and the numbers on the repo pretty much tell you of the commercial success they had. To find out why we must look at the environment where they're sold in.


Before paid software can flourish you need a culture of paying for software, which is pretty much non-existent here for reasons that make up this niche. This is the difference between Android and iOS as marketplaces. Apple forces (forced? haven't kept up) a single walled garden of software with a minimum price to keep the culture of paying something, anything for software alive. For some reason there's a vastly larger mental resistance from 0€ to 1€ than from 1€ to 2€. By taking the 0€ option away people accept the norm that software costs and pick the best software within their price bracket. Google on the other hand neither forces a single market nor a minimum price. As a result most people pick the free options even in cases where they're half the quality of the lowest priced non-free competitor. This has led to ads and micropayments being the main source of revenue for commercial software on the platform.


Now, to make either of these commercial strategies viable on a platform you need one thing: control of the platform, at least for most people. You can't force minimum prices without control of the install process, nor ads without control of the application runtime, not to even mention micropayments without control of how the software is used (needs to at least phone home). This project is pretty much the antithesis of yielding control of our devices to others, so locking anything down is not an option and IMHO would lead to a nasty downward spiral of blocks and circumventions dividing the community.


There IS a third strategy, the one in effect with PCs (no matter what their marketing says, apple's computers are still PCs just with a different case and default OS) and maybe a select few Android titles: vast quality and service difference between paid and free software. This makes the development process increasingly expensive and as a result requires more and more sales to cover costs. For it to be worth the risk there needs to be an enormous install base pretty much only achievable by building on top of one already established for other reasons. To make this viable for Pyra it would first need to become large enough for non-commercial gaming merits to warrant the risk. Even for commercial ports this needs quite a bit of user mass to be worth the exercise. Even if pyra had 1% of the entire PC market it would not be worth it to even some indie developers, even for ports of games that are already made with tools that directly support porting to linux.


The pyra would need a comparatively large marketshare in its already tightly competed over form factor to attract mainstream developers for a PC-like business model, I guess something around 5%. This isn't achieved by making a few first-party titles available. A few titles would be nice, but commercially would make little sense unless the marketing deceived some gullible people to think this is going to get a game catalog like what nintendo is offering.


The larger adoption probably best achieved for pyra by playing the pyra's strengths which is the pocket-sized laptop angle for productivity and custom stuff. The entertainment and consumption angles are pretty much already covered in multiple layers by tablets, phones and gaming devices. Getting traction in the productivity side of the market is slower than the impulse-buy market of entertainment, but it's also less crowded and most importantly here, less expensive. I'd like to see Pyra and more generally open general computing devices become a big thing in consumer electronics. Direct competition is not, however, a viable strategy against the entrenched parties. Play their weaknesses to our strengths. It might not be flashy or fast, but at least gives a leg to stand on.


In summary: I for one don't want walled gardens, ads or micropayments. I can and do pay for high quality software when it's what I'm looking for and a significantly better than any free alternative. These are expensive to produce and require a vastly different market than what we have today. Building that market will take either a staggeringly HUGE amount of money or the work of benevolent people willing to pitch in and make software for free or port their commercial offerings without expecting much of a ROI. Pyra needs orders of magnitude more market share than pandora to even make a blip on the radar of commercially viable software platforms.


(EDIT: The egg was first)

 

[pmprog]

And what about already existing network free games, are they prohibited? I mentioned Pardus, I'm sure there are more. Maybe here:


http://www.stuff.tv/features/kill-your-productivity-stuffs-top-30-free-browser-games
http://www.mmobomb.com/browsergames/

Your idea of "network games" seem very different from mine. You've just listed some browser-based games. You should get Firefox on the Pyra, so you should be able to run HTML5 games, and if you dig out the old Flash lib, run Flash games. You might even be able to play some of them on the Pandora, but don't know about performance.


What makes you'd think they would be "prohibited"? Worse case is that the Pyra doesn't have enough resources to run them, but you're certainly not restricted from playing anything


For me, network games means "multiplayer", sort of like Doom, Chess, Super JumpKick Turbo All of these are available on the Pandora already.


I'll more than likely recompile SJKT for Pyra - and hopefully it'll make the network play more viable. My next game idea will also support network play... and I really should do some more on the new Tournament Hub. Really not had a lot of coding time lately