Wiz After Pandora Release

[zaephen]

I just got my Wiz last week so yeah, there's still a warm fuzzy "new" feeling to it and I don't ever plan to put it down . I expect when the Pandora is released there will be a huge surge in people using/developing for it. My question is, will users/developers continue to support their Wiz?

 

[EvilDragon]

I just got my Wiz last week so yeah, there's still a warm fuzzy "new" feeling to it and I don't ever plan to put it down . I expect when the Pandora is release there will be a huge surge in people using/developing for it. My question is, will users/developers continue do support their Wiz?

Yep. In my opinion it's a nice and cool device on-the-go
I'm also continuing my support for it, will probably meet up with GPH next month at a gaming expo in Korea and also talk about FunGP (as I might do the english customer support).

The Pandora is a very cool device, but if you just want to play games up to SNES or stuff like ScummVM or nice little homebrew games, the WIZ is perfectly fine. Cheaper and smaller.
If you want the big thing, go for the Pandora - but it also does cost twice as much.

So far, the Pandora has done the WIZ good. A lot of press releases lead people to my website and with the Pandora gaining publicity, WIZ sales went up.

 

[Exophase]

People who own both will probably not use the Wiz very much anymore, unless they find they like the controls better (I fully expect most people to prefer the Pandora's controls). Pandora is a bigger, but I think it'll generally either be small enough or not, and not just selectively depending on circumstances.

Of course maybe people who own a Wiz won't buy the Pandora, and I'm sure their desire to use their Wiz won't change once Pandora is out.

Some things developed on Pandora may be back-ported to Wiz. This sounds strange, but in my opinion, Pandora should be a little easier to develop on since it'll have SSH over USB and WiFi out of the box, and it'll also be possible to make quick code modifications on the device itself, including when not connected with a computer. Not having to be tethered to the computer (and in my case a BoB with a short cable, much worse) will make things much easier.

I plan on synchronizing my PC, netbook, and Pandora over SVN so that any can contribute to the code. Then I can commit from anywhere, and by putting executables under version control as well I can build remotely when it's more appropriate.

A lot of this only really applies to code that benefits from ARM specific optimizations, so therefore can run on Pandora and Wiz but not PC. This might not seem like a large class of programs but it's at least common for emulators. There's at least one project I plan on eventually getting into that I intend on developing on Pandora but back-porting to Wiz and GP2X.

 

[crow_riot]

i think lots of developers will jump over to the pandora, but there are still some left who don't even have ordered one and will continue their support for this little device. furthermore the wiz will probably/hopefully benefit from lots of stuff developed for the pandora due to improvements of already existing software.

 

[zaephen]

Thanks for the replies .
I have to say I really love the WIZ. Minus not having a "sleep mode" I think it's the perfect "on the go" gaming device, for me anyway.

• It's very, very small (which I love), my DS and PSP always stuck slightly out of my back pocket (the PSP did quite a bit).
• It runs Linux which I also love.
• It plays most all games from what I call the golden age of gaming (beginning through SNES/GBA, although I have problems with a few SNES games I love, Puggslys Scavenger Hunt, Granny level chugs along ).

I'll get a Pandora just for the "on the go" computing it's capable of but not so much for it's gaming capabilities (the WIZ is perfect for that). That's not to say I won't play games on the Pandora, it will have it's own advantages .

 

[Pickle]

Im ramping back on porting things to the gp2x/wiz. For the few things i do for the gp2x/wiz will be projects ive put more time into than the basic port. I dont use either device really anymore, its a pain to keep the wiz charged since i have a dev unit and the only way to charge it is via usb through the breakout board.
The wiz was nice to have at the time since my gp2x is an utter pain to use and while the usable pandora arrived.
So for me my focus will be on pandora, but i wouldnt be surprised if i update certain apps for gp2x/wiz

 

[zaephen]

I timed my WIZ three days ago (Monday night) and I got a little over 7 hours out of it. It was still going but it had just given me a low battery warning after seven hours. I used a stop watch to time it all day, starting and stopping it when I turned the WIZ on and off. That with the sound plenty loud and the screen brightness all the way up on high.

I'm extremely pleased with the WIZ. As I said above, if it had a sleep function and the SNES emulator work just a tad better on Puggsly's Scavenger Hunt, I could ask for more. Actually, I'm not asking for more anyway, it's a wonderful device .

 

[DaveC]

I will still use my Wiz for old arcade games in MAME. The OLED looks very CRT-like and has better contrast and response time than LCDs do. It has a nice niche for gamers but I think devs will probable prefer the Pandora. It is faster so they don't need to spend as much time optimizing, and it will be easier to code for due to tools. Many devs mostly code and don't play games as much as the users it seems.

 

[Exophase]

It is faster so they can do better things

Fixed that for you.

 

[crow_riot]

the biggest problem for devs is (at least for me) that it's a PITA to develop, you actually need a hand-made cable/plug with parts that aren't easily available all around the world to really be able to develop/debug on this device. i think from that point of view the pandora has already won the race and makes another reason why devs are jumping over.

 

[jottt]

Have to admit....when I came here, I was looking for:

a device I could put in my car for music, information, maybe navigation, maybe entertainment.

I wanted line-out, decent touchscreen, maybe USB/Bluetooth, WLAN, OGG-Support, some sort of expandable memory, cheapest possible (and hopefully open, because I like to tinker).

I searched, came here, thought about the F200, read that "the WIZ is comming soon". Thought, hey...that looks fitting! I'll wait. Stumbled over the Pandora and read "comming soon approx. at the same time!" and thought, looks even better at a very competitive price (calculate a decent touchdisplay + PC + PSU for a car and youre way over 250€) and wont take longer...I'll buy that.

AFTERWARDS...I read about all the interesting stuff and never left even though my car has now no entertainment since almost 2 years (and might never get one because the Pandora is probably way to lovely to be a fancy musicplayer.


So...yes, Pandora has taken one WIZ-customer

 

[u9i]

Pandora has taken a lot of Wiz users. It is probably the majority, but we are still at least a few who haven't bought a Pandora. I just hope it doesn't fragment the community too much. I for one just bought another Wiz, and friends of mine have also recently bought.

 

[torpor]

My WIZ is pretty much permanently set up as a MAME machine at this point, and I may end up just putting it in a cabinet or something one of these days ..

But then again, I still have 3 old GP2X's I'm not doing much with, so it could also be the Wiz goes in that pile and gets ignored completely for a year or two, while I hack on Pandora. I dunno, its so hard to just say "this is crap I'll never use again" and put it up on EBay .. meh. Don't like being reminded of my techno-pack-rat ways ..

EDIT: Just wanted to say .. The main reason I don't use my WIZ that much, is that I find setting up software for it to be quite a hassle. I've become spoiled by the Appstore mentality of just browsing a list of apps, pressing on one, and it gets installed .. in comparison, the whole WIZ app download, find the ROM's, blah blah .. this is a nuisance. Its just laziness, but it is interesting to note.

I wish the WIZ had WLAN, I really do. The biggest block to putting software on it, after working out what software and where it goes, is just to take out the SD and get the files transferred. This is a bore. Come on GPH, release that WLAN dongle .. maybe then I'll get a bit more use out of the WIZ.

One thing I always wished the WIZ community would do is set up pre-built .zip files containing lots, and lots of software, which can just be installed to a single SD card in one fell swoop. I know the legality is a bit dodgy in terms of ROMS and emulators, but then I know for a fact that there are legal ROMS out there .. if only someone would go through the hassle of setting up a fully working system with a lot of the great stuff, I'd get a bit more use out of my WIZ .. but I can't really say I know why someone would be motivated to do that. I remember in the GP2X hey-day there were sites one could visit that had complete GP2X packs set up, but I haven't found such things for the WIZ unfortunately .. maybe I'm just missing something; certainly my apathy for the WIZ is being enhanced by the Appstore and ease-of-installation of other platforms right now ..

If you want a WIZ revival, I'd say, it'd take someone working on the "just insall this one .zip Pack and then you'll rock" SD-image side of things, and like I said this can be done legally, perfectly legitimately, with quite a few emu systems. I might do one for Oricutron, for example, where there are quite a few good quality ROMS for the Oric these days (even new apps being made which have no problems being distributed in this way) ..

 

[varan77]

I just got my Wiz last week so yeah, there's still a warm fuzzy "new" feeling to it and I don't ever plan to put it down . I expect when the Pandora is release there will be a huge surge in people using/developing for it. My question is, will users/developers continue to support their Wiz?

I bold the key part for you

 

[Jumpman]

@Zaephen

Glad you are enjoying your Wiz, I would guess you never had a GP2X right? Your comments sound like my early GP2X love(and others GP32 experiance), so I know exactly how you feel. The Wiz is a great little device, but sadly, I never got bit by the Wiz bug. I actually sold mine on ebay last week. I really wanted to like it well enough to keep playing, but the Pandora just had to strong of a pull on me.

I bought my Wiz last june/july when I realized the Pandora was not coming out anytime soon, and I had just sold my DaveC/Nokia modded GP2X. So I didn't have any classic gaming on the go, so I made the plunge. No real big problems, it is slightly better than the 2X, but I just never felt the magic like I did with the GP2X. The controls where improved, and the screen is just Awesome. It is really the highlite of the system, but the small nature of the screen never scored points with me. Also the emulation was just slightly better than the 2X. The system just really didn't do much more for me than the 2X did, but knowing how much more the Pandora can do, I just couldn't bring myself to use it. Everytime I played a game that didn't run just right, or controlled a little less than it should, I just keep thinking, "I won't have this problem on my Pandora".

The developers community on a whole, just seems less into the Wiz, than they where with the GP2X(IMO). I actually started a thread about the lack of interest awhile back(and the high interest in Pandora, and it hasn't even been released yet), just to see if I was imagining things, but most members felt the same, the interest just didn't seem as high as in the past.

If you like the Wiz now, you will probably like it later, as it is your first point of referance, and it is a very nice device. If your happy with the programs and Emu's as they are, your set. But if your looking for more improvements and a lot more stuff to be released, don't hold your breath.

Chris

 

[zaephen]

I would guess you never had a GP2X right?

Right. Despite 12 years of using Linux exclusively, I've always played mainstream consoles/handhelds. I knew about others like the Gizmondo and GP2X but just wrote them off as generic. How stupid was that? Don't answer that LOL .
About two weeks ago I was browsing around and discovered the WIZ so I researched it more. Read more about it and it's history and the GP2X. I found out the WIZ was what I've wanted all this time. I ordered one immediately .
I also discovered the Pandora which I simply must have but the WIZ is something I can have in my hands today.