Welcome to the Panasonic Jungle, a portable handheld

[eastmen]

http://www.gaming-age.com/news/2010/10/4-6

According to the company, the Jungle is "a new mobile device concept designed specifically for online gamers". We do know that it features a high resolution display, a flip-open clamshell design like the Nintendo DS, along with a D-pad, various face and shoulder buttons, a mini-keyboard and touchpad. More specific details will be released in the future.

unless this has the power to play wow and actually gets blizzard to port it to it , then its doa

More info at engadget

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/04/panasonics-jungle-portable-gaming-system-emerges-gets-shown-of/

If its x86 based it could be really good. I wouldn't mind getting one to play SW TOR on the go. Some might want it for wow as I said above if its possible.

 

[Rolf N]

I like that it's both handheld and portable

Other than that, I can't see this going anywhere. With no launch lineup and no software partners announced, this seems more like a statement of intent. That BGS MMO that was announced ... in conjunction with this, let's say, isn't even on the platform. Nothing is.

Any control scheme they can come up with will be limiting by MMO standards. Any simpler genre they tackle will be up against an already well explored market with strong players on all sides.

I want to know their arguments why developers should target this device now instead of the PSPs, (3)DSes and Smartphones of the world, all of which already have networking capabilities.

 

[MfA]

If it's on a surface and the keyboard is usable enough that I can use my left hand to map a dozen quick keys it could work ... but yeah, console controls won't ever create gameplay MMO gamers are used to ... not enough buttons.

 

[DeadlyNinja]

Can it play Vindictus?

 

[brain_stew]

Looks like a commercial take on the Pandora just with a much worse design. The Pandora has seen success because it has only ever needed to target the smallest of niche markets, a device like this needs to hit critical mass or it won't receive the developer support it needs.

Hopefully the whole bottom half of the bulky shell is filled with a huge Lion battery because if it can't pull 5/6 hours battery life in games then its DOA. Design is way too bulky to interest me personally.

 

[Exophase]

I'd like to comment, but all we got are some poorly lit renders and a shot of it sitting on someone's desk with most of the interface obscured. I feel like they're trying to hide its actual design from me.

 

[Npl]

me, I want a mobile portable handheld console.. preferably powered by accus or batteries!
Why cant they figure out the most important details.

 

[darkblu]

Rumors of Tegra. Again.

http://www.fudzilla.com/mobiles/item/20402-panasonic-jungle-gaming-console-has-tegra

 

[DeadlyNinja]

Looks like a commercial take on the Pandora just with a much worse design. The Pandora has seen success because it has only ever needed to target the smallest of niche markets, a device like this needs to hit critical mass or it won't receive the developer support it needs.

Wait, the Pandora is a success? The reason I ask is because I'm also interested in getting one, but I'm hesitating because the price might kill it quickly and limit the homebrew scene on it.

I wonder if this thing is powerful enough to run homebrew. Either way, it looks ugly and unwieldy compared to Pandora.

 

[Exophase]

Define "success." It's successful in the sense that demand is far outstripping supply. It's not successful in the sense that it hasn't broke even yet.

I doubt the price is ever going to be the limiting factor for it. Good luck actually getting one.

Rumors of Tegra. Again.

http://www.fudzilla.com/mobiles/item/20402-panasonic-jungle-gaming-console-has-tegra

Hey cool, a "parable console." I hope it teaches us a valuable lesson.

Good for Tegra, it's now toured the rumor mill of every upcoming gaming handheld, including this thing.

 

[eastmen]

If it's on a surface and the keyboard is usable enough that I can use my left hand to map a dozen quick keys it could work ... but yeah, console controls won't ever create gameplay MMO gamers are used to ... not enough buttons.

It seems to have a keyboard.

Anyway for light mmorpging it could be fine. For raiding i'd never want it

 

[Deleted member 13524]

I don't know how this could possibly succeed at playing MMORPGs without windows+x86..

.. and it's already been stated that it runs linux.

Unless Panasonic is shooting money at successful developers with a minigun, I'd find it hard to see those developers fragmenting the mobile games market even more.

 

[eastmen]

I don't know how this could possibly succeed at playing MMORPGs without windows+x86..

.. and it's already been stated that it runs linux.

Unless Panasonic is shooting money at successful developers with a minigun, I'd find it hard to see those developers fragmenting the mobile games market even more.

I wasn't aware that accurate spec sheets were released for this

 

[Exophase]

At least some Windows MMOs are viable on Linux via WINE. Afaik WoW is one of them. I don't think there's that severe of a performance hit either.

Of course it needs to be x86 too, ie not Tegra. Personally I think it'd be nice to actually see Tegra 2 (or better?) confirmed for an actual handheld and not a netbook or tablet.

 

[Laurent06]

At least some Windows MMOs are viable on Linux via WINE. Afaik WoW is one of them. I don't think there's that severe of a performance hit either.

That's alas not true: I have to reboot to Windows for WoW raids. Under Linux, during heavy action, my FPS varies too much going from 80 FPS down to below 10 FPS, while under Windows it's varying less often and between 40 and 80 FPS. OTOH disk loading is sensibly faster under Linux, but for raids it's of no use.

(FWIW, my CPU is an i7 920, 6 GB RAM and an nVidia GTX 275, so definitely a good machine for WoW, and a video card with very good OpenGL support under Linux.)

Anyway as eastmen said, high-level playing on such a device wouldn't be possible. My raid interface would occupy all of the screen by itself

 

[Exophase]

Someone should profile that >_>

 

[eastmen]

That's alas not true: I have to reboot to Windows for WoW raids. Under Linux, during heavy action, my FPS varies too much going from 80 FPS down to below 10 FPS, while under Windows it's varying less often and between 40 and 80 FPS. OTOH disk loading is sensibly faster under Linux, but for raids it's of no use.

(FWIW, my CPU is an i7 920, 6 GB RAM and an nVidia GTX 275, so definitely a good machine for WoW, and a video card with very good OpenGL support under Linux.)

Anyway as eastmen said, high-level playing on such a device wouldn't be possible. My raid interface would occupy all of the screen by itself

yup but for grinding it be good.

I don't think anyone wants to raid while on a bus or a car trip. But doing basic quests and farming for gold or grinding would be fine on such a device. People play wow on netbooks with 6 inch screens

 

[NeoTechni]

The rumored price is what, $400? That's more than a netbook, and they can run WoW.
I dont see how they can expect to compete with such a limited lineup of games.
They cant seriously expect to rely completely on MMOs, a genre requiring monthly fees, on such expensive hardware. They'll almost certainly have to open the platform up to indie development.
And then it's no better than a Pandora.

 

[Exophase]

We don't know anything tangible about its price, specs, even the controls are a little ambiguous. No point forming much in the way of conclusive opinions about it until we do.

 

[NeoTechni]

Well we know it probably wont have WoW