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Tapwave Zodiac Handheld Detailed
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the PalmInfoCenter article revealing new details and pictures of the Tapwave Zodiac handheld gaming device, ahead of the official unveiling on September 17th. According to the article, "The Zodiac will be based on Palm OS 5.2 and will feature a 3.8 inch diagonal 480 x 320 pixel screen, analog joystick navigation with integrated triggers and buttons, 3D graphics acceleration... and Bluetooth for multiplayer wireless gaming." The handheld "will... be able to run the already vast library of Palm OS software", and furthermore, "it will launch with between 15-20 games optimized for it [each costing around $30 each], including 'Neverwinter Nights,' 'Tony Hawk', 'Spy Hunter', and 'Doom II'". GoodThatWay.com has a few more details on the Zodiac, of which "a 32MB model will cost $299 and a higher end model with 128 MB of RAM will sell for $399."
Some of the other features are good additions. I like that it's a Palm device, and that it uses bluetooth for multiplayer. The fact that it has TWO slots for games is also great (assuming they don't act like idiots and put them on the device like the NGauge. What in the WORLD where those people thinking? Did they even TEST the device?). Adding MP3 playing abilites is interesting too.
That said, the price still seems quite high to me. Considerig that it's a Palm, a video game machine, and can play MP3s, I guess it's not that bad, but I think it could take a little while for it to become big. The thing is still expensive.
What would be REALLY smart was if they released a SDK (free great, or for a nomial fee like $25 would be cool too) so people could develop for it too. I know it's Palm, but I'm guessing you'd need special code to access the 3D stuff. Handheld BZFlag, here we come?
Good luck guys. Of the consoles that I've heard of recently (Phantom, that Linux based one that died, the N-Gauge, etc) that aren't from big manufactures (like the PSP) this one seems to be the most well thought out of the bunch (Sony knows what they're doing too, I think).
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
What they *really* need to do is come up with some productivity software for my GBA, and skip the whole hybrid thing.
Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
i was reading about this device a while back and now that i see that its really happening i want it even more. im in the market for a pda and ive wanted one that would be decent for games but still be a fully functional PDA as well this fits the bill!
Anybody know what speed processor the thing uses? The Imageon would be great, though...
never mind... wait a few months for it to come down a bit in price and ... you never know... some nice people may have ported a Linux to it :)
Imagine a Beowulf.... never mind... I like the idea of a wireless lan of them playing neverwinter nights together...
Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
The SP has a huge base of games, and a well established market, costs 1/3 as much. If you want audio, buy an IPOD. And at the price they want, you could buy both an IPOD and an SP.
The control better be tight on this thing. The GBA SP has some seriously tight control (IMHO), and it's comfortable. Battery life needs to be at least 10 hours to stand a chance, 20 would be competitive with the SP.
This is a matter of preference, but the D-PAD on this thing looks like one of those round things, where L could end up being UL, L, DL, or D. I hate those things.
At 300-400 USD, they'd better not be re-releasing SNES/Genesis/etc. games for this thing, as in the point here.
Zzzzoooooooddddddiiiiiiiaaaaaaacccc!!!! Zzzzoooooodddiiiiaaaaccccc!!!!
... this might be what finally pushes me to buy a Palm. I know they're more then portable calendars (a la Outlook) and note takers, but I've never seen them as anything more. If it turns out to be a little machine and has a few decent games, that might convinces me to buy one. So now I could put little electronic memos on the calendar to remind me to play a game on it. ;)
From the article: "It will launch with between 15-20 games optimized for it including, "Neverwinter Nights," "Tony Hawk", "Spyhunter" and "Doom II." "
They don't specify that these are new games (they are ports all right) but do they mean that they have regular palm games that already exist but comes with some added features for the device?
15-20 *new* games would make the device worth a second look but do they really expect people to buy a $300 device for old games? Especially with PSP coming and the GBA existing right now?
Also, considering that these titles are the first batch of games coming from various publishers taking the risk of the games not selling, would they start the second generation of games before the current slate has become profitable? And would they ever get profitable if players can only get a small subset of games at a higher price compared to the GBA even though the hardware specs are much better?
This just seem like it is going the way of the N-Gage. Neither have a substantial support from developers and publishers and the PDA functionality of the TapWave is not likely to bring in a lot of cross-market gaming-organizing consumers either.
i think the zodiac has a better shot than the n-gage or phantom, but as far as all three are concerned, where's the orginiality? of course there's going to be games that are available across consoles. But M$ wouldn't have been a major player if it didn't have Halo going out the gate. N-Gage and Tapwave seem content to release handheld versions of last years, and in the case of some N-gage titles, last generation's hits (see tomb raider). At 40 bucks a pop, I'd rather play those games on the consoles I have sitting at home, where I can play the copy I already have or pick up a used one for 10 dollars. I like gaming competition because it ups the quality across the board, and I don't mind supporting my habit with multiple consoles. But what's the point if they all play the same games?