Via-based Handheld Game Console Runs PC Games

An anonymous reader writes "Via Technologies has teamed up with Ministry of Mobile Affairs (no, it's not a government agency) to build a handheld game console based on Windows XP Embedded that runs existing PC games. Described as the world's first handheld gaming device based on the x86 architecture, the Eve Mobile Gaming Console is said to be capable of instantly running thousands of existing PC games. Eve's embedded computer is built around a 533MHz Via Eden-N processor (which supports SSE and MMX) equipped with 128MB DDR266 SDRAM, and a 20GB hard drive. A built-in 4-inch LCD screen supports resolutions up to 640 x 480 pixels." The initial impressions are pretty grim, and the form factor leaves something to be desired, at least for a product vying for a share of the GBA market.

Comments

Is that a Moma in your pocket?

[l810c]

First thing I thought when I looked at it, is where are you going to carry it? That thing wouldn't fit in a pocket or bookbag or briefcase. The pictures don't quite jive with this comment from the Moma website:

Modular -- Screen unit detaches from the controller. Carry just the screen unit around for media on the go. Swap controllers for a customized gaming experience.

This and the fact that there's nothing on the screen lead me to believe this is a Very early prototype and I'm doubting it's going to make it out 1st Q 2005.

Re:Is that a Moma in your pocket?

[Carnildo]

Modular -- Screen unit detaches from the controller. Carry just the screen unit around for media on the go. Swap controllers for a customized gaming experience.

A detachable screen? I though the form factor in the renderings was bad, but a detachable screen is worse! What happens if you lose the screen -- will they send you a replacement? How are they going to keep the contacts clean?

Re:Is that a Moma in your pocket?

[black mariah]

Well, what happens when you lose your Gameboy? You bought it, you take care of it. Lose it, tough shit.

Re:Is that a Moma in your pocket?

[black mariah]

Nevertheless, losing it falls into the "Tough shit" category along with losing anything else.

Solution in search of a problem

[erick99]

Sometimes folks come up with a solution for a problem that doesn't exist. Then, they try to reverse-engineer the problem. Anyway, from one of the articles:

"It's funny that you say that it comes out of nowhere," said Andrew "Bunnie" Hwang, the "minister of mobile affairs" at The Ministry of Mobile Affairs (MoMA), based in San Diego. "It actually fills a vacuum in the market," of an X86-based handheld, he said.

It actually gets better when he explains that you can pay to "unlock" the device (like hackers won't figure this out within a day or two...":

If a user wishes, Hwang added, he can purchase a separate SIM card "for a reasonable price" that will completely unlock the console, so users can download whatever content they wish.

I guess we will see what happens in the marketplace.....

Happy Trails!

Erick

Re:Solution in search of a problem

[Lord Kano]

like hackers won't figure this out within a day or two

Can you say iOpener?

LK

Re:Solution in search of a problem

[ComputerSlicer23]

I'll point out the truely ironic part, Andrew "Bunnie" Hwang, is the hardcore X-Box hacker who figured out a number of ways to overcome the X-Box security features. A number of slashdot articles have mentioned him, or his projects. Including the facts that he had a really hard time publishing his books on hacks for the X-Box.

Interesting. Very intersting.

Kirby

Re:Solution in search of a problem

[torpor]

no, you're missing the point. the iOpener was a $99 device which really should've cost something like $249... the only reason it was so cheap was because the company was expecting people to subscribe to their ISP services with it ... in the end, though, it became a "$99 PC", courtesy of wily hackers...

and hey, its not so freakin' hard to hack an iOpener, or find details on how to do it ... there's this web site called 'google', which you might be able to find the URL for if you're really elite ... that'll tell you all about it ...

Re:Solution in search of a problem

[bunnie]

It is me. The security "features" are designed to make a compromise between developers and users like you and me. So there are two options you can take. You can take the blue pill, and have XPe pre-installed, but have a locked console that you can later unlock with a card. Or you can take the red pill, and get a console with no OS, but unlocked. From the cost perspective to us, the price is about the same. However, XPe is not free to us, so we have to pass on the cost of that to users somehow, hence the unlock card.

The unlock card architecture is not designed to be bulletproof. It is hackable. Making it unhackable would be too expensive. However, I'm placing bets that the unlock card will be cheaper and easier to use than a mod. Plus, the unlock card contains some useful features for other useage contexts (I'm not saying that everyone will find it useful) that are essentially irreproduceable.

So--hackers who want to explore, they are free to explore and have fun. The security architecture of the console will be fully disclosed, I'll even tell you how you could mod it, but that might ruin the fun. Users who just want to extend the console hardware and software, have an easy path to do so from day one. It only helps me if the guys here want to slap a keyboard on this or build a beowulf or drive a toaster--I'm trying to provide hardware, other people make the apps. And users who just want to play games in a traditional model can do so too.

Re:Solution in search of a problem

[bunnie]

The security "features" are designed to make a compromise between developers and users like you and me. So there are two options you can take. You can take the blue pill, and have XPe pre-installed, but have a locked console that you can later unlock with a card. Or you can take the red pill, and get a console with no OS, but unlocked. From the cost perspective to us, the price is about the same. However, XPe is not free to us, so we have to pass on the cost of that to users somehow, hence the unlock card. The unlock card architecture is not designed to be bulletproof. It is hackable. Making it unhackable would be too expensive. However, I'm placing bets that the unlock card will be cheaper and easier to use than a mod. Plus, the unlock card contains some useful features for other useage contexts (I'm not saying that everyone will find it useful) that are essentially irreproduceable. So--hackers who want to explore, they are free to explore and have fun. The security architecture of the console will be fully disclosed, I'll even tell you how you could mod it, but that might ruin the fun. Users who just want to extend the console hardware and software, have an easy path to do so from day one. It only helps me if the guys here want to slap a keyboard on this or build a beowulf or drive a toaster--I'm trying to provide hardware, other people make the apps. And users who just want to play games in a traditional model can do so too. I'd also like to point out that this is not an iOpener because it's not sold at a loss. Think of it like a portable DVD player, when they first came out. They were larger and heavier than this, had a shorter battery life, and sold at around $1000. Now, they are *still* larger than this (the DVD format fundamentally limits your size...) but at least some of them are as cheap as $200, most of them hovering around the $300-500 price point. Do these sell at the million per month rate? no. Is this meant to sell at the million per month rate? no. Unfortunately, with all the hype these days around the PSP and DS, people try to compare it to these consoles, thinking we're in the same market they are. We aren't. The upside is if mass market starts adopting the product, but our business model is flexible enough to survive on a smaller market.

The question is

[Kelz]

Can it play monkey island?

Re:The question is

[Carnildo]

Can it play monkey island?

Not until someone ports ScummVM to it.

bring back the emulators

[Kjuib]

That should run most of the older emulators just fine. From console to PC back to console, go figure. Now if it would only butter my toast for me.

It can play PC Games but....

[tsunamifirestorm]

most PC games have too many buttons.

Re:It can play PC Games but....

[Carnildo]

Whereas this has too many joysticks. The renderings show a directional pad, a pair of joysticks, four buttons, and what looks like a rocker switch. How are you going to emulate games that need all that on a PC?

Re:It can play PC Games but....

[steveha]

The renderings show a directional pad, a pair of joysticks, four buttons, and what looks like a rocker switch.

In other words, the standard set of controls on a typical console game pad these days.

So, this will be great for playing any game that can be mapped to those controls, and doesn't need more performance than a VIA Eden chip at 533 MHz can provide. (Hint: Doom III is not going to run on this thing.) Oh, and don't forget that the screen is only 4 inches, so you'll never play games like StarCraft on it unless you have eyes like an eagle.

Summary: this would be great for playing old console games, if anyone bothered to port them from the console to this thing. And it would be great for arcade emulation for low-detail games.

Would you pay over $500 for a hard-to-carry gadget that could only do that? Me neither.

steveha

nice..

[gl4ss]

but is it going to be ever built by anyone and sold at retail? sounds like a support nightmare. also in the pics it's good to use, but only at places you could bring your laptop to(it's bulky).

would be fucking awesome for emulators and stuff like that though..

but I'll put my dollar on the bet that says "nice research project for pr purposes, to be never really hit the market properly if at all."

Existing games.

[Humorously_Inept]

When they say existing PC games, they must really mean it! Not current, but existing. The question is how long do those games have to have existed for? The hardware config is totally insufficient, aesthetics and usability aside.

Forget gaming - this gadget has other uses

[Weaselmancer]

Looks like a low power server to me. Or a GPS unit with software you can update. I'd sit one on the dash of my van.

It'd also be great for emulation. The thing just screams MAME. Or Ultimate Amiga Emulator.

How about portable network analyzer? It'll probably run standard Linux distros.

This thing is not a toy. Well..ok. It is a toy, but it's useful too.

Weaselmancer

PC games

[Kris_J]

If it plays Diablo II, it's a lot smaller than the thing I currently lug to LAN sessions.

Re:PC games

[System.out.println()]

If you play play Diablo II without a mouse, you deserve a cookie.

Can it run outlook or palm desktop

[Billly Gates]

... and maple or mathmatica?

Yes it wont sync but it would be nice to use it as a pda/calculator/game machine. Why settle on just one this.

Hmm maybe if any VIA employee's are reading this, you may want to consider mathmatical keys and a mini qwerty keybord. If it runs more things than games you could expand your marketshare.

First handheld device !

[lethalwp]

Via is proud to present its first new line of handheld game console that has all the abilities of windows XP, this all into your pocket!

- it bluescreens
- it eats more power than required, replace the batteries every 2 hours
- you have to reinstall windows xp every month
- it can get worms if you plug it on internet! (no need to install outlook, the disk share will be enough)
- ... :)

Can it run linux? :)

Re:First handheld device !

[raodin]

Um, ok?

1 - Don't be silly, I use XP on one of my machines daily and I haven't had a bluescreen in more than a year. Last time I did it was bad memory.

2 - I get slightly better battery life on my laptop in XP compared to linux - About 15 minutes better. I could probably eek out a bit more in linux, but the point is neither has a big advantage.

3 - The XP machine mentioned in point one hasn't been reinstalled in an even longer time period than the last bluescreen.

4 - No real argument here, MS ships with atrocious defaults regarding security.

Its mildly funny, and certainly not a troll, but its not exactly accurate.

I hope it comes to market

[AVryhof]

I hope this thing comes to market. Then Fails, Think Dreamcast Folks!

It's likely to be cheaper than an iPaq, and if it has USB (which makes me wonder how you get the games onto the 20GB Hard Drive) you can plug a USB Mini Hub into it for Keyboard/Mouse and have a sweet little Linux Box... or even a portable Emulation System....The possibilities look appealing.

Arrgh! But I don't think you'd want to try word processing on a 4" screen.

Vaporware

[KrispyKringle]

This is just plain vaporware. According to the Gizmodo article, it's a mini-ITX. Gee, the advantages of that over an x86 laptop are what, exactly? The lack of a folding screen?

So let's see...it's a 500MHz x86 with only 128MB of RAM, a fixed LCD that goes only to 640x480, and a case that exists only in the crappy renders of second-rate designers. And it seems like it's meant to be limited only to games, not other Windows applications. Sure beats a standard laptop...

Anybody care to explain why I should think this is more than (exceptionally incompetent) vaporware?

x86? So what?

[homeobocks]

It claims that having an x86 CPU is a big plus, but how many consumers either: a) know what a processor architecture is, or b) care? It could be so that it runs Windows, to play Windows games, but with the size of the hard drive (20gb) and the current size of games (UT2004 is >5gb), how many PC games will fit? In a year, when the MoMA is released, I don't think that games will be getting any smaller.

CD-ROM

[rayde]

how about all those PC games that require the CD to be in the drive while playing??

*COUGH* vaporware *COUGH*

Re:CD-ROM

[System.out.println()]

*COUGH* vaporware *COUGH*

Maybe Duke Nukem Forever will run on this thing. :D

I might buy one...

[steveha]

...in about a year, after this crashes and burns horribly in the marketplace, when they dump the remaining inventory through TigerDirect or eBay or something. After the miserable failure of this product, we will probably be able to get one for a couple hundred dollars or so.

I mean, look at the thing. $500, then you get to pay more to turn on the disabled features? A weird, non-foldable shape that won't fit in a pocket and might not even fit in a briefcase? This thing is a trainwreck of a product.

I just hope the product engineers planned ahead for the dismal sales, and designed it to be easy to hack (bootable from USB, etc.)

This would make a decent little gadget for playing my old Atari 2600 games. The tiny screen wouldn't be a handicap and the controls are right there. If you can get MAME on it you could play quite a lot of stuff.

You could also use it as a "photo wallet" (each day on vacation, dump all your photos to its hard drive, look at them with the screen to verify that they are there, and wipe your camera's chips clean for the next day). It only has CompactFlash, though.

You could even use it as a universal remote for your home; with 802.11 networking, it could talk to a computer and you could then do anything.

Of course you could use it as a portable audio/video player, if you can deal with the awkward shape.

Let's hope they make lots of these things before they figure out that no one wants them; they'll be really cheap!

steveha

Notebook?

[Ryan Mallon]

A small notebook pc would be about as easy to carry around as that thing, and it will play most existing pc games too. Plus the notebook's screen will actual ly fold down, meaning you could store it somewhere when you aren't using it.

PDA/iPod Hybrid?

[SamBaughman]

Look at Palm devices: more and more games are being added to the library for this family of PDA's. A lot of games are coming out for Microsoft's Pocket PC platform. The only drawback for these systems is a lack of internal storage.

Look at iPods: a ton of local storage, a well-designed user interface, and the "cool" factor that marketing companies spend billions searching for. But other than video and some basic text notes (that you can't edit on the device), the iPods and other hard drive-based media centers can't play games or do other "computerish" tasks.

What happens when we combine these two products? Eve. It's a Pocket PC, but since it runs "XP Embedded" you can theoretically run any existing PC game. Spend a little time and effort, and you won't even need a USB keyboard. You could also just store music or video on there.

It's an RCA Lyra with a bit more processing power and an add-on controller. If they can hit the $500 point next year, there might (might) be a market, but I think more people will buy it for high quality video on a teeny screen than for any gaming options.

Ooooh, and wi-fi, so you can watch the videos on the other Eves are you...

Re:Another footnote?

[kunudo]

*cough* counterstrike *cough*

Yes, it's as popular as ever, if you hadn't noticed.

You too can play such exciting titles as...

[Eagle5596]

Warcraft I, Dungeon Hack, and the entire Zork Trilogy with your blazing fast 533MHz processor!

Boomerang!

[beatleadam]

Do you think if you throw it *just right* it will come back?

VIA vs. VAIO

[Kozar_The_Malignant]

I think this niche is already filled by the Sony Vaio TR series. At 1.4"x7.4"x10.6" the Sony is pretty darn small. The Sony has a 1 GHz pentium M, .5 GB DDR ram, and a 40 GB drive. It comes wireless equipped, and, no, I don't own one. Base model runs $2,200 US, which is probably a bit more than the VIA/MOMA will sell for, I'm sure.

My analysis

[Dun Malg]

"It's funny that you say that it comes out of nowhere,... It actually fills a vacuum in the market," of an X86-based handheld, [said Andrew "Bunnie" Hwang)

The reason there's a vaccuum in that segment of the market is that, at this point, anything that fits that vaccuum is going to SUCK!

Honestly, what games are there for the PC platform that A) require only 640x480, B) run adequately at 500-odd mHz/128MB RAM, and C) require only a D-pad and four buttons to control? I sounds like this overpriced toy is going to require games written specially for it, so what's the point of making it x86 PC compatible?

Bad form factor, but look at the games

[pridkett]

If you're astute and look at this picture you'll see that it's not just a Ministry of Mobile Affairs logo on the screen. In fact, it's a logo photoshopped over a Half Life screen. Mmm...portable half life.

It all depends...

[mrgreen4242]

The key to this device's success is going to come down to 2 things, imho...

1) Price. If you can get a PSP cheaper, it's going to fail. Period. The PSP is probably going to start at, what, $200-250? So I'd say it'd better be around $150-175 MAX if it wants any chance at all.

2) Accessories. It was mentioned above that they intend to have a detachable game pad area, and I hope that it uses some sort of customized USB 2.0 connection for that so they can have a large array of easy to develop add-ons. Examples: A mini-keyboard, a stand with a built in USB HUB, so you can plug in a mouse/keyboard or external HD/DVD drive, or whatever you want. Also, a Wi-Fi add-on (or standard built in) would be an obvious must have.

A 533mhz cpu with 128mb ram will run some pretty decent games. If this GPU subsystem is decent at all, and they have some sort of widdled down version of widows running you could conceivably run Q3 based games, which is pretty nice for a handheld system.

Personally, I think that if this does make it to market, it will fail on both points 1 and 2. It will likely be in the $300-400 range, since they will have to actually make money on the hardware, as they don't get licensing fees from software sales like Sony and Nintendo. The accessories will likely be available, but will be either too expensive, reach market to late, or be just plain stupid (think GB camera and printer).

If it does manage to hit the shelves at a decent price and they improve the form factor some, it could be a very cool gadget. In all likelihood, however, I think I will be one the ones grabbing one of these as they get discontinued so I can turn it into a bathroom email/web browser!

The inventor...

[scapermoya]

Has anyone else noticed this MoMA was started by Andrew 'bunnie' Huang? This guy is one of the formost underground experts on what has come to be called hardware hacking, and in that respect he is a genius. I seriously doubt that an MIT graduate of this caliber would let something stupid come to market, give this project some time. Plus, hes a regular /.er.

Great technology, poor execution

[thasmudyan]

I think the basic idea is pretty cool. Cramming a micro-PC into a very small form factor could be a recipe for great mobile gaming fun. But I guess that's where the VIA marketing people came in and butchered it.

• Horrible case design, not that fatal but still a bit weird
• Designed to be marketed basically as a Gameboy, that's not going to work
• Almost no access to the system itself, one of the most paranoid and user unfriendly content protection mechanisms I ever heard of.

Needless to say, this could be fixed so easily:

• Make some minor modifications to the case
• Appeal to the geek audience: Get rid of content protection, allow people to upload and do whatever they want.
• Publish the specs and have a hacker community create/port cool new games.
• Heck, throw in a decent MP3 player software and probably a PIM interface.
• Make an IR or Bluetooth expansion card so people can create ad-hoc gaming circles (great for travellers).
• Optional attachable keyboard would be nice.

I think the biggest flaw of this product is that they decided not to follow through on a promising idea. It's a portable mini PC tuned for gaming, for chrissakes! Gadgeteers would love that thing if it only allowed them to tinker with it!

I can see it now...

[Cyno01]

Ow, ow, hot... *drop/crunch* damnit...