Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft's Handheld Codenamed Argo
The Seattle Times reports that details on Microsoft's handheld gaming/music device are finally slipping out. The Argo project looks to be Microsoft's hedge against angry analysts, upset that the next versions of Office and Windows have slipped yet again. From the article: "As reported last week, initially by Bloomberg News, the device is expected to go on sale by Christmas. It has Wi-Fi capability so it can connect wirelessly to home and public networks and other players. Wi-Fi sounds like a big deal if you're comparing the player to the wire-bound iPod. But this is more than just another MP3 player. It will also compete with game players from Sony and Nintendo that have long had Wi-Fi and work as media players, Internet terminals and communication devices. Argo is likely to showcase another Allard project — XNA, a new toolkit that helps game developers create titles for multiple platforms."
Did I read that correctly? The media forgot to call it an ipod-killer!? Heads are going to roll down at the Seattle Times.
Name your latest high tech gadget for a bronze age pirate ship crewed by illiterate drunks and thieves trying to stay one step ahead of that mad bitch Medea. Brilliant!
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
Nintendo does well in the hand-held market because they've spent almost 20 years learning what people want in a hand held device, as well as offering a large selection of software that is fun and speaks to a wide spectrum of people, not just your 14-24 male crowd.
Sony has been able to break into the handheld market (where many others have failed) because they have the brand name recognition, as well as ports for a lot of popular franchises, not to mention the nice movie viewing capability. (However, even Sony is beginning to sink, as the number of people speaking against the constant remakes are beginning to grow, and UMD movies have all but sunk.)
So Microsoft, which barely edged Nintendo out for second place in America, and is in third place in Japan by a far gap (even despite being the first "next-gen" system there), thinks that they can break into the handheld market with what sounds like another version of their "Origami" project, but geared more towards games? I would put down safe money that it sinks faster than the Game Gear. The idea of it being an XBox brand makes me think that the device will be bigger than the PSP, too.
"My, that backpack looks heavy. What do you have in there?"
"My eXtreme-Box portable gaming system."
"And what else?"
"Uh, that's it."
Of course, no one would try to steal it, since the device would be useful as a bludguning instrument, as well. "Looks like the perp left a mark on his victim. What exactly is that?" "Looks like some sort of big X."
Argo? Not.
"Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
From the fires of Mount Doom, is this the one gadget to rule all gadgets?
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables