Gamepark Holdings Officially Announces the WIZ Handheld

Croakyvoice writes "Gamepark Holdings, the makers of the GP2X Console, have today announced the successor, which is called the WIZ. The new GBA Micro-sized console features a touchscreen, Linux OS, an Arm9 533MHZ 3D processor with 64MB of ram and will have commercial games on sale at launch in October. Best of all for fans of homebrew and emulation on the GP2X, all that needs to be done is recompiling of sourcecode."

Comments

Obligatory

[bigtallmofo]

...I heard that nobody beats it!

Re:Obligatory

[syrinx]

Thank you for getting that out of the way early. :)

Re:Obligatory

[halcyon1234]

...I heard that nobody beats it!

Thank you for getting that out of the way early. :)

I always beat it to get it out of the way early, but won't you know it, twenty minutes later, there it is again.

Re:Obligatory

[jo42]

Wot's up with naming things after urinating? First the Wii, then the Wiz. Wot's next? The P33?

Re:Obligatory

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, the next thing out for Nintendo will be a portable, hand held version - the Wee Wii !

Re:Obligatory

[martinw89]

Too all those thinking this is a masturbation joke... *whooosh*

Re:Obligatory

[default luser]

I always beat it to get it out of the way early, but won't you know it, twenty minutes later, there it is again.

You should get out more. You can really wow the ladies with that kind of stamina :)

Additional Info

[eldavojohn]

From what specifics I could find on it, they are planning on supporting Flash 7.0 and I think this means one could play swfs on it (of which I know several addictive games online).

As for other support, I'm kind of disappointed that they went far enough to support Lyrics (Lyc) files but they only support TXT for their E-Books. I would be nice to see Plucker supported by default so that all the Project Gutenberg books would be readily accessible in something better than just plain text. But, I suppose that's just a matter of recompiling for the targeted architecture. I wonder if proprietary e-Book formats will ever be supported on devices like this? That's probably just wishful thinking--why would Amazon divert sales of the Kindle to something like this?

Re:Additional Info

[AKAImBatman]

they are planning on supporting Flash 7.0 and I think this means one could play swfs on it (of which I know several addictive games online).

Flash 7 is pretty ancient tech at this point. The vast majority of Flash games are Flash 8 with many of the new ones being made in Flash 9. However, the Nintendo Wii has the same limitation, so you may find Wii gaming sites to be useful on the device.

Re:Additional Info

[Anonymous Coward]

What they've typically done (note -- I'm NOT criticizing, this is just how it's done) is to ship the hardware with a fairly low-key set of features, then grab up better-functioning support out of the homebrew projects etc. and incoprorate it into later firmware releases. So, initial release will have Flash 7 and text, because it's quick and easy (Flash 7, I'm guessing gnash?) Gnash is approaching Flash 9 support (I have it work intermittently depending on the specific version of gnash), and plenty of text viewers are around, I'm guessing they'd be added in later (up to the limits of the flash size.)

Re:Additional Info

[atraintocry]

Parent is correct. The GP2X is a nice product, but it's not everything that GPH's marketing said about it on day one. For instance, I think at one point they were talking about WMA support, which I don't think happened but it was a long time before they stopped saying it had it. A lot of features and fixes were picked up over time from the community (which nobody objected to...in fact, the main gripe was that they could have done more to incorporate fixes that originated with the scene).

Re:Additional Info

[Anonymous Coward]

I owned the gp32x and I can tell you most people won't be buying this because of the propriatary stuff it was mainly used for homebrew and opensource software. There weren't comercial games for a long time after it was released. It seems they are taking a different approch this time but I think most of the people who had the previouse model are going to buy it for the same reason. So all that stuff you just said expect to see it show up. I migth buy the new model sounds bad ass.

Re:Additional Info

[Anonymous Coward]

You'd be MUCH better off giving the link to the Plucker home site:
www.plkr.org

Anyways, I've always found color screens to be annoying to use when reading electronic texts, and FAR prefer something with a monochrome display, e.g. a Rocketbook, older mono-Palms, and probably the Kindle if it weren't assininely overpriced. (I paid c. $100 for a Rocketbook, GEMSTAR re-sale which has much of the same functionality of the kindle which sells for c. $400...)

emulation

[flynt]

Can someone write an emulator so that we can we WIZ on our Wiis?

Re:emulation

[AdamThor]

Emulators are inefficient, and the Wii is not the most powerful of the current gen:

WIZ might make Wiis wheeze...

The Pandora

[ledow]

Although the Wiz is the "official" successor, the successor in spirit (and with a much more open development process, and much more likely to actually get up-to-date source code published - the GP2X firmware versions aren't always open-sourced properly) is the Pandora... www.openpandora.org - which is due out at roughly the same time as the Wiz.

Most of the developers for the GP2X are actually putting their weight behind the Pandora first - I know, I'm a GP2X software porter of things like Simon Tatham's (of PuTTY fame) Portable Puzzle Collection... (Blatant advert: http://www.ledow.org.uk/gp2x/ for that particular one). This is mainly because GPH are notorious for poor information and stock-status. Most countries had trouble importing the GP2X before it was EOL'd anyway, and you don't get anything useful out of the company at all.

Forget the Wiz, open the box....

Re:The Pandora

[LotsOfPhil]

Pandora specs:
* ARM® Cortex(TM)-A8 600Mhz+ CPU running Linux
* 430-MHz TMS320C64x+(TM) DSP Core
* PowerVR SGX OpenGL 2.0 ES compliant 3D hardware
* 800x480 4.3" 16.7 million colours touchscreen LCD
* Wifi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth & High Speed USB 2.0 Host
* Dual SDHC card slots & SVideo TV output
* Dual Analogue and Digital gaming controls
* 43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
* Around 10+ Hours battery life

Re:The Pandora

[dreamchaser]

Really? Just copy paste? No effort to even say something from your own head? Wow, how informative.

It added more to the discussion than your AC whining did.

Re:The Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

It's information that can attract attention to something people possibly wouldn care about; therefore, it's informative.

Re:The Pandora

[Hatta]

Since you know a bit about it, what are the must play games native to the GPX2?

Re:The Pandora

[atomicthumbs]

Don't forget the 100 hours of battery they think it'll get playing music only.

Re:The Pandora

[Goaway]

A qwerty keyboard? Is that some kind of joke?

That thing is suffering HORRIBLY from feature checklist mentality. Just throw more and more features at it in the hope of attracting people who just read the feature list, without any regard for making a system that makes sense as a whole.

Re:The Pandora

[sjonke]

I just can't see many people expecting to get their 300+ dollars worth with a homebrew-only playing device such as Pandora. PSP, DS, Wii, Gamecube, etc, homebrew is either crap, emus (the use of which almost exclusively involves piracy), ports of Quake and Doom, or crap. Homebrew doesn't have a big enough audience to draw in good developers and/or keep good developers interested in it. A $300 Pandora, while not requiring hacking, still isn't going to make the market any bigger because of its price tag. In fact it will probably be smaller then ever. The developers of the Pandora are heading toward the wrong end. They should be producing a sub-$50 device to play homebrew on the run, and sell it at Walmart.

Re:The Pandora

[sexconker]

100 hours?

L O L.

Re:The Pandora

[atraintocry]

Absolutely. The GP2X is a great little device, and the Wiz improves on a lot of key areas of its design. Essentially it's somewhere between a hardware revision for the '2X and a new product.

The Pandora, on the other hand, was developed in response to what the GP2X community was interested in, with lots of feedback and every step. As a result we have two fairly different devices on the way: a GP2X "micro" with improvements all around (but an unfortunately lack of regular buttons on the right hand side) and the Pandora, which is closer to an UMPC but runs on ARM and is designed around gaming.

In the end, though, I don't think the big difference will be the built-in controls, as both these devices do a lot more than just play games. I think it's going to be the price, and the fact that the Pandora has WLAN.

Re:The Pandora

[Drasil]

I have a GP2X (in fact 2, and a break out box, and other goodies) and while I wish the Wiz and GPH the best of luck I'll be going with the Pandora myself. GPH have been guilty of some horrendous design decisions (particularly with the break out box), flagrant GPL violations (probably unintentional) and misunderstandings of their customer base (in the west at least). The Pandora project was instigated and is run by the prime movers in the GP2X community and as such I expect it will be of much higher quality than the Wiz.

Re:The Pandora

[Orkie]

GPH are actually being very helpful to homebrew developers this time around - they have been giving out free prototype units and docs for a while now to homebrew game developers (not for emulators).

Re:The Pandora

[atraintocry]

Before I rattle off a couple I have to point out some things. First a lot of the must-haves are actually ports, but they look awesome on the 320x240 screen and play better on buttons + d-pad than computer keyboard. Cave Story is one example. Ur-Quan masters is another. Second, very little software outside of the emulators is gp2x-only because (a) most of it is done with SDL and the authors typically often PC versions as well, (b) some of it has been ported from the predecessor unit, GP32. But there's quite a large library of gp2x-only software, and much of it is very good. My favorites include games called Reword (anagram game), Ghostpix (picross game), Sqdef (tower defense game). Those three are puzzle & strategy games but there are many more in all genres. The crown jewel of GP2X exclusives was probably Wind and Water: The Puzzle Battles. But the creators have ported it to Dreamcast now, and there are rumors of a possible Pandora port. An incredible and highly original puzzle game with lots of sexy pixel art and good original music.

Re:The Pandora

[Drasil]

The feature list of the Pandora is pretty much exactly what I'm looking for when it comes to mobile computing. Small enough to fit in my hip pocket, while having most of the features of a full blown laptop. It makes very good sense to me.

Re:The Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you know ANYTHING about the history, community, or purpose behind the GP32, GP2X and Pandora?

The Pandora is not intended to compete with the likes of the PSP or DS.

It is intended as the ultimate homebrew/retro-gaming/emulation device. As such, a keyboard has been a highly requested feature; it will be perfect for emulation of things like the C64, Amiga, DOSBOX, etc. Not to mention making it practical as an ultra-mini notebook.

Believe me, they are not just "throwing features in" to try and attract buyers; the feature-set has been 100% community driven, this is exactly what everyone wanted. I think they've done an outstanding job and can't wait to get my hands on one.

Re:The Pandora

[Goaway]

Believe me, they are not just "throwing features in" to try and attract buyers; the feature-set has been 100% community driven, this is exactly what everyone wanted.

Yes, that is exactly what I meant. Just because it's a community instead of a committee does not make it a good design process.

Re:The Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

I think I just busted a nut.

Re:The Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

I have the GP2X and I'm pretty happy with it. The controls are pretty horrible but many types of games are very playable. What I find most interesting about the Pandora is that it's being designed by people who had the same gripes about the GP2X as I did. There will be no "center click" for it's joypad; it will be a single piece of plastic with a center pivot.

In addition, the qwerty keyboard is appealing to me because I like to emulate some older home computers. Ultima isn't much fun with an onscreeen keyboard and the NES ports for it aren't very good in my opinion.

I'm skeptical that they will be able to stay on their price point, but if they do I'll probably end up buying one. eventually.

On a side not I'd like to add that I really enjoy the indie gaming scene. Yeah there are a lot of boring/derivative games out there, but there are also people taking chances that you don't see in the mainstream market.

Re:The Pandora

[Svartalf]

I would not go so far as stating 100 hours. The rather large (for a handheld, that is...) Li-Ion battery they expect to ship it with will give it roughly 10 or so hours of runtime with the power consumption of the components on the bringup board I got. This is at the clock speed of 600MHz. Underclock it and it'll consume a lot less juice and with the DSP core in there, it should be able to play MP3's, etc. with much less juice. Something like 20+ hours, maybe.

Re:The Pandora

[Svartalf]

How would you know what makes sense? If you're going for a UMPC type device with gaming capabilities, that QUERTY keyboard is a nice (and expected) feature. If you're just looking for a handheld, it might be overkill.

The Pandora is a UMPC type device, tuned for gameplay first and foremost.

Re:The Pandora

[Svartalf]

If you think it's not a good thing, perhaps the Pandora isn't a device for you. Again, it's a UMPC with gaming features designed in instead of bolted on. That makes it a bit different than a PSP or DS, obviously. If you're not looking for that, it might not make sense to you- but it doesn't make it poorly designed. It's only that way, in your not so humble opinion, because you're mapping what YOU want in a handheld gaming device on to it.

Re:The Pandora

[AmonTheMetalhead]

It's called "Market Research", you check what the market wants for what price. You try to match as much features you can for the most reasonable price. I'm getting a Pandora so there!

Re:The Pandora

[Svartalf]

I suspect they'll keep to it. Beagleboards are pricing in at $160 right at the moment. That's the desktop/console cousin to the Pandora- they're using the same SOC, etc. and the Pandora adds a touch-screen, LCD, etc. to the mix. $350's not hard to keep within in light of what's involved here.

Re:The Pandora

[AmonTheMetalhead]

You severly underestimate the emu-scene, emulation is *a big thing*, and it's why i'm getting a Pandora. Yes, this often involves Piracy, since the buggers don't sell their games anymore, i'd gladly pay afew bucks to download a Genesis or SNes rom, even a tenner for PSX games, but alas, I CAN'T because they don't want to. Good thing there's eBay to score some nice retro stuff

Re:The Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

The Pandora is an example of what not to do: solicit ideas on how to improve a console from existing users of a system and then integrate ALL of them.

For example, I don't need a QWERTY keyboard on my game console, thanks. Look at what it's classified as in wikipedia: "Handheld game console / UMPC / PDA hybrid". Maybe that's appealing for some people, but I don't need a tiny QWERTY keyboard for my handheld gaming. The d-pad and buttons work just fine, thanks. Then again, if it excels at each and every one of these things, I will buy a hat and then eat it.

Re:The Pandora

[atomicthumbs]

The hardware designer, MWeston, has stated that by turning off the CPU and main RAM and screen and almost everything else, they'll be able to get 100 hours. The music will be played by the DSP, using the chip's built-in 64KB of scratch memory as RAM.

Re:The Pandora

[atomicthumbs]

Have fun playing Amiga, Commodore 64, and the like with your d-pad.

Re:The Pandora

[Goaway]

If it's "not for me", supposedly because I want a handheld gaming device that makes sense, why do people keep shouting that it's the real successor of the GP2X, a device which is obviously very different?

Re:The Pandora

[Goaway]

It doesn't much matter what it's called if it makes you deliver a mediocre product.

Re:The Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

Although the Wiz is the "official" successor, the successor in spirit (and with a much more open development process, and much more likely to actually get up-to-date source code published - the GP2X firmware versions aren't always open-sourced properly) is the Pandora...

Really? Would you be so kind as to post a link to their source repository? Schematics? Erm, anything besides grainy videos and pictures of broken circuit boards? So far, the "open" in OpenPandora is a pathetic joke.

Re:The Pandora

[lysergic.acid]

just because it has a qwerty keyboard? i think a lot of PSP owners would love to have a qwerty keyboard attachment for the system.

in case you haven't noticed, most portable entertainment systems these days also have features like: web browsing, instant messaging, e-mail, etc. a qwerty keyboard would make those applications much easier to use, not to mention the wide variety of other non-web/internet-related applications that take text input--like, searching through your mp3 collection or an ebook, or text editors , command consoles, etc.

i don't see a single feature on that list that wouldn't be appropriate for a portable entertainment device. clearly this device isn't aimed at someone like you. if you're a fan of portable gaming/entertainment devices, then you'd be able to appreciate the robust package Pandora offers--particularly if you're into homebrew development. if you just want a GBA, then go buy a GBA. there are plenty of people who are interested in something with a little more functionality and more practical uses.

Re:The Pandora

[dodgyville]

As the developer of one of the few commercial games for the gp2x, and the only native real-time strategy game for the system (I'll see your blatant advert and raise you one: retrovirus RTS), I have to say I don't think the Pandora is the spiritual successor to the gp2x. The pandora is designed more to be the ultimate emulator device rather than it's own gaming platform.

I thought of the gp2x as the open version of the gameboy. I would think of the pandora more as a portable linux machine with extra controls for emulation.

It's a subtle difference since they both run linux. Good luck to the pandora team though, it's an exciting project.

Re:The Pandora

[lysergic.acid]

right, let's just make a device that _you_ and your "committee" want, but that there's no actual demand for. great idea!

i think that business philosophy has already been played to death with the N-Gage, Sega Game Gear, DivX (the video rental system, not the codec), and the Gizmondo.

Re:The Pandora

[lysergic.acid]

you keep making unsupported value-judgments as if you're afraid of engaging in a real discussion.

if the only reason you can give for the Pandora being a "mediocre product" or "not making sense" is the fact that it has a 43 button qwerty keyboard, then the problem doesn't lie with Pandora or its designers.

clearly it makes sense to everyone else. so just stop trolling already.

Re:The Pandora

[lysergic.acid]

that's because Pandora is a niche product. it's not competing with the PSP/DS. it's for people who want an open portable gaming platform to develop on. most of its users are going to be geeks & programmers.

as shocking as it may sound, not _everyone_ is singly focused on making tons of money. some people do things because they are passionate about it, and because it interests them. just because Pandora won't appeal to mainstream consumers doesn't mean that it's not a good product. in fact, it's a great product for homebrew enthusiasts. and even if you _are_ concerned with making money, it doesn't make sense to put out another product to compete with the Sony PSP or Nintendo DS. even from a business standpoint, a niche market can be a sensible target--particularly a much neglected niche market.

i still don't get why some people have such a hard time understanding that, just because a particular product isn't aimed at them, doesn't mean that it's a bad idea. i personally have no use for a 10 disk external RAID enclosure with a fibre channel backplane, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad product.

Re:The Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

Great.. Yet another OMAP3-device. TI is really baiting the developers, eh?

You may also recall beagleboard. The specs seem familiar :-)

And what's all this talk about "open" system? The PowerVR on the OMAP3 will have binary-only drivers and the DSP-core has only a proprietary binary-only compiler.

Re:The Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

Quote from the openpandora website:

How did this system come to be?
The Pandora is a unique machine. It was designed based on the input of thousands of forum users

The mind boggles

Re:The Pandora

[Goaway]

"Clearly"? "Everyone"? And you're complaining that I'm making unsupported value judgements?

Also, "trolling" doesn't mean "saying things I don't like".

Re:The Pandora

[Goaway]

Pop quiz: How much "forum input" went into the design of the Nintendo DS? How did you average forum react to it when it was released?

And how many people have bought one to date?

Re:The Pandora

[Goaway]

if you're a fan of portable gaming/entertainment devices, then you'd be able to appreciate the robust package Pandora offers--particularly if you're into homebrew development.

Yeah, uh, I am into homebrew developement, you know? And a big bulky device with a keyboard on it is about the last thing I'd be interested in developing for or even buying?

Re:The Pandora

[Goaway]

If it was satire, it would be hilarious.

Re:The Pandora

[AndyS]

The DSP instruction set is documented.

http://focus.ti.com/lit/ug/spru732g/spru732g.pdf

The PowerVR is still unfortunate, however your choices for mobile devices are pretty much the PowerVR or Mali (and I've not yet seen a Mali device), and ARM are pretty tight fisted with documentation as well

Re:The Pandora

[sjonke]

Actually, aside from ebay as you noted, where the old games and consoles are readily available, Nintendo and others are selling old games via, for example, the VC. Before that many were available on compilations/still are. If you want to play old games then buy them - they are available. If you aren't willing to buy them, then don't play them. If you do download and play roms of games you don't own, then at least acknowledge what it is - stealing - and stop making up bullshit excuses.

Re:The Pandora

[Goaway]

About 95% of those games were controlled with a single-button joystick without using the keyboard. So yes, I'm going to have fun.

Re:The Pandora

[RichardX]

Little known fact: The Virtual Boy was designed entirely based on input from web forums...

Re:The Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you happen to have the source on that one? Wouldn't want to spread misinformation...

Re:The Pandora

[lysergic.acid]

pop quiz: what's an inverse argument?

just because a successful product can be designed without forum input doesn't mean that a successful product can't be designed _with_ forum input.

use unsound arguments much?

Re:The Pandora

[lysergic.acid]

well, gee, if you're not interested in it, then i guess it has no chance of success at all. i've been defeated by your iron-clad logic.

Re:The Pandora

[AmonTheMetalhead]

WTH is VC? Seriously, wtf?

Feel free to cry and moan about piracy, i'll continue to hunt down the old gems on eBay.

Also, not *everything* is available in compilations, atleast not the games i'm after (good ol RPG's and 2d platformers), my point wasn't an 'excuse', it's a complaint with the industry.

I have a nice CD collection, a DVD collection and a games collection (not always with matching consoles tho, emulation is more practical anyway, EULA's be damned), if it's worth the money asked, it'll get the money asked.

Retrogaming & Emulation is where it's at for me, keep your Duke Nukem Forever, i don't want it.

Re:The Pandora

[Goaway]

You're the one who said "i think that business philosophy has already been played to death with the N-Gage, Sega Game Gear, DivX (the video rental system, not the codec), and the Gizmondo."

So what was your argument, and how was it sound?

Re:The Pandora

[Goaway]

So what happened to "if you're a fan of portable gaming/entertainment devices, then you'd be able to appreciate the robust package Pandora offers--particularly if you're into homebrew development"?

Re:The Pandora

[lysergic.acid]

um, it still stands? when will you realize that you are not representative of the entire portable entertainment market?

most portable entertainment/homebrew enthusiasts are interested in more than just a portable gaming system, hence hardware makers include additional features such as wi-fi access, web browsing, RSS subscriptions, GPS add-ons, and _keyboard attachments_. just do a simple google search for the phrase "PSP keyboard" and you can immediately see how much interest there is in this capability.

people who use, or want to use, their portable devices for web browsing, e-mail, etc. know how necessary a qwerty keyboard is for these applications. not to mention the realm of possibilities this simple addition would open to homebrew development. if you _were_ familiar with homebrew software development on portable systems, then you should already know all the homebrew apps out there that require text/keyboard input.

Re:The Pandora

[sjonke]

VC = Virtual Console on the Wii. Games for past consoles are available there. It is far from comprehensive, but they keep adding more. The point is only that these games are being sold in, in effect, rom form there.

If you are buying games from ebay, that is good. I'm talking about downloading roms of games you don't own. Like you say, ebay is a great source for old system carts and discs. There are very, very few games that are never sold on ebay or elsewhere. As for Duke Nukem Forever, Quake XV and Doom XXXXX, I have no interest in that stuff either.

Re:The Pandora

[Svartalf]

Actually, I'm not at all surprised. I wasn't sure that they could turn the CPU/GPU off like that and just have the DSP grinding since I'm just getting fully up to speed with board bring-up and I didn't catch MWeston's remark in the forums.

It's VERY possible if you're doing nothing but DSP with the relatively HUGE (>3000MAh capacity...) battery they've got in the thing.

Re:The Pandora

[Svartalf]

I didn't catch that thread, atomicthumbs... It doesn't surprise me, though. Cut all but the DSP, RAM, and flash off and just GO. It would get upwards of 100 hours with that battery they're going with on it.

Re:The Pandora

[Svartalf]

I suggest a Wiz, then. You'll have to wait a while, yet, for the other players to catch up to what all the Pandora is fully capable of- which is vastly more than even the Wiz, which is JUST a gaming handheld.

Cheezy Anime

[InsaneProcessor]

All of the games look like cheezy anime. I am not impressed or amused. This just looks like another hand held disappointment.

Re:Cheezy Anime

[Dogtanian]

All of the games look like cheezy anime. I am not impressed or amused. This just looks like another hand held disappointment.

If it's meant to be like the GP2X and GP32 (of which some misguided person made the same criticism), then you're missing the point. Those were primarily meant for those seeking a more open, hackable handheld that can run emulators and all sorts of other things. They're not really competing with the DS or PSP, which would be better choices if you just want to play games- or at least the kind of mainstream games that Nintendo and/or Sony want you to play.

Re:Cheezy Anime

[Kingrames]

so make your own.

Re:Cheezy Anime

[geekoid]

I hate that fallacy.
Just becasue someone can't do something doesn't mean that can't identify something that is crap.

I can't build a jumbo jet, but if someone made one with square wheels, I would point out the flaw.

Re:Cheezy Anime

[Kingrames]

But you're complaining about something designed for people who want to customize it, and saying that the stuff for it sucks.

It's like saying that "this lego kit sucks because you can only build this spaceship with it."

I can't afford one

[sm62704]

I went to the site, and there was no listed price. "Son, if you have to ask what it costs, you can't afford one". Too bad, It looks like something I would really like.

Maybe the lack of a price on the "buy it now" button was an oversight; if so, they need to get their heads out of their asses. Very few of us are Bill gates or Larry Ellison; we can't buy things we don't know the price of.

A lame website makes me think they must have a lame product as well. Be careful with your sites, folks! A good site will sell a bad product, but you can't even sell a good product on a bad site.

Re:I can't afford one

[goose-incarnated]

179 us dollars - can't remember where I read it, may have been engadget

Re:I can't afford one

[sm62704]

Wow, now I REALLY want one.

Re:I can't afford one

[Anonymous Coward]

Play-Asia is selling pre-orders for USD $179.90

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-d1-77-4-49-en-70-2z59.html

Re:I can't afford one

[Anonymous Coward]

They must have added it: $179.99 is the going rate. Last I remember Pandora was going to be ~$320 or so. Yeah pandora is way better.

I wonder if it's 2x better.

OpenPandora

[OrangeTide]

I can only hope that it is cheaper than the OpenPandora. It's smaller at least.

At least we'll all be able to port our GP2X games to it. Although running them without recompilation would have been better.

Re:OpenPandora

[atomicthumbs]

I think most of the GP2X devs are supporting the Pandora. Why buy this thing? Sure, you'll save $140, but what's the point if you have an inferior console with a crappy game library? Also, this thing's game controls consist of 2 d-pads, the last time I looked.

Re:OpenPandora

[4D6963]

How could it not be cheaper than the Pandora? The Wiz has a much less powerful SoC, the Pandora has the most powerful SoC out there (TI OMAP 3530), with WiFi, Bluetooth, a keyboard, analog dual nubs on top of the D-pad and the *proper* other buttons (a double D-pad?? What the hell are these guys smoking?). Also a 800x480 screen vs 320x240. Oh and I'm not even talking about the vast battery life in the Pandora. That's the sort of thing that make the difference between just another PMP/console and a cutting edge high end gaming console/UMPC.

The Wiz replaces your GP2X, the Pandora replaces your GP2X, PSP (OK it doesn't have the commercial games but it will emulate all PSX games better than the PSP and it's vastly more powerful than the PSP anyways), and EEE. That's right, I said EEE, same screen resolution, a keyboard, WiFi/Bluetooth (does the EEE even have Bluetooth?), a possibility to put Ubuntu on both (no Windows though), and considered the reduced size and increased battery life it makes it an advantageous replacement.

So yeah, comparing the two is like comparing an Audi TT with your mom's Volkswagen. You can drive on the road with both, but that's where the comparison ends, hence the necessary price tag difference.

Re:OpenPandora

[Orkie]

Actually, a lot of the GP2X homebrew devs are interested in the Wiz either exclusively or in addition to the Pandora.

Re:OpenPandora

[Miseph]

"comparing the two is like comparing an Audi TT with your mom's Volkswagen"

I'd much rather drive a swank Jetta than a TT. Just saying.

Re:OpenPandora

[OrangeTide]

Also, this thing's game controls consist of 2 d-pads, the last time I looked.

How else will you play SmashTV and Total Carnage?

The control seem good for games where you don't have to push more than one button at a time. But I have never been a fan of deviating from standard NES/SNES/SEGA/PSX/etc controls. I know I hated the little thumb stick on the one model of GP2X.

Re:OpenPandora

[OrangeTide]

So yeah, comparing the two is like comparing an Audi TT with your mom's Volkswagen

I'd rather have a Ford Focus. It's cheaper than either.

ps - I'm a professional Linux/ARM developer. I'm aware of the differences between the chips, but I actually don't care as long as I can download games and play them (and maybe port some of my own to it)

Re:OpenPandora

[atomicthumbs]

that's "Volkswagen Rabbit Mk1".

Re:OpenPandora

[4D6963]

lol, learn how to hide your bias towards the Wiz/against the Pandora ;-) (I'm A_SN)

Re:OpenPandora

[4D6963]

How else will you play SmashTV and Total Carnage?

With the Pandora's two analog sticks? ;-)

Re:OpenPandora

[OrangeTide]

You could buy two Wiz's for the price of a Pandora though. Then you'd have four D-pads and two displays.

Re:OpenPandora

[Orkie]

I know perfectly well who you are scumbag! :D I didn't say there weren't Pandora exclusive developers either, but atomicthumbs is a moron and you know it.

Re:OpenPandora

[4D6963]

You could buy two Wiz's for the price of a Pandora though. Then you'd have four D-pads and two displays.

But still 2.5 times less pixels ;-). And you could argue that the Pandora has four 4-directions controls, by its D-pad, two analog nubs and the four buttons. And the combined battery life would be roughly equal (the Wiz claims 5 hours, the Pandora 10 hours).

Looks neat

[Drooling Iguana]

Might be a bit too little, too late though, with the Pandora coming out within a few months. Maybe this will work as a small, cheaper alternative in the open handheld market.

Yes, but where are my banks?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have money in a bag that I would like to distribute to some worthy banks as an act of GREAT charity wherefore I shall be elegized faithefulley by virginal choirs in harmonie forever!

Specs?

[goose-incarnated]

Since the article doesn't have the specs handy and the link to the specs turns out to be a huge JPG file (brochure, apparently), anyone have the specs handy?

What 3d chipset?
Screen resolution?
Power consumption?
dimensions?

Re:Specs?

[Drooling Iguana]

I've transcribed the first section of the specs from the brochure:

Product Name: GP2X Wiz
CPU ARM9 533MHz, 3D Accelerator
RAM: 64MB
NAND Flash Memory: 1GB
Size: 121(w) * 61(h) * 18(d)mm
Wwight Approx. 93g (Without battery) / Approx. 136g (Including battery)
External Storage: SD Card
USB Function: 2.0 High Speed
O/S: Linux
Battery: 2000mAh Lithium Polymer
Buttons: Up / Down / Left / Right, A/B/X/Y, HOME/SELECT, Volume Up/Down, Power On/Off/Hold
Display: 71.12mm(2.8inch) OLED Touch Screen Panel
Resolution: 320x240 (QVGA)
Expansion Port: 24Pin (Power Supply and Data Transmission)
Recharge Method: AC Power/USB via Computer
Consecutive Play Time: Approx 5 hours (Video, Game)

Re:Specs?

[goose-incarnated]

Hmmm ... the pandora looks like better value for money ... Specifically, double the ram, 800x480 screen.

Of course, I'm thinking of creating simplistic diablo type games, so perhaps it would be better to target both, although I can't think how a rich gaming experience can be created in under 600x400 resolution.

*to slashdot* your input would be most welcome :-)

Re:Specs?

[TheRaven64]

Diablo 1 ran in 640x480 (so did Diablo 2 without the expansion pack), so a 'simplistic diablo type game' should be able to have a 'rich gaming experience' in 600x400. The original required a 60MHz CPU and 8MB of RAM. This has a 533MHz CPU and 64MB of RAM.

Re:Specs?

[goose-incarnated]

Which is why my enthusiasm fizzled when I saw the resolution of the wiz. Seriously? I doubt a Diablo type of game (with all the "richness" of the world) can be created in 320xWhatever).

Handheld devices are crying out for diablo and starcraft type games. Add in the networking (bluetooth even in extreme cases) and you've got a huge market for this.

Re:Specs?

[Goaway]

although I can't think how a rich gaming experience can be created in under 600x400 resolution.

Yeah, nobody ever enjoyed a game before PCs with VGA hardware!

Re:Specs?

[goose-incarnated]

You did read about the type of gaming experience I was aiming at, right?

Re:Specs?

[Goaway]

Yes, the kind that people have been playing on ASCII terminals for decades?

Re:Specs?

[goose-incarnated]

Not really, I was aiming for popular.

Really, you cannot compare the gaming experience offered by diablo with that offered by nethack. Neither can any ascii game compare with starcraft (you *did* read my post, right?).

They're two different experiences.

Re:Specs?

[Goaway]

(you *did* read my post, right?).

The one that said "I'm thinking of creating simplistic diablo type games"? Yes.

If you honestly think that resolution is that big a barrier to "game experience", you don't really know much about game design.

Re:Specs?

[atraintocry]

If by Starcraft-type games you mean games where you need a full keyboard and mouse to comfortably control them then I wouldn't say handhelds are crying out for that. Even so, the Pandora's got it covered :D

Re:Specs?

[goose-incarnated]

Well, if you honestly think that diablo type gaming experience with a rich environment can be done in a text-based interface, please go ahead and do it. You'll make a bundle off of cellphones.

I honestly am curious - what type of gamer prefers blocky graphics to reasonable graphics? 'Cos I'm not talking about needing 1024x768, nor even 800x600, I think I mentioned 600x400 ... arcade games easily use 320x200, where movement is fast and very few "special effects" are needed. diablo type games use one different effect for every "skill" cast ... gamers certainly won't want to see "hell meteorite storm" looking the same as "holy petals from heaven".

I agree, for most games, reasonable res. is not required (for example, a stargraft-type game - RTS - can easily be done in a lower res, I think dune 2 was very low res). But for the type of game where the character is incredibly detailed (wearing different colours and types of armour and headgear, for example) *and* slow-moving (so that player gets a good look at him), decent res. is a must.

I can see arcade games getting away with lower res. Unfortunately, games where you get to stare at a character for hours on end need to have (at least) that character nicely done. Games where you may cast from 45 - 50 spells need to have good enough res to render each one so that the player can tell them apart visually ("oops - I've got the wrong spell selected").

Re:Specs?

[FishWithAHammer]

Nethack's gameplay is far superior to what Diablo offers, because Diablo is static. Woohoo, the maps regenerate. It's still the same game every time--and can't even begin to touch the complexity and entertainment value of Nethack. Of course, the main bitch about Nethack (aside from "too hard," which is hilarious) is that it doesn't have graphics, so they've lost half the droolers out there (and a good thing, too--maybe they can lose the other half?).

I wouldn't want to compare with Starcraft, because Starcraft fucking sucks. Simplistic gameplay, retarded technical failures (rendering a unit--the Valkyrie, I think?--useless because half the time it can't shoot its weapons because of sprite limits? Are you fucking kidding?), and a community of asshats. No thanks.

And there are excellent ASCII-based strategy games. Dwarf Fortress is head and shoulders above anything Blizzard, or the rest of the mainstream gaming industry, has done since DOS 6 was the new hotness.

Re:Specs?

[goose-incarnated]

Thanks for your input, like I said above, I want to make a *popular* game, not necessarily a *good* (by hackers standards) game, but a /good/ (by popularity amongst gamers) game. You are most certainly not going to enjoy my game (which may never even get made :-). Sorry.

Re:Specs?

[Goaway]

I honestly am curious - what type of gamer prefers blocky graphics to reasonable graphics?

How about anybody who bought a DS? That'd be 600,000 people in the US last month. You think the DS doesn't have "slow-moving" games where you have to stare at a character for long times?

Re:Specs?

[goose-incarnated]

Good point. Does the DS have RPG games similar to diablo? I ask merely because I don't have a DS, but your further input would be most welcome - what would you recommend I look at to get an idea of how a diablo-ish game can play well in minimal res?

Re:Specs?

[Goaway]

It's not really my kind of genre so I wouldn't know. The most RPG-y game I've played was Zelda, which did fine with 3D graphics, although if you wanted smaller sprites you'd probably be better off with hand-drawn 2D graphics.

Also, you might want to consider getting a DS and a flash cart if you want to make homebrew software for handhelds. I don't have any actual figures, but it seems to me the market of people with a DS and flashcart would be bigger than the market of people with a GP2X or any successor.

Re:Specs?

[FishWithAHammer]

Well, at least you're honest about being artistically bankrupt.

Re:Specs?

[goose-incarnated]

Thanks, I value my intellectual honesty :-)

If I want to create a work of art, I'd grab my guitar. For software, all the gratification is in how many people enjoy it.

Re:Specs?

[TheRaven64]

Diablo is static. Woohoo, the maps regenerate. It's still the same game every time

How is this different from Nethack? Does nethack give you different quests to do every time you play it? From what I remember (not played it for some years) it was always 'enter dungeon, go as deep as you can, and kill as many things as you can before you die.' The levels were different (but that, apparently, doesn't make the gameplay non-static), but the rough distribution of monsters was always the same (as with Diablo).

Re:Specs?

[walshy007]

If you seriously think nethack is a static game, then I suggest you play some more, you don't really understand the depth of it until you've played it for quite some time. (and new people tend to die a lot, so it takes a while to get anywhere)

having never ascended myself, furthest I've gotten was the elemental planes with the amulet, which even though I died I'm still rather proud of

you've finished diablo right? try the same with nethack, while you probably won't, if you get far enough you'll see what is meant content wise

Re:Specs?

[TheRaven64]

I probably only played Nethack for a few tens of hours in total, but the content it was generating seemed repetitive. Not quite the same - certainly a step up from the Dungeons and Dragons game I used to play on an 8080 with 64KB of RAM where every map was static and there were only six kinds of magical item. I've completed Diablo II (I didn't play the first one except once in multiplayer on someone else's computer), but taking a long time to complete doesn't make a game fun - I could design a maze game in a couple of hundred lines of code that would have a huge number of levels and would take years to complete, but most people would just get bored with the lack of variety long before they got to the end. I found the same with NetHack - the difference with Diablo was that the time taken to get bored with the game dynamics and the time taken to complete the game were much closer.

Diablo at least tries to vary the explore/fight game by providing quests with specific objectives. Maybe you get these later in Nethack, but when I played you just wandered aimlessly around the dungeon with no real motivation. Periodically you'd get better items and then be able to fight stronger enemies, but there was always a feeling of 'why am I doing this?'

Re:Specs?

[walshy007]

at some point between level 10 and 15 dungeon level wise you get a quest specific to your class, before then you may/may not get the chance to visit vlad the impalers tower and slay him, then there are the things like the castle, trying to figure out how to get in is indeed a puzzle (and intended that way) aswell as many other things.

as for motivation, aside from side things to achieve it, your main sole motivation is to get the amulet of yendor, and give it to your god. A task difficult enough to be a good premise for the game.

aside from the relative beginning, later on in the game it becomes a great deal more about strategy than strength, while you still need to have a decent character, there are quite a few enemies that will plain overwhelm you unless you use brains with that brawn. I'm talking about sitting there thinking how to effectively use your turns before they are guaranteed to kill you if you just plain fight.

A hand held disappointment?

[spun]

Must... resist.. penis joke... Damn it! too late.

Don't know about anybody else...

[ProlificLurker]

This is the only Whiz I'll use!

Re:Specs - one more

[goose-incarnated]

More importantly than the above, where can I buy one of these, and will they ship express to SA?

Still looking forward to the Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

I dunno about this one. The Open Pandora looks like it might be all this and more. That "more" probably includes the price, though. At $330 in the US--ouch! I'll probably wait for the price to come down.

Re:Still looking forward to the Pandora

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you kidding? $330 for an mp3/ogg/avi/wma/flv player that can emulate DOS/NES/GBA/SEGA/SNES/whatever-the-hell-else-you-want-cause-it-runs-linux AND has wifi and S-Video out? I'm buying two, one to use, and one to keep in my pants because I can. Err pocket, I mean. Pants pocket.

Re:Still looking forward to the Pandora

[dredwerker]

Why is this better than a Nokia N810/N800 or similar? or even an OpenMOKO Freerunner? They run linux and are portable. The N810 has a keyboard and memory slots.

Ehh... I'll wait.

[geminidomino]

I was an early adopter for the GP2X. It was disappointing. The community was great. The device itself was lackluster. Bad screens, worse joysticks, power issues, bricking risks... the best part was the emulators, and those are on the PSP now with Dark Alex's stuff.

And the fact that it cost as much as 2 GBA SPs... I'm sure these new ones are even more.

Re:Ehh... I'll wait.

[Arccot]

I was an early adopter for the GP2X. It was disappointing. The community was great. The device itself was lackluster. Bad screens, worse joysticks, power issues, bricking risks... the best part was the emulators, and those are on the PSP now with Dark Alex's stuff.

And the fact that it cost as much as 2 GBA SPs... I'm sure these new ones are even more.

Same here. I was seriously disappointed with what I got for the GP2X cost. The newest hardware revision seems to be much more robust, but man, what a waste of money. The joystick issues with early versions made it almost unusable for gameplay.

And now we have a split in the open source micros community between the Wiz and the OpenPandora. The OpenPandora seems to be a greatly superior machine, but at a rather high cost for essentially a portable game machine.

I would probably rather get a cheap EEE PC or the like at this point for roughly the same cost. That would do everything either of these can do, in a slightly larger form factor for me to do general computing on, too.

Re:Ehh... I'll wait.

[TheRaven64]

The OpenPandora seems to be a greatly superior machine, but at a rather high cost for essentially a portable game machine.

I think this is a real mistake for the OpenPandora community. If they'd put another 128MB of RAM in there (would need a board redesign, since it would need to be separate) then it would make an absolutely wonderful portable computer. With 128MB, things are just a little bit tight when running modern software (especially since they don't want to enable swap). It's more than enough for running a single app, but I want to be able to multitask. With 256MB of RAM and DVI out (which you get from the BeagleBoard) I would pre-order a Pandora machine now as a general-purpose machine.

Re:Ehh... I'll wait.

[atomicthumbs]

Another 128 MB would be incredibly expensive in that package.

Re:Ehh... I'll wait.

[dodgyville]

I can't believe the Wiz doesn't have wifi! That was the number one missing item from the gp2x in my mind towards the end. The pandora is too over-designed and the Whiz is lacking wifi ... argh!

Re:Ehh... I'll wait.

[TheRaven64]

Not really. Another 128MB in the same format as the current 128 would be incredibly expensive. Another 128MB in a separate chip elsewhere on the board would be incredibly cheap, but drive up the board complexity and cost a bit.

Anyone think of an 80's B movie

[Anonymous Coward]

When I heard "the wiz", the first thing that came to mind was The Wizard, that 1980's film which was basically a 90 minute Nintendo promotional item.

Maybe that powerglove kid can show me the flutes on SMB3 with this handheld, as opposed to getting his ass beat by a 9 year old!

kaimerra

[Anonymous Coward]

http://openpandora.org

enough said

Not GBA micro sized

[abigsmurf]

Judging from the pics on the site, it's about the same width as a regular GBA but not as tall.

Has a 2.8" VGA screen, 8 buttons (including volume and menu ones). It looks pretty nice but it's lacking buttons for emulation

Re:Not GBA micro sized

[atraintocry]

I think it will have shoulder buttons too. But yeah nowhere near GBA-micro size. Just shorter in height than the gp2x and has that nice curve to it.

File this under "the rectification of names"...

[Non-Newtonian Fluid]

I noticed that this article, a previous article it refers to, as well as the DCEMU all refer to this hand-held system as a "console." To me, the word "console" implies something that hooks up to a TV or monitor -- something immobile and even relatively large -- not a hand-held system. Is that true for anyone else?

Nintendo should buy the rights to this thing.

[Millennium]

Just think: if Nintendo replaced the DS with this, you could choose to play with your Wii or your Wiz.

*sorry* price is £199 (inc), $330, Eur

[OeLeWaPpErKe]

See www.openpandora.org. Ctrl-F "how much will it cost" (middle of the page)

Reality Check

[sexconker]

"Launches" in February with 4 or 5 shitty games.

Severe lack of support, reliability issues, and retarded pricing will kill this off faster then the ngage.

(Stop denying it, the ngage was dead out of the water, and still is. Its corpse is merely being paraded about like in Weekend at Bernie's.)

Re:Reality Check

[Anonymous Coward]

I doubt it'll have huge sales, but the GP2X and previous model (GP32X) sold some. They targetted homebrewers and emulation enthusiasts (playing some Mario on a handheld would be pretty fun.)

Re:Reality Check

[atomicthumbs]

And the Pandora is launching with a nice library of software and emulators. ^_^

Re:Reality Check

[sexconker]

Pirates, you mean.

Re:Reality Check

[sexconker]

^_^ ?

Piracy is illegal.

Re:Reality Check

[4D6963]

Who talked about piracy? That's as if you went "iPods play MP3s? OMG piracy!!". Nothing inherently illegal about emulators.

Re:Reality Check

[sexconker]

Wrong.

Emulators are developed through reverse engineering. Unless you're emulating an open system with no copy protection mechanisms at all, the emulator was built through reverse engineering.

That's illegal.

The fact that the express purpose of an emulator is to enable piracy is icing on the cake.

The reason why emulators aren't the main target is because ROMs are more plentiful. They can get you for each count, so they target the software piracy (which is likely to have dozens or hundreds of counts for a targeted pirate) instead of the emulation.

There are cases where emulation is allowed (BLEEM! was the most famous one) and cases where it's hunted down and people go to jail (see all the early NES knock-offs). It depends almost entirely on the judge, and not the merits of the case. The simple fact is that it is illegal. The reality is that judges are often idiots, and law suits are expensive.

Cracking down on ROMs is a lot easier because the volume is much higher, the bar for mass distribution is much lower (allowing idiots to sell/distribute ROMs in broad daylight), and because, internationally, the laws regarding software piracy (ROMs) are much more agreed upon than the laws regarding hardware, reverse engineering, and emulation.

But hey, it's totally legal, right? And it's the best feature, so I expect it to be advertised in commercials and on the box: "Play all your favorite retro video games for FREE!!!"

Edit: Just preemptively quashing you're inevitable "but Nintendo and Sony and MS use emulation to play their older games on their current system! They should go to jail!" argument. They own the hardware, they can do as they please.

Re:Reality Check

[TimSSG]

You do know if reverse engineering is illegal all the IBM compatible PCs are illegal because the BIOS was reverse engineered. Tim S

Re:Reality Check

[atraintocry]

• Reverse engineering is legal, at least in the US. Most tech companies would be out of business if it wasn't.
• Reverse engineering has nothing to do with copyright or copy-protection. I can't figure out if you're talking about the DMCA or what, but you definitely are confusing things, perhaps on purpose.
• Emulators aren't illegal. End of story. NES hardware clones have nothing to do with emulation. Again, you're either confused or purposefully being confusing.
• This isn't the music industry. Nobody's "targeting" anybody. ROM sites aren't elaborate honeypots as you seem to be suggesting. Even the ROM sites don't get hassled, providing they stay in line with what the ESA asks (no high-profile games like Mario, Zelda, etc).
• Judges interpret the law as written. That it doesn't agree with your personal beliefs doesn't mean it's wrong or that any particular judge is an idiot.
• There's no commercials. For Christ's sake, they're probably hoping to sell 50,000 tops, half of them in South Korea. To the extent that they advertise that you can play emulated games, it's because in Korea they can get away with it and everywhere else they're way under the radar.
• Sony and Nintendo can do as they please? You said reverse engineering, and by association, emulation, was illegal. By that logic, they'd still be breaking the law.

Look, obviously most of these ROM files are being played computers, MAME boxes, and devices like this, by people who don't own the originals. Downloaded from people who don't have distribution rights. And I'm not going to tell you not to vilify people when you're clearly so good at it. But for god's sakes, at least get your damn facts straight. Reverse engineering is legal. Emulators are legal. Both are important tools and used every day in the tech industry. LEARN TO READ.

Re:Reality Check

[atomicthumbs]

You do know that homebrew devs are making their own ROMs for old systems, right?

Re:Reality Check

[atomicthumbs]

The first Pandora batch is 3000; it's made by an English company, not a South Korean one.

Re:Reality Check

[atraintocry]

I know on modded consoles "homebrew" is a euphemism for emulators, just like "backup" is for copied game discs. But the GP2X was open by design and there is a thriving homebrew scene for it, as well as some commercial games. Yeah, there's a big focus on emulators and ROMs, but many people are only interested in the legitimate homebrew. Which, again, there is a lot of. Much of it very entertaining. Your snark is unwarranted.

Re:Reality Check

[atraintocry]

I was talking about the Wiz.

- rokdcasbah

Re:Reality Check

[Anonymous Coward]

Reverse engineering is, in fact, totally legal if it is done correctly... It can even be used to justify fair use for an unauthorized copy of copyrighted code. See Sega v. Accolade.

Re:Reality Check

[sexconker]

So. Wrong.

It's illegal when you reverse engineer something that has protections in place. Signed code, disc checking, etc.

Hardware manufacturers are licensed to reproduce and reuse their own designs, so their emulators are legal, EVEN IF they lose the documentation and have to actually reverse engineer stuff, or if they use publicly available source code that was developed illegally.

People ARE targeting people, idiot.
Nintendo is NOTORIOUS for their take downs - both cyber and physical raids. They're much more soft on the issue now since Yamauchi has left.

Re:Reality Check

[sexconker]

I sure do.
They make their own ROMs for current systems too.
The DS has some great stuff.

They're a drop in the bucket, though.

And the methods used to run unsigned code are illegal. Methods to falsely sign code are also illegal (you don't see much of this).

Re:Reality Check

[sexconker]

Which is the same reason Bleem! won out against Sony.

You conveniently omit, from your own link, the 4 components of the typical fair use test:

1. The purpose and character of the use
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion copied
4. The effect of the use on the market

Emulators get an epic FAIL in each of those 4 tests.
But you'll get blatant liars saying:
1: It's for research and it's not for profit!
2: We just let people play what they already own, we simply provide portability.
3: It's a perfect copy, but it's ARCHIVAL!
4: People who download ROMs either own them or wouldn't buy them anyway!

And remember, this was all pre DMCA...
(Bleem! was released just 5 months after the DMCA was signed, but Sony started legal action way back before Bleem! took preorders. Sony LOST, but Bleem! died because of legal fees.)

Re:*sorry* price is £199 (inc), $330,

[goose-incarnated]

Thats for the pandora, not the Wiz.

Wii, Wiz and the W.E phone - p&/a ain't scared

[danboid]

AND

A Canadian firm is producing their own version of the Freerunner/ Openmoko Linux smartphone called the W.E phone. I kid ye not!

When will the tech dick gags end?

Pandora poops on this wee willy from a great height. Pandora is coming out at same time but is a whole generation ahead in many ways.

Music playback

[Anonymous Coward]

Supports OGG.

Now go buy this instead of an iPod and stop complaining.

Re:Music playback

[atraintocry]

You could even play your Wiz soundtrack on it! For when you're easin' on down the road...

Re:Specs - one more

[atraintocry]

Assuming it will be handled like the GP2X, you'd be buying it from a distributor. Here is a list of gp2x distributors that should be fairly recent. For other info, the largest english-speaking GP2X forum (and maybe the largest in general?) is located at www.gp32x.com, and sometimes there are threads about who has the best price for a specific region.

Since the announcement was just made, the info in the forums is still kind of fresh regarding the Wiz and I haven't seen anyone say specifically which distros will have it and which won't, but that wiki link is the best place to start. I know gp2x.co.uk will have it and I believe they ship everywhere.

Personally speaking

[sharkey]

I'm holding out for the BLACULA handheld.

Won't replace my N800

[SEWilco]

OK, so it has a faster CPU than my N800, and more buttons. But lower resolution screen, and has no WiFi nor Bluetooth networking. So can't access the Internet and have to download files to cards on another device (such as by using my N800). Not for me, I guess.

gpswiz.com

[Anonymous Coward]

I would rather own the GPSWiz.com myself.