Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

First Pandora Console Reaches Customer

Posted by Soulskill on from the insert-pandora's-unboxing-pun-here dept.

neogramps writes "It's been a long time coming, but the first Pandora consoles are finally rolling off of the production line. (Well, this one actually walked out the door to a customer who lived near the 'factory.') Initial estimates had put production and development at taking two months, but Murphy had other ideas. Banking issues, design problems, problems communicating with the Chinese moulding company, escalating assembly costs, and even a volcano all managed to get in the way, but the small and dedicated team soldiered on, and just over a year and a half later, the wait is coming to an end for the 4,000 pre-orderers."

9 of 271 comments (clear)

  1. Soldiered? by TeknoHog · · Score: 4, Funny

    Shouldn't that be "soldered"?-)

    --
    Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  2. Already seems obsolete.... by ZosX · · Score: 4, Insightful

    2 years ago these specs would have been exciting, but with smartphones already pushing over 1ghz and 512mb ram, I don't see the appeal. Pandora seems destined to be an emulator lover's delight and not much more. Sure you can run android on it, but it only has a 600mhz processor and 256mb ram. The same specs as a motorola droid. I guess $300 is an ok price to play every console game before the playstation, but my laptop does that and has a nice big screen too. 2 years ago I would have drooled at this machine (and I did), but anymore it seems like it will be so radically obsolete in a short period of time. My phone is already portable internet enough for me. If anything, I'd much rather have a nice 8-10" tablet that I can share my phone's 3g connection with. Once the tablets start getting near the $300 price point, I think things will get pretty interesting. I guess you could say that the pandora is like the ultimate portable console, but only if you don't want to play any newer games.

    --
    zosxavius photography
    1. Re:Already seems obsolete.... by Drethon · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Specs may not longer be the best but personally I want the full keyboard and analog controls. Perhaps if this version is successful the package can be upgraded to something more cutting edge with less delays.

    2. Re:Already seems obsolete.... by ThoughtMonster · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Are you implying that our needs have changed so much during these two years?

      I'm pretty sure that the Pandora is still the most powerful portable game console out there. The battery is a dog (10+ hours of gaming), the controls are said to be more than solid, and the platform (ARM Cortex-A8) is far from obsolete.

    3. Re:Already seems obsolete.... by BikeHelmet · · Score: 5, Informative

      My PSP does that & plays all my old PSX games. I got it for $100 used.

      But can your PSP play N64 games? Can it browse the web, or use 3G sticks? Nope?

      Will it have tons of homebrew games? (you might think so, but gp32x's community pumps out way more homebrew stuff than the PSP community does. Source: The devs coming over from the PSP community)

      Does your PSP have awesome controls, a great screen, a 14 hour battery life? Nope?

      Does it run hackable linux, with off-the-shelf compatibility with your favourite tools? Nope?

      There's many features that make a Pandora desirable. If you want enough of them, its value shoots up far above other handhelds.

  3. Poor pandorapress... by TrevorB · · Score: 4, Informative

    Looks like Gruso's blog got slashdotted pretty quickly.

    Here's some more links to keep people occupied:

    Official Site: http://www.open-pandora.org/
    Wikipedia Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora_(console)
    Pandora forums on GP32X: http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?/forum/61-pandora/
    Craig Rothwell's Twitter feed (all kids of pics there): http://twitter.com/craigix

  4. Pandora? by gyrogeerloose · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't open the box!

    --
    This ain't rocket surgery.
  5. Re:Seems underwhelming. by migla · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > the market will be a final arbiter of this beastie...

    Market schmarket. This is the most powerful handheld gaming device out there, running linux, developed by and for an enthusiast community. As far as I'm concerned it is allready a success.

    --
    Some of my favourite people are from th US; Vonnegut, Chomsky, Bill Hicks.
  6. Re:Riiiiight...... by KDR_11k · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The problem is the lack of a unifying vision. With an original project you need a project leader who can decide on the design but when the workers don't like the design dictated by the leader they leave (in a company they keep working because they're paid to work on things that may not strike their fancy). If you let everybody have a say you get design by committee or just a katamari of incompatible ideas. Deriving from an existing game, whether by making a clone or an opened codebase, at least gives a specific vision that any developer joining the project can see right away and most likely enjoys. I've seen a project where the gameplay was handled opensource style, the result is an ever-morphing mess that gains and sheds features as the participants see shiny objects and that got dominated by a derivative work that was rudimentarily maintained by one dude who followed the vision of the work it was derived from. Meanwhile players complained that the well-maintained project changed too much and was a different game every week.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.