It actually looks like it might be a sort of Xbox to Nintendo’s “PS2” monster GB. By that I mean aimed at an older market that already has investment in Palm apps.
And it has NWN, which I am curious to see (we aren’t involved in that product)
Yeah, I’m curious as to what NWN will be like on it.
Its in a tottally diffrent class with its price. A handheld from an unkown company that goes for $300 the vast majority IMO won’t even consider it.
Dayum, this thing looks impressive. I want one. Looks a lot better than the “no one is buying me”-gage.
Even without the gaming angle it looks like a nice pda though – a decent competition against the other high end palm models.
While I think it’s a better competitor than the N-Gage, I’d also say that the Zodiac covers a different market due to its price and nature. I think the number of people who will get this instead of a GBA (or vice versa) is rather small. Early adaptors tend to have both systems anyway usually. Also, “Tapwave” currently doesn’t ring a bell for Joe Average.
This seems like a more realistic device than the N-Gage…a PDA/Handheld game combination.
If I was in the market for a new PDA (I never even use my Palm V), I’d consider one. I think the design of this is pretty sweet, and overall it looks like some actual thought was put into it.
As to whether it’s better competition, I’d say it’s going after a different market. It’s pretty significantly more expensive than the GBA. More importantly - will it have the games? The screen is very nice though - pocket.ign.com has a preview of the system up
Is the Zodiac going to be a competitor to the GBA? Nope. To the PSP? Depends on the PSP’s price.
But don’t look at it as being an X-Box to the GBA’s Gamecube. Rather, it’s an Alienware P4 gaming rig to the GBA’s gamecube. Yes, it costs three times the price of a GBA SP, but it’s a handheld computer that’s optimized for gaming, not a handheld game console. It’s the Palm equivalent of a gaming PC.
The Zodiac actually beats out the best Palm OS PDA (the Tungsten T3) in the specifications department, with dual SD slots and a 128MB model available. It will run any of the 19,000 Palm OS apps, in addition to the Zodiac games. And while the better Palm games are generally on the simple, puzzle side, they’re still fun.
The other thing that differentiates the Zodiac is that it’s an open platform. Garage developers can build games for it – something you don’t see on the GBA. (Well, I’ve seen a few, but good luck running them on anything other than an emulator…)
I think they need to push the Palm angle more so they can use that established name as leverage.
I’d rather see a PocketPCXBox. I’ve never been a fan of Palms, quite honestly.
…but then it’d probably be running WinCE, which has to be the most unfortunately named OS ever.
- Alan
I still think the Gamepark is the only viable alternative to the gba right now. But nothing will ever, ever unseat the gameboy line.
If you’re looking for a Game Boy, get a Game Boy.
This is a PDA that’s particularly good for games.
As for the Pocket PC/Palm wars, the Palm OS is getting a lot better, Mach. And it’s still much easier to use and more efficient. Given my job, I carry and use both. But where the PPC excels as a portable media player (MPEG movies on the road, music, etc.), IMHO the Palm software is just nicer for day-to-day organizer stuff, gaming, etc.
The Zodaic is a very very nice little piece of hardware.
Unfortunately, it will be utterly crushed by the PSP.
Neither the Zodaic or the PSP are direct competition for the semi-disposable cheapness of the GBA and its library primarily targeted for the under-13 crowd.
Again, the Zodiac ain’t competing with the PSP, except to the degree that your typical PC competes with PS2. Two different things.
Ever is a pretty long time.
…but then it’d probably be running WinCE, which has to be the most unfortunately named OS ever.
- Alan[/quote]
Which is exactly why they renamed it PocketPC. ;)
Seriously, do you think it took them 3 years to realize how hysterical WinCE was as far as names go, or do you think it was intentional?
It’s now named Windows Mobile 2003 actually (the os anyways, devices are smartphones, and pocketpcs)
No, its still called Windows CE.
Various packages of it for handhelds, phones, cars, and whatever all have other brand names, but the operating system is still called Windows CE.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/embedded/ce.net/default.asp