Tapwave Zodiac

[Jeffrey]

You have all flamed the Ngage, but what do you think about the Tapwave Zodiac?

Here's a small desription, http://start.msn.com/playing.aspx?item=3

(You have to select it from the menu at the bottom of the page)

or you could go for the obvious: http://www.tapwave.com/

It's a little less than unbiased. Don't you love how they promote all of these game titles without ANY screen shots!?

 

[Mask of Destiny]

It looks like a nice product and it is well priced for the PDA market, but it's pricey for a gaming handheld. The Gameboy was and continues to be successful in large part due to it's low price point. Competitors have been trying to beat Nintendo by making better handhelds, but so far they haven't succeeded.

I think there is a market for the Zodiac, as a lot of people who have PDAs like to play games on them, but I don't think they're going to challenge Nintendo.

 

[Ammut]

I think it slips through the cracks easily just because it looks like more of a PDA than a gaming machine. Plus it came out with even less fanfare than the Ngage did, and still can only be bought on the official webpage. It has superior technology than the Ngage but whether or not that will get tapped has yet to be seen, even fewer major developers have eyed this one. The one thing I didn't think was smart was releasing 2 models, a 32MB and a 128MB I believe. I can see trying to appeal to different price ranges but it seems kinda silly to me - the low end users will miss out on games and/or the high end users will see little use of the full potential.

---Ammut

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

I think you miss the point, if you think of it as a pda first and a game system second it's actually quite nice. The differing sizes is the storage on the unit I would assume. It'd be good to have a pda finally that has decent game controls.

 

[Tagrineth]

Originally posted by Scared0o0Rabbit@Nov 17, 2003 @ 07:39 PM

I think you miss the point, if you think of it as a pda first and a game system second it's actually quite nice. The differing sizes is the storage on the unit I would assume. It'd be good to have a pda finally that has decent game controls.

Agreed.

Zodiac has a market, unlike all the other crappy "Game Boy Challengers" that have popped up.

N-GAGE in theory has the cell phone market but well... www.sidetalkin.com more or less proves how useful THAT is.

 

[ratfish]

It looks interesting. They're got Neverwinter Nights and a Sega SmashPck-ish compilation. The price for the games is decent, $20+. They have the BlueTooth wireless connection, too.

 

[Mask of Destiny]

Originally posted by Ammut@Nov 18, 2003 @ 12:32 AM

The one thing I didn't think was smart was releasing 2 models, a 32MB and a 128MB I believe. I can see trying to appeal to different price ranges but it seems kinda silly to me - the low end users will miss out on games and/or the high end users will see little use of the full potential.

---Ammut

On Palm PDAs, memory is also used for storage so you could keep more "junk" (programs, pictures, etc.) on the model with more memory.

 

[Ammut]

Originally posted by Scared0o0Rabbit@Nov 17, 2003 @ 01:39 AM

The differing sizes is the storage on the unit I would assume.

No, the difference I was talking about was in RAM

Model 1 - 32MB Ram

Model 2 - 128MB Ram

It uses a dual SD card slot for storage.

I won't deny that its a nice product, if I was looking for a PDA I would definitely consider this. I'm impressed with the system itself- nice screen, simple layout and an analogue stick. Looks well built and yet still weighs little. Playing movies on the go would be nice, and ability to use all Palm OS apps sure would make this thing handy.

Unfortunately I have a few things I want to buy before getting a PDA, perhaps I'll have it moved up the list once the Zodiac starts hitting stores in '04

---Ammut

 

[mtxblau]

Originally posted by Ammut@Nov 17, 2003 @ 04:32 AM

The one thing I didn't think was smart was releasing 2 models, a 32MB and a 128MB I believe. I can see trying to appeal to different price ranges but it seems kinda silly to me - the low end users will miss out on games and/or the high end users will see little use of the full potential.

Not that it particularly matters, all things considered, as it has two expansion slots. Although some programs do require being placed in the main memory, which might present a problem for those 32MB users (w/ 12 already going towards the system).

What really stuck out in my mind was the dedicated ram for memory (ATi 8MB). Now THAT is killer. And a huge battery to boot (1540mAh). Needless to say it was designed very well - the form factor is amazing. The first time I saw it I was concerned that the joystick would sit too high - whoever designed it should get in touch with microsoft and nokia - they could teach them a thing or ten.

Screenshots can be found here, and it looks pretty damned good to boot.

I'd have to say, if I didn't already have a Zaurus (and wasn't allergic to these non-keyboard PDAs), I'd buy it in half a heartbeat.

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

the ram in pda's is the storage 😉

 

[Mr. Moustache]

Looks like a very well designed piece of machinary, with a few good games to boot. The only thing stopping me from buying one is the $200 I'd have leftover after buying a GBASP instead of a Tapwave.

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

Fair enough, but now you're thinking of it as primarily a gaming machine again. The idea is that it's a pda first, and a gaming machine second. If you don't need a pda, then you shouldn't even be considering getting one. If you need a pda, the price tag is appropriate.

 

[Mr. Moustache]

Well.. it seems somewhat improbable to think of the Tapwave as a PDA first a gaming machine second when they have an ad campaign which includes ads in gaming magazines with a picture of a Tapwave with a "Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4" picture pasted on the screen... So I'm not necessarily getting the impression that Zodiac wants to push this machine as a PDA first and a gaming machine second.

 

[Jeffrey]

Originally posted by Tagrineth@Nov 18, 2003 @ 01:44 AM

www.sidetalkin.com

PDA...?

Game console...?

Can't we all just be thankful that it's NOT a phone?

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

So you're saying people that would want a pda don't read game magazines and don't like tony hawk games? I use a pda, have a subscription to 4 gaming magazines, and own 3 tony hawk games.

 

[Mr. Moustache]

Originally posted by Scared0o0Rabbit@Nov 19, 2003 @ 06:38 PM

So you're saying people that would want a pda don't read game magazines and don't like tony hawk games? I use a pda, have a subscription to 4 gaming magazines, and own 3 tony hawk games.

When did I ever say that? What I said is that your perception that they are pushing this as a PDA first and a gaming machine second doesn't exactly seem to fit their marketing plan.

 

[mtxblau]

I was under the impression that it was the first PDA to play *real* games. Hey, I love Asteroids like the next person, but a) it's gotten old and B) I don't have enough pocket space for both a PDA and a GBA.

Realistically the only distinction from other PDAs is that gaming capability (or specific design). I don't know if it really stacks up to other PocketPCs or such, but that's something we'll learn in the future.

 

[Scared0o0Rabbit]

I think it's being marketed as a pda to gamers. I mean I think what they're trying to do is say, hey gamers, buy our pda instead of compaq's or whoever, cause ours is better for gaming. Had a system similar to this been out when I bought my ipaq a couple years ago I sure as hell would ahve bought this over it. As it is, it's nearing time to replace my ipaq and I'm giving thought to going with the zodiac because it is meant more for gamers. If they wanted to create a platform meant specifically for gaming, it wouldn't be running palm OS, and it would be much cheaper, and it wouldn't be a pda, which is what the zodiac is.