New handheld - Panasonic "Jungle"

[Warbie]

Borrowed from NTSC:

There's been a few leaks throughout the day stating that a large consumer electronic company would be announcing a new gaming platform on MTV and Panasonic have now announced a few details.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtsq99DPSoQ

Engadget:

'Apparently Panasonic has been working itself into a frenzy over a new handheld video game console designed solely around the concept of taking MMORPGs with you everywhere you go -- like you weren't already wasting too much of your life. The makers of the ill-fated 3DO are returning to the gaming world with a portable system dubbed "The Jungle." The clamshell device will allegedly sport a super high-resolution display, features a full QWERTY keyboard along with what looks like a touch sensitive d-pad and button arrangement, and may run atop a custom Linux build. The Jungle will also apparently sport a mini HDMI port, a micro USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. To our eyes, the system looks a little on the clunky side, with a definite air of something out of Nokia's N-Gage line -- not a good thing for a 2010 device. Alongside the system itself, Panasonic will launch a Battlestar Galactica title for the device, and a web show called Online Underground.

We're digging up more details right now, but the company (actually an offshoot of Panasonic called Panasonic Cloud Entertainment) has already set up shop with a site and a few teaser videos. Check out the mysterious new handheld in another pic and some videos after the break (including a look at the Battlestar Galactica title), and stay tuned as we unearth the full story on the Jungle. '

There should be some more details after the full announcement.
http://welcometo.thejungle.com/

 

[Gargantou]

First-day purchase for me!

 

[Darkangel]

My failure senses are tingling.

 

[bam23]

already preordered

 

[ríomhaire]

Interesting but I see this going the way of the N-Gage and Gizmondo.

 

[VirusType2]

Could do alright. MMO portable? Maybe you could use a headset with it, which would be pretty cool. These games are really popular, especially in other countries, where it's almost the only game they play.

Plus, when you aren't on the go, I think it's safe to assume it can be hooked right up to a TV or monitor and a keyboard.

With 308 million Internet users currently active in the PRC [China], the country now has the largest online user base in world, of which two-thirds engage in online game play.

... with earnings reaching around 33 billion RMB or 4.3 billion US dollars.

...The online gaming market in China grew to $1.6 billion in 2007, and is expected to exceed $3 Billion in 2010.

 

[Bad^Hat]

The concept is good, but the fact that this is a start up system that demands exclusive development is certainly not in it's favour. Not to mention handheld MMOs are pretty much completely new ground. At the very least it will be interesting to see what comes of it.

 

[Stigmata]

The name "Jungle", assuming it's not a pre-localisation translation from a press release, only serves to show that Panasonic has no ****ing clue how to market this, and it will likely fail accordingly.

 

[Unfocused]

Looks like a glasses case.

 

[YROC]

lol, n-gage

 

[StarBob]

No thanks. After years and years of gaming, I know better than to jump onboard a new platform that has all the bouyancy of a lead cannonball. I mean at a time when companies that already make gaming platforms can't adequately sell their handhelds... why would you throw something in to a saturated market? Nintendo has dominated the market for decades anyways. Their only competetor is the smart phone and we all know smart phone gaming is limited.

I'm calling it now... if it costs more than $200 (sounds like it will), it will be a bust from day one no matter how much marketing they push.

 

[JesusToast]

It's totally going to be a bust no matter how you look at it. The only games I'd even think about being avidly ported for it would be the free grindfests, and that's being generous. For a device being touted solely for MMO on the go, I doubt there's going to be interest from the big fish in the pond, i.e. WoW, largely due to their userbase already being solidly installed.

 

[the cow says moo]

My brain immediately labeled it as "Destined For Immediate and Eternal Failure."

 

[Combine Hybrid]

designed exclusively for online gaming and MMORPGs.

Fail has written all over it.

 

[Ennui]

The fact that the N-Gage was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this certainly doesn't bode too well...

 

[VirusType2]

My step brother and my nephew bring their $1500 laptops everywhere so they can play E.V.E. or Starcraft. I don't think Panasonic is going to 3DO thizzbitch. You guys are wrong.

 

[Letters]

I like the idea, but it sounds like they're not going to pull it off. They've gotta have a hell of a game to sell people on this... and some "Battlestar Galactica" thing doesn't sound too impressive. Just rip off Pokemon or something, jeez...

 

[Wanted Bob]

The fact that the N-Gage was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this certainly doesn't bode too well...

My thoughts too.

As people have said, you need one hell of an online game to kickstart an entirely new handheld community. Nintendo and Sony had experience and first party IPs for people to look forward to, and I just dont see Panasonic being able to create a substantial following without that kind of momentum.

 

[Bad^Hat]

My step brother and my nephew bring their $1500 laptops everywhere so they can play E.V.E. or Starcraft. I don't think Panasonic is going to 3DO thizzbitch. You guys are wrong.

Except they won't be playing EVE. They'll be playing Space Explorer 3D: Galaxy of Emptiness, or some other crap that some no-name studio whipped up because no one in their right mind will want to invest in this.

I'm also skeptical about playing 'proper' MMOs via internet hotspots, but I don't really have much experience with that (let alone in America), so maybe they have better performance than I'm aware of.

Edit: On a completely unrelated note, has anyone seen this movie? It's p. funny lol

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Fail has written all over it.

This many times over.

 

[Krynn72]

Too ambitious, and Panasonic is not a gaming company. This will most likely fail and put a smear on Panasonic's name just like the N-Gage did for Nokia. Execs need to realize that they can't just release radically different products under the same company name. Panasonic does electronics. Don't blur the issue. Start a new company, owned by Panasonic to do shit like this.

 

[StarBob]

Too ambitious, and Panasonic is not a gaming company. This will most likely fail and put a smear on Panasonic's name just like the N-Gage did for Nokia. Execs need to realize that they can't just release radically different products under the same company name. Panasonic does electronics. Don't blur the issue. Start a new company, owned by Panasonic to do shit like this.

Hell they don't even need to "start a new company" really. Usually a company will just make a new name and start manufacturing under it. It's basically everywhere. Clever marketing tactic.

Doesn't matter though. They'd have to bring something really desirable to the table ... not portable MMOs. Oh well. It will fail in market testing probably and never show up. Consoles aren't very profitable on their own anyways.

 

[VirusType2]

Too ambitious, and Panasonic is not a gaming company. This will most likely fail and put a smear on Panasonic's name just like the N-Gage did for Nokia. Execs need to realize that they can't just release radically different products under the same company name. Panasonic does electronics. Don't blur the issue. Start a new company, owned by Panasonic to do shit like this.

Like Sony or Microsoft did.

No, but seriously, Philips CD-I level fail is not this unit. Depends on the price though, of course. But MMO games are a multi-billion dollar industry, as I pointed out earlier. The initial investment doesn't seem like it would be that high - for example, nowhere near the level of something like World of Warcraft. Plus, a lot of those MMO games can be made free, where you pay for items or whatever.

In China, they have the anti-addiction system where they start taking the reward system out of MMO games (or shutting down the game) after playing for more than 3 hours a day. That says a lot about the target for a device like this.

The amount of people playing has doubled from 1.5 to 3 billion people in 3 years (in China alone) - this is the direction MMO games are going. I think Panasonic is a visionary, at this point. It will be up to their delivery whether it will fail or succeed.

Don't forget that MMO games are often subscription based - this is the dream ticket for a game developer, I would think.

Regarding the name "Jungle" well, it's like Amazon.com or Google, or something. It doesn't really matter. I do like the logo design.

 

[Stigmata]

I bet all those MMOs aren't mobile, though.

 

[VirusType2]

I bet all those MMOs aren't mobile, though.

What do you mean? I'm not saying that PC based MMOs will work on it or anything. (It uses a custom build of Linux)

I'm saying that it shouldn't have too much trouble getting some games out for it. Whether they will be in English or not is another matter, and really irrelevant to the success financially (globally, at least)

 

[Krynn72]

Like Sony or Microsoft did.

As if those aren't extraordinary circumstances. Both of those companies, especially Microsoft threw inordinate amounts of cash at it in order to brute force their systems into the market. Sony had the advantage of getting into the market when video game consoles were still considered mere electronic devices.

Heres a good article on why Nokia shouldn't have done the N-Gage, and why Panasonic shouldn't try gaming either. You can pretty much substitute the name "Nokia" for "Panasonic" and the "N-Gage" for "Jungle" and the article will still work the same.

o Nokia is the wrong company to make portable gaming devices.

Nokia needs to ask themselves, "What does our brand mean to customers?"

Often, companies run into big problems when they answer this question in a different way than their customers do. I'm certain the average Nokia customer thinks of Nokia as a leader in the cell phone market. And that's about it. In a nutshell, Nokia means cell phones to consumers. So, when Nokia jumps into the games market, it doesn't make sense to people. It doesn't ring true. People naturally ask themselves, "What the heck does Nokia know about games and game platforms?!" Oh sure, Nokia has simplistic little cell phone games on their phones already, but those are seen as a side feature. Every cell phone has these games. And these minor games do not negatively impact the meaning of a company's brand.

So, when Nokia last year released a dedicated portable gaming device, consumers subconsciously realized it was a mismatch for the Nokia brand. It's a positioning blunder, pure and simple. In fact, it can damage their brand by giving it a split personality.

Some 60 - 70 years ago, for example, everyone thought of Heinz as the king of pickles. In fact, 57 juicy varieties. Heinz ruled the pickle category. No one else was close. Then Heinz management heard about a new upstart category that had good potential for growth. Hey, we're a big, wealthy company, thought Heinz, let's take over a second category. And boy did they. They went after the ketchup market like a force of nature, advertising for years that Heinz made the best ketchup, eventually crushing all comers in this red-sauced category. They had done their job well, no doubt about it. By the time they won the ketchup category, the average person on the street thought of Heinz first and foremost when they thought of ketchup. Unlike waiting for Heinz's slow pouring ketchup, management did not anticipate what happened next...

In their fervor of red, Heinz lost green. Pickle green. No one thought about Heinz as a pickle brand anymore -- Heinz clearly meant ketchup. This is one of the very rare times in corporate history that a brand so thoroughly and successfully changed identities. Usually, when a brand tries to change, it fails in both categories -- witness this happening with Kodak right now, as it tries to change from a film brand to a digital image brand. Ain't gonna happen, if history is any indication. The end of the Heinz story is still happy, though. They still rule in ketchup, but they've gone sour in pickles, overtaken by better focused (single meaning) brands, like Vlasic, Mt. Olive and Claussen.

The lesson Nokia should learn is that when you give a brand two meanings, you place a high risk on devaluing the brand's value in both categories. You create a weaker brand. Is this really what Nokia wants to see happen with their brand?! You can bet that many of Nokia's competitors are giggling with glee to see Nokia distract themselves away from their core cell phone market, because when the leader gets distracted, it gives the guys lower on the ladder a chance to climb over top of them.

Read much more on it here http://dukenukem.typepad.com/game_matters/2004/03/not_ngaging.html

EDIT: And heres another lesson Panasonic could have learned from this article:

-- They need a revolutionary game that's not already available on the PC or on another platform. Getting games that are better played on stronger platforms is a weak strategy for any platform.

 

[VirusType2]

All good points, in fact Nokia is faltering like **** right now, and I never even knew Heinz had anything to do with pickles.

Sony had the advantage of getting into the market when video game consoles were still considered mere electronic devices.

Panasonic is an electronics company just like Sony. I don't really understand what you are saying anyway.

What you are saying is like Apple can't go from a near bankrupt computer company to making an iPod or iPhone and damn near becoming the biggest technology company in the world in a matter of years.

It just takes something good and useful. Who wants to lug around a gigantic laptop that slam dunks battery packs, when they can fit a li'l bitch in their pocket.

You don't think I'm also skeptical of a new player in the video game hardware market? But, I'm just saying, I think the other portable players (Sony/Nintendo) left a gaping hole where Panasonic saw a huge opportunity. Even if this only breaks even, it's worth a shot.

Panasonic isn't really known for anything. They make TVs, Stereos, batteries, headphones - all kinds of shit. A generic electronics company who makes pretty fair quality mainstream consumer electronics. This thing actually has the potential to BECOME what Panasonic is known for. Sort of like Apple iTunes/iPod.

In fact, being a jack of all trades like that is what really helped Sony. Like Sony, Panasonic has a lot of resources, clout, experience, patents, technology to work with. Things aren't getting any easier for Japanese electronics corporations like Panasonic these days. They need something to let them break out.

 

[ríomhaire]

Panasonic is an electronics company just like Sony. I don't really understand what you are saying anyway.

He saying that it wasn't until the fourth/fifth console generation that video games started to be seen as a separate industry from general electronic goods.

 

[VirusType2]

Also, I'm not saying it isn't a good idea to create an offshoot brand, I don't know (apparently, Panasonic did this before with Technics - perhaps the most popular brand for DJ turntables, even to this day) But I don't see Panasonic badge on the Jungle device anyway. Maybe it will just be known as the Jungle - that's the brand. Like "By Team Xbox". So it could be Jungle II, eventually, for example.

On November 3, 2008 Panasonic and Sanyo were in talks, resulting in the eventual acquisition of Sanyo. The merger was completed in December 2009, and resulted in a mega-corporation with revenues over ¥11.2 trillion (around $110 billion). As part of what will be Japan's biggest electronics company, the Sanyo brand and most of the employees will be retained as a subsidiary.[15][16]

On July 29, 2010 Panasonic reached an agreement to acquire the remaining shares of Panasonic Electric Works and Sanyo shares for $9.4 billion.

Did not know that. They've got a lot more clout than I could have imagined.

Anyway, I find these things quite interesting. The console race! Even though I don't like consoles anymore, I always poor over all the details like a child picking out his Christmas present.

He saying that it wasn't until the fourth/fifth console generation that video games started to be seen as a separate industry from general electronic goods.

That's not true at all, video games consoles were separate from the start. It was seen as a video game machine. It was during the period of the optical disc that they began to be considered 'entertainment devices' - there was like this big media explosion at the time. I think that's what you mean, right?

Philips and 3DO both tried the same thing Sony did - during the same time period - and failed miserably. Even SEGA dropped the ball with the SEGA CD and even with the Saturn (at least in North America) - which was technically a fantastic machine - the same hardware from SEGA's super popular arcade machines, but with an optical disc instead of chips.

I just don't see the correlation or relevance as far as the success/failure. The Jungle will succeed or fail not because it is made by Panasonic. It's pretty simple:

)a useful device sells itself, to some extent. Portability goes a long way here.
)advertising campaign - They don't know about it, they won't buy it. Why do they 'need it'?
)availability - strong launch
)games! - Killer apps
)price - Not only does it have to compete with everything else in the world for your money, it has to compete with similar devices - is it cheaper or better to just play this on a notebook?
)licensing fees have to be lucrative for developers, yet very profitable for Panasonic. The 3DO only had a $3 (per game) licensing fee! Great for attracting developers, but 3DO went bankrupt...
)no major cons, (like 45 minute battery life)

 

[<RJMC>]

handheld using only MMO games?

sure the main executive when people where pitching ideas went:

executive: whats the stuff thats selling more?

other: lets see...handhelds devices and the massive multiplayer online game world of warcraft.....

executive: mix that stuffs and give me a finished model in 3 days....

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Always good to see a little throwback fail, just when you forgot how retarded an entire company can be sometimes. Looks like they neglected what is now decades of utter failure attempting to enter the market in this exact same way. The PSP hardly stands up and the iPhone is gaining ground on Nintendo handhelds state side. What horrible timing, too.

This reeks of another embarrassing and uninformed consumer electronics giant attempting to enter a volatile and duopolized market with rubbish that has no real demographic appeal besides one or two aspies. This is already trivial, trite, washed out and pathetic. I can smell the dreadful price tag, brief investor interest and the Wired article or two, followed by the complete and utter cultural disappearance of this titanic piece of plastic and metal dogshit.

I wish investors would drop and this thing now, but if someone needs to set an example, it might as well be Panasonic. Honestly? A handheld MMO device? Do people really need another excuse to sit around in their cubicles poop-socking?

This thing doesn't even belong in a Sharper-Image catalog. I almost hope the 'Jungle' (ughhh) such blatant ignorance to previous failure.

...and what do we call making the same mistake over and over again knowing you'll receive the exact same result? Insanity. That would be giving it too much credit, however, because the 'Junnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnguhle' (SO FCKN MYSTEEREEUS!) is actually just retarded.

Bro: "Oh hey dude, noticed you picked up a Jungle, righteous bra"

Bra: "Dude, I picked it up launch day, totes waited outside my Best Buy"

Bro: "GOD I'm jealous, what are you playing?"

Bra: "World of Warcraft Mobile obviously, check out this night elf bitch dancing for me."

Bro: "What was that sound?"

Bra: "I pooped"

Bro: "..."

Bra: "It's cool, I'm wearing my poop sock"

Bro: "Grosscool bruh. Are you just gonna hang out in this elevator all night brobocop?"

Bra: "Yeah duderino, my roommate is totes banging his freshmen girlfriend"

Bro: "Well, later dudel, I gotta go pick up my Jungle before they give away my pre-order, I'm getting the firmware update and texting abilities for $30 from Geek Squad so I know it's good"

Bra: "You're a genius, Charles Brokowski, spending money does make the product more useful."

Bro: "can't wait to raid side by side with you tonight so we can chat on our thumb keyboards instead of looking at each other, no homo"

Bra: "poopin' again"

Bro: ... :|

:V

Part of me hopes things like this just won't catch on, I don't need any more excuses to play games akin to WoW, but the rational side says why the hell would I need to bring it everywhere? I've never had the urge to have a lil' MMO action on the bus, between classes, etc.

I could be wrong, but it seems this device actually has no feasible demographic--given the price of the feature list, target of MMO games (what developers, what mmo nerdbeard who frequently leaves home??!), what working person with disposable income with this much free time?

**** this is dumb.

On the other hand, now I can be assured that there will be a way to play WoW while my wife goes into labor. I can finally sleep easy.

 

[Stigmata]

I wish investors would drop and this thing now, but if someone needs to set an example, it might as well be Panasonic. Honestly? A handheld MMO device? Do people really need another excuse to sit around in their cubicles poop-socking?

I love that poop-socking is a thing now.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

When gaming needed a jungle the most... - Panasonic was there!

 

[99.vikram]

Imma gunna rumble in the jungle!

Panasonic make really nice rice cookers, I'll be rooting for them.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Just got home from spending a little time in the Jungle Zone™, needless to say it's a tough existence out there--the Cylons are out of control, I'd be cool if this was the only game available.

 

[pomegranate]

3 billion people in 3 years (in China alone)

No.......

 

[VirusType2]

what mmo nerdbeard who frequently leaves home??!)

Very funny, and point well made.

No.......

I sourced Wikipedia, it must be true.

The Jungle is going to be HUGE, and haters are going to hate it.


The thing you guys are missing - I already showed you the light. You guys don't see the Panasonic vision.

Playing a MMO on a desktop is so 2006. Now, millions play them on the laptops. Most of the time... laptops are used... at home. :shock:

How addictive are these games? Enough to where you would want to log-in while not at home. Imagine Mr. T, playing WoW from his A-Team van parked in a hotspot outside of a Starbucks.