PalmSource to Present Gaming and Mobility Vision at CES

IT's too late for PalmSource to enter the "gaming world". That portable gaming boat already set sail without PalmOS (or Windows Mobile) onboard a long time ago. And the Zodiac's lackluster sales should settle any doubts of that. Demand for a palmOS based-gaming handheld just doesn't exist outside the small community of zealots. And now that the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are here (or soon will be), it's game over for what little market share Tapwave could have carved out for itself.

What exactly does PalmSource hope to accomplish? Forget gaming...focuss on communication and Smartphone capabilities. That's where the money is at, not in the toy market. And while you're at it...get some more badly needed licensees.

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Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com

Quote: "What exactly does PalmSource hope to accomplish? Forget gaming...focuss on communication and Smartphone capabilities. That's where the money is at, not in the toy market..."

Actually, I think there is alot of money in the handheld gaming industry. The Nintendo DS and PSP are a testament to that fact. The problem is that palmsource has been absolutely pathetic, if not negligent, in pursueing this market. In fact, IMO if you want a pda based gaming device today, you would be much smarter to get a Windoze Mobile device. Heck, perhaps that's the platform Tapwave should have developed for instead...

Another crapastic job palmsource... :(

I support http://Tapland.com/

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GNM

What makes me that saddest is that you are right.

It's in that same deep black hole that Copland and Cobalt reside in - the mind of NAGEL.

Yeah. What they all said.

I agree 100%. The Zodiac has failed on every gaming-related count and its software library is absolutely moribund. Not to mention Tapwave's woeful retail presence.

Ironically, with P1 and Sony fleeing the higher-end PDA market, now is the perfect time for Tapwave to jump in with a "T5-style but better" device and mop up the entire high-end Palm OS segment. Imagine a vertically-oriented unit with a metal body, a generously sized screen and 128mb of regular RAM. Add to that dual SDIO and BT (or BT & Wi-fi and a single SDIO) and user-selectable Graffiti 1/2. You just have the best $400 POS device ever!

With the Nintendo DS continuing to be sold out everywhere and the PSP launch on the horizon, now's not the time to be pushing the OS 5.4.x patchwork quilt for gaming--and with Cobalt looking increasingly smartphone-oriented, that's pretty much a done deal on that end as well. Instead, PS should try to encourage more hardware vendors to sign on and make business-centric handhelds that CAN play games after hours. Remember, gaming capabilities secondary. Gaming IS important for a Palm-powered device just not paramount. Frankly, I've never seen such a poor assortment of non-puzzle games on any machine with the specs of modern Palm OS devices.

Back in the time of the m500 launch, Palm should've grafted a d-pad onto the body and integrated that support into OS 4. Palm gaming frankly looked far better next to the competition in '01 than it does now. Even with a 33mhz Dragonball, the backlit color touch screen and huge SD storage space could have made for some compelling RPG and SimCity-type games, had developer & Palm support been there. The Nintendo DS is only now getting to some of those milestones (large touchscreen, active matrix LCD, backlight, built-in wireless).

"You just have the best $400 POS device ever!"

:-p

Actually, I think landscape format is better for gaming and movie-watching. But Palm really does need to get serious about gaming... it's an excellent growth market.

Palm m505 User

I think Tapwave has done an enviable job in a very very hostile market; ie: TW is a device producer.. they've done their part and created one of the better devices around (its almost a year and a half old and still pretty darned beefy!), and certainly the only game+pda device around ... naturally, being a new guy, they don't have the money to throw around to bring in the big ticket game developers. (In contrast look at Nokia, who produced the well laughed at worst designed game platform ever, yet has deep pockets enough to bring the developers onboard.) So TW has shown that making a good device isn't enough -- if EA doesn't jump on board, you're done.. and you need the big $$$ to bring them over. The big ticket guys look for profits, and they see GBA, NDS, and PSP .. and probably no reason to get into a niche (ie: Invest lots of dev money into an unknown product to make a new niche market?) with already 3 handhelds to deal with..

So naturally TW is suffering; perhaps Palm* has the clout to bring things about, but its looking awfully late..

jeff

The Shadow knows!

Tapland: RU reading this???? I'm waiting with cash in hand!!! Power PDA users are adrift. Here:

OLED 320X480 minimum
Compact
WiFi/Bluetooth
Dual SD
Garnet with Cobalt upgrade assurances
Battery life
Metal case
Vibrate
Microphone
MP3 player from hell with:
Bluetooth advanced audio profile.

Heck, I'd pay $599!

Amen, sleuth! I could even live with a single SDIO slot, just BT, and a non-OLED screen for a "starter" unit with the big brother to come at a later date. And yes, I *would* also pay $500, probably even $600 for such a device if it included a cradle, had superb build quality, and included a decent software bundle.

I say, get the FF right and release at least two or three consecutive models with different specs & innards in an effort to maximize investment in the housing R&D. Kinda like what Palm should've kept on doing with the m500 line or Handspring with the Edge.

Well there is a lot of money in the gaming market. It is a multi-billion dollar market.

However, the gaming market is feast or famine. A few titles make big bucks while the rest languish. The game market is driven by deals not by the best technology. XBox was able to enter the gaming market because they were willing to throw down a lot of money and had the connections to pull in top developers.

Platform machines can only do well if they have titles and licensees.

Palm is absolutely terrible in the following areas key for gaming success:

I.) Lots of titles
II.) Lots of developers/licensees
III.) Ability to create partnerships and branding (i.e. cartoon characters with cereals, happy meals, and bad movies)
IV.) Ability to create confidence so that developers will invest the 1-2 years required to develop top titles
V.) $$$ to throw down during initial stages until critical mass is achieved

For these reasons Palm will never compete with PSP or DS and will simply lose money and attention cycles on gaming.

Listen: $500-$600 is a good chunk towards an OQO or a Sony U750P. No way will I pay *that* much for a PDA, period. Nor should any of you (unless you like being a S-U-C-K-E-R!).

The hot gadgets of 2005

The buzz is about Sony's PlayStation Portable, even bigger TVs and an 'electronic Swiss Army knife.'

January 5, 2005: 11:17 AM EST
By Parija Bhatnagar, CNN/Money staff writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Better. Bigger. Faster. Cheaper. And of course, it's not "hot" unless its wireless and portable.

Those are the trends consumers will be seeing in the "must-have" gadgets and gizmos of 2005.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/05/technology/personaltech/new_gadgets/index.htm

despite all the pitfalls of current PalmOS gaming and developing, it's at least made a loyal following among the minority in PDA gaming. POS games will be in the shadow of Nintendo GB/GBC/GBA/DS, PSP, and heck, maybe even the Gizmondo, but it's made many memorable games w/lesser hardware and developer support, and that includes more than that dang over-marketed, over-hyped bejeweled 2 (I like it, but IMO, it ain't THAT good to be ***worth x10 the asking price*** ).

1) Larry is a sharp guy. It's the PS upper mgmt that doesn't understand the market.

2) PS upper mgmt is too tied up in the smartphone/higher-end market. They got there late, they're obviously having execution problems, and are discovering that they have little-to-no leverage over any of their licensees. Cobalt is a dead-end. Linux is a smart move but is it too late?