Idea for next racketboy article

[retrosportsgamer]

How do you suggest an article.

So, are you affiliated with this group or not?

At this point it's terrible evident.

[o.pwuaioc]

I'd like a critical investigation to make sure it's not going to be a dud and all that.

[noiseredux]

I'd like a critical investigation to make sure it's not going to be a dud and all that.

I can pretty much promise that.

[RacketBoyFan]

Here is the skinny which has been added to the front page.

So what is it now?
Think back to the 16-bit age of games, like the GameBoy (Color). This handheld is focusing on those kind of games, but has a main difference: The price. The nD is aiming for a price of $20 (excluding shipping).
Another main difference is that the games will be developed by indie developers, hence the name inDie = nD.

What kind of games can we expect?
There is a list of pledged games on their site.
I'll talk about a couple of them:
- Bob's game.
This game is being developed by the developer of the nD and will be bundled with the initial nD.
It is an adventure RPG with a storyline revolving around the game industry. You play a character that is looking for the greatest game of all times, "Bob's game". Unfortunately Bob is in the illusion that the industry is holding back games and brainwashing the players into buying crap games all the time, so Bob is trying to gather every gamer and try to convince them. Your task: To stop Bob and tell the truth.

- DOOMnD
Basically the game DOOM from the PC for the nD. The aim is to totally recreate it, including your favorite music, WAD support and even online multiplayer. The online multiplayer might not be possible depending on the nD but the nD developer is stating that there will definitely be local multiplayer wifi support in the nD and will try to make online multiplayer possible.

- Magnet Ball
This game demonstrates the kind of games that will be in my opinion the cornerstone of the nD: Puzzle games.
You control magnets and you have to influence the ball to collect all objects in the level. There are physics in it so beware... A simple but good concept.


Specifications?
First off: Quite a lot of things are not set in stone. Not everything is announced either. What I can tell you though, I'll tell you.

Almost definitely confirmed:
* 2.4" backlit LCD screen with resolution of 320x240 (higher resolution than the NDs!)
* 2 shoulder buttons, 4 normal buttons, a D-pad.
* 2GB internal flash memory for storage
* Embedded Linux as OS

Currently in a prototype or announced to be included:
* Processor: a 400MHz ARM-processor
* At least 16MB RAM, likely 32MB
* Built-in WiFi for local multiplayer, possibility for online multiplayer.

Info for developers
Currently a SDK is being developed. However, it is possible to start working already. The SDK will be Code::Blocks and SDL, using the C++ language. You can develop games for the nD by using a 320x240 resolution and you can develop them on Windows, Linux or Mac. Currently there are no other development languages available but the nD developer is hoping to do a graphical interface like RPG Maker once the nD is in production.
There are currently no development kits or prototypes available for testing the games. It might be possible to purchase a prototype some time later but details are not confirmed yet.

How is it possible that they can sell it for $20?
Yes, it sounds impossible when considered the cheapest current-gen real handheld is the NDs/PSP, which are like $100+.
However, take a look at your local games shop. It is likely that they're selling those vague handhelds with 50 games preloaded on them. Those are being sold for like $40. They've been around for a while and they're still around, which indicates that it is possible to manufacture and sell at a profit for that price.
Now keep in mind a retail store also wants a margin and they likely won't have a margin of less than $10 on a product of $40. Which means the distributor must be selling it for at most $30, on which they have their own profit margin as well. So it could be like $20-$25 cost price for those handhelds, perhaps even less.

Keep in mind that the nD is going to utilize mass produced hardware, which is relatively cheap. Especially smartphone hardware is going to be cheap due to the mass production currently going on. And seeing as it is first going to be sold online only and at cost price, $20 might actually be viable.

But if the nD is being sold at cost price, then how does the manufacturer gain anything from it?
The idea is that the games will be offered through a Game Store, similar to an App Store/Android Market, with a couple differences: You can more easily get into the Game Store if you got a bit quality game (so simple fart applications won't over-populate the store) and the developers get 90% of the sales (as opposed to Android and Apple, both taking 30% leaving you with 70%). So if the nD gets a large enough userbase with enough games, they can gain their profits from developers selling the games.

[AppleQueso]

Any plans to work against software piracy or do you just plan to work on the honor system?

[RacketBoyFan]

Personally, I envision the system being as open as possible. However, in order to let a game on your system have access to the store/social website (shared/submitted high scores, saved game backup, multiplayer, upgrades, extension packs, as well as the ability to backup and re-create your specific setup if you lose or break your nD), you would have to have purchased it via the online store. Also, only one nD console would be allowed access to this system at a time, and once you registered a new one, the old one would be effectively locked out (or with minimal interaction, free games only maybe?), but could easily be wiped and re-used on another account. It would be like an online subscription model but with one payment (original purchase of the game) rather than regular billing periods. Then, there'd be almost no need for hardware lockout annoyances and pissed off developers, just to ostensibly prevent piracy (*cough* SONY *cough*).

There was also an idea of a game-sharing mode, whereby you could lend a game (one the developer had flagged as sharable) to a friend over wifi, and they could play it until they exited the game (so they'd have to be within wireless proximity every time they wanted to re-start it). Multiplayer head to head (over wifi) games would be perfect for this.

Other semi-open aspects like this would reduce the need for piracy. While a lot of piracy is of the "I refuse to pay" entitlement, a lot of it is in the "the more DRM they add, the more I will pirate; I would BUY IT legally if they just let me use it as I wanted" vein.

Of course, there should be at least a moderate amount of obfuscation (say for paid games, a binary config file with the nD serial number, or a hidden folder tree containing the game files different on each system), to prevent simple cloning of systems by every kid with access to two USB ports. The most simple weapon against such piracy would be to put in a social/website hook to a game, meaning the customer would want to buy it.

IMHO

[Ack]

You still haven't told us whether you're at all associated with the project despite several of us asking you.

Regardless of what you may think of our website, your coming in here and posting only in a single thread that you created about a handheld that you're obviously trying to market makes me want to mark this thread as pure spam. While there may be members here interested in your product (some of the comments in this thread can attest to that), I'd rather you make a clear statement of your intentions and drop the obfuscation.

[o.pwuaioc]

You still haven't told us whether you're at all associated with the project despite several of us asking you.

The answer is plainly obvious, isn't it?

[vlame]

Hearing of this makes me want to develop a platformer that even AVGN would be proud of.

[RacketBoyFan]

You still haven't told us whether you're at all associated with the project despite several of us asking you.

Regardless of what you may think of our website, your coming in here and posting only in a single thread that you created about a handheld that you're obviously trying to market makes me want to mark this thread as pure spam. While there may be members here interested in your product (some of the comments in this thread can attest to that), I'd rather you make a clear statement of your intentions and drop the obfuscation.

Not really. But they really need the coverage.You can ask questions at http://the-nd.com/forum/index.php. How is this spam it is a homebrew console like gp2x for which racketboy has an article. Not to mention it aims for 16 bit style games.