Anybody heard of the nD?

I just stumbled upon a new console in the making called the "nD", it's currently only in prototype stages, but I'm definitely getting one when it's finished <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle"> The developers plan on selling it for production cost (between $10 and $20 they say) but it has better specs than a DS! <img src="smileys/smiley3.gif" border="0" align="middle">

It only supports C and C++ at the moment using SDL, but maybe a Construct 2 exporter could be made if the nD gets popular?

Anyway, you can check it out here: nD

I wouldn't trust it. Its made by the same guy who made "Bob's Game" which was a joke, I wouldn't put my hopes up on this. But it would be an awesome system.

I wouldn't trust it. Its made by the same guy who made "Bob's Game" which was a joke, I wouldn't put my hopes up on this. But it would be an awesome system.

Do you mean joke as in, it was never made? As that would be because nintendo never let him actually bring it out on the DS. The game is supposedly going to be released on the nD. I just hope that it doesn't turn out to be another viral advertisement like the website was.

But yeah, I'm not holding my breath, too many things fade away on the internet.

Edit: Found a demo release of bob's game here

The Game Park consoles never made a huge impact beyond the really hardcore homebrew crowd (who now have moved to iOs/Android) and I doubt this will either.

Even if it does get sold cost they will have to either pony up the royalty cost for using the D-Pad design or face Nintendos lawyers.

It's a commendable goal, but I just don't see it flying, with todays competition. =/

The Game Park consoles never made a huge impact beyond the really hardcore homebrew crowd (who now have moved to iOs/Android) and I doubt this will either.

Even if it does get sold cost they will have to either pony up the royalty cost for using the D-Pad design or face Nintendos lawyers.

It's a commendable goal, but I just don't see it flying, with todays competition. =/

I'd say that's because a game park console is around $100, not $10/$20.

As for the D-Pad, the Dingoo and other handheld devices get away with it, so I don't think Nintendo has any grounds in that respect. Bob's game does slash at Nintendo though. That may be where they get in trouble.

Yeah, I agree, but if they can market in retail stores as a kids console they'd definitely attract attention. $10 to play any electronic games beyond tetris is a steal, let alone Doom or console emulation.

Well if they can get it to WallyWorld, then its pretty much guaranteed to sell. But that comment on Americans using it is kinda off putting.

Also looked at the so called wiki... its not very encouraging.

Then again neither is ours.

Nintendo owns the patent of the design. There's a good possibility that the makers of Dingoo 'are' paying royalties to use it, they usually don't broadcast such things (public image and all that). Unless you have proof that they are not.

Here's the major problems with the product. Sure, the price is fine for the consumer, but if they do sell it at production cost they make zero profit from it. 10% of the profit from game/app sales could do well, if they had a really large market penetration, I don't think they do.

The other problem is, the only viable things to sell on the platform is homebrew games and apps (no one will ever buy or sell an emulator for example), but the market for it is nowhere near as profitable as iOS or Android.

I realize I come off sounding negative about it, but I'm looking at it from a developer viewpoint rather than a consumer one.

I don't think anything with a trailer like this could be real-

youtube.com/watch

But still a part of me wants this to be real. Things like gaming consoles are still out of reach of the common people in the developing countries because of the prices. Even handheld consoles like PSP actually cost more than half of the monthly salary of a common man. And if something this cheap is available, I'm sure it'll be popular.

I just saw that, and they have some games on the catalog already, a free/open source based SDK and specs that are pretty impressive.

For the price (10 to 20$) it could be a nice market/medium to keep an eye on.

I'm bumping it because damn, it is something to keep an eye on.

It's cheap, its portable with SDL, and it will create a market with enough indie support. Doesn't matter the past behaviors of the that guy or its goofy advertisement, as long as it does come out.

Hopefully we see Construct games working on it. ;P

I admit that the concept of a completely open handheld console is somewhat intriguing.

What's a bit weird to me is that they say their target demographic will be children ages 6-12. Which makes some sense, cause older teenagers are very likely to have a mobile phone, which they probably use for quick and dirty gaming on the road anyway.

But how do the games exactly reflect that demographic? They talk about new, more powerful 16bit games. While the games that are on display seem like random hobby creations for the most part, which are thrown together by an individual in Gamemaker. The whole concept seems to more likely fit a cheap console for nerds, where one can easily develop games and share. I mean it's even called inDie, right. So yeah, I can see the proximity to Game Park handhelds inkBot implied.

The whole idea of giving away the console with happy meals and cinema tickets would potentially make it interesting for companies I guess, and does in fact fit the kids console pretension. Although I have to say that a basically disposable console like that would also be a very wasteful thing.

If this really is going to see the light of day and won't disappear right away either, a C2 exporter would indeed be intriguing like Jayjay mentioned. It's also a desired feature according to their FAQ: "In the future there may be even easier opportunities for game development, such as a mouse based editor. (think RPG Maker)". If that's ever gonna happen, it should indeed be Construct.

It's not so hard to get done, i live in Asia and we have tons of would be SNES, DS, playstations... for a fraction of the price and quality of their original, usually loaded with bloatwares and cheap versions of famous games.

So, manufacturing few thousand units of hardware is very possible, but getting it sold to a serious retailer is harder and gaining trust from a game making community without a publisher behind may be tricky.

Unlikely, but possible.