Now What?




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire

http://www.origamiproject.com/1/

Another MS teaser site. This one counts down to March 2nd, where, apparently something will be revealed. And it's speculated that that something will be a MS portable, similar to the PSP: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/origamigallery.asp

discuss




Posted by Klarth

"Where I can go" had me.

It's got to be. I can't see what else it could possibly turn out as.




Posted by Random

I think of it not so much as a gaming console than a newer version of a computer minus the keyboards. It'll probably have an add on keyboard with internet access. I don't speculate it to really be thought of much in the gaming industry so much as just the entertainment industry. I'm sure it'll be able to play games but i'm willing to bet that it has multiple functions. Probably expensive. I think it would be a huge risk for Microsoft to release a handheld especially in a Nintendo handheld dominated race.

Just my thoughts..




Posted by nich

I think you're right. As stated in the previous thread about the MS handheld, the rep who was being interviewed mentioned they wanted to bring the fun games from XBox Live arcade to it. He didn't mention any formal game format like UMD or carts.




Posted by Random

I suspect there to be games for it but not a lot. Like I said I suspect it will be able to play movies, and wonder around the internet. But also it'll do more than that. I'm speculating it'll at least be able to play a lot of the Microsoft Studio Games.




Posted by Speedfreak

It's a souped up PDA.




Posted by GameMiestro

Wow, those things are huge...




Posted by VirtualRealityZone


Quoting nich: He didn't mention any formal game format like UMD or carts.


Maybe they are going to put the arcade games up for download. :D



Posted by Lord of Spam

xbox handheld is hueg

But seriously, I dont see anything so far that looks interesting. So its a portable computer, so what. You know what else does that? LAPTOPS.

And as for the ability to play Halo? Oh, yay! Now 9 year olds can call me a fag ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. HOW EXCITING.




Posted by Roger Smith


Quoting Vampiro: http://www.origamiproject.com/1/

Another MS teaser site. This one counts down to March 2nd, where, apparently something will be revealed. And it's speculated that that something will be a MS portable, similar to the PSP: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/origamigallery.asp

discuss


IT PLAYS HALO TOO??? HOLY **** I GOTTA GET ONE OF THOSE!!!



Posted by Linko_16


Quoting Lord of Spam: So its a portable computer, so what. You know what else does that? LAPTOPS.


Agreed. You can call it a portable entertainment system or even a key-less computer, but there can't be anything it'll do that a laptop couldn't do better.



Posted by Prince Shondronai


Quoting Linko_16: ...but there can't be anything it'll do that a laptop couldn't do better.


Besides fit in your pocket, of course.



Posted by brownoystercult

"Here we go again"




Posted by Lord of Spam


Quoting Prince Shondronai: Besides fit in your pocket, of course.


Holy hell, son, how big are your pockets?



Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: Besides fit in your pocket, of course.


If by pocket you mean impossible.



Posted by Vampiro V. Empire

POST +1

http://gear.ign.com/articles/691/691935p1.html




Posted by Klarth


pix +1




Posted by Prince Shondronai


Quoting Vampiro: If by pocket you mean impossible.


Yeah. I meant that it would fit in your "impossible." Make The Sense when you're trying to be clever.

Lord of Spam, my pockets are huge. They contain multitudes, especially on Tuesdays.[/Simon R. Green]



Posted by Klarth

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV1WGDW37c0&search=project%20origami]Look what I found on Slashdot.[/url]




Posted by Dragner

If that is going to be what MS puts out to try to compete with Nintendo and Sony in the hand held market than they need to think much smaller and less of a computer. I know its been said but its true thats just a small Laptop.




Posted by Random

Yeah I really doubt it's trying to compete with Sony or Nintendo. Like I said I doubt it'll play many games it'll be more or less like a laptop.




Posted by nich

Actually they're trying to compete with Sony and ipod, or so they say. It's not really a PSP or ipod though is it.




Posted by brownoystercult

The black one looks pretty sleek.

I don't see how you could find any fun in playing games on that thing though..




Posted by Drewboy64

Oragami>DS+PSP




Posted by Lord of Spam


Quoting Drewboy64: Speaking in terms of size, Oragami>DS+PSP


fix'd.

Either it competes with Nintendo/Sony, and gets raped by Nintendo, or it competes with laptops, in which case only the colassaly stupid would buy it in place of an actual laptop.



Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: Yeah. I meant that it would fit in your "impossible." Make The Sense when you're trying to be clever.


wow, woosh.

Quoted post:

Either it competes with Nintendo/Sony, and gets raped by Nintendo, or it competes with laptops, in which case only the colassaly stupid would buy it in place of an actual laptop.


Compete with Sony and iPod, don't give a **** about Nintendo.



Posted by Lord of Spam

I dont think that it could really compete with Ipod, though. Their whole draw is that they hold a **** load in a small package and are so easy that braindead morons can use them (much like all apple productszing). The things being shown are hueg. Like, xbox hueg, almost. They cant really be used as a practical Ipod replacement.




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: I dont think that it could really compete with Ipod, though. Their whole draw is that they hold a **** load in a small package and are so easy that braindead morons can use them (much like all apple productszing). The things being shown are hueg. Like, xbox hueg, almost. They cant really be used as a practical Ipod replacement.


True, and it probably can't. But it plays music and videos, thus, it's in the iPod market.



Posted by Vampiro V. Empire

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6145278.html


Quoted post: However, unofficial reports have already broken about what the Origami can and cannot do. This morning, the Associated Press ran an article citing a source inside Microsoft that confirms suspicions that the Origami is merely a new line of "ultra-mobile PCs" the size of a paperback book. It says that the line of devices is aimed at "tech-savvy consumers who want a smaller computer that is easy to take on vacation, in the subway or anywhere else where a full-sized PC would seem too bulky." As shown in the leaked video, Origami machines will feature a touch-sensitive screen a la Microsoft's tablet PC line, will run Windows XP, and will be priced lower than most full-size laptops, running from around $500 to $1,000.


At least it'll be smaller.



Posted by GameMiestro

Origami>Microsoft Origami




Posted by junior senior

...the price isn't, for a fact.




Posted by GameMiestro

Unless their machine costs $5, I disagree.




Posted by junior senior

That thing has less than a computer. It shouldn't be the same price as a laptop.




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: That thing has less than a computer. It shouldn't be the same price as a laptop.


What decent laptop costs 500 bucks? Plus, you're paying for the extra portability.



Posted by Random

It doesn't even play Halo now they say. I didn't think it was really there to compete in the handheld market. I thought that would be dumb.




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: It doesn't even play Halo now they say. I didn't think it was really there to compete in the handheld market. I thought that would be dumb.


It never was, by the looks of it. It WAS a year old prototype, and the Halo thing was just meant as a demonstration. Which may be a better move in the long run. Since, if Sony's having a little trouble beating Nintendo, there's no hope in hell for Microsoft.



Posted by Lord of Spam

but halo is teh gratest game evur itl pwn ur face i luv halo but havmmt beat it yet duz ne1 haev hax?

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. Having Halo on it would really help it out.




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire

Yeah, but it would lack any sort of decent controls. And when it comes down to it, that's pretty much the only great thing about Halo.




Posted by Lord of Spam

On the pc, I assume, cuz all console fps blow;)




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: On the pc, I assume, cuz all console fps blow


No, on the Xbox. Since, the only good thing about PC controls is the mouse. Otherwise it's ****.



Posted by Lord of Spam

An analouge stick will never allow the same speed or accuracy as a mouse and keyboard. Plus, the keyboard jsut seems to lay all the buttons out in jsut the right spots.

If I put my hand so that its relaxed on the keeyboard, it falls on the following keys:

w, a, d, spacebar, and shift.

What do you need for cs/hl? wasderfg, spacebar, ctrl, shift. All of those keys are nex tot each other and easily reachable. And then when you throw in the mouse, it jsut blows away a controler.




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: An analouge stick will never allow the same speed or accuracy as a mouse and keyboard. Plus, the keyboard jsut seems to lay all the buttons out in jsut the right spots.


I completely agree. The analogue stick is garbage compared to the mouse. There's no question about that. But the triggers and face buttons make up for the lack of absolutely precision. Plus, I'd rather not have to go through the fuss of updating my machine every year or so. I just can't afford it.

I guess it just comes down to preference.



Posted by Lord of Spam

I really dont see the advantage that triggers or face buttons bring.:(




Posted by Random

I like preference and I choose the controller. I rarely play PC games and when I do they're normally strategy war games like Command and Conquer. But in any case I too thought it would be stupid for MS to compete with Nintendo in the handheld race. Nintendo is thought of as a God when it comes to handhelds. Sony hasn't done too bad seeing the other competitors fail by far worse but Sony is still getting takin behind the shed.




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: I really dont see the advantage that triggers or face buttons bring.


Just personal preference, like I said. It's what I'm used to, and what I'm mroe comfortable with. I just don't like wad, at all. Then there's having to use other keys like e and q, or whatever else. I don't feel like I have the same control when it comes to that.



Posted by Lord of Spam

I guess if you use a computer more you just get comfy with it. :/




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire


Quoted post: I guess if you use a computer more you just get comfy with it. :/


Not in my case. I've played enough games where I should be comfortable with it, and I somewhat am. But not to the same degree.



Posted by Speedfreak

Bull, keyboards are the most unergonomic input devices ever devised. It's extremely easy to hit the wrong key as they all feel exactly the same and they're all right next to eachother, not to mention that the way gamers use keyboards is an extremely unnatural position for the human hand.
The fact that the keyboard has more buttons, and thus more functions is largely irrelevent. With a gamepad you can press far more buttons at any one time, so the functions of a keyboard end up being used for mere "switches", ie turning on and off torches, chat channels and so on, as opposed to important game functions like accelerating, jumping, punching etc. A game pad can easily emulate several "switches" with a single button and a quick menu, but the fact is decently designed games don't need to use 2 entire keyboard rows for game functions.
As proof, try playing Street Fighter II with a keyboard, no matter how "perfect" you get the button configuration and how much practice you get, you'll still get your ass handed to you by a kid with a SNES pad.

Mice being more accurate than analog sticks for thngs like FPSs and pointing device's I'll accept, but then analog sticks easily trash mice for use in things like flight sims, driving games and 3D adventures; they're about equal. Game pads are definately better than keyboards for the vast majority of games, there's more than enough buttons on conventional pads to handle most popular PC ports like Half-Life 2 and Battlefeild 2, the only thing they probably couldn't handle are extremely complex flight simulators.




Posted by Klarth


Actual photo. Isn't quite as large as I thought.




Posted by Lord of Spam


Quoting Speedfreak: Bull, keyboards are the most unergonomic input devices ever devised. It's extremely easy to hit the wrong key as they all feel exactly the same and they're all right next to eachother, not to mention that the way gamers use keyboards is an extremely unnatural position for the human hand.
The fact that the keyboard has more buttons, and thus more functions is largely irrelevent. With a gamepad you can press far more buttons at any one time, so the functions of a keyboard end up being used for mere "switches", ie turning on and off torches, chat channels and so on, as opposed to important game functions like accelerating, jumping, punching etc. A game pad can easily emulate several "switches" with a single button and a quick menu, but the fact is decently designed games don't need to use 2 entire keyboard rows for game functions.
As proof, try playing Street Fighter II with a keyboard, no matter how "perfect" you get the button configuration and how much practice you get, you'll still get your ass handed to you by a kid with a SNES pad.

Mice being more accurate than analog sticks for thngs like FPSs and pointing device's I'll accept, but then analog sticks easily trash mice for use in things like flight sims, driving games and 3D adventures; they're about equal. Game pads are definately better than keyboards for the vast majority of games, there's more than enough buttons on conventional pads to handle most popular PC ports like Half-Life 2 and Battlefeild 2, the only thing they probably couldn't handle are extremely complex flight simulators.



I was only trying to make the argument that a keyboard and mouse are better for FPS. I would think that it would be rather obvious that in pretty much any other genre (with the possible exception of RTS) a console will do the controls better. As for hitting the wrong button by accident, you learn where the keys are and can hit them without thinking if you're any good. Its the same with typing, after a while you can just hit certain keys out of muscle reflex. The same goes for FPS; I can remember only a few instances in which hitting the wrong keys caused me any frustration. Its not like its handling some bizzare thing not made for human interaction. Its just another control surface like any other that takes getting used to.



Posted by Speedfreak

My point was there are far more incidents with people getting carpal tunnel with a keyboard than a gamepad, it's due to the way you use them. I agree you can get used to it, but I still think it's fairly easy to screw up. There have been several times I've been moving in an FPS, pressed a switch with my left hand and switched from WASD to ESDF without immediately realsing due to the fact that they both feel exactly the same. Then, of course, I find I'm running backwards rather than strafing left, I look down to see what the hell's going on and by the time I look up I've been shot in the face. Things like that don't happen with analog sticks.

Either way, f[COLOR=lightgreen]u[/COLOR]ck both KB/M and gamepads for FPSs. The Revolution will be out soon and it has the best of both worlds. Better than mouse control, zoom, leaning and crouching all with one device, plus all the buttons on it and a D-pad for selection, PLUS an analog stick for movement and 2 trigger buttons. You wouldn't need more than that. Most PC FPSs use all these extra buttons for selecting chat channels and number keys assigned to specific weapons, they're by no means necessary.




Posted by Lord of Spam


Quoting Speedfreak: My point was there are far more incidents with people getting carpal tunnel with a keyboard than a gamepad, it's due to the way you use them. I agree you can get used to it, but I still think it's fairly easy to screw up. There have been several times I've been moving in an FPS, pressed a switch with my left hand and switched from WASD to ESDF without immediately realsing due to the fact that they both feel exactly the same. Then, of course, I find I'm running backwards rather than strafing left, I look down to see what the hell's going on and by the time I look up I've been shot in the face. Things like that don't happen with analog sticks.


To me, thats a small price to pay (since it almost never happens to me) for the accuracy of the mouse.


Quoting Speedfreak: Either way, f[COLOR=lightgreen]u[/COLOR]ck both KB/M and gamepads for FPSs. The Revolution will be out soon and it has the best of both worlds. Better than mouse control, zoom, leaning and crouching all with one device, plus all the buttons on it and a D-pad for selection, PLUS an analog stick for movement and 2 trigger buttons. You wouldn't need more than that. Most PC FPSs use all these extra buttons for selecting chat channels and number keys assigned to specific weapons, they're by no means necessary.


Agreed.:D



Posted by Pit


Quoting Klarth:
Actual photo. Isn't quite as large as I thought.



Bigger than the Xbox



Posted by Klarth

IMPOSSIBLE.

Also:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/hardware.mspx

Microsoft won't be manufacturing it - Asus and Samsung will produce their own models.

It runs on XP and not CE as some previously thought - Portable OSX for the win.

edit:

http://www.zdnetasia.com/itlibrary/webcasts/0,39044504,39315918,00.htm

Even Intel are doing one.

These aren't handhelds, they're "Ultra Mobile PCs". :/ Move?