Well, I did it, I canceled my $359.96 pre-order of the Sony PlayStation Vita - WiFi, ModNation Racers: Road trip, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and Hot Shots Golf on Amazon. It's not because it was too much money - it was - but I planned for it. It's not that I don't want it either - I do - but it simply doesn't make sense at this time. I have long gone on record - much to the chagrin of the Nintendo faithful - that I believe this is the last generational hurrah for dedicated gaming handhelds. In short, I believe they will still sell well this generation, just not anywhere near the heights of the last generation when the DS and PSP ruled the roost. I've given many reasons for this line of thinking, but I primarily chalk it up to smartphones and tablets being good enough as game machines and the inclination for most people to carry as few electronic devices as possible. In other words, would you rather have a device that does everything multimedia and Internet effortlessly (and, as a smartphone, makes phone calls and texts), and has inexpensive apps (and a great camera for stills and video, etc.), as well as plays good games, or would you rather have a device that plays really good games (thanks mostly to onboard physical controls), but is mediocre (or incapable) at everything else and has expensive apps? Some of us will have both, but many of us will only choose the most logical of the two. If you look at the issue without the emotion of a dedicated gamer, there really is no good argument for having anything other than a smartphone and maybe a tablet in your portable arsenal, particularly since the former has an excuse to be with you 100% of the time.

This has been widely reported, but here's the story on IGN. Essentially, the Nintendo 3DS will now retail for $169.99, and existing owners who paid the launch price of $249.99 will get 20 free virtual console games, which consists of 10 NES and 10 GameBoy Advance titles.

I'm glad they're taking care of their existing owners. Clearly Nintendo priced this not at a price point they had to, but at a price point they thought they could get away with. If they were able to back up the 3DS launch with positive buzz and great software (i.e., software that would excite the masses), they *might* have gotten away with the $250 price point (though I continue to argue the buzz remains with smartphones and tablets, not gaming handhelds), but really, it makes you wonder why this wasn't $199.99 to start with, let alone $179.99, particularly since they're making such a huge drop of $80 already. That's a major mea culpa, and certainly not indicative of business-as-usual for Nintendo, who classically really, really hates to admit that they're wrong about something. I've been talking about this frequently, but there have certainly been some unusual goings-on at Nintendo HQ, from the lack of new titles for their existing platforms to a somewhat unusual presentation of their upcoming Wii U console. Perhaps this will be the first of several steps that Nintendo needs to regain momentum.

Part II of a multiple part series of videos in which I take a look at the open source Pandora handheld that has been in the making for quite some time. In this second part I take a look at N64 gameplay and MSX-gameplay. Please be sure to watch the HD version of this video! Watching it low-res/SD will take away much of the shine this system has.

Running on Linux sporting a specialized 3D GPU and a powerful ARM CPU this is the ultimate handheld gaming device in my opinion especially if you like retrogaming or open source handheld gaming without the need to hack/patch or crack into a commercially available system voiding support and warranty.

Part I of a multiple part series of videos in which I take a look at the open source Pandora handheld that has been in the making for quite some time. Please be sure to watch the HD version of this video! Watching it low-res/SD will take away much of the shine this system has.

Running on Linux sporting a specialized 3D GPU and a powerful ARM CPU this is the ultimate handheld gaming device in my opinion especially if you like retrogaming or open source handheld gaming without the need to hack/patch or crack into a commercially available system voiding support and warranty.

This system is very capable of emulation and emulating 32 and 64 bit consoles is possible and playable on this system.

Click here to read more.

And yes today the postman rang my doorbell twice and I was presented with 'Pandora's Sack' LOL

This is just a little teaser video to get you guys interested in my experiences with the Pandora.

OK first of all where did this come form all of a sudden?
Secondly, I cannot afford yet another open source handheld already!

GamePark's GP2X Caanoo handheld hits this August, picks up where the Wiz left off.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/12/gameparks-gp2x-caanoo-handheld-hits-t...

In an effort to goose sales of the PSPgo - which any way you look at it, has been an abject failure for Sony, even regularly placing last in weekly sales in Japan (yes, even behind the Xbox 360 and PS2) - Sony has taken positive steps by lowering prices on a batch of top titles and offering free games for new purchasers of the system. But hold on a minute, in a stroke of corporate bravado the likes of which we haven't seen since the news first broke on the BP oil spill, Sony is only offering new purchasers of the system in the US just three free games only days after offering UK buyers 10 free games. See anything wrong with that math?

Of course, none of this addresses the more serious issue of a justification for the PSPgo's existence in the first place, since it's more expensive than the regular PSP model with fewer features. However, I know I would have been more likely to purchase one with an incentive for 10 free games, along with the reduction on the other top hits. As it stands now, because of their unbalanced generosity towards one territory over another, it all remains too much to swallow. Way to go Sony! Maybe you'll get it right with the PSP2, unless Nintendo and Apple obliterate you in the marketplace first with their next generation of handhelds that will release earlier and almost certainly with better software support and marketing. Maybe by then you can give UK buyers 20 free games and US buyers 6 free games to really push your sales over the top and continue to foster good will for your brand...

In this video I revisit the Gp2x Wiz handheld Linux device and show the improvements in the software that have been made since the summer of 2009. It is filmed in 720p HD footage so make sure you watch the fully encoded version to get a good idea of the picture quality the Wiz has to offer. I think the HD video really shows off the quality of the screen. Be sure to select the HD option from within the player.

This video is 'part one the Wiz review prequel' and it just contains some quick caps of games and emulators running. All emulators - except for the original gameboy and sadly the Vice emulator - run full speed zero frameskip.

The first part truly shows of the OLED screen in full splendor. The latter part of the movie was taped in a rather dark environment with the camera in Macro so there is actually a moire effect visible and the image is over exposed. Ah well just a quick 'Mark plays'... Read more to view the video. Be sure to select HQ or HD to view the video in the best possible quality.