I want that glowing tramp stamp on my arse. Ideally one on each cheek with software on my phone to change the colour. Then I'll be a real gamer. Until I get that final bit of bling I'm a mere shadow of a gamer. RGB fans can only take you so far in this world.
Because they want to: 1) fail miserably 2) create a bespoke platform that'll cost their fans a fortune before they drop it, leaving the fans with nothing but an expensive brick 3) fail expensively 4) massage their oversized egos
They don't realise that gaming on a smartphone is a casual exercise which can be done on existing hardware just fine without taking a change on a new player. They don't have a new GPU or SoC that can really change the game and so they'll only be able to use off the shelf parts that everyone else is using already but they won't have the resources or economies of scale to be top tier partners with suppliers. So they won't be able to get hold of the best screens, etc (HTC had this problem with parts when they lost their top tier status with suppliers) and they won't have the R&D resources to develop the product well enough to compete. They're just going to end up dropping support when it's clear they're not going to be profitable, screwing over their fans and damaging their reputation.
This is a hugely competitive, saturated market and only the truly arrogant can even contemplate taking on the established big boys.
Price wars to see who could drive prices up the most, since even the mid-range priced phones like the Oppo's are now pushing what flagships were just a couple of years ago :'(
My dream has always been a windows phone with an intel processor so I could play my older steam library games. My fanless windows tablet does this quite well. However, Microsoft was dead set on making windows phone fail so that won’t happen.
That only leaves an android device with some form of Qualcomm processor. I just don’t see that being all that compelling or unique in the market place. Maybe they will bring out some new nvidia soc but I don’t think that’s likely.
Does it have physical controls, consisting of a minimum of: 2x analog sticks 4x shoulder buttons 1x 8-way D-Pad 4x face buttons (optional, can be soft-emaulted) 2x 'option' buttons
If so, then it contains sufficient inputs to emulate the vast majority of existing consoles, and comply with almost any existing control scheme.
If it lacks physical controls, or has only a small number (e.g. single analog stick, only 2x should buttons. LOOKING AT YOU, ORIGINAL PSP) then not only does it make it much harder to port existing games to, it also makes it less desirable as an emulation device.
The problem with physical controls are that they add bulk to a handset. I'd prefer using a bluetooth controller so I can pick the controller type and style I want and then decide whether or not I want to carry it with me based on where I'm going and what I'm doing at the time because a lot of emulated games don't absolutely require physical controls. Slower-paced JRPGs for example work passably well with on-screen control inputs because they just don't need twitchy, reflexive responses.
Going with a separate controller means your 'gaming phone' is completely pointless and utterly indistinguishable from every other smartphone.
There's a reason why people cling to their Shield Portables even when the Shield Tablet is available with a faster, lower-power processor and better screen: separate controllers suck for portability.
Oh, I thought it was because Shield as a gaming platform has a library of almost entirely awful Android games accompanied by a handful of made for Shield games that you probably already played a decade ago.
It's going to be a large black slab (with some green accents, maybe), just like every other phone. It will probably be like a Shield Tablet, but with a much better CPU. It's not going to have physical controls, it's not going to run Windows, and it's almost certainly not going to be cheap. If you want a portable traditional gameplay experience, buy a Switch. This thing will run Android, and so it will be stuck with phone games and emulation, both of which waste the potential power of a high-end gaming phone.
"In the recent weeks, the company implied on such intentions for at least three times and there are indicators that the company is prepping at least one handset."
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nissefar - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
For those who it is not enough that their laptop screams 90-00ies gamer, you can now get a glowing tramp stamp on your phone as well!philehidiot - Thursday, October 19, 2017 - link
I want that glowing tramp stamp on my arse. Ideally one on each cheek with software on my phone to change the colour. Then I'll be a real gamer. Until I get that final bit of bling I'm a mere shadow of a gamer. RGB fans can only take you so far in this world.negusp - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
Why though?philehidiot - Thursday, October 19, 2017 - link
Because they want to:1) fail miserably
2) create a bespoke platform that'll cost their fans a fortune before they drop it, leaving the fans with nothing but an expensive brick
3) fail expensively
4) massage their oversized egos
They don't realise that gaming on a smartphone is a casual exercise which can be done on existing hardware just fine without taking a change on a new player. They don't have a new GPU or SoC that can really change the game and so they'll only be able to use off the shelf parts that everyone else is using already but they won't have the resources or economies of scale to be top tier partners with suppliers. So they won't be able to get hold of the best screens, etc (HTC had this problem with parts when they lost their top tier status with suppliers) and they won't have the R&D resources to develop the product well enough to compete. They're just going to end up dropping support when it's clear they're not going to be profitable, screwing over their fans and damaging their reputation.
This is a hugely competitive, saturated market and only the truly arrogant can even contemplate taking on the established big boys.
seamonkey79 - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
Price wars to see who could drive prices up the most, since even the mid-range priced phones like the Oppo's are now pushing what flagships were just a couple of years ago :'(Dr. Swag - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
RGB phone.Please no.
shabby - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
Lol you can count on it.Zeratul56 - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
My dream has always been a windows phone with an intel processor so I could play my older steam library games. My fanless windows tablet does this quite well. However, Microsoft was dead set on making windows phone fail so that won’t happen.That only leaves an android device with some form of Qualcomm processor. I just don’t see that being all that compelling or unique in the market place. Maybe they will bring out some new nvidia soc but I don’t think that’s likely.
Ro_Ja - Monday, October 16, 2017 - link
Very unlikely.edzieba - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
Does it have physical controls, consisting of a minimum of:2x analog sticks
4x shoulder buttons
1x 8-way D-Pad
4x face buttons
(optional, can be soft-emaulted) 2x 'option' buttons
If so, then it contains sufficient inputs to emulate the vast majority of existing consoles, and comply with almost any existing control scheme.
If it lacks physical controls, or has only a small number (e.g. single analog stick, only 2x should buttons. LOOKING AT YOU, ORIGINAL PSP) then not only does it make it much harder to port existing games to, it also makes it less desirable as an emulation device.
BrokenCrayons - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
The problem with physical controls are that they add bulk to a handset. I'd prefer using a bluetooth controller so I can pick the controller type and style I want and then decide whether or not I want to carry it with me based on where I'm going and what I'm doing at the time because a lot of emulated games don't absolutely require physical controls. Slower-paced JRPGs for example work passably well with on-screen control inputs because they just don't need twitchy, reflexive responses.edzieba - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
Going with a separate controller means your 'gaming phone' is completely pointless and utterly indistinguishable from every other smartphone.There's a reason why people cling to their Shield Portables even when the Shield Tablet is available with a faster, lower-power processor and better screen: separate controllers suck for portability.
Diji1 - Saturday, October 14, 2017 - link
Oh, I thought it was because Shield as a gaming platform has a library of almost entirely awful Android games accompanied by a handful of made for Shield games that you probably already played a decade ago.tipoo - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
Hopefully they don't go with the gaudy neon green logo and go for the more mute grey one. Or preferably, without that logo at all.shabby - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
But then how will anyone know that you have a gaming phone?!? It must have the neon green logo, plus rgb's on every corner!cfenton - Friday, October 13, 2017 - link
It's going to be a large black slab (with some green accents, maybe), just like every other phone. It will probably be like a Shield Tablet, but with a much better CPU. It's not going to have physical controls, it's not going to run Windows, and it's almost certainly not going to be cheap. If you want a portable traditional gameplay experience, buy a Switch. This thing will run Android, and so it will be stuck with phone games and emulation, both of which waste the potential power of a high-end gaming phone.linuxgeex - Saturday, October 14, 2017 - link
"In the recent weeks, the company implied on such intentions for at least three times and there are indicators that the company is prepping at least one handset."Much English speaking we are?