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Panasonic cancels Jungle gaming device production
If you don't remember Panasonic's Jungle, you're not alone. A glance at the online-enabled, portable gaming device's official Twitter feed shows that Panasonic forgot about it, too. There's not been a single update since the device was first unveiled in early October, pining for the affections of MMO players seeking to take titles like Stellar Dawn, Battlestar Galactica and RuneScape on the go. Surprising no one, Reuters is now reporting that the ill-advised device is officially canceled. "Panasonic decided to suspend further development due to changes in the market and in our own strategic direction," the company said. That "strategic direction," apparently, is to not make a device so few would have wanted. Of course, some folks already told you so: "This looks like a non-starter." –Billy Pidegon, M2 Research "I just don't think Panasonic has the right pieces to compete in this space." –David Cole, DFC Intelligence "The absence of strong third-party support will most certainly end in failure." –Jesse Divnich, EEDAR
Panasonic abandons Jungle portable gaming project, probably scared off by the NGP
Panasonic has decided to discontinue development of its audacious Jungle portable gaming console, citing "changes in the market and in our own strategic direction" as the reasons. If we had to guess, we'd say those market changes mostly relate to Sony announcing the utterly spectacular NGP, whose release probably coincided too closely with what Panasonic had on its Jungle roadmap, and so the latter company decided to cut its losses and run home. Panasonic also engaged in some early testing with US consumers late last year, which now seems likely to have born unsatisfactory results. It's a shame, we were sincerely looking forward to another competitor in the portable gaming arena, but we suppose it's better for a bad product to never see the light of day than to depress us all with its woefulness.
Analysts weigh in on Panasonic's Jungle
New tech does not always equal gimme gimme -- according to several prominent analysts, Panasonic is set to engage in quite the uphill battle with its new handheld, The Jungle. Both Bill Pidgeon of M2 Research and David Cole of DFC Intelligence told IndustryGamers they believe the unit is "a non-starter." Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets said it looks like "an uphill challenge to launch a new portable gaming device unless there is some meaningful differentiation or access to proprietary content," while EEDAR's Jesse Divnich offered that its success hinges on third-party support, saying that, "with any hardware platform regardless of its quality, the absence of strong third-party support will most certainly end in failure." All valid points, but should these guys be giving the device the benefit of the doubt? As it stands right now, we don't know much about the system other than what it aims to do: give MMO players a dedicated piece of hardware so they can take their games on the go. Given how popular MMOs are (and, in turn, how much of the cash money they generate), from a business standpoint it would seem win-win; nobody else is offering something to MMO players who may want a bit of portability. But, on the other hand, the problem is -- at least according to these analysts -- that the handheld doesn't particularly fill a void that can't be filled by a netbook or laptop.
The Jungle, Panasonic's new online-enabled portable gaming device
Time heals all wounds -- for Panasonic, the pain of the 3DO must be entirely behind the company because it's entering the game space again with a new piece of hardware: The Jungle. The handheld is specifically geared toward giving MMO players a means to take their game on the go and sports a full QWERTY keyboard and high-res display, plus a touch-sensitive d-pad and buttons. Our sister site Engadget has some more on the technology driving the newly-revealed handheld, so head on over there for more. If you want to see some teaser footage, head past the break for a trailer.
