The Pandora Gaming Console

The Pandora Box is a portable open source gaming device that is equipped with a very impressive array of features. With this device a user can do every thing from homebrew gaming, watching movies, surfing the web, to even doing a class term paper. As you will see by the end of this hub, the Pandora Box is more than just a game console; it is a way of life in the making.

Due for release at the end of 2009, the Pandora was developed by “OpenPandora”. The Pandora is an open source gaming console that is said to be more powerful than any handheld gaming console on the market to date. Development of the Pandora began when Craig Rothwell, Fatih Kilic, and Michael Mrozek got together and planned a portable system that will excel where other open source consoles such as the GP32 and GP2X systems fell short of glory. Ideas and suggestions from members of GP32X forum was a significant influential base for the Pandora’s development.

The Pandora system by default will come with an open source, Linux OS based on Angstrom, running the minimal Matchbox window manager, both originally designed for mobile devices. System specs include:

• ARM® Cortex™-A8 600Mhz+ CPU running Linux
• 430-MHz TMS320C64x+™ DSP Core
• PowerVR SGX OpenGL 2.0 ES compliant 3D hardware
• 800x480 4.3" 16.7 million colors touchscreen LCD
• Wifi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth & High Speed USB 2.0 Host
• Dual SDHC card slots & SVideo TV output
• Dual Analogue and Digital gaming controls
• 43 button QWERTY and numeric keypad
• Around 10+ Hours battery life

The Pandora comes with 128 MB of RAM and is capable of up to 64 GB of data storage space depending upon the size of the SDHC card installed in one or both of its dual equipped SD card slots, making it ideal for media playback.

One of the main uses of the Pandora is for homebrew gaming and the emulation of older computer systems and video game consoles, which is possible through efficient use of the resources made available by the Texas Instruments OMAP 3530 SoC. The developers of the Pandora have already shown working emulators for PlayStation, Amiga, Super NES, Atari Jaguar, and Sega Mega Drive software. Pandora is an open source gaming platform with the potential to bring much joy and excitement to the lives of old school retro gamers everywhere. As it is Linux based, it supports a variety of browsers, and developers are saying it's a capable platform for running emulators. So if you've missed the good old Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Playstation 1, and Amiga days, Pandora can rekindle those retro gaming memories.

As you can see thus far the Pandora has the tremendous potential to put open source gaming on the map. Homebrew gaming is still a growing industry. With the Nintendo and Sony making life difficult for customizers thanks to their tightly controlled systems and, in the latter case, regular Firmware updates that often serve no real purpose other than to tighten the hard-to-find loopholes that make homebrew possible. As a result, attention is increasingly turning to open source devices to provide a more forgiving platform for home coders to practise their art.

Versus the other portable gaming devices available, the Pandora is by far a potentially overwhelming adversary. But due to things like marketing, availability, and my favorite, the all mighty dollar, gives systems like the Nintendo DS and the PSP not only an edge, but a big head start on a consumer market who may be a little reluctant to crossover to such a system as the Pandora that most layman would have a hard time understanding it’s overall capabilities and purpose. The Pandora is not a system that would typically be purchased for a 7 or 8 year old or younger for a number of reasons. For one being, on the contrary, the complexity of such a system is beyond the scope of many adults.

As for the PSP and the Nintendo DS, the systems are sophisticated enough to attract the adult market and simple enough to be operated by a four year old, which is why it is not uncommon that a parent would purchase one for themselves or for their children. And not to mention that both consoles are now very affordable items. It will be very interesting to see the marketing strategy that will be implemented to push the Pandora Box through that tight threshold of consumer acceptance.

The actual release date of the Pandora Box is still quite unclear, though there is large speculation of a release date somewhere between November and December of 2009. The Pandora has been available for preorder since 2008 and was also originally due to be released in 2008. There have been a number of postponements due to the unexpected high demands and some other compounding factors. What ever the case, the Pandora is inevitably inching closer and closer to its big debut into the gaming market.