Jungle is massive-ly multiplayer as Panasonic launches handheld console
Pansonic has given a glimpse of the Jungle, an MMORPG-playing handheld device that will see Battlestar Galactica fans playing online.
Welcome to the Jungle, we got fun and games -- online games, that is. Panasonic is going head to head with the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS as it gives a glimpse of the new Jungle handheld gaming console.
The Jungle is a clamshell device, like the DS but with one high-resolution screen. It sports a Qwerty keyboard alongside the gaming D-pad and buttons, with mini-HDMI, microUSB and 3.5mm headphone connections. From the teasers seen today, it appears the Jungle is geared towards massively multiplayer online role-playing games, played in-browser over a Wi-Fi connection.
To kick off interest, the Jungle is loading into the launch tubes an MMORPG based on the hugely popular re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica, in which you can choose to play as a human or a Cylon.
Although other titles haven't been revealed, if it's going to succeed the Jungle will really need to be compatible with hugely popular existing browser-based games such as RuneScape. It's extremely unlikely, however, that the device will be able to handle the biggest game in the MMO sphere, World of Warcraft.
Details of pricing and specs are yet to be revealed, but you can sign up for updates at welcometo.thejungle.com, or watch the teaser video below.
It's a jungle out there in the gaming market -- can Panasonic's Jungle take on the PSP, DS or even the iPhone? Will it be more successful than Panasonic's last effort at gaming, the almost entirely ignored 3DO? Comments below, junglists!