JXD S7300 Preordered: Willgoo and JXD Fail to Deliver

I just preordered a piece of gear, the JXD S7300. It is a low priced dual core gaming tablet that advertises true dual analog, android 4.1, magic rainbow ponycorns and, HDMI 1080P out. It was 2AM, I had just fed the baby and read a couple of so so reviews of the Archos Gamepad on my Nexus 7. Man oh man, I really want buttons on my Nexus 7, and a SD card slot, and a ponycorn. The Nexus 7 can kind of do one of the three which isn't bad considering that one of the things I desire is a mythical forest creature. With a sixaxis controller and Onlive the Nexus 7 can almost become a pretty impressive gaming rig... Except that the sixaxis app kills wi-fi which Onlive needs, and you have to prop the Nexus somewhere to use the controller with it, and it is more convenient to just grab a laptop and plug in a 360 controller...

Anyway, point is, watch this space for a JDX S7300 review here early February to find out if the JDX S7300 lives up to the potential or is cheap import garbage.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, it will be a bit longer before I can review the JDX S7300 I received my JDX today and it is defective. It randomly scrolls, opens and closes menus, and exhibits other unexpected behavior. I suspect that it has something to do with the hardware controls being defective rather than a software issue. I am reaching out to Willgoo to get a replacement and may reach out to JDX. I'll update when I have any useful information.

UPDATE 2: I have gotten terrible customer service from Willgoo! First off after offering free shipping they sent me a message on January 18th. 

"...Here is a good news for you. JXD S7300 will be available next week. We are now arranging your shipping. Before shipping, we have a suggestion for you. The package of JXD S7300 is bigger, and the value of it is higher. We worry about the risks of the register air mail parcel. So we wonder if you can make up $10USD for shipping by DHL? You know, DHL is not only much faster, but also much safer. Parcels will never get lost or stolen by DHL. And now, you only need to pay $10USD for it!..."

Well, I paid the extra for DHL shipping, received a tracking number on the 25th, and The JDX arrived on the 29th. So far so good.  Unfortunately the JDX was defective so I sent them this message.

"...The JXD S7300 I received is defective. It makes a constant clicking noise seems to be detecting touches when there are none, the menus are unnavigable since it opens and closes menus without me touching it. I am frustrated. I would appreciate getting a replacement quickly..."

Instead of offering to immediately replace it they asked for a video. 

"...Sorry to hear that.To let us know the problem well, we wonder if you can take video for it? And upload the video to Youtube and show us the link after that. We will try our best to assist you..."


Videos were uploaded.



They then suggested I update the firmware, which I did. 

"...Thank you for getting back to us. We had contacted our factory. The problem may be happened for the d-pad or the Joystick. Can you press the dpad and the left joystick to see if the problem is still there? Try to press them for a few time- to play some games with d-pad and joystick. Then reset the device to see if the sound is still there. If the sound is still there, then you can try to update the firmware on S7300. Here is the way for teaching you how to update the firmware: http://boards.dingoonity.org/android-devices/jxd-s7300-fixes-firmware-roms-thread/ Try the above ways and get back to us if it can help.

Don't worry. We will try our best to help you. If the device is really defective, we will require you to send it back to us.

Thanks..."

The problem was not fixed. I sent them two more emails over the next two days, one of them tersely worded.

"...I updated to 1.1 and am still having the same issue... ...Will you send my replacement unit immediately. I paid extra for DHL shipping already so I could get the JXD safely and quickly. I am getting neither. Now, I am expected to pay shipping again to send it back! This is not acceptable..."

They did get back to me on the 31st asking that I return the defective unit using certified mail with a tracking number. Which I sent out. 

"Thank you for your email. We wonder if you can use the register to send back the device to us?... ...Can you pack the device in more bubble paper to make sure it can be in good condition. The screen will be very easily to be broken if you do not do that. Write a letter in the package and tell us your order ID, your full name and the problem you get. We will remind you and fix the device for you once we receive the parcel from you. Send us the tracking number when you send out the device. To help you reduce the shipping fee, can you just send us the device? Without the package and its accessories? But make sure you pack it well and insert as much bubble paper as you can. Feel free to get back to us if you need any more help.

Thanks..."

Finally on Febuary 28th they sent an e-mail that read, "Thank you very much for your understanding. Please note that we had send back the device to JXD. They will fix it next week. When we get back the device, we will remind you and resend you a working item.

We suggest you wait patiently.

At the same time, I wonder if you can send a email to remind us at the end of next week? We are so busy these days. Your email will always remind us the issue you got.

Thank you very much for your understanding."

WHAT??? I need to remind them to do their do their job?!? Is this a business that specializes in shipping and distributing electronics internationally or a  I am dealing with, a high-schooler, drunk on his dad's scotch, run rampant with a pay-pal account?!?

I just want a replacement and have expressed as much. They have not sent my replacement and I have had to pay over $40 in shipping. Their webpage does state that buyers pay for returns, guess I should have read the fine print. I feel like the customer service has been pretty lousy and I am most likely not going to be one of the first sites with a review of the unit.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
Ok, I can at least give some first impressions. The machine is really light and cheap feeling, it feels about half the weight of my Nexus 7 (I thought it felt light but this was due to my Nexus 7 being in a leather case). The buttons are nice with the right amount of stiff and springiness. The analog pads are circle pads much like the 3DS or PSP rather than joysticks. They are actually analog but the software seems to be set up so that they sometimes read as digital. Also I have read several reports of the circle pads being defective on arrival and needing re-soldering. I didn't have this issue but in light of my issue I am VERY concerned about build quality. I couldn't really explore the system much because of the defect but, it seemed like it might be somewhat functional if it was working correctly.

Currently I cannot recommend either the JXD S7300 or Willgoo and would encourage a buyer to look elsewhere when ordering one. Getting a defective device from Willgoo will result in a long wait and shipping fees that will quickly make this bargain priced device no longer a bargain. Based upon other reports and my experience the JXD S7300 seems to questionable software and a very poor build quality that is resulting in many defective units.  

Are iOS and Android Killing Premium Portable Gaming?

Rant starting.

I have noticed on some of the blogs I frequent that there has been a recent vocal assertion, among many gamers, that iOS and Android phones and tablets are the best portable gaming devices. Market saturation certainly would indicate that they are the most popular. It would be absurd for the gaming press not to hop on the app train. Apps are were gaming is exploding at the moment and, yes there are new, interesting things happening in the app space. I expect the top gaming press to report on iOS/Android games, and believe that good games can be made for a tablet or smart phone, so no surprise that apps are getting more press. It is in the comments where there is a surprising change in perception. Until recently there were many core/hardcore gamers who pretty vocally derided iOS games as poor quality products with little defense from the iOS/Android camp. Now, finally, it seems that the app gamers are speaking up and it is not just trolls speaking up, in both camps. The comments are often along the lines of "The Vita is doomed to failure because nobody will pay $40 for a game when they can get just as good games for $5 on iOS." Whenever I read comments along these lines I get really frustrated about the current state of gaming, particularly how app gaming is effecting premium portable gaming.

Let's look at the Playstation Vita for a second. It is a fantastic piece of gear capable of some great games. I am loving Persona 4 Golden and Need for Speed Most Wanted. These are great games and I honestly have never played an iOS game that touches the quality and depth of these titles! However, Persona 4 Golden, much like Metal Gear HD Collection, is a port of a several years old PS2 game. Need for Speed Most Wanted is a, only slightly watered down, version of a console game. Not really the exclusive AAA gaming Sony was promising before the Vita was released. Things get a bit more grim if you start looking at the Vita offerings that should be AAA flagship titles. Uncharted on Vita is a very enjoyable game but the story and cinematicness fall somewhat short of it's console brethren. Resistance on the Vita is mediocre. Nihilistic/Sony/Activision should have canned Call of Duty Black Ops Declassified, the worst rated game on the Vita to date (32/100 on Metacritic), before it was released. Going one portable generation back, there were some stinkers but, many of the AAA games on the PSP would have been AAA on the PS2. Daxter is a lovingly made high quality outing that would be a standout PS2 title. Syphon Filter was phenomenal. Metal Gear Peacewalker, God of War Chains of Olympus, Jeanne d'Arc... The list goes on and on of AAA quality games some that even made their way to the PS3. Therein lies the problem. Unit 13 will never be ported off the Vita. It is not AAA, nearly nobody seems to be willing to invest to bring new AAA to the Vita, and the Vita needs a AAA killer app. Ubisoft at least seems to be making an effort, but it does not seem to be quite enough. Their Assassin's Creed game is really quite nice despite some mixed reviews. It was obviously made by some very talented artists, programmers, and designers, if not perhaps Ubisoft's absolute best. Not having the absolute best working on the game unfortunately shows when compared to Assassin's Creed III and this is problematic. The Vita sits in a strange place between the PS3 where enough people will pay $60 for AAA and the iPhone where many more people will pay $.99 for a piece of casual fare to make it profitable (Perhaps a rant about freemium ruining games is in order?).

...Put another way a mediocre FPS like Modern Warfare is just as much a waste of my time as a mediocre FPS like Call of Duty Declassified regardless of price...

Somehow this leads to the perception that "The Vita is doomed to failure because nobody will pay $40 for a game when they can get just as good games for $5 on iOS." A high quality iOS game eclipses a middling portable console game that a consumer expect to be AAA when price is factored in. I personally will never finish a Gameloft FPS on iOS until I can play with buttons and a joystick and do not have a wealth of other better games to play on other platforms. Put another way a mediocre FPS like Modern Warfare is just as much a waste of my time as a mediocre FPS like Call of Duty Declassified regardless of price. For other gamers this is not the case. Modern Warfare is good value for the money and therefor good while Declassified is a bad value for the money and therefore bad. I'll be interested to see how Nihilistic, who made Declassified fares now that they are focusing on iOS. If their next iOS game is heralded as excellent I will not hesitate to wave flags in depressing celebration.Without clearly superior AAA console quality games Vita simply can't compete and I blame Sony.

It is not surprising that 3rd party publishers, outside of Ubisoft, seem to have written off the Vita but why has Sony, up to this point dropped the ball? I can't answer that except perhaps to guess that Sony wants to keep it's best people and invest the most where the money is, their home console market. I'd like to suggest to Sony is a few things that might make the Vita a success and just pose some questions to find out Sony's reasoning. I have always been a big fan of Sony and find it puzzling that a company I equate with quality seems to be making some big missteps with it's latest member of the Playstation line.

Sony, the most important thing is to give a team the budget and staff to make a AAA game. Why haven't you done this? This is really simple. AAA takes time, money, and talent. I don't know what elements were missing on the games that have been released so far but I strongly suspect that at least one element was missing for all of them. Really, seriously, Sony, all your Vita games feel skimpy. One of my favorite Vita games, Gravity Rush sings about not having enough talented people working on it for long enough, it was almost a game that would make my favorite games list but felt oh so rushed, pun intended.

Why did you abandon remote play? Seriously, with proper remote play support I could play hella AAA on my Vita! Remote play is a complete failure. I can't imagine that the Vita would not have sold like gangbusters if you pushed this feature. Then once people owned a Vita for remote play they would want to use it on the go and buy games just for the Vita. I bought God of War Collection and Ico/Shadow of the Colossus HD for the PS3 just to take advantage of this feature even though I have perfectly useable copies for my PS2. Did anybody else do this? Okay, this is a tangent but when is Tokyo Jungle getting remote play support?! I want to play this game so bad while the wife is watching Cooks Country on PBS. Something about cooking shows make me want to play a game where killing and feasting on the flesh of other animals is a central theme. My point is remote play is very compelling and I am not sure you can undo the damage from not pushing this but, I'd like to see you try.

...I am no programmer but, I was a producer at a game company so I know a few things about asking programmers to accomplish completely unreasonable tasks...

If you won't invest in new AAA for the Vita figure out how to bring the PS2 Classics to the Vita. I am no programmer but, I was a producer at a game company so I know a few things about asking programmers to accomplish completely unreasonable tasks. The PS2 Classics selection is quite nice, I haven't bought any of them because I have nearly all of them for the PS2 but I would re-buy them in a heartbeat for the Vita, then tada, more AAA on the Vita. AAA that may be older but is not already available on other portables. Remastering games of one or two console generations past seems to be popular now presumably because of the lower development cost, I can't imagine that getting the PS2 Classic collection running on the Vita wouldn't be quite cost effective. If it is too great a challenge here is a freebie, remote play PS2 collection. It's like free money and I am sure it would help hardware adoption more than a Declassified bundle.

Ok, Sony, I am done talking to you. This last bit is for gamers, look I very much like some iOS/Android games, I am a big fan of Popcap and will gladly support them, bought world of Goo on iOS even though I had it on PC and, am pretty sure all the electronics I own and regularly use have GTA III installed on them now. Unless all we want is cheap or "free"mium, low budget time wasters we must stop supporting bad iOS/Android games and pony up the cash for good mobile games. As a cash strapped person myself that last part is tricky but, for most under-employed first worlders a premium priced game should only be part of a single day's work. With a little research, you will most likely will enjoy a premium game more intensely for much longer than a cheap cheaply made budget game. I am not knocking apps in fact I wholeheartedly encourage you to buy all of Square Enix's premium, for iOS, priced apps. Haven't played them but am sure they are all great. We as consumers need to speak with our wallet, buy good games, and stop supporting low grade "crapps". Don't even download them, don't ask your Facebook friends for coins, don't make an in app purchase, don't even look at the advertising banners. The mere act of playing a bad game on iOS or Android is unfortunately providing metrics that are telling companies that you want more. Gone are the days when you could secretly play a second hand copy of Willow for the NES under the cover of darkness and nobody would know.

Rant over... 

Archos Gamepad, Android gaming done right.

I have a Nexus 7 and cannot recommend it enough, it works great as a game machine paired with a PS3 controller or a classic SNES styled USB controller. This does not make me any less hyped about the upcoming Archos Gamepad which should be released this month. It seems like it could dethrone the reasonably priced GP2X line and overpriced Pandora as the best devices for a person that wants ultimate flexibility in how they use their portable gaming system. You don't have to take my word on it, just check out the video above.

Update: The Archos Gamepad was released December 6th in the UK. I have reached out to Archos to see if I can get access to a review unit in advance of the US release which is expected early next year. 

Obscure Handhelds

I'll tell you what, being a new full time stay at home father can be a life changer. It doesn't mean I'm not still interested in portable gaming just that between taking care of the family, job searching, and some volunteer and hobby activities I have not spent very much time on this old blog. There are some pretty cool things on the horizon for the dedicated handheld gamer including some excellent upcoming Vita releases which are covered by the mainstream gaming press, a exciting new android gaming tablet the Archos Gamepad, and a wealth of other obscure systems. It's to this last point I'd like to speak. I recently discovered a great place to get your obscure portable news and information. I am a particular fan of Pocketgamer for news and information but feel like the closest analogous website has to be Obscure Handhelds. A site with a no nonsense attitude that covers a wide range of lesser known hardware with a fevor that is admirable. Check them out at http://obscurehandhelds.wordpress.com/

IGN History of Portable Consoles

Normally I don't re-post major publisher articles but IGN has written up a nice article about portables that is worth a read. Check it out.

http://www.1up.com/features/hysterical-history-portable-consoles

GamePark Caanoo Review

Nice in depth review from Youtube user EvilDragon1717

Ode to the Playstation Vita

I haven't posted to the olde' blog in a while due to some other projects taking up a lot of my free time. These projects include, looking for a job, getting ready for the arrival of a baby, building cigar box musical instruments and making videos. Here is a video made special for the blog.



Yes, I have a Vita and I really like it even though it doesn't have a killer app yet. I am anxiously awaiting the release of Gravity and hope it will fill the open world niche that keep me obsessed with games such as Skyrim or GTA. I will say that Uncharted is nearly as good as it's console counterparts, if less cinematic and being able to download psp games and assign camera controls to the right stick makes those games so much better. Also the sticks totally destroy the 3DS's circle pad by a factor of 10. Really they are that much better. Come over to my house and I'll let you compare the circle pad pro to the stock Vita and I am sure you will agree.

More Neo Geo portable news

http://kotaku.com/5893761/the-new-neo-geo-handheld-goes-on-sale-very-soon

Neo Geo Portable on the Horizon

Unless you are Nintendo, Sony or an unknown company from China building an android based curiosity there is a lot new in the portable dedicated game machine market right now. The rather weak 3DS launch and pessimism about the Vita are for sure keeping any other contenders out of the market. This makes the appearance of a new device from an old favorite even more surprising. Though it has not been officially announced pictures and rather strong rumors of the device, a new Neo Geo Portable, have surfaced. The rumors started with a post including pictures of the device from Famicom Plaza. The device is rumored to come preloaded with 20 classic arcade games including such classics as King of Monsters, Metal Slug and Samurai Shodown. Based upon the quality of the Neo Geo Pocket and SNK's prior consoles I expect this will be a quality retro game portable.

Here are the specs as best as can be gleaned:

• 170 x 72 x 15mm

• 4.3-inch screen

• 2GB of internal memory

• SD card slot,

• four face buttons

• four shoulder buttons

• Console style control stick

• 2200mAh rechargeable battery

Here's the list of games rumored to come with the device:

• World Heroes

• Ultimate 11

• Top Player's Golf

• Sengoku

• Nam-1975

• Mutation Nation

• Last Resort

• King of Monsters

• Frenzy

• Cyber Lip

• Fatal Fury Special

• Art of Fighting

• Super Sidekicks

• League Bowling

• Metal Slug

• Magical Lord

• Baseball Stars Professional

• Samurai Shodown

• King of Fighters '94

• Fatal Fury

I'll update when I find out more.

Free WiFi for 3DS at Major Airports

Contributed By Guest Blogger: Ryan Franklin

There’s no better place to play around with your 3DS than at an airport, while you’re waiting for your delayed flight. Until recently, however, you weren’t able to connect wirelessly to the Internet on your 3DS at any major airport. This was a major buzz kill if you wanted to play some multi-player online games or download new stuff to your 3DS. Fortunately, Nintendo and Boingo just announced today that you are now able to connect to WiFi connections at 42 major North American airports. And you’ll be able to do this for free! This means that you’ll have endless opportunities to do just about anything you want to on our favorite handheld console while you wait for your plane.

Nintendo hasn’t released an official list with the names of the 3DS WiFi compatible airports. MTV.com reports that New York JFK, Houston George Bush Intercontinental, and Chicago O’Hare airports will all be offering WiFi services for 3DS. If you want to see whether your 3DS will be able to connect to WiFi at an airport near you, you can find out on Nintendo.com’s hotspot locator. This locator provides you with a chance to discover all of the 3DS WiFi hotspots near you, including those that may be at your local airport.

As 3DS consoles become more popular, we can only hope that we’ll be able to use them to connect to free WiFi networks all over the place. Perhaps Nintendo will release a statement soon about being able to access WiFi connections at Greyhound bus stations or train stations. Until then, we can only hope that we’ll be able to connect to the Internet from our 3DS consoles at more places like coffee shops and grocery stores.

Author’s Bio: Ryan is a guest post writer on the subjects of handheld gaming consoles, technology, and finding Dell coupons for deals. In his spare time, he writes for the Blog Content Guild.