The Jungle Is Testing The Waters

Panasonic's mysterious The Jungle handheld (yes, it's The Jungle, not just Jungle) is about to begin testing with consumers in the US, according to Bloomberg. If you were one of the people signed up on their website, you may have gotten an email... wow, Christmas comes early, doesn't it?

Panasonic has still not revealed any more information about the handheld device. Of course not; that would be telling. Better to have a cloud of expectations rather than hard facts. It's mysterious and murky, like a real jungle. Or maybe it's like watching a car crash in slow motion... Panasonic continues to provide lessons in how not to launch a product.

Oh, wait, here I am talking about it! More press is good, right? Somehow I don't think my comments will be causing people to rush out and buy this thing... if they ever will be able to buy one, that is.

I guess I just have a fondness for the oddball devices that have littered the roadside of the gaming industry... Gizmondo, Phantom, N-Gage, Virtual Boy... It always amazes me to see millions of dollars spent on something that just doesn't seem to have a chance. THough at least all of these other devices had a cooler name than The Jungle...