Stellardawn Will Be On Panasonic Jungle Portable

Panasonic has begun inviting registered users in the United States to try out its upcoming Jungle portable game system, according to reports.

Users that signed up for updates on the official Jungle site were contacted with an e-mail offer to sign up and test the still-mysterious handheld device, Bloomberg reports.

“We know other companies out there have traditional hand-held gaming covered,” Panasonic said in the e-mail. “We’re doing something very different.”

First unveiled last month, the Jungle sports a full QWERTY keyboard, a touchpad, dual d-pad controls, shoulder buttons and a high-resolution display in a clamshell design, according to a video announcement.

More detailed specifications for the device are not known, but Panasonic says the unit will be focused on online gaming, with support for Bigpoint's upcoming Battlestar Galactica MMO and Runescape being promoted on the system's official web site. 

In the U.S., the Jungle is being pushed by Panasonic Cloud Entertainment Company, an offshoot of the Japanese electronics giant that released the ill-fated 3DO home console in 1993. 

In a recent opinion piece, Gamasutra's Chris Morris predicted the Jungle would compare unfavorably to existing laptops and netbooks for gamers looking to play online games on the go.

Confirmed SD Beta rumours

Mod Mark Gerhard, the head of Jagex mods, said that StellarDawn will undergo beta testing phase before the winter of 2010.

StellarDawn Beta

StellarDawn beta is now available for signing up on. Head over to the official site, StellarDawn.com to register for the beta.

Analyzing StellarDawn's waterfall concept art

Let's take a look at this concept art for StellarDawn. It shows flying vehicles, probably capable of carrying just one person. Also you can see in the background a second flying vehicle which may have a larger capacity. The structures in front of the waterfall appear to be a futuristic hydro-electric dam. You can see vents where water is gushing out each structure is connected by a wire. In the center is a control tower.

StellarDawn gameplay trailer video

This is a trailer released today for StellarDawn fans.

WoL announced by Jagex

War of Legends is a strategic turn-based game being developed by Jagex and set for release in the spring of 2010.

StellarDawn Interview

StellarDawn Blog: Hey, thanks for joining us.

MMG: My pleasure.

StellarDawn Blog: We hear you've scrapped Mechscape aka StellarDawn.

MMG: That is not exactly true. We haven't scrapped anything.

StellarDawn Blog: Then?

MMG: We have scrapped Mechscape because there were creative differences and technical misinformations.

StellarDawn Blog: Wait a minute. Isn't Mechscape the same as StellarDawn?

MMG: Not really. Mechscape is the name of what we were working on before, and StellarDawn is the name of what we'll do now. StellarDawn is like a newer version of Mechscape.

StellarDawn Blog: You're confusing me. So what you're saying is that you scrapped Mechscape because it didn't live up to your standards and now you're calling the new version StellarDawn?

MMG: Yes.

StellarDawn Blog: What made you scrap Mechscape at this point?

MMG: We didn't like it. It didn't live up to our expectations.

StellarDawn Blog: Where were you during the past 2 or 3 years? Didn't you see Mechscape going off track? Why did you notice that Mechscape wasn't living up to your standards so late?

MMG: Next question please.

StellarDawn Blog: Okay... Some people are wondering if this whole story is even true. Some people think that Jagex's decision to rename Mechscape to Stellardawn and tell everybody that the game will be scrapped and redone is just a marketing scheme.

MMG: What do you mean "marketing scheme"?

StellarDawn Blog: Well, people obviously saw the leaked video of Mechscape, and it looked a lot like RuneScape. You've been saying that Mechscape will be totally unique from Runescape.

MMG: We didn't exactly say that...

StellarDawn Blog: So it sounds like a PR scheme to make people think that the crappy game we saw in the leaked video is Mechscape and that you'll give us something new called StellarDawn.

MMG: See, Jagex is fond of surprises. We want to give our users a great big surprise when StellarDawn is launched. We don't want their surprise to be tarnished by any ... preconceptions.

StellarDawn Blog: So it's true. You just want people to be excited about the game and not remember any leaked videos of "Runescape in space".

MMG: Yes.

StellarDawn Blog: ... Thank you, MMG.

MMG: Your very welcome.