Panasonic Jungle
Image: Panasonic

Someone is trying to get a whopping $45,000 USD for a non-working Panasonic Jungle handheld.

If you haven't heard of this particular device, don't feel too bad. Announced in 2010, this clamshell-style handheld system looked like a small laptop but was intended as a portable platform for MMO titles; indeed, Battlestar Galactica Online was one of the first games confirmed for the device (Stellar Dawn and RuneScape are the only other known confirmed titles).

Panasonic even established a new U.S. subsidiary, Panasonic Cloud Entertainment, to support the Jungle, which would retail for $249.99 for the WiFi model and $349.99 for the 3G edition.

While solid technical details are hard to come by, the Linux-based Jungle offered a full gaming interface and a QWERTY keyboard, as well as a 720p display. It even had a secondary monochrome display, which looks similar to the one on the Dreamcast VMU memory cards.

Given the projected release window of 2011, it would have been going up against the Nintendo 3DS and Sony PS Vita ā€“ but Panasonic dropped the console in March of that year, stating that it had "decided to suspend further development due to changes in the market and in our own strategic direction."

Despite the swift death of the console, it has become clear that development units were in the field, and Digital Eclipse and Other Ocean boss Mike Mika has recently stated that he almost ported World of Warcraft to the machine:

Had it been released, the Jungle would have marked Panasonic's third venture in the video game market, having been one of the key players in the development of the 3DO and its unreleased successor, the M2 ā€“ and the company behind the Panasonic Q, a rebadged GameCube that could play DVDs. The 3DO was a commercial bomb, and in all honesty, it's hard to imagine the Jungle would have been any different.

"This is the unreleased Panasonic Jungle," reads the eBay description. "It was never sold to the public and now only a few of these are known to exist. It does not come with a battery or any charging cord, so it will not power on. It is in nice cosmetic condition. Please see the photos and contact me with any questions. Signature will be required for delivery. Thank you!"

A previous eBay listing from 2019 had the machine at $9,499.99, although it doesn't seem like that asking price was met.

This article was originally published by nintendolife.com on Thu 11th June, 2020.