What do you all think of the GP2X?

UndeadDC · Post by **UndeadDC** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 11:52 pm

I've been seeing it advertised on the homebrew site, and I have to say it looks very interesting. Much cooler than the overpriced crapwave.

http://www.gbax.com/main.pl

Mattiethomas · Post by **Mattiethomas** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:12 am

Looks pretty good. To bad I wont beable to afford.

Post by **Quzar** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:51 am

I want it badly. I'd love to whip up stuff for it, but w/e the DC is a harsh mistress.

TyBO · Post by **TyBO** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:57 am

I've been spending a lot of time reading the message boards over there and now I can't freeaking wait. I'll be able to play Genesis, SMS, GB/C, NES, MAME, and probably SNES anywhere I go. This device excites me in ways that previously only a female could.

Post by **Specially Cork** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 2:10 am

The hardware looks promising, but as its main draw will be the homebrew software, I think it would make a much better purchase sometime in the future rather than so early into release. Because by that time there should be some decent stuff to play on it.

atf487 · Post by **atf487** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 8:45 am

i really want one, but can't really afford something like that.

DaMadFiddler · Post by **DaMadFiddler** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 1:45 pm

I had a long conversation with Quzar about this the other day. He's a little bit more into it than I am, methinks...probably because he's a coder and I'm not. However, we both kind of came to a similar conclusion:

It's a great concept. It's a wonderful philosophy, and for the hardware, the price is not bad. On the downside, $180 is a hefty price for something that's probably going to be *only* homebrew and hobbyist programs. If you're a GP32 owner, and enjoyed that platform despite the virtual absence of commercial product, the 2X will probably foster a similar type of community. If that's not enough to justify a purchase for you, then the GBA and the DS are both cheaper and more portable (though more limited, in some respects), and have decent homebrew communities.

Personally, my ideal handheld lies somewhere in between this, the DS, and the Tapwave Zodiac. I like the technical design and business philosophy of the GP2X--the tech is pretty decent, the multimedia capabilities are great, I love the fact that it runs on standard batteries (rather than a custom pak or something built in), and the fact that it's an open platform is excellent. However, I like the physical design of the Zodiac better, as well as the PalmOS PDA functionality...and both the Zodiac and the DS have a major functional advantage over the 2X in the form of the touchscreen. I also wish there were a WiFi antenna (nothing fancy, an 802.11b would be more than sufficient) for multiplayer.

So: my ideal handheld would probably be something like a slightly oversized Zodiac, with Wifi instead of Bluetooth and AA batteries, and with the GP2x's hardware specs and open development approach. Having the kind of developer support enjoyed by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft would really help as well, though any of those companies would probably scoff at the notion of an intentionally open platform.

Post by **Quzar** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 1:53 pm

Well, odds are this will be able to emulate the GBA, so there goes your argument for getting a gba instead =P

Touchscreen and wireless would really make this near perfect for a handheld, but the problem is those are both very expensive things and would drive up the cost. In order to keep the price down then the specs would have to be lessened or whatnot =\. Maybe if GamePark sticks around to make a GP 3 it will be able to have these features for cheap.

UndeadDC · Post by **UndeadDC** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 2:32 pm

I would have liked to have seen dual analog sticks myself, and personally I prefer a more specific and rechargable power source (hopefully battery packs will be made for it). I would like something removable though. Being able to plug the system into the wall while you change out batteries would be extra sweet. I think I'll get one when I can get together enough money.

DaMadFiddler · Post by **DaMadFiddler** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 3:34 pm

[nods] Except you forget, dear Quzar, I try to keep everything legitimate. If I don't own a game by legal means, I am loathe to use a ROM image of it, unless it's completely impossible to obtain legitimately.

Also, the $180 of the GP2x is quite markedly different from the current $19.99 of the GBA at GameStop.com

And I understand why the GP2x does not have those features. I'm just saying: for that much money, without any major game developers, I'd want organizer (and, ideally, Internet) features. And without a touchscreen, that's not practical. Also, strategy games suck without a pointing-device interface

Post by **Specially Cork** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 3:52 pm

I couldnt compare the GP2X with the GBA. They are in completely different leagues in terms of technicality, and they both exist for different reasons.

Also, from a legit perspective a lot of your points are probably right, there would be very little game-wise to play on it. But, you'll be kidding yourself if you think anybody will be buying a GPX2 without the intention to emulate commercial roms on it, apart from perhaps developers-themselves who simply want a new format to make software on.

Post by **Quzar** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 5:55 pm

DaMadFiddler wrote:[nods] Except you forget, dear Quzar, I try to keep everything legitimate. If I don't own a game by legal means, I am loathe to use a ROM image of it, unless it's completely impossible to obtain legitimately.

Also, the $180 of the GP2x is quite markedly different from the current $19.99 of the GBA at GameStop.com

And I understand why the GP2x does not have those features. I'm just saying: for that much money, without any major game developers, I'd want organizer (and, ideally, Internet) features. And without a touchscreen, that's not practical. Also, strategy games suck without a pointing-device interface

GBA cart readers are very cheap and widespread, more so than any other system's.

But yea, the gba is a whole different deal. I guess I'll retract my bit about it replacing it, while the fact that it will probably emulate it stands.

Post by **melancholy** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 11:00 am

I want to update my PSP to 2.0, so I am heavily looking into the GP2X. How well do you think Genesis and SNES (and possibly GBA) emulators will run on the GP2X compared to how they run on a PSP now? Better or worse?

Post by **Quzar** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 1:36 pm

Better.

Strapping Scherzo · Post by **Strapping Scherzo** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 3:26 pm

Does the GP2X have hardware accelerated graphics? Or is at least the friggin frame buffer not a portrait orientation laid on its side? That really bugged me. I understand that they were using screens that would probably be in a PDA instead. Must have saved them money to use as many stock parts as possible. But man, that sucked for porting things over.

lynx44 · Post by **lynx44** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 5:20 pm

melancholy wrote:I want to update my PSP to 2.0, so I am heavily looking into the GP2X. How well do you think Genesis and SNES (and possibly GBA) emulators will run on the GP2X compared to how they run on a PSP now? Better or worse?

Well, Genesis already runs full speed, and the SNES is really close (most games do run full speed), so I'd say that at least with those two systems, they'll be the same. I think it'll take a while for both systems to fully emulate the GBA at full speed, but it'll probably be full speed on the PSP sooner simply because they've been coding it longer. They already have a port that runs maybe at half speed or better.

Besides, you can just use the downgrader on 2.0 to go back to 1.5, just don't upgrade any higher than 2.0.

-Matt

arrowhead · Post by **arrowhead** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:11 pm

It would be cool, but the resell value will be bad since it doesnt say sony on it. Melancholy, if I were you and you were going to buy a gp2x I would just buy a used psp. It is about the same price and you could always resell it even years down the line. Keep a 1.5 for homebrew and another one for updating firmware. If I come into some money thats what I will probably do. I really want to play GTA but I dont want to downgrade so until homebrew is on 2.0's or I can buy another one Im stuck I guess. NES emu is far more important to me than PSP games.

Post by **melancholy** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:14 pm

lynx44 wrote:Besides, you can just use the downgrader on 2.0 to go back to 1.5, just don't upgrade any higher than 2.0.

That won't be an option forever. GTA forces the owner to use 2.0 for the game to even run. Sure you can downgrade, but how long until another game maker forces an even newer update? This trend will just keep going, with each major game release requiring upgrades to new versions. You have to admit, Sony has a good chance of stomping out piracy yet with these forced upgrades.

arrowhead wrote:Melancholy, if I were you and you were going to buy a gp2x I would just buy a used psp. It is about the same price and you could always resell it even years down the line.

I have no intentions of ever selling any of my consoles, so resale does not concern me. However, how long will the homebrew scene continue on a system that keeps blocking it? Every time a person creates a new way of making homebrew run on a new version, Sony comes along and fixes it. This is just going to continue indefinately. But the GP2X was designed to run homebrew. It was created almost solely for that purpose, and because of this, offers all the development tools upfront. Wouldn't that mean that the GP2X could have content created for it faster than the PSP?

Strapping Scherzo · Post by **Strapping Scherzo** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 9:30 pm

melancholy wrote:
lynx44 wrote:Besides, you can just use the downgrader on 2.0 to go back to 1.5, just don't upgrade any higher than 2.0.
That won't be an option forever. GTA forces the owner to use 2.0 for the game to even run. Sure you can downgrade, but how long until another game maker forces an even newer update? This trend will just keep going, with each major game release requiring upgrades to new versions. You have to admit, Sony has a good chance of stomping out piracy yet with these forced upgrades.

arrowhead wrote:Melancholy, if I were you and you were going to buy a gp2x I would just buy a used psp. It is about the same price and you could always resell it even years down the line.
I have no intentions of ever selling any of my consoles, so resale does not concern me. However, how long will the homebrew scene continue on a system that keeps blocking it? Every time a person creates a new way of making homebrew run on a new version, Sony comes along and fixes it. This is just going to continue indefinately. But the GP2X was designed to run homebrew. It was created almost solely for that purpose, and because of this, offers all the development tools upfront. Wouldn't that mean that the GP2X could have content created for it faster than the PSP?

Theoretically, yes. But I don't think I saw so much homebrew get created as fast as it did for PSP. Just not that many people will get the GP2X, especially if it's not actually sold in US stores.

I think that Sony can definitely curb piracy of future titles with these quick firmware fixes and focing people to upgrade to play them.

However, there are plenty of people like myself who own a PSP solely for homebrew and emulation. I'm never upgrading my firmware, but I will also never have the intention of pirating commerical PSP games.

Now if Sony tries to somehow trick me into upgrading I'll be so mad.