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GP2X Surpasses Expectations
Harry Trotter writes "Gameparks GP2X Linux Based Console had a lot to live up to with Some amusing boasts from Gamepark, but it has lived up to its pre-billing rather well with great ports of commercial games and emulators such as Mame, Vice (Commodore 64), NeoGeo CD, Duke Nukem 3D, ScummVM and another 150 more releases so far, all of which can be followed at GP2X News & GP32 Xtreme. The Open Source Development of this console has ensured a following that will keep the console alive for years to come."
A friend bought one of these, and borrowed it for a couple of days. You get something like three hours when you watch movies (DIVX), and the thing looks like it skips some frames. Don't really know, but it's looks like that. Also, the emulators are very unfinished. SNES lacks sounds, many lack good interfaces. Some readme's are in Korean, and you need to install some kind SDL libs for some emulators. Didn't say that in the docs. Or is my Korean that bad? ;) Still waiting for hardware accelerated SDL to surface.
I'd love to buy one, but currently the machine is lacking software. Very badly. Give it software and I'll buy one asap!
As a new GP2X owner, I can answer some of these questions.
;)
1. Is it Mac compatible? I assume it is just a basic Mass Storage device on the USB chain.
You assume correctly. An SD card is required though.
2. Does anyone have a link to the actual technical specs? I can't find anything on that site about the tech specs, other than the ARM processors.
links to tech specs (gp2x wiki)
3. How bright is the screen and how do they get 10 hours out of 2 AA batteries?
The screen is bright enough. It's similar to the original GBA SP screen (though it looks horrible currently - I assume this can be fixed with firmware upgrades). Also, they don't get 10 hours of battery life. They promise to somehow increase it with firmware upgrades (by reducing processor utilization, I believe)
The rest I can't answer - but for #7. Too bad I own one already.
Reality is fluffy!
Just a fair warning for anyone thinking about buying one. I've got one, and it's a great device, but it sucks up batteries like nothing else. The day I got mine, I put in the set of batteries that came with it, and they lasted me less than 2 hours. I threw some brand new duracell batteries in, those lasted about an hour and a half as well. I ended up buying some 2500mah recharagable batteries the day after I got the device, because it really does need them. With those I get battery life around 4 hours, which includes the fact that I'm turning it on and off every 5 minutes or so to test a game I've been trying to port. The popular import store Lik-Sang isn't selling them at this point because of minor issues like that. (That, and it's fairly easy to brick them upgrading the firmware) So if you're thinking of getting one, be prepared with good batteries or an AC adapter. :-)
I've got a GP2X and I have just started developing with it. It's a nice piece of kit. The hardware is pretty nice and the software coming out of the GP2X community is amazing. But I'd caution anyone who was thinking of buying it. It is not a PSP or a DS. It will never have super-fancy commercial titles released for it.
If you are a gamer, buy a DS or a PSP. You'll get better games and have more fun. If you want to program games/apps for an embedded system, buy a GP2X. We have good down-to-earth programmers who write games/apps for the love of it, and not because they think they'll "break in" to the games industry. You can test out new games ideas, port currently existing games and apps or write your own. It's very fun, but it isn't for everybody.
So if you are thinking of buying a GP2X, please consider if you really want it. It's a great machine but it's not for everybody. You might be better off with a DS or a PSP.