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Official GP2X SDK Released
gizmateer writes "According to Gizmos for Geeks, GamePark Holdings, Inc. has officially released the GP2X SDK. The GP2X source is available for Windows and Linux developers on the GP2X site. If you need more library source, GPH provides the contact dev@gp2x.com and GPH will provide it on the developers' forum. GPH mentions that you can get most of the library from the Internet, as Dev-C++ for GP2X was coded with the source code which is already opened on the Internet. The GP2X makers have gone a long way since being accused of not understanding the GPL."
The GP2X makers have gone a long way since being accused of not understanding the GPL.
Actually, they still don't understand it. MPlayer is embedded in the GP2X firmware in a modified version (using the custom mpeg decoding hardware), but no source code for it has been released.
Maybe they'd get more support if articles like this posted a little more information. I DON'T KNOW WHAT GP2X IS!
My friend calls it a "Linux Gameboy". It's a handhead game device that takes SD cards and play homebrew games and roms. It also plays movies and shows pictures, and whatever else people can make it do.
Links: http://www.gp2x.com/ http://wiki.gp2x.org/
"What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
The MK2 version of the hardware just came out in the last month, as well as a massive firmware update, which fixes pretty much every problem you had. Actually, the second revision of the MK1 fixed most of them.
The link that SHOULD be included in every future GP2X news item is Here. An avid member of the GP2X community has written an amazing review of pretty much everything the GP2X can do at present with the included software, many homebrew applications, and various linux applications. It covers native games[1], homebrew linux games, emulators running many consoles up to the SNES/PSX era, and media applications. It includes pictures and screenshots of the unit doing its various things. Also included is a *VIDEO* of the unit in action, showing just how well it emulates various systems at present[2] and runs various ported games (ultima 7 and duke nukem 3d are shown. not shown is a nice working Quake 1 port).
Read the review. Watch the video. Then buy a GP2X since you will be convinced. I ordered mine yesterday and plan to use it primarily as a media player[3] but also as a gaming console via emulators and native games.
[1] - Commercial developers are porting GBA and other similar-requirement games directly to the GP2X, they boot directly into the game software with no OS. Check out screenshots and videos of Payback for the GBA and then imagine the same game at 2x the resolution with 4xAA and network support.
[2] - Most available emulators are ports of existing emulators written for x86 Linux. This means they need new emulation cores written in ARM asm to run well, and they need massive changes to utilize the GP2X's dual core ARM architecture.
[3] - The GP2X can decode divx, among other codecs. It can output to a TV at 720p HD, an amazing feature for a handheld media player, or just display at QVGA on the internal lcd. I have a 4GB SD card to fill with movies to watch on the go, and plan to put a 400GB external USB hard drive under the seat in my car to house my movie/mp3 collection to play through this device.