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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.
They are still not complying with the GPL. The modified source to MPlayer is still missing. Their last kernel release was missing i2c modules. Source releases have been repeatedly late and incomplete. I am getting incredibly frustrated with GamePark and their repeated GPL non-compliance.
They're trying. They made a stupid move by outsourcing the Linux development to an idiot company that doesn't understand GPL, but they're trying to make up for that by releasing source code when they can. We should be happy when they release source code, because that's what we want, instead of bitch and bitch until they give up, port BSD to the damned thing and then never give us any source code again. Stay patient. They're trying.
"What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
Yeah, let them port BSD to it -- we still need the source to what they've already released with Linux. They'll also have to find something other than mplayer to use, or give us mplayer source.
Really, how hard is it to release source? You act as if this takes more than setting up a torrent. How is it that they can be "trying" and not succeeding? How do you try and fail to release source?
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
If I understand correctly, aren't the hardware specs open?
If so, is there even a need for the missing source code? With the hardware specs available, (I don't know if they actually are), it should be possible to re-implement the entire system from scratch, if need be. (Yes, extra, unnecessary work, but at least possible.)
It would be cool to have all the source, but even if some of it is missing (for shame!), it doesn't really restrict the use of the device, right? Because someone can always, for example, do their own port of MPlayer instead of using the one it comes with.
On a side note, I think this device is fantastic and I have been really considering getting one... but there are a few missing features that make it just short of perfect for me.
I wish it had an easier way to implement USB host mode so I could attach, for example, a USB audio interface. As it is, you have to buy some extra external cable for using USB devices with it.
Also I wish it had a line-in so I could use it for recording music. (I suppose the USB host would fix this!? But is it fast enough for USB audio?)
Also I wish it had some sort of networking ability, instead of just showing up as a USB storage device. Built-in wireless, for example.
(Again I suppose this could be accomplished via the USB host, if it was built-in.. but it would be even nicer if you didn't have to add anything.)
However, being open, this device already offers me way more possibilities than the PSP or the DS! (Hm, except the new Mario game, which I'm dying to try... damn!) I really would love to try one, if I had an extra $200 sitting around. (plus $40 for the USB host interface..., etc., etc) However with these deficiencies.. it makes me kind of want to wait for the next version to come along.
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.
Have you ever heard of Google? It's this great search tool for the World Wide Web. http://www.gp2x.com/
There's this fantastic modern invention called "google"... http://gp2x.co.uk/
I remember seeing the GP2X mentioned on slashdot many months ago. My iPAQ broke three weeks ago, and I was looking for something to play games on (yeah, I stopped using it as a PDA.) I just remembered about the GP2X yesterday and bought one... and now this article comes up. Now I really can't wait to get it!
There are two types of people in the world: those who divide people into two types and those who don't.
They're not trying that hard. As far as I know, they're still distributing MPlayer without the source, which is a violation of the GPL. They should stop doing that immediately. I don't buy this, "We should be happy..." stuff because it makes no sense. We don't have to be grateful to them if they do what they are legally obliged to do. And they're not doing it anyway.
I speak as a person who has a GP2X and who is very fond of it.
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
I've ported one of my games which I'd written with the SDL, but I wouldn't say it's for the general public yet:
- I had to take the unit apart to get one of the speakers working (and solder it back on).
- The memory card supplied with it didn't work properly
- The headphone socket doesn't appear to work at all
- The joystick's very dicky.
- The build quality isn't the highest.
- There's a slight lack of coherence between the applications.
- The top buttons are too easy to press accidentally.
Apart from that, not too bad. Price should be a bit lower with more sales.
Have you ever heard of journalism? I haven't, except for high school classes which mentioned something about Who, What, When, Where and Why. You shouldn't have to fucking search for what the hell an article is about. The links don't lead to anything informative -- even the link to Gizmos fnord Geeks is to its homepage, which now features a GPS for golfers.
It's a bullshit excuse for a story, and it makes people angry because of the ineptitude of the editor who fnord posted it.
#19845
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.