The Portable Linux Based GP2X is Here 232
An anonymous reader writes "Today sees the opening of the Official GP2X Site where you can see the new console from Gamepark.com, who last brought you the GP32 a fantastic console for homebrew developers. This console is a major step up with Dual 200Mhz cpus and is basically a Portable Linux handheld that can easily do ports like Quake, Doom and Emulators like Mame. Its Open Source SDK gives all amateur and commercial Developers the ablity to release software on a brand new console like the old Amiga/Commodore 64 days. More screenshots of the GP2X can be found at GP2x news."
Pre-orders are already being taken... (Score:5, Informative)
Borked link (Score:2, Informative)
US Pre-orders? (Score:2)
Peripherals (Score:2)
Re:Peripherals (Score:2)
Capacity? (Score:2, Informative)
I do realize there are games that are less than a gig, but does this have a realistic chance of becoming a mass market item?
Re:Capacity? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Capacity? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Capacity? (Score:4, Informative)
The theoretical limit of the format is 4 GB without formatting. Nowadays, it is commonplace to find 1 GB flash cards, or even 2 GB cards, but quite pricy (~60 $ per GB). Read-only cards, when produced in large quantities, would probably be less expensive.
I do realize there are games that are less than a gig
The size of a game doesn't make its quality. And we're still talking about portable games, where the UMD is the largest format to date, with only 1.8 GB...
Re:Capacity? (Score:2)
Re:Capacity? (Score:2)
Re:Capacity? (Score:2)
Realistically, SD sizes aren't likely to be a drawback. As an example, my entire Thief2 installation, including the unofficial T2X mod (which is a bit uneven, but really amazing for a fan remake), weighs in at about 1.8 gigs. That's voice, movies, and e
Re:Capacity? (Score:3, Informative)
DS games are only 256MB max (Score:3, Informative)
Half-Life 2 (Score:2)
Most XBox/PS2 games I've played have very nice pre-rendered cinematics. HL2's "cinematics" are all very simple and animated real-time.
I'm guessing it's got to do with resource management.
Oh, and by the way, if it's supposed to be portable, why do you want to play more than Quake on it?
Re:Half-Life 2 (Score:2)
They could have saved some space by compressing assets, however uncompressed files lead to faster loading and lower CPU usage. On a PC game, this is an acceptable tradeoff.
Textures and sound account for about 2GB out of that 3GB, so if we assume that texture and audio compression would have netted a 50% size reduction, the game would indeed cut down to 1.3GB, which would fit on a 2GB SD card. However, it is important to keep in mind that the GP2X has a slow CPU (
Re:Half-Life 2 (Score:2)
"Where are we going to free up 80MB (!) just to install this thing!?"
Battery Life (Score:3, Insightful)
I think it would be fantastic to see this take off, perhaps it could jumpstart open source games. (yeah yeah insert comment about Tuxracer)
Re:Battery Life (Score:5, Informative)
"It takes 2 AA batteries, but gives you 6 - 10 hours from them. No need to worry about having to recharge when outside. Everywhere has AA batteries."
Re:Battery Life (Score:3, Funny)
um.. (Score:2, Interesting)
they went from a 4inch screen to a 3.5 inch one. screen res went down and they took out the wireless.
Re:um.. (Score:2, Informative)
I like big screens too. I read a review the other on the gb micro that just came out and while the guy said the screen is a lot nicer rpgs are difficult becausethe text is too small. I mainly play rpgs so I think I'll be giving that one a miss and sticking with the sp. the gp2x looks appealing though.
Awesome (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Awesome (Score:2)
Oh, wait...no it isn't. Why is it better, again?
Re:Awesome (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Awesome (Score:2)
Also, my car doesn't have an outlet. And I don't neccesarily want to buy and carry around a car adapter for all my electronics.
Re:Awesome (Score:2)
Damn, this does look cool... but Actually, I'm not so hot for AA's, since standard AA's aren't recylable, and NiMH rechargeables have bad power curves and frequent charge requirements.
However, if the AA case happens to support CR-V3 batteries, then I could add a rechargeable CR-V3 [steves-digicams.com] Lithium-Ion... which would probably take the battery life to stratospheric heights... not to mention the incredible shelf-life of lithium.
Re:proprieatary batteries? (Score:2)
Got a cell phone? Open the battery compartment. Does it have AAs, or is it a proprietary battery form factor?
Got an SP or a DS? Ditto.
Got an iPod? That's one of the worst cases.
Laptops are bad about this, too.
NiMH AAs all the way for simple consumer electronics... (preferably with a built-in NiMH/NiCad charge circuit, though, so I don't have to take them out if I don't want to)
Re:proprieatary batteries? (Score:2)
NiMH is vulnerable to the memory effect, but that's probably not a problem for a game system that you charge then fully discharge. They also have less energy density than lithium ion or lithium polymer. They also have a serious size limitation. A lithium polymer battery can be made any shape you want - an AA battery is a fixed size and shape (and a lot of the volume is casing). I'd much rather go with built-in lithium-polymer batteries with the opti
Re:proprieatary batteries? (Score:2)
Resolution (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Resolution (Score:5, Informative)
Yes that's right, this handheld can connect to the TV, console style. Watch your DivX movies on the TV. Play emulated classics on the TV. Try big screen Quake. Or just play them all on the GP2X's large 320*240 backlit screen. You get the best of both worlds.
Re:Resolution (Score:3, Informative)
For example, as divx players for the TV, they cannot manage every resolution, they have a top one.
You'll see the films and games in 320x480
Where is it? (Score:2)
How can I get an emulator and, if possible, a developer preview?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Dual 200Mhz, is it enough? (Score:3, Informative)
Of course, when he later downloaded GLQuake it ran like an aboslute dog without a 3d accelerator card, but that's a different story...
Re:Dual 200Mhz, is it enough? (Score:5, Informative)
the cache alone makes an enormous difference, the out of order execution on top of that results in a cpu which is about 50% faster than the strongarm right off the bat.
not to mention -- much of doom was hand coded x86 assembly. the zaurus arm port obviously can't use that, and afaik no arm assembly equivalents have been written so the doom port uses straight C.
Re:Dual 200Mhz, is it enough? (Score:2)
As for running Quake, I have a P120 laptop which does that just fine. No, not GLQuake, but at 320x240, who cares?
Re:Dual 200Mhz, is it enough? (Score:3, Funny)
Not enough (Score:2)
Re:Not enough (Score:3, Insightful)
Bear in mind what a lot of people are saying about the PSP: "Okay, there's no games on it apart from half a dozen identical racers, but it's really cool for running homebrew software! I hope I don't have to upgrade to firmware 1.50 and break all my emulators!"
This GP2X? It's half the price of a PSP, and while it doesn't have the racing games, it does have the cast-iron guarantee that the company that makes
Re:Not enough (Score:3, Insightful)
it's called Arbitrary Code Execution.
you wouldn't call programs written by non-corporate people as "homebrew", would you?
they're all just programs but full access to those devices are willfully denied to you, the true owner of the product. using legal and technical means to remove property rights is immoral and unethical.
if you want to rent devices, then call it renting and treat it accordingly. but if you sell something the
Doom? The game from the 386 era (Score:2)
Quake might be a little bit different but lets not also forget that this screen is an awfull lot smaller then even my monitor was at the time. Still I had some pretty good matches on a 90mhz pentium and that was with bloated NT sucking up resources in the background.
No 2x200mhz is a lot of power for old games. Wether it can equal the PSP I am not going to debate. This thing is a lot cheaper an
Re:Doom? The game from the 386 era (Score:2)
Yes, Yes, and More Yes (Score:2)
My GP32 *already* runs Doom II at full speed (60fps), and it can play Quake at maybe 5-8 fps. That's with a single CPU @ 166MHz.
This new one has 2 x 200MHz ones.
Some other things the lowly GP32 could do:
Near perfect emulation of NES, Genesis, TurboGrafix16, and numerous others. Playable (but somewhat slow) SNES emulation. Many other systems emulated to various degr
Re:Dual 200Mhz, is it enough? (Score:2)
Which goes to my idea. An ARM virtual machine. Should work fine, seeing as this has an ARM9-class CPU, which supports all of the instructions of the ARM7 in the GBA, IIRC.
So, only the graphics hardware, controls, and I/O would be emulated. The processor wouldn't be emulated at all.
I think someone needs to get out more... (Score:2)
No open source drivers (Score:2)
Usually SD slots can be used with open mmc cards.
Poor choice of storage...
Re:No open source drivers (Score:4, Interesting)
It might be possible to lock content on an SD card so that it wasn't accessible from Linux, but one you purchased blank and formatted yourself isn't going to give you any problems.
Re:No open source drivers (Score:2)
Re:No open source drivers (Score:3, Informative)
Support's built right into the kernel. Plug it in, wham, it works. No hassle. Each slot looks like a different SCSI device. I've used it for both CF and SD and it works fine.
Via VMWare, the built-in card-reader on my monitor also works perfectly with OpenBSD and with Linux, both for CF and
Re:No open source drivers (Score:2)
You mean it works as an mmc card, you can get open source mmc drivers, not open source sd drivers.
Re:No open source drivers (Score:3, Informative)
SD is better than MMC anyway... the MMC cards are so thin they're pretty f
Re:No open source drivers (Score:2)
"Like most memory card formats, SD is covered by numerous patents and trademarks, and licensing is only available through the Secure Digital Card Association. The SD Card Association's current licensing agreement does not allow for open-source SD drivers, a fact that generates a fair amount of consternation in the open-source and free software communities. The usual workaround is to develop an open-source wrapper for a closed-source SD driver available on the particular platform, but this is f
Re:No open source drivers (Score:3, Informative)
I did say, if you notice, that nothing uses the encryption capability of the card anyway. It doesn't *matter* what the internal protocol is, as long as it works to do what we want, which is store and retrieve data. I can take an SD card, plug it into an SD slot, and it just works. That's all I really need. You can think of SD as MMC in a better package, with a write-protect tab.
If they change the ru
Re:No open source drivers (Score:2)
I believe the deal was that no plain-vanilla MMC cards would be manufactured with a capacity greater than either 128 or 256MB. I don't know if that was a tacit agreement on the manufacturers' parts, or if that was just the point in the product's life when they switched over to SD
On the MMC Associat [mmca.org]
Re:No open source drivers (Score:2)
Re:No open source drivers (Score:2)
compact flash is cheaper and more robust and is free of Insidious Computing Inside. (pronounced icky).
so you support OPEN source but not OPEN hardware.
maybe you can change your alignment at a local shrine. i hear they don't charge for first timers.
it's not wise to prop up the rope companies who are looking to hang you.
Re:No open source drivers (Score:2)
I just don't see what the issue is here. This isn't Bitkeeper, where I'm using the product at the sufferance of an asshole. They can't take my cards away or make them stop working... so what's the problem
Re:No open source drivers (Score:2)
i'm just saying, in these, the DRM dark ages, we must be ever more vigilant. we have to make it far too costly for the DRM industry to keep making digital handcuffs.
every little bit helps but what helps the most is education. tell you family and friends, if given a choice, take compact flash over SD or sony "magic gate" type products. i mean you are certainly being charged for having those "features" in there yet you wil
Name issues (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Name issues (Score:2, Informative)
Additionally the model sold is black, although the pictures show the white model.
Mmmmm (Score:2)
Regent Street (Score:2)
Is this the same gadget that they have a store devoted to promoting? There was even a night club beneath the store with bouncers
portable PS is pretty big in the UK for 200 quid, don't know how well this thing will sell here...
Re:Regent Street (Score:2)
Come on guys (Score:2, Insightful)
Bonus 1 - the device runs linux
Bonus 2 - the architecture is open
Bonus 3 - the creators say they won't ruin homebrew
What if we code games/apps for this in a platform portable way? That could mean a bunch of new games (albeit old-style, but what's wrong with that?) for Linux.
For Sale??? (Score:2)
"Firefox users any problems please use Opera or Internet Explorer."
Jeez!
Re:For Sale??? (Score:3, Funny)
Items in cart: 2 x GP2X Console Value Pack
Total Items cost: £ 249.98
Shipping cost: £ 17.5 (International)
Total cost with shipping: £ 267.48
To pay please click proceed.
Firefox users any problems please use Opera or Internet Explorer."
official website??? (Score:5, Informative)
That's not the official GP2X website. That's the GBAX website, an online GP2X distributor. Hardcore-gamer [hardcore-gamer.com] is the distributor on spain.
Here [gpx2.com] is a list of official distributors.
The official website is still www.gpx2.com
The console will be released in october/november
Show me the schematics! (Score:2, Interesting)
Where can I find details?
Some questions that arise: Is that 'USB2' port just a cardreader for the SD card, in which case I'll probably leave it on the shelf, or is it a full USB2 host port that I can connect (externally powered) keyboards/mice/hard drives/... to?
Can it supply any power?
What's the power consumption idle with screen on, idle with screen off, idle with external screen on, playing m
Price (Score:2)
Re:I will buy one... (Score:2, Interesting)
I am picturing filling a 1gb card with a couple movies and music, and jumping on a 3 hour flight. I imagine games will also come in SD format.
Re: (Score:2)
Things aren't that simple... (Score:3, Informative)
You might want to be a little careful of this statement... You see, the company that you knew as Gamepark that made the original GP32 has since split up into two companies: "Gamepark Holdings" is the company that is working on the GP2X (Or GPX2 [gpx2.com], as some references call it... there was a contest to decide on a name, so there is some ambiguity). However the other company, known simply as "Gamepark" is working on a completely
Re:I will buy one... (Score:3, Interesting)
"homebrew" is a red herring. other manufacturers block access to your property through legal and technical means.
arbitrary code execution = "the right to read". that's the logical conclusion.
over the next 2-3 decades, DRM/Insidious Computing will creep its way through society (it's international) and will become more and more generally accepted.
enjoy these carefree days because your children won't be able to, not without paying a per-fee for ever
Re:So what? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:So what? (Score:2)
Re:So what? (Score:2)
dual 200MHz cpus? (Score:2)
I doubt it.
Re:Harddrive? (Score:5, Insightful)
1) HDDs have moving parts and are prone to failure in portable devices.
2) HDDs have moving parts requiring more power - a nono in a portable device.
3) SD == expandable - need more storage? Buy another card. You will be able to buy a 4Gig SD card next year for next to nothing.
Frankly, I think the lack of a HDD is a good thing - I would kill for a mp3 player with a CF slot....
Re:Harddrive? (Score:2, Funny)
Here [mp3playerstore.com] you go. I want my mother-in-law dead. Make it painful and slow.
Kidding aside, I've had one of these for about 18 months and I'm very happy with it.
Re:Harddrive? (Score:2)
Looks they sell them in Europe too
Re:Harddrive? (Score:2)
Well I didn't say who I would kill now did I? To clarify:
I would kill the first person to mention an ipod in reply to this comment for a mp3 player with a CF slot....
Re:Harddrive? (Score:2)
-russ
Re:Harddrive? (Score:2)
Re:Harddrive? (Score:2)
*shakes head*
Do you Apple Shills have some sort of rule that states every time there is a discussion about mp3 players you have to mention the ipod no matter how irrelevant?
Just so you know, HDD ipods are all but useless for jogging/mountain biking/any other sport with a bit of rough & tumble.
Most people I know with an ipod use it to carry their entire music collection to a party or whatnot (and plug it into a wall socket
price that low? I doubt it (Score:2)
The secret is that this device comes with only a 64mb card. Those are practically given away for free now. if you want more, you need to put up some extra money but it allows them to keep the machine itself pretty cheap.
Sony pulls the same stunt with the PSP, want to really play movies on it? Well then fork over an other 100 euro for a 1gb memory stick.
So I think that a lot of people wou
Re:Storage (Score:2)
Re:This does not make any business sense (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:This does not make any business sense (Score:2)
Re:This does not make any business sense (Score:2)
"What does a kid care about the OS? He wants something cool to play with!"
Show me the game you made on your PSP; 'Fun' and 'Making' are not mutually exclusive.
I think you've missed the point [gp32x.com] of this device - the successor of the hugely popular [google.com] GamePark 32 [gamepark32.co.uk].
Re:This does not make any business sense (Score:3, Insightful)
Personally, I'm more interested in this console than a PSP. An affordable handhold Linux system with USB and twin 200MHz processors does sound tempting. Shouldn't be too hard to get a terminal on this thing, and the USB connection opens up the possibility of buying a small keyboard for it.
Re:This does not make any business sense (Score:2)
Although the markets might have some overlap, they're not the same; the PSP has a fairly wide audience and is going to be sold in large numbers, its capabilities for the price are determined by a huge economy of scale. This device is aimed not at "kids," but at people who have a big interest in computers and Linux in general -- basically script kiddies, hackers, people who read Slashdot, etc. The numbers they seem to be going for in terms
Re:It's a scam (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Linux console? (Score:2)
Nearly no games? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:How does the XGP compare to this... (Score:4, Informative)
GamePark created the GP32. It didn't do so well, so they open-sourced it. Then it did pretty well, selling to hackers.
So then Gamepark wanted to make a successor. They argued over whether or not to make it open-source again.
They couldn't agree, so they split up into Gamepark & Gamepark Holdings.
GP went on to develop the XGP, a closed-source, high-powered console. GPH created the GP2X/GPX2, a less-powerful but open-source console.
They're both successors to the GP32, but very different concepts, made by two different companies.
Hope that helped. . .
Re:The real question is.. (Score:2)
Re:Lame video (Score:2)
What the hell -- are they not capable of producing an MP4? Or how about a good old AVI?
The one saving grace is that they don't use that abominable WMV3 codec, but still, the use of the format is completely unnecessary.
Re:WI-FI anyone??? (Score:2)
So the answer is currently no, but it seems that if the device sells well, that it won't be too long before someone comes up with a driver for the adaptors.
I admit, integrated WiFi in an open source type device like this would really be killer.
I wonder whether you can plug a bluetooth adaptor into the USB port and use that? In some older ga