Adding hardware to GP32

[taras]

Not that I'm against keyboards, extra buttons etc (as discussed elsewhere) - they would be cool. It's just that adding new hardware seems a bit pointless to me.

Not everyone will have the extra hardware, and a lot of people will be reluctant to buy/build it. Developers won't bother making extra features for hardware that either they don't have, or that very few others have.

I always thought the beauty of console development was that you knew exactly the platform you were coding for, and that everyone's would be exactly the same.

 

[Arda]

Yes, I agree that extra buttons are pointless. But a standardized mini-keyboard can be useful for adventure/strategy gamers and developers. I hope gamepark releases a mini-keyboard for gp32.

 

[ralp99]

another vote for no extra crap (ram, buttons, keyboards, etc) -- kind of defeats the purpose of having a "portable" system you can stick in your back pocket!
i agree, the system needs more: well, make another system. if you want all this crap, buy a PDA or a laptop or whatever. GP32 is GP32 and that's fine with me, if it's not got enough ram to run all the Neo Geo games then too bad, hopefully we can get the SNES and genesis versions running instead (a few of those games were ported) Upper end mame stuff will probably not run either, etc. etc. let's just get all the 8-bit stuff working, hopefully more of the 16-bit stuff, and I'll be happy as a clam.

let's not forget all that's been developed and all the potential we have without having to get all frankensteiny here. Hell, I still don't even want to flash my firmware!

 

[woogal]

Modding hardware is usually done for fun, not for people to actually use. It's to do with the challange of getting something working when everyone says it isn't possible. No-one is forcing you to use their mods

 

[NssOne]

I, unfortunately, don't see trying to add a couple of buttons to the GP32 pointless. Main reason for me is if a Genesis emulator ever gets finished/released. And the SNES emulator is pointless to me also when you don't have all 6 buttons to use for it. Hell, it would be nice to have an extra 2 buttons on it, cuz then it'll actually seem like an SNES controller. I guess I'm biased considering I'm looking into adding an extra 2 buttons to GP32.

 

[Hawkez]

If you are talking about comercial add on products then yeah, they are not a good idea. None had ever worked. Companies do not want to develop for an add on that not many people have. The only good ones I can think of are like the Super Gameboy or the GBA player for gamecube. No one has to develop anything for them, they just play another nintendo products games. Now for home brew or hacking add ons could be cool. If someone comes up with a game thjat requires some add on and then tells you how to build the add on etc. that would be cool.

 

[khephren]

'by developers' I assume you mean commercial software developers? If so,your right, they wouldn't. But there are hardly any of those anyway. But emulator authors would, and considering a lot of EMU's are computer based/or emulate machines with more buttons than the GP it would be a good idea. I expect one person would write a library to access the mod, and then all the other authors would use that code. It wouldn't have to ba a commercial creation either- just some other manufacter's keyboard with a GP plug on the end. To be honest, the reason I bought the GP was for homebrew stuff, both hardware and software. If it was commercial stuff on a stable platform I was interested in, i'd have bought a GBA.

 

[NssOne]

Man, this whole whole 'adding peripherals won't work' thing is really depressing to hear. I don't think people should come on here and then put down everybody's hopes by saying "It just won't work." That'd be like saying that a full SNES or Genesis emu with full sound and speed just won't happen, even though the GP32 is obviously capable of it. I personally don't want to hear anymore of this crap where people say feasible projects won't work, so I plan on ignoring any more posts like this one here.