Craigix Discloses Information On New Gp2x?

[cappuchok]

Please excuse me if this post seems to drag on a bit...

Even though I just recently jumped on the GP2X train and might think the shelf life of this unit will be somewhat short, I'm very excited about what's being described in this thread. As described so far (taking into account only things said by craigix and other distributors) this device will easily be head and shoulders above all the other handheld consoles in terms of power and flexibility. :blink:

If this isn't some elaborate (and horribly cruel) joke by craigix, Squidge and ED, and the unit really is in development, I'm all for it. Being raised on the Amiga, I'm used to sacrificing backward-compatibility for new features, so if this unit isn't very compatible with existing compiled GP2X software, I won't lose any sleep over it (as I'll still have my GP2X around). And if it means the unit can run fullspeed Amiga, SNES and PSX (shoulder buttons, we need more shoulder buttons!), and a more recent build of MAME, that's all I could ever ask for (as we already have fullspeed NeoGeo and Genesis). Also, it should give ample opportunity for DOSbox to perform well.

If it will have SDHC support and a 640x480 touchscreen (as hinted) it'll be the ultimate ScummVM handheld, and with built-in Wi-Fi (I'll settle for .11g) I can only imagine the endless possibilities (wireless networked NeoGeo, oh my!). I might just reconsider buying a PDA and go for this instead. I don't care much for 3D in a handheld, but if it'll help PSX emulation and maybe even enable a Quake III port, I'll be happy accepting a slight battery time hit (my current 2700 mAh batteries give me 3-7 hours of GP2X bliss depending on over-/underclocking, and if this unit runs on (off-the-shelf) li-ion cells and is easily under-/overclocked as needed, I can imagine the battery drain won't be much of a problem compared to today).

I do hope that this unit will be of good build quality (a required trait for any handheld device) and also have USB 2.0 host support and a TV-out chip that can output proper RGB-SCART signals (a must-have for the European market, as it enables arcade-exact output for MAME on European TV sets!), complemented by a properly designed and implemented cradle that can power the unit as well as attached USB devices so it doesn't have to run on batteries while docked.

As for the rest of the (wished-for) features in this thread, I don't believe a battery-powered unit could sustain HDTV (MPEG-4 H.264) decoding today, I'll be happy (and surprised) if it even supports USB 2.0 DVB adapters (SDTV MPEG-2).

But please, there's one thing I don't want or need in a handheld, and that is micro/mini-SD as a storage device. Regular SD cards are already small enough (handling-wise)... plus of course all my other devices take regular-size SD cards as well so I've amassed quite a few of them.

I could care less about a pretty menu or packaging system, as someone will probably write replacement menus anyway and I'm perfectly comfortable using tar.gz or zip files, but it's great to know it'll still run on Linux (2.6 kernel, please!) and hopefully we won't have to see the GPL violations debate this time around.

I for one know that if this device hits the market, I'll be buying one ASAP regardless of my GP2X not being old or useless yet. If it doesn't cost a lot more than a GP2X, all the better.

Also, I have no expectations that this unit will be perfect by any means (for instance, it seems it won't have an analogue stick so I'd forget N64 being "playable" even if the emulation was fast enough), nor did I expect this from the GP2X (it has certainly delivered everything I expected of it, mainly a fullspeed portable Genesis). But I have no doubt the new device, if released in a timely fashion but not prematurely, will offer a lot more than the GP2X can today, so I'll settle for that and hope it doesn't have too many flaws.

 

[jmetal88]

But please, there's one thing I don't want or need in a handheld, and that is micro/mini-SD as a storage device. Regular SD cards are small enough (handling-wise)...

I hear you there. Micro SD cards come with an adapter anyway, don't they? At least in retail packaging, I mean, not sure about bulk. So people wanting that feature could just leave the adapter in all the time.

 

[Rivroner]

Only 2 questions

Will have the new device 4 extra buttons for better N64 gameplay (for instance)?

SNES special chips games like FX(Starfox, StuntRace) is running fast?

Thank you for the answers

Answers?

 

[earx]

i don't mind the hype. the GP series are machines for geeks, anyway. they should know what's realistic and what's not. but indeed i think the GP2X deserves a year or two extra. i still use my PS2 and it's a design from 2001.. Anyway, december as a goal sounds nice. But you could use some extra time to realise additional features and squash bugs. but i really like the fact that prototypes are delivered to developers early on. that's the way it should be =)

about backwards compatibility: it would be so great if it could just run old GP2X stuff out-of-the-box. would it be possible to ship this thing with the old firmware as a fall-back option? let's say.. the user can switch between the old and new firmware at boot? the A1200 had this, for instance, and it worked quite ok. not everyone would like to do a port. even downloading ports is a bit of work. compatibility is one of the major issues concerning software. it was 20 years ago and it still is today.

 

[quartercast]

Seeing as all of us GP2X owners have splashed out on SD cards, I doubt they would DOWNGRADE to a mini/microSD card slot. Standard SD's have the best storage capacity to price ratio, fastest access times and fastest read/write speeds. A CF slot would be nice, I'm not sure how much power they'd draw.

 

[StarG]

Seeing as all of us GP2X owners have splashed out on SD cards, I doubt they would DOWNGRADE to a mini/microSD card slot. Standard SD's have the best storage capacity to price ratio, fastest access times and fastest read/write speeds. A CF slot would be nice, I'm not sure how much power they'd draw.

Unless you put a microdrive into it should be the very same levels as a SD card - after all they sharing the very same flash components.

-----

I'm still hoping the design team have choosen (and i'm distinctively using that tense) wisely what to build a new handheld with. There are nice solutions out there.

Rant: I really would love to see PowerVR SGX rendering in action.


[edit] removed typo

 

[techFreak]

We don't have a plan to change the storage to miniSD or microSD. We simply don't need it. It would be nonsense to have the same capacity and speed with higher price. However if you already have a miniSD or microSD you can use it with SD card adaptor. B)

 

[TheMinder]

As an aside, if the 2X is basically not selling in any numbers and this new device makes them obsolete/a curio then it might be happy days all around as distributors try to empty their stock rooms at knock down prices.

For £30 the 2X would suddenly become a remarkable buy

 

[woogal]

about backwards compatibility: it would be so great if it could just run old GP2X stuff out-of-the-box. would it be possible to ship this thing with the old firmware as a fall-back option? let's say.. the user can switch between the old and new firmware at boot? the A1200 had this, for instance, and it worked quite ok. not everyone would like to do a port. even downloading ports is a bit of work. compatibility is one of the major issues concerning software. it was 20 years ago and it still is today.

It's not the firmware that would stop backwards compatibility, it's the hardware. Most software uses the hardware sdl libs that are specially written for the gp2x hardware (and many of those that don't use sdl use similar code anyway). As me and squidge have already said, future gp2x software (written for open2x) will have a much better chance of being directly compatible between the machines.

 

[EvilDragon]

Yes, the GP2x has flaws. So what? As you mentioned in your post, some very clever devs found a workaround and make the GP2x a better piece of hardware without swiching to a more powerfull hardware design.
And other devs create a very good new menu. So where is the point? That's not the reason we all need a new kind of hardware.

Well, the devs simply can't create me a touchscreen, add 3D Hardware OpenGL or increase the resolution.
They also can't add a D-Pad into the gp2x nor WiFi.
Yes, I know you can use WiFi sticks, but that's not really practical on-the-go...

And I don't think completely smooth fullspeed Amiga without overclocking is possible, though the current one runs REALLY REALLY well.
Though I'm missing my touchscreen as mouse for it

 

[virusx]

Touchscreen for mouse AND on screen keyboard

 

[damned]

if this handheld gets a fullspeed snes emu with 100% compatiblity im buying it

 

[predatorramboxxx]

if this handheld gets a fullspeed snes emu with 100% compatiblity im buying it

if this isnt made by gph then where all screwing them over i guess now because not to many will go buy another gp2x and people will just wait ...but i bet it has to be made by gph or i dont know how backward capibilty would be legal and how it would work... unless a new company is forming from gph <_<

 

[Iorgy77]

And I don't think completely smooth fullspeed Amiga without overclocking is possible, though the current one runs REALLY REALLY well.
Though I'm missing my touchscreen as mouse for it

Heh, here we go again... :rolleyes:

 

[Eolair]

Ok here's my xmas wish list. Santa is going to have to work hard this year

Skip unnecessary stuff like wifi, tv-tuner, touch screen, camera, mobile phone, etc and try to keep the cost down. We want a gaming machine not an iphone clone.
What we need is:

1. Better stick/dpad. Must have precise control over both diagonals and horizontals/verticals
2. Faster processor, single 400mhz+ CPU (the faster the better. 500mhz+ if you can get away with it!)
3. 3D accelerator
4. Longer battery life. Preferably still a replacable battery pack. USB battery charging
5. Sturdier built system with scratch resistant surface.
6. High quality screen. Viewable in sunlight
7. A cooler name like GPX3M
8. No more than £200 - People have to be able to afford it!

 

[trooper]

if this handheld gets a fullspeed snes emu with 100% compatiblity im buying it

currently "easily full speed with no frameskipping"

And thats on a non-optimised basic Linux installation with a quickly ported non-optimised emulator.

Once Linux is ported properly (ie, uses the hardware properly instead of "just enough to get Linux going"), and the emulator is written for the hardware rather than hacked together, I'd easily expect it to run two copies of the emulator at once with no slow down.

Say no more.

Trooper

 

[Dzz]

but i bet it has to be made by gph or i dont know how backward capibilty would be legal and how it would work... unless a new company is forming from gph <_<

I did not see any of the "insiders" say anything about gp2x compatibility, and I'd say it's almost certain that the vast majority of current gp2x apps will not run without changes on this new machine.

In most cases, the changes shouldn't be very hard and (in the case of a straightforward SDL app for example) may just be a 5 minute recompile.

I did see something to the effect of "we have some gp2x software running" but I interpret that to mean that gp2x code was ported to run on the development board for the new system.

We have no indication that GPH is involved at all with this, and if they were I think we'd know by now.

 

[damned]

if this handheld gets a fullspeed snes emu with 100% compatiblity im buying it

currently "easily full speed with no frameskipping"

And thats on a non-optimised basic Linux installation with a quickly ported non-optimised emulator.

Once Linux is ported properly (ie, uses the hardware properly instead of "just enough to get Linux going"), and the emulator is written for the hardware rather than hacked together, I'd easily expect it to run two copies of the emulator at once with no slow down.

Say no more.

Trooper


SWEET! im preordering the day craig is taking preorders

 

[techFreak]

Why is people asking for single core CPU? There are many advantages of using dual core. Yes it's harder to code for it but performance is better when it's used properly.

On screen keyboard? We won't need that actually.

 

[Dzz]

Why is people asking for single core CPU? There are many advantages of using dual core. Yes it's harder to code for it but performance is better when it's used properly.

And we're still waiting two years later for it to be used properly on the gp2x. A few apps use it for a few things, but only a small fraction.

If this is a hint that the new system has a "dual core", that narrows the possibilities quite a bit