DEAR GOD! GIGANTIC POST COMING UP! (Not rambling) It is set up in three different main categories, 1, 2, and 3. There are paragraphs within each category.
1a. I've got a rhetorical question that should be thought about. Why are you making a more powerful system than the GP32? A, For older PC games that we love; or B, To emulate better consoles; or C, both A and B.
1b.Currently, the most powerful systems emulatable by the GP32 are the Genesis, and the SNES (But not at full speed). The SNES is not at full speed because of programming issues. I'm not insulting the programmers, I can't code shit, but what I am saying is that a SNES is 3mhz, and a GP32 is 166mhz. There is also the GBA, which is weaker than the SNES, so it should be no problem as well. This means that the real reason to get a more powerful system would be to emulate a PSX or a N64, both of which have dedicated video memory. They are more specialized, not just simply a stick of RAM and a processor. This leaves only the older systems to be emulated, and they will also have to be reprogrammed to get the SNES to work on it(it won’t be as hard with the extra beefy power, but still). This means that the new portable should have its own dedicated GPU for the newer systems. It doesn’t need a very good one to match the PSX and N64, so it wouldn’t cost much extra (PSX = 4MB video memory, N64 = 2MB without upgrade, 4MB with upgrade which is needed for some games).
1c. With PSX or N64 games, especially PSX, SD cards won’t cut it. A 1GB SD card costs 80 bucks. I found a 20 GB micro hard drive for 58 (US Dollars). You’re probably thinking that this would use more power (for that, read section 2), and you might also be thinking that this will bring up the cost of the unit considerably. The thing is, if PSX games are going to be emulated, then a hard drive will be needed, as it will cost 80 dollars to hold one PSX game (with a lot of space left, but still, ONE GAME), and 160 dollars to hold three (Only three games, wtf) PSX games (with a little space left). It also gets worse; this assumes that it isn’t a multi disc game. If it were ANY of the Final Fantasies for PSX, it would be impossible to play, discs cannot be split up with FF7, so either of the two discs would occupy too much space, and most definitely not FF8 or FF9, because they are both FOUR discs (Don’t we all love Final Fantasy?). This means that even if we COULD play Final Fantasy on the two SD cards, it would be the ONLY game for 160 dollars, that doesn’t truly make the system under 121 dollars (100 Euros), it is more than double that. With 20GB, a MINIMUM of 28 discs could be held (with an extra 350 megabytes left).
1d. Here is the link for the hard drive
http://www.bananapc.com/products/productIn...roduct_id=14549 It is also very small, which I forgot to mention. It is less than a centimeter tall, 2.5 inches long, and 4 inches wide. The new system will not be thick like an Ipod because of this. This should give a good idea on how much hard drives of this capacity cost.
1e. This leaves older computer games, now, with 400mhz and 128mb of RAM, dear god, this seems VERY enticing. It is definitely a great, great idea. BUT… you guys are considering LINUX!? This is TERRIBLE! There are almost NO Linux games, and they are even more limited by the fact that they must be very old games. Getting Windows 95 on here would be PERFECT. The only obstacle is making the PC games compatible with the new portable. Don’t worry about it being illegal either, it’s not like you don’t have games on your GP32s that your don’t actually own. It’s the same boat.
2a. The batteries should definitely be AA. First of all, it sucks having a stupid internal battery that has to be charged, it cannot even be temporarily replaced. Secondly, if any of you were thinking of Lithium Ion batteries, they suck! Firstly, they cost a lot, which needlessly brings up the price (A pack of AAs costs four bucks, a hell of a lot cheaper).
2b. There are Energizer AA rechargeable batteries that come in a pack of four with a charger for 27 dollars, why does this matter you say? They are 2200mAh each and they charge in fifteen minutes; forget those crappy 2 hour charges, and forget those short battery lives. These could be sold as a recommended extra, or someone could simply use AAs without the hassle of internal batteries.
2c. This conflicts with what I saw as the main reason for going against the use of AAs in this portable, not enough voltage. Just use a transformer! Even if this were to draw too much current from the batteries, 4 of them could be used, and then the life would be longer.
3a. This brings me to my final category in the longest post ever, the screen.
3b. The screen should DEFINITELY be 4:3 ratio. Every single system that has ever been made (excluding the PSP) was natively 4:3. Having a 16:9 screen messes all of that up. Plus the PSP is stronger than the PS2, and I doubt we can hope to emulate the PS2 on a portable anytime soon.
3c. I think it just about goes without saying that the screen should be backlit.
3d. The screen should be 640x480 resolution. 320x240 is perfectly acceptable with systems that were made in the SNES/Genesis era, but that was 15 years ago. With newer systems, and PC games as well, 640x480 will definitely be needed in order for the game to not look like crap.
