GP32 Design your own GP32

[Spaz O Mataz]

The Only thing about this would be who would make it?

I say re write the bois to understand linux or/and windows code aswell to save massive porting programs for it the way the files are stored and things like that. I would say an external usb device should be usable such as a Hard drive or camera. The specs should really beat the PsP all Round. There shoud be two analogue sticks (one on either side) and 2- 4 morebutons on either side not including start and select.a coupple of buttons on the back would be useful and four shoulder buttons aswell. touch screen wouldn't make much difference though as it would make programs easier to play in my opinion and scruff up the screen quicker.

 

[Zayfod]

Newbiedumbass - Li-Polys have been avalible for a while now, I'm guessing as my phone has one, and it's a good six months old... As for stepping the power usage of the CPU, we've already got that, the clock speed of the CPU can be controled by the software, the faster the clockspeed the more power used... though if it could be taken care of on the fly at a BIOS level...

Spaz O Mataz - You want HOW MANY buttons!?! AND linux/win32 interpriters in the BIOS, that would be A complicated, and B expensive for the win32 code.

Anyway it already uses a windows compatable storage system, FAT16.

 

[generalnmx]

Linux has already been partially ported to the GP32, stopped due to hardware limitations. Fix that, and you can use WINE for Windows emulation.

I'll reserve my comments. Let the people have their fun, I say.

 

[Titcher]

Being able to use a wifi card with it would be nice, power would be a bit strained, but theres probably some way round that.

 

[Zayfod]

Thats why I'm favouring bluetooth, 'cause it was designed for portable devices, it's also got that whole ad-hock network thing built into it... It'd have to have all the avalible profiles though otherwise it'd be next ot useless for anything other than multiplayer.

Oh yeh, some food for thought. Lexar have just released a 4gb CF card! OK it's £880 but the tech used to make it will filter down, makeing everything else cheaper

Two small additions first it would have to be a type 2 CF slot, so we can use the realy BIG CF cards, meaning that the unit would have to use FAT32 (long filenames YAY!)
And the screen should realy be an OLED as their self illuminating, and draw less power than an LCD

 

[newbiedumbass]

like i said - dont keep up with battery technology that much. Like the idea of an OLED rather than a LCD - heard interesting things about the technology.

4GB on a CF card hmmmmm..... that'd do me nicely lol!  :D  :D  :D  :D 

I agree with zayfod about spaz's button over kill!

check out my layout


                        T1                           T3
                        T2                           T4
                           ___________________
                 ^        I                   I      W
             <  AS  >     I                   I    A   D
                 v        I    SCREEN         I      S
                          I                   I    
                  SL      I___________________I      ST


AS= analogue stick
T1-4 = shoulder buttons
SL = Select
ST = start
WSAD=   Triangle, Square, X and , Circle A la PS

 

[Ruune]

C'mon guys, its a portable gaming machine...

CPU: OC'able 400mhz Xscale
Memory: 96mb of 133mhz sdram
Storage: 256mb internal and XD Card slot (very, very small )
Screen: same
GPU: snd and gfx are a nice touch

It simple, its portable, and its pretty fast too. ^^^^^^ could happen

 

[Shane]

yes and why not Wi-Fi? Also the screen could be as the same as Zodiac which is almost what some of you are describing. You dont need more then 512MB unless you are a lonely person.

 

[newbiedumbass]

true you dont need more than 512mb storage if you plan to use it as a handheld/retro console emulator only (in fact 512mb would be huge)

-= however =-

If you want to be able to run PC FPS's like half life there would need to be at least a 1-2gb of storage. For example full install of valve steam (HL,CS,DoD,TFC) folder is 1.6 ish gig.

And yeah it is

a portable gaming machine...

but this is a wish list and the things were talking about are possible (although not necessarily economical)

I would like a gp32 mark II that not only could emulate n-gage games with their fairly crude 3d graphics, but one that could emulate pc games such as half life and the original jedi knight


B)

 

[thecheat]

Okay here's my idea:
333MHz PowerPC processor (Better than intel or any other crap like that) Macs Rule!
at least 32mb RAM
CFI/II reader
Bluetooth OR RF, not both, its not necessary
Definitley rechargeble batteries but they should be industry standard so you don't have to buy special GP-only batteries in the future
No internal storage, but if it had a PC/Mac link it should be FireWire/USB 2.0 swappable for all those PC junkies who haven't seen the light, but most definiley include an official Mac-Link for the intelligent folks out there (like me):lol:

also:

3 or 4 face buttons (excluding start/select)
2 triggers is OK
Change he stick to a D-Pad of some sort, preferably similar to the sega saturn/genesis
possibly some sort of folding design to protect the screen
black light standard
a touch screen isn't necessary, its a game system not a palm :blink:
The GP64 or whatever they are going to call it should not have any palm-like functions; they are not required on a game system. I mean, in the unlikely event that your GP__ is stolen, just because its password proected doesn't mean it will make the theif return or anything. I say the next incarnation of the GP should be a GAME SYSTEM, no PDA functions or other such nonsense. :angry: oh, well, it doesn't matter people are going to fight this anyway so who cares...

 

[Muzzaro]

Linux has already been partially ported to the GP32, stopped due to hardware limitations. Fix that, and you can use WINE for Windows emulation.

I'll reserve my comments. Let the people have their fun, I say.

Let people have their fun? Hmm... Do you know something about the next generation of GP32?

The new version would need 2 more buttons (for perfect emulation of SNES), more ram, and a faster cpu. Possibly also a USB or two out (making it MUCH easier to homebrew expand) , and change the media to something that is more popular and can go higher than 128.

That is as realistic as possible. All of that could be done, (however I dunno about the USB ports) and some of that can be done now, with replacement of the CPU and Ram. I guess if you really tried, you could somehow tag two more buttons onto the handheld too, so I can't see why they won't be feasable upgrades.

[edit]replaced "anything" with "something", it wasn't meant to sound nasty[/edit]

 

[Tobriand]

Hmmm.... anyone remembering batteries? They're fairly crucial, unfortunately. Perhaps a good idea might be to have a rechargeable Li-polymer built in. Or an extra space for a third battery. Either way, to increase the specs we need to up the power.
I'd be a little reluctant to make it *need* 3 batteries, since that'd be plain inconveniant, but certainly to be able to use 3 batteries if necessary...

 

[Degenerate]

Just building on what many people have said, USB2.0 or firewire would be a godsend, as would being able to use compact flash/SD cards due to their larger capacities.

Two more buttons and two more triggers wouldn't go amiss either, but the triggers might make the console too thick - I can't imagine carring a PlayStation controlpad in my jacket pocket all day long. The extra triggers could go on the back, under those little bumps maybe.

An internal rechargable battery would also be great... but instead of having an actually battery compartment, it could have connectors on the bottom for an external battery pack like some mini-disc players do, that way you can have the extra power you need without making the console itself too bulky during normal use.

A 400mhz Intel Xscale would probably provide sufficient power without needing too much power (eugh, stupid limited English language), and at least 32mb of RAM. Perhaps a small internal storage area too, like most PDAs do - 64mb or so to store your most commonly used programs/files.

A docking station would be nice... or at least something to hold it up on a desk so I can watch movies without having to hold it

 

[newbiedumbass]

well talking of stands for the desktop i actually found a guy on ebay trying to sell a stand hed cobbled together in a school workshop. It was hilarious - a wooden monstrosity painted black with gamepark stickers on the front. only thing that would have made it more rustic would be a couple of stray nails sticking out! he claimed it was "precision engineered" or some crap becase the slope of the stand was 45 degrees for an optimum viewing angle or something.

 

[Muzzaro]

well talking of stands for the desktop i actually found a guy on ebay trying to sell a stand hed cobbled together in a school workshop. It was hilarious - a wooden monstrosity painted black with gamepark stickers on the front. only thing that would have made it more rustic would be a couple of stray nails sticking out! he claimed it was "precision engineered" or some crap becase the slope of the stand was 45 degrees for an optimum viewing angle or something.

I saw that, I laughed at it, and moved on to other things.

Ah well, at least we know there's still people making stuff for the GP32. Literally. In wood-work class.

 

[rpgchocobo]

CPU:300mhz
Memory:128mb
Hard Drive:1gb
Graphics:3d accelorator with 8mb vram
Sound:the best that works

also a playstation type controller layout and a flip screen like GBA SP.

 

[newbiedumbass]

flip top/ clamshell screens suck ass, they died on pdas for good reason - just lood at the old psions urrgg. Ok the screen is protected on a flip top but the whole thing is un ergonomic and counter-intuitive - no a decent case is the answer. The sp is horrible to use - buttons and d pad too close together, means your shoulders are hunched.

separate video and audio sub sys's to take load off cpu is definately the way to go though.

lol

Ah well, at least we know there's still people making stuff for the GP32. Literally. In wood-work class

 

[trooper]

flip top/ clamshell screens suck ass, they died on pdas for good reason - just lood at the old psions urrgg. Ok the screen is protected on a flip top but the whole thing is un ergonomic and counter-intuitive - no a decent case is the answer. The sp is horrible to use - buttons and d pad too close together, means your shoulders are hunched.

separate video and audio sub sys's to take load off cpu is definately the way to go though.

lol

Ah well, at least we know there's still people making stuff for the GP32. Literally. In wood-work class

I have a psion and still use it. Kicks the pants off a lot of nowadays pda`s for word pro, Spreadsheet and web surfing because of the built-in hardware keyboard and widescreen. The clam shell in that is a great design, The new palm from sony is based on the "old" clam shell design. But it may not be good for a handheld game machine.

Just my 2p

Trooper

 

[pip]

Thats why I'm favouring bluetooth, 'cause it was designed for portable devices, it's also got that whole ad-hock network thing built into it... It'd have to have all the avalible profiles though otherwise it'd be next ot useless for anything other than multiplayer.

Oh yeh, some food for thought. Lexar have just released a 4gb CF card! OK it's £880 but the tech used to make it will filter down, makeing everything else cheaper

Two small additions first it would have to be a type 2 CF slot, so we can use the realy BIG CF cards, meaning that the unit would have to use FAT32 (long filenames YAY!)
And the screen should realy be an OLED as their self illuminating, and draw less power than an LCD

OLED would probably be the worst idea ever. A part from being very expensive, it only lasts for a certain number of hours before it loses color and light, eventually turning all black. OLED works for very small screens that are not turn on very often (like a screen on your shaving equipment), otherwise it is much worse than LCD.

The next generation of the GP32 would definately have to be powerful enough to emulate the gba, amiga and possibly even the playstation for enough people to think it is worth upgrading. Personally I would like to see an easy way to connect the GP to the TV.

 

[NssOne]

What do you mean flip-top clamshell isn't a good design? Look at the GBA SP, I think it's a great design.

What I really think the next GP should have

CPU: What's the max on this one? Like 180 MHz top? I guess 350-400 MHz would be good. Yeah, if possible, seprate processing for video/sound. I say get ATi to do that also.
RAM: How much RAM do we really need? I say only like 64MB or so.
Needs more buttons: I say two more face buttons and two more triggers. There's gotta be a way to design a handheld with these features that fit most hands decently.
Screen: Hmm... Resolution 800X600, this has to be achieved sometime. I think the VulcanPC can do this.
Storage: Why bother with that much internal storage if you still want to use external media? Especially hearing everybody complain about still having to hook up their GP32 to the PC to transfer files. I say 256MB internal and then use CF for external media. Or atleast somethnig that uses internal memory to store all the programs/apps, and uses external media for like ROMs and stuff.
Other cool stuff might be: built in 8-way multi-player (somehow, dunno), short internal link cable so you can transfer data between GPs easily, standard FLU version, some kind of screen protection (besides just a piece of film).