Gamescom, sensor upgrade and other nice news

[ssokolow]

Closed-source programs just aren't optimized for such a device. Running them looks fine, but it won't be nearly as good as it gets on PC.

Depends. Most of the games I want to play are fat-pixel retro titles meant to ape NES- or SNES-era graphics... and SNES+Retrode+Pandora looks beautiful.

It's much harder to find closed-source software for Linux, but that means almost everything which runs on it can be ported over and optimized for the Pyra.

GOG, Humble Bundle Inc., and others have sold me hundreds of x86/x86_64-only Linux ports of modern indie games. (ie. not DOSBox/Wine/ScummVM/etc.-based)

Only a handful of those, like VVVVVV, got Pandora ports. (I have no idea how many are paid PNDs since I ignore those. I'm definitely not paying more than $1 for a port of a game I already own and only to x86+Linux because the commodity nature means hardware is and will continue to be widely and inexpensively available long into the future.)

Here's a list of just the games I've started playing and not yet finished and which are x86-only (ie. no DOSBox/ScummVM/etc.) and I normally run them on my desktop Linux and I normally play them with a controller (360 unless otherwise stated):

• A Boy and His Blob (the remake, just got it)
• Apotheon
• Aqua Kitty: Milk Mine Defender (Wine)
• Bean's Quest
• Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians
  
• Braid (I refuse to read walkthroughs)
• Cave Story+ (I'm too lazy to patch NXEngine to support the SNES-like "remastered" music option to properly match the original graphics)
• Dust: An Elysian Tale (beaten, but not all achievements)
• Escape Goat 2
• Explodemon (Wine)
• Freedom Planet (Genesis controller)
• Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (Wine)
• Guacamelee
• Hammerwatch
• Hunter Hunted (Wine + Antimicro)
• Inescapable
• Ittle Dew
• La-Mulana (remake)
• Lode Runner Online: The Mad Monks' Revenge (Wine + Antimicro)
  
• Maldita Castilla (Antimicro + NES pad, freeware homage to Ghosts & Goblins)
• Megabyte Punch (Wine because the Win/Lin save formats differ)
• Odallus: The Dark Call (Wine + NES pad + Antimicro to avoid joystick+Wine crash bug)
• Pushcat (Wine)
• Race the Sun
• Rayman Origins (Wine)
• Risk of Rain
• Rogue Legacy
• Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien
• Spelunky World (Wine + Antimicro)
• Steamworld Dig
• Super Mario Bros. X (the PGE open-source engine rewrite isn't ready yet)
• Super Meat Boy
• Towerfall Ascension
• Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge
• Undertale (Antimicro + NES pad)
• Unepic
• Volgarr the Viking

It'll be interesting to see how many of those perform well under qemu-user and whether Pyra+qemu-user or the GPD has a longer battery life.

 

[rygD]

80 degrees isn't /bad/; it's not good, but it's certainly not going to force you to drop it like pizza pocket fresh out of the microwave.
Rest in peace, delicious pizza pocket.

Try barely holding it from 2 corners (may depend on what kind you have). Alternating quickly between hands, switching just as you feel the burning, can also work for a few seconds while you try to get it somewhere else. If you are really good you might be able to alternate between hands with just the corners.

If you make it past all that and get a bite in your mouth while it is still too hot, resist the temptation to drink something to cool it down, since that will just mess up the flavor and texture. Try holding the bite between your teeth and blowing on it.

 

[EvilDragon]

Those 80°C are CPU temperature. The outside of the handheld certainly doesn't reach it!
It just gets very warm, but you won't burn your hands, no worries about that!

 

[Xcl4m4t10n]

Sure would. Where can I find that and whom should I contact?

No
idea, Ijust saw it on reddit and paste here.

 

[Caine]

Sure would. Where can I find that and whom should I contact?

How about http://www.jupiterbroadcasting.com/contact/

Personally, I think this will only be interesting with a fully operational prototype. They already had a short item on the Pyra a while ago.

 

[Askarus]

Yes, maybe, at some time. I never really played Windows games (always was a console player), so I don't have many to show, but I'm sure many will run, as the system really is a power horse.
Probably not powerful enough for all PS2 games, but maybe for simpler ones.

I'll help you out. Give me internet and let me play

 

[EvilDragon]

I don't have any space left. I've filled up the internal storage already... but if you have a big MicroSD card...

 

[sulu]

I think an x86 board also becomes more unlikely for the Pyra. I have no idea how to use it in an environment without a fan. It really heats up a lot.

Make the back of the display out of aluminium, route a tube through the right hinge and cool the CPU with water!
(I have no idea where to put the pump though, let alone finding one that's small enough.)

 

[Jumpman]

Thanks for the Pyra updates ED, I can't wait for some video's of emu's running on this thing.

As for the GPD Win prototype, it not's looking to bad. I'm not super interested in playing Windows games on it, but depending on battery, and how emulation runs on it, I may considered down the road. I don't think I would get in on this first gen though, unless the final reviews are glowing. I think I would be more interested if a version 2 is ever made, as that unit would have improvements and fix any issues this first one will most assuredly have.

The Pyra seems to be where my interest are currently, as I know what to expect there, and I'm loving it! LOL

Chris

 

[Yoyobuae]

Those 80°C are CPU temperature. The outside of the handheld certainly doesn't reach it!
It just gets very warm, but you won't burn your hands, no worries about that!

The environment temperature and even humidity will influence a lot how comfortable a device like this is.

Maybe GPD Win doesn't feel hot enough to feel like burning, but if it makes user's hands all sweaty then that's just as bad. Some heat might be tolerable in cold/dry environment, not so much in a hot/humid one.

 

[latiosu]

I have just noticed the little bumps in the "F" and "J" keys, quite practical when typing in the darkness.
That wasn't in the last version of the keypad, was it?

 

[EvilDragon]

I have just noticed the little bumps in the "F" and "J" keys, quite practical when typing in the darkness.
That wasn't in the last version of the keypad, was it?

Nope, that had been added as well

 

[TeDaDeS]

Good addition, the lights helped already when you would be in the dark.
The X86 could always be underclocked to stop it from getting warm, add a docking with cooler for home/tv-gaming. Not best solution, but seen it before.

 

[Letalis Sonus]

The X86 could always be underclocked to stop it from getting warm

Changing the clock has hardly any influence, it's the voltage that matters.

 

[TeDaDeS]

Changing the clock has hardly any influence, it's the voltage that matters.

True, you could do both (lower clock requires less voltage). Not sure if mobile cpu's are tweaked for accurate voltage settings. Guess they would compared to desktop versions, and it needs to be configurable as it differs per cpu.

 

[Alex Clemens]

Ouch, that's hot indeed, no wonder nobody made such an small device with that Atom CPU so far (afaik).

http://www.kohjinsha.co.jp/models/pm/index.html

That's not their only model, but this one is the smallest. It's also a rebrand of UMID brand laptop.

>> Edit. Fond more: Viliv, Eking + more in youtube recommeded section when you start to look for these..

 

[AVahne]

Pretty sure this is the smallest Atom-powered handheld computer ever.
Super impractical and super slow, but goddamn is it beautiful. Still hunting for one, though I don't have $500 to sink on something this old....

 

[elwing]

/droll GPD WIN => P1999!

 

[Djhg2000]

What about the OQO and WiBrain ones? I still have my WiBrain B1, it perfectly illustrates the issues with both having a hot x86 CPU and proprietary graphics drivers.

It definitely requires the fan because you can bear with the heat if it got hot in your hands, but if it got hot before you pick it up you'll do your best to hold it with your fingertips. VIA C7-M is a relatively cool CPU but apparently not cool enough.

Then there's the VIA chipset. Last time I checked I still can't run anything more recent than Ubuntu 8.04 with the launch kernel (binary kernel module, fails to load if I update the kernel).

These are the two major reasons I'm very excited for the Pyra. The graphics driver may still be proprietary but with such a large userbase and good support from TI it should be sufficient.

 

[Christoph.Krn]

The graphics driver may still be proprietary but with such a large userbase and good support from TI it should be sufficient.

...it still is?!? I thought Imgtech had been working on this for a while now.

Wait... okay, apparently they're still looking for someone with the appropriate qualification to apply to their open-source drivers job offer. If anyone here is qualified to do this...