Been playing with the GP32 for a little bit, now. Got the PCE and MD/Gen emus on there, got everything authorized/registered and such. Haven't flashed it - might now. It came with Korean firmware, so not sure on that (came from Spain).
ANYWAY. I've got scads of handhelds - PC Engine GT/Turbo Express, GG, Lynx, NGPC, GBA SP, GBA w/ Afterburner, PocketPCs and Palms. And as of yesterday, a new Zodiac1. How does this thing stack up so far?
SYSTEM: A cute exterior design, ahead of its time when it was released. Now it looks just a bit retro-GBA-ish (especially from the back) but much more ergonomic and stylish than the Nintendo. The white and grey gives it a very Asian/clean look. I'd prefer clear tinted like my crystal yellow NGPC, but this is fine. The device itself is quite light, too. Audio is good and loud, although the static in some emus is annoying. Can't attest to battery life yet, but the system has a very low tolerance for weak or cheap batteries. As for internals, the whole registration/installation/PC-Link/GP Manager thing has a bit of a learning curve - you can't just sit down and start plugging away on this.
CONTROLS: The joystick kind of threw me when I first saw it. My first reaction was 'can't stuff get in that hole?' but after using it to play some PCE games, I was floored. Excellent digital input control. I can play Aero Fighters better on this than I can on my Turbo Express.
SCREEN: The new BLU screen doesn't stack up great. It's rather dim and 'warm' tinged compared to other BLU or even FLU game systems and is absolutely no comparison to PalmOS and PocketPC LCDs. I kept trying to find the Brightness control! I never saw an FLU GP32, but this just isn't as impressive as I was hoping. One positive aspect, however, is the color, which is pretty good - although 'warm' (a white screen looks slightly 'off white' instead of bluish or pure white as you see on most handhelds). By comparison, the Zodiac has a 'cooler' display that's much brighter with truer, but less saturated, color. Speaking of Zodiac v. GP32, the size difference is not that severe between the two - The Zodiac screen is a little bigger, but they're quite close. Both are quite a bit larger than the GBA.
ORIGINAL GAMES: Haven't tried any yet.
EMULATION: So far, the Genesis and PCE emus perform quite well, on a par with the Zodiac counterparts (and that's me, as a developer, with the DAA, able to play the very latest LJZ multi-emu on the Zodiac). One thing about the GP32 launcher and setup, everything is more direct once you get the hang of it. Copy the files to the SMC, plug it in, the games are right there, play. It seems more work to do the same thing on a Zodiac. And of course, there are more free emulators for more platforms on GP32.
For now, both new toys are getting equal attention!
ANYWAY. I've got scads of handhelds - PC Engine GT/Turbo Express, GG, Lynx, NGPC, GBA SP, GBA w/ Afterburner, PocketPCs and Palms. And as of yesterday, a new Zodiac1. How does this thing stack up so far?
SYSTEM: A cute exterior design, ahead of its time when it was released. Now it looks just a bit retro-GBA-ish (especially from the back) but much more ergonomic and stylish than the Nintendo. The white and grey gives it a very Asian/clean look. I'd prefer clear tinted like my crystal yellow NGPC, but this is fine. The device itself is quite light, too. Audio is good and loud, although the static in some emus is annoying. Can't attest to battery life yet, but the system has a very low tolerance for weak or cheap batteries. As for internals, the whole registration/installation/PC-Link/GP Manager thing has a bit of a learning curve - you can't just sit down and start plugging away on this.
CONTROLS: The joystick kind of threw me when I first saw it. My first reaction was 'can't stuff get in that hole?' but after using it to play some PCE games, I was floored. Excellent digital input control. I can play Aero Fighters better on this than I can on my Turbo Express.
SCREEN: The new BLU screen doesn't stack up great. It's rather dim and 'warm' tinged compared to other BLU or even FLU game systems and is absolutely no comparison to PalmOS and PocketPC LCDs. I kept trying to find the Brightness control! I never saw an FLU GP32, but this just isn't as impressive as I was hoping. One positive aspect, however, is the color, which is pretty good - although 'warm' (a white screen looks slightly 'off white' instead of bluish or pure white as you see on most handhelds). By comparison, the Zodiac has a 'cooler' display that's much brighter with truer, but less saturated, color. Speaking of Zodiac v. GP32, the size difference is not that severe between the two - The Zodiac screen is a little bigger, but they're quite close. Both are quite a bit larger than the GBA.
ORIGINAL GAMES: Haven't tried any yet.
EMULATION: So far, the Genesis and PCE emus perform quite well, on a par with the Zodiac counterparts (and that's me, as a developer, with the DAA, able to play the very latest LJZ multi-emu on the Zodiac). One thing about the GP32 launcher and setup, everything is more direct once you get the hang of it. Copy the files to the SMC, plug it in, the games are right there, play. It seems more work to do the same thing on a Zodiac. And of course, there are more free emulators for more platforms on GP32.
For now, both new toys are getting equal attention!
