Gph: The Wiz - Official Announcement


craigix said:
They are expecting that in my inbox right now, and I'm trying to get a 80-90% answer on the subject :)

We need some videos, or some figures, or something, or they won't upgrade to this as the GP2X seems to already do what this device is design for... (if indeed it is only homebrew gph have in mind for this and not emulators)
It's certainly very homebrew orientated at the moment. Notice they have contacted a Myriad of homebrew developers but very few if any emulator authors.
 
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When my friend posted a link about it on a different forum i was excited to see it, looks great and then i looked on the right hand side, yuck !

Yes having another directional control might be good for Quake style games as one could be look around and the other control left and right kinda thing.

But i use GP2X's etc for emulation, i need a few fire buttons, ones normally fire , the other jump, for Mario Kart you have a few buttons as well.

Theres just one button to 'define' on the right hand side. Granted you might be able to re-define up/down etc to be fire buttons etc but it would be weird constantly pressing one of those buttons.

Disappointed, looks great apart from the poor controls on the right hand side. Its good for left handed people i suppose but just too few fire buttons for me
 
pepone said:
Ho, interesting. Can you tell me more? I didn't check the dev board for some times now.
it might be useful for gngeo.
The problem was that GP2X Linux has read-ahead enabled by default, so it does less SD reads but it reads large chunks of data, which takes time and stops the host program while working. To disable it you can do
CODE

echo 0 > /proc/sys/vm/min-readahead
echo 0 > /proc/sys/vm/max-readahead


and streaming becomes smooth, at least for Sega CD, which does 1x CD speed (~150kB/s).
 
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Peter R said:
This may not be the final control scheme. GPH are aware of the public dismay with the right D-pad.
I hope this is true but what sort of testers do this company have ? I was very disappointed with the GP2X first batch (of which i got one) as it was just a useless brick for a few months before proper firmware helped it.

Didnt anyone in that company say 'actually people seem to buy our products for games, we need to have some buttons on the right hand side otherwise we're limiting our market' kinda thing ?

I'm not some award winning designer but if i was releasing a product like this i would make sure as anything it had enough fire buttons. As i said above the two control pads are laughable, could have been good if there were a few more fire buttons below it.

GPH might be 'aware' of the public dismay but i'm dismayed just as much as to why these people released it with two control pads ?!? Stunnned
 
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notaz said:
pepone said:
Ho, interesting. Can you tell me more? I didn't check the dev board for some times now.
it might be useful for gngeo.
The problem was that GP2X Linux has read-ahead enabled by default, so it does less SD reads but it reads large chunks of data, which takes time and stops the host program while working. To disable it you can do
CODE

echo 0 > /proc/sys/vm/min-readahead
echo 0 > /proc/sys/vm/max-readahead


and streaming becomes smooth, at least for Sega CD, which does 1x CD speed (~150kB/s).


Very interesting, i hope Pepone launch a new GnGeo 2X version soon :)
 
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Q: what do open source handhelds need?

A: comany/brand/organisation recognition

GamePark failed with the XGP. GPH has only been around for one product generation, yet already has unnecessary issues with their new product ("Wiz"?? is that the best they could come up with? 2 dpads? seriously? the OS looks pretty much identical to the gp2x one, no window management? still no real networking?)

in short, this looks.. subpar to me. what company will recognize this product with the above issues, regardless of how capable it will be? keep changing companies and we'll lose support on the grounds that commercial entities want a reliable brand name that's been established for a good number of years... which never happens. many would think "they'll just die like the rest, why bother"
 
CC_machine said:
Q: what do open source handhelds need?

A: comany/brand/organisation recognition

GamePark failed with the XGP. GPH has only been around for one product generation, yet already has unnecessary issues with their new product ("Wiz"?? is that the best they could come up with? 2 dpads? seriously? the OS looks pretty much identical to the gp2x one, no window management? still no real networking?)

in short, this looks.. subpar to me. what company will recognize this product with the above issues, regardless of how capable it will be? keep changing companies and we'll lose support on the grounds that commercial entities want a reliable brand name that's been established for a good number of years... which never happens. many would think "they'll just die like the rest, why bother"



What's your point? GP32 was enough of a success that GPH was able to launch the gp2x. GP2x was enough of a success that they are launching the GP2x Wiz. That they are using "GP2x" as part of the name shows they are trying to build brand recognition and use that for their new product. There is a lot of good press for the gp2x online that people will find while looking up stuff about the Wiz. GPH has nothing to do with Gamepark so their failure doesn't matter with XGP. If you're comparing open handhelds Pandora doesn't even have a real company name as far as I know. They are kind of riding the success of the gp2x community which is smart but still partly have to build reputation from scratch.

The wiz is a gaming machine so why should it have window management? Its not needed and will only slow things down. There probably will be other unofficial front ends though.

I like that they are focusing on homebrew games instead of emulation. They are not always as popular but are what really help make a system unique. Emulation will usually always get there anyway and doesn't need official support. It helps to give more support to homebrew devs as they may not have quite the knowledge of emu devs but want to get there games and ideas out there.
 
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atomicthumbs said:
Gee, I sure hope that beautiful OLED screen doesn't wear out after a couple of years. Do they still do that?
If the compounds that make up its parts are organic then bacteria could indeed come a munchin'...
 
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atomicthumbs said:
Gee, I sure hope that beautiful OLED screen doesn't wear out after a couple of years. Do they still do that?
The latest screens should work around that issue (they apparently last longer than normal TFTs) - no idea what GPH are using though.
 
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I think the real problem about the whole "Wiz" thing, is that it is coming after the gp2x. The gp2x had homebrew and emulation, while the wiz is just going to focus mainly on homebrew. The gp2x had a joystick (clickable) and a total of about 10 buttons, while the wiz has 2 d-pads and 2 buttons (start and select). Yes you may sa that the "wiz" is pocketable and has a chargable battery, but we (Speaking for some) want something that is an all-in-one homebrew device. Its not like we were asking for a full keyboard, but by adding to d-pads, your just limiting your possiblities. I mean, what if there was no Pandora? The chunk of people that liked mobile emulation would be in tears. Like I'm saying, they kinda reduced their market.
(I wish they would just turn the one dpad into 4 seperate buttons and add two shoulder buttons. If they did these small changes it would allow for a bigger amount of people to enjoy this device).

-Spadoof :gp2x
 
Spadoof said:
two shoulder buttons
FOR CHRIST'S SAKE! IT HAS SHOULDER BUTTONS! Why don't you want to believe this?
 
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Patch said:
I like it. It's a truely portable, pocket sized gp2x.
About 120euro.
If it has decent sound and video (which it really should) it will be ideal for all my needs.
As for the D-pad, it looks to me like the edges are raised a lot compared to the center which should allow for your standard A+B button press' quite nicely. Can anybody confirm? Maybe while testing the snes? ;)

I'd say people like myself who bought the JXD301 will snap this up.
Do you really think the european pricing will follow the actual rates of $ to €? With postage and vat and customs its' 160€ from play-asia and that sounds like its within my reach. Of course it would be a treat to get it for 120€, that's just the kind of petty cash that can be easily put in to linux handheld.
 
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[/quote]

Do you really think the european pricing will follow the actual rates of $ to €? With postage and vat and customs its' 160€ from play-asia and that sounds like its within my reach. Of course it would be a treat to get it for 120€, that's just the kind of petty cash that can be easily put in to linux handheld.
[/quote]

True. I was thinking of MP4nation where shipping is 6.50 and customs are easily avoided.
Still, 160euro is doable pending a review.
 
gph since releasing FW 3.0 for gp2x are running out with good ideas.
-> first mistake -releasing gp2x touchscreen edition [ when everybody waints for something really stronger than 250mhz. ]
-> second mistake - releasing wiz when everybody awaits for full wifi support [ with internet connectivity ]

They will regret this decision, once again.

Anybody [ for example ] who bought JXD 301 when jxd claims new addictions each firmware [ new better emus .... so on.. ], knows what i mean.

additional idiotic ideas from gph:
- no sdhc support for gp2x f100
- commercial games idea for gp2x
- releasing full source code for FW when gp2x dies [ why they dont do this when orkie tries to figure out how system works when he begins to work with opengp2x ]
- releasing bugged fw 4.0 for f100
- releasing not fully compatible fw in version 4.0 f100 <> f200 [ that 22khz bug ]
- not supporting gp2x comunity in any way... and this is totally absurd, for me.
- second processor with no information how to proper handling it with games/emus in gp2x
- overclock lock in f200

In this battle i bet for craigx's Pandora. GPH failed again.

And the last thing... gph claims that wiz will be a gaming handheld console focuses on commercial games and good quality homebrew games? hah... how mny good quality hb games gets gp2x in his whole life ? 10? -* They also claims that gp2x will get many commercial games, remeber? And how many gets ? 2. They're real jokers. I dont believe in their promises this time, sorry


*- i mean homebrew games especially prepared for gp2x. Not ports from linux / other open gpl'ed games
 
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