How Gamepark Screwed Up On The Gp2x

[CC4]

About the batteries I think it very smart.
Like said before if you got a special battery, and Gamepark Holdings dies...
The battery production dies with it too.

i agree. i bought the GP2X for playing media after a previous mp3 player battery crapped out on me. the replacement battery was half the price of the mp3 player, which didn't do album art, player odder audio formats, or play games. now i can do all this and not worry about battery replacement.

 

[Dunny]

I have both a DS and a 2x. The homebrew scene on the DS sucks ass, nowhere near as advanced as the 2x scene - but the one thing I do like about the DS is that I can plug it in and recharge it. With the 2x, I have to take the batteries out and charge them (and ensure I have a backup set fully charged while they do).

If the 2x could sit on my desk and recharge without having to remove the batteries, it would be so much better, imo.

D.

 

[craigix]

What went wrong is that no one at GPH knows anything about games.

 

[kevcal]

Love the battery decision on the gp2x - AAs rule - dunno how people have been brainwashed to believe a 'special' one is better; carry spares for god's sake - expensive to do that for the psp, very cheap for the gp2x - stop bloody complaining about it! Fed up with this topic!!!!!! (Benn drinking tonight v v inebriated ).
Don't mind the joystick; but I can see why some people with some gametypes don't like it; fair enuff on that one.
Built in recharge circuit would be cool though.
And.. great community here - so makes up for any bad points!

 

[thumpgun]

internal rechargeable batterie

d pad

bigger internal memory

3d graphic chip

i would have paid the extra cost.....even if it doubled the gp2x price...

 

[trooper]

What went wrong is that no one at GPH knows anything about games.

Yeah!, The GP2x is ment to be first and foremost a media player, Not a games machine, Thats partly why the GP2x has a "navigation" stick and not a D-pad. The games part came about because of this community and the legacy of the GP32, Not GP or GPH.

Trooper

 

[rx_shorty]

I have both a DS and a 2x. The homebrew scene on the DS sucks ass, nowhere near as advanced as the 2x scene - but the one thing I do like about the DS is that I can plug it in and recharge it. With the 2x, I have to take the batteries out and charge them (and ensure I have a backup set fully charged while they do).

If the 2x could sit on my desk and recharge without having to remove the batteries, it would be so much better, imo.

D.

I own a DS Lite, 2 Giz's, 1 PSP, 1 GP2X....
Ds is getting dusty, same as my Giz's.
The PSP has been dead for a while now, can't stand al those updates you have to do for the firmware.

GP2X all the way now, but it would be nice if I connect my official adapter it could recharge.
Ahh well...


craigix I am afraid you are totally right about that too...

 

[X-Code]

I think that GPH aimed this machine at game devs forgetting that game devs try to create something for people that play games :lol:

 

[Orkie]

Love the battery decision on the gp2x - AAs rule - dunno how people have been brainwashed to believe a 'special' one is better; carry spares for god's sake - expensive to do that for the psp, very cheap for the gp2x - stop bloody complaining about it! Fed up with this topic!!!!!! (Benn drinking tonight v v inebriated ).

Actually it'd cost about the same amount to carry the equivalent number of batteries to get the same amount of play. I like li-ion batteries as you don't need to constantly have your charger used for consoles (meaning I sometimes run out of batteries for my mouse), they take up less space than storing loads of AAs, they last longer it seems and have a much more predictable discharge curve meaning you can make somewhat accurate guesses as to how long you've got left (which you simply can't do with NiMH batteries).

 

[DaveC]

but the one thing I do like about the DS is that I can plug it in and recharge it. With the 2x, I have to take the batteries out and charge them (and ensure I have a backup set fully charged while they do).

If the 2x could sit on my desk and recharge without having to remove the batteries, it would be so much better, imo.

D.

God people are so fuckin' lazy You have to take out the batteries to charge, BFD. You would rather have designed in obsolescence? That is not a good tradeoff.

The real sin, the real real deal is simply .. the stick being designed into the board wrong. I mean, thew stick itself not so bad. But accidentally designing it in on an angle so that it wants to do diagonals more than ordinals .. like seriously, WTF? When making a game machine you forgot to examine the most important part nearly?

(And then the yfix it for Mk2, and blow the screen?)

As I've said before.. GPH are like GP; they have heart, but they wouldn't hte same if they had a clue

jeff

Blow the screen? Have you seen it? I think the MK1 screen sucks. It is a dim, interlaced, washed out mess. Other than viewing angle being a bit fussy it is much more vibrant than the old MK1.

 

[Dzz]

Blow the screen? Have you seen it? I think the MK1 screen sucks. It is a dim, interlaced, washed out mess. Other than viewing angle being a bit fussy it is much more vibrant than the old MK1.

As you know from many other topics, like the joystick, "blow" is a matter of taste. Owning both, I for example find the Mk1 screen to be much better.

For those who only have a Mk2 and don't know what that opinion could possibly be about, consider the following image which contains equally-spaced color bars:

Copy that to your gp2x and look at it with the picture viewer.

Some people like being able to tell one color from another. Others call every light color being indistinguishably bright "vibrant". It's just an opinion.

 

[DaveC]

Blow the screen? Have you seen it? I think the MK1 screen sucks. It is a dim, interlaced, washed out mess. Other than viewing angle being a bit fussy it is much more vibrant than the old MK1.

As you know from many other topics, like the joystick, "blow" is a matter of taste. Owning both, I for example find the Mk1 screen to be much better.

For those who only have a Mk2 and don't know what that opinion could possibly be about, consider the following image which contains equally-spaced color bars:

Copy that to your gp2x and look at it with the picture viewer.

Some people like being able to tell one color from another. Others call every light color being indistinguishably bright "vibrant". It's just an opinion.


Well there is that little hack that adjusts the gamma on the MK2.

I have both but the MK1 backlight is just way too dim. The "black level" is more like a medium grey, making many things look way too washed out. Considering the backlight is so dim on the MK1 you would think at least it could do a good black level but no. It is so interlaced that images break apart when moving too.

I guess you could say they both suck and it comes down to the suck that you like/dislike the most.

 

[kevcal]

Actually it'd cost about the same amount to carry the equivalent number of batteries to get the same amount of play. I like li-ion batteries as you don't need to constantly have your charger used for consoles (meaning I sometimes run out of batteries for my mouse), they take up less space than storing loads of AAs, they last longer it seems and have a much more predictable discharge curve meaning you can make somewhat accurate guesses as to how long you've got left (which you simply can't do with NiMH batteries).
Well virtually everything portable thing in my house runs on nimh AAs or AAAs (and I always have a drawer full of charged ones) so they're always available (also always have some in the car, etc).

I personally hate the idea of a specialised battery for a device (why I got a camera that takes AAs) as they're always gettable (alkaline not so useful for the gp2x though!).

The only devices as far as I am concerned that need specialised batteries are those that require them as small as possible (eg mobile phone); I don't think the :gp2x falls into this category.

Still, each to their own I guess B)

 

[Dunny]

but the one thing I do like about the DS is that I can plug it in and recharge it. With the 2x, I have to take the batteries out and charge them (and ensure I have a backup set fully charged while they do).

If the 2x could sit on my desk and recharge without having to remove the batteries, it would be so much better, imo.

D.

God people are so fuckin' lazy You have to take out the batteries to charge, BFD. You would rather have designed in obsolescence? That is not a good tradeoff.


Lazy, me? Meh, you know nothing. Taking the batteries out to charge means that the unit powers down, of course. Red light comes on, you've got to get somewhere in your game that you can save, and damned quick too (to say nothing of the corruption that could occur if the batteries die completely during a save). Then you've got to put in new batteries, restart the '2x, reload your game and get going again.

And you want to trade all that farting around against possible obsolescence? My GBA-SP battery hasn't died yet after nearly 4 years (3 years of pretty much daily use) and lasts me a good 12-13 hours of play. By the time my current 2x's battery would have become useless, I doubt that I'd be using the 2x - there would probably be something else by then.

I like that I can plug in my GBA/DS and continue playing without interruption - being able to do that with my 2x would be heavenly, as there's a lot of much better software for the 2x.

Actually, a clamshell design - top shell screen, bottom shell miniature keyboard and other controls - would have been even better (and more scratch resistant) but hey, they probably wanted to look like a PSP.

D.

 

[DaveC]

I like that I can plug in my GBA/DS and continue playing without interruption - being able to do that with my 2x would be heavenly, as there's a lot of much better software for the 2x.

Actually, a clamshell design - top shell screen, bottom shell miniature keyboard and other controls - would have been even better (and more scratch resistant) but hey, they probably wanted to look like a PSP.

D.

And how would you play all of those vertical arcade titles like CPS1, CPS2, MAME etc with a clamshell? You don't I guess? Or you would play then at 1/2 the size that you can on a GP2X? Sounds like a pretty shitty design to me.

 

[zacaj]

no FPU

 

[Ripster]

I have not had much issue with the battery since most emu's have a save state function. I agree though that there is no warning when your battery is near death... but that is a function of the batteries I believe. But nothing beats being away from home and not worrying about requiring an AC outlet... plus the batteries work with my flashlight... radio... and assorted other devices in a pinch. Stuck in the woods with a dead flashlight and an OEM powerpack would not do me much good.

And really... how many of us play our devices more than 4 or 5 hours at a time..? I know the most I have mine on at one time is 2 hours on a RPG before I need a break... and a save game. So do I need a device that lasts 12-13 hours... nooooooooooo... would it be nice? sure... do I need it... no.

 

[Squidge]

I wish Gamepark Holdings would have asked us for our opinion on the system when they were designing it.

Erm, they did.

(and then they said "Thanks for your opinion. We value it, but it is too late to change anything now. Bye.")

 

[fusion_power]

I wish Gamepark Holdings would have asked us for our opinion on the system when they were designing it.

Erm, they did.

(and then they said "Thanks for your opinion. We value it, but it is too late to change anything now. Bye.")


And noone ever will known, why they didn't ask us earlier. ^^"""
Well, maybe they learned some things when the GP3X is in development some day...maybe....

 

[Dunny]

I like that I can plug in my GBA/DS and continue playing without interruption - being able to do that with my 2x would be heavenly, as there's a lot of much better software for the 2x.

Actually, a clamshell design - top shell screen, bottom shell miniature keyboard and other controls - would have been even better (and more scratch resistant) but hey, they probably wanted to look like a PSP.

D.

And how would you play all of those vertical arcade titles like CPS1, CPS2, MAME etc with a clamshell? You don't I guess? Or you would play then at 1/2 the size that you can on a GP2X? Sounds like a pretty shitty design to me.


Don't see why having the screen maybe 2 inches to the left would detract from that - but then, I don't play those games rotated anyway. I'm perfectly happy to play them in the usual orientation

It's ok though, Dave - you can consider it a shitty design, it doesn't matter if you do

D.