Is Gp2x A Portable Media Device?

[fargo]

Looking at this comparison table, one can say that GPH chose MMSP2 for GP2X because they wanted to produce a portable media player not a portable game console! That is because VRender 3D would be the more natural choice for a game console!

So, was it really their intension to produce a media player that "can" play games? Or there were other justifications for their choice such as price and power consumption?

 

[Shikaku]

Media player first... And we all suffer for it.

 

[Digitalrat]

Well, their intention was to produce a portable media player. Games were one function of it, though. Because of the price they didn't choose the VRender 3D.

 

[thejoeandchip]

Media player first... And we all suffer for it.

Where is the happiness? The GP2X isn't perfect, but you gotta make due with what you got!
GPH made some many mistakes (what were they thinking?!?), but at least they made something. And hell, who doesn't like a media player? All i am saying is when you look at other nerd groups, they just deal with it. The gmini 400 community is actually deving on a 100% media player, but they dont think "archos screwed us over!" they think "lets spend months of time and make this thing play sonic!"

 

[m8ex]

"Personal Entertainment Player"

 

[fargo]

"Personal Entertainment Player"

Yah, but they gave priority to media while it should be given to games.

 

[purple_goat]

i dont give about a break down or whatever
the gp2x is the gp2x.
not game system.
not a media player.
not a pastry chef.
the gp2x B)

 

[craigix]

Actually i think priority was given to cost - the VR solution would have made the GP2X way over even the PSP price.

 

[DaveC]

Looking at this comparison table, one can say that GPH chose MMSP2 for GP2X because they wanted to produce a portable media player not a portable game console! That is because VRender 3D would be the more natural choice for a game console!

So, was it really their intension to produce a media player that "can" play games? Or there were other justifications for their choice such as price and power consumption?

Games don't always = "3D" you know.

If they made it with that v-render we would just have a bad verson of the PSP or DS.

 

[fargo]

Games don't always = "3D" you know.

If they made it with that v-render we would just have a bad verson of the PSP or DS.

I cannot see how VRender 3D can be a bad choice while it almost can do every things that MMSP2 does + 3D!

Actually i think priority was given to cost - the VR solution would have made the GP2X way over even the PSP price.

That would be a good reason. Do you know how much VR and MMSP2 cost?

 

[QuasaR]

As your comparison table shows, the MMSP2 does have the 940T, a higher resolution (up to 1980x1080i) and can handle MPEG4 ASP. You have to take also in consideration that the GP2X came from the GP32, a purely 2D emulation handheld with a strong community and so the GP2X is just the logical successor to the GP32 and not just another 3D handheld (like the Gizmondo, which indeed was do successful with it's 3D againt Sony that Tiger made enough money so they closed down just after 10000 units... )

 

[gaterooze]

Personally, the GP2X does everything I want, and nothing that I don't want. Just the way I like it. The price is amazing, too, so I'm glad they made those choices.

 

[messiah]

yeah, let's stick with 2D, make a exclusive retro-system and polish it to excellence!

good marketing campaign should promote gp2x "weakness" as its strength. For me, if I want 3d i play RomeTW and Med2 on PC. When I want hardcore retro gaming I prefer to turn on gp2x.

I often wonder what could be done to this system if a bigger and more wealthy company would be making it... Ability to MASS produce gp2x (c'mon it's one rather simple and cost efficient board, LCD and some plastics) could drop price of gp2x to 99 dollars or even more... And company could actually make bigger profit of it because more and more people would buy it....
Think about mass advertising of gp2x as ULTIMATE 2D Game System. If a "2D" fashion could be promoted, people would buy them like crazy (remember Pokemon or Tamagotchi fashion?). And when gp2x would be REALLY popular, serious developers would come, because any system with millions units sold attracts developers like crazy... (better console will lose with worse but more popular one --> saturn vs psx / lynx vs gameboy / ngp vs gbc... ) Recently I've played demo of Payback. After I saw, I wonder what could be done in terms of games for gp2x IF wealthy and big developer would start write games for it. ..Gp2x HAS possibilities - Payback is awesome in technical terms.

Ok, end of dreaming... F**k 3D, let's play Extender and TileMatch. They're simply addicting

 

[fargo]

Big companies did studies and researches and found the majority of consumers prefer 3D games, so they made 3D consoles. There are still minority who prefer 2D and old games who won't pay extra money for 3D. GPH is serving this minority now and that is dangerous in the long run.

As your comparison table shows, the MMSP2 does have the 940T, a higher resolution (up to 1980x1080i)

:huh: Sorry, but GP2X was not meant to be a set-top box! Storing HD movies in SD and watching them on a AA-battery powered player with 3.4" LCD is just illogical!

 

[Orkie]

Sorry at but GP2X was not meant to be a set-top box! Storing HD movies in SD and watching them on a AA-battery powered player with 3.4" LCD is just illogical!

Actually, it seems that what is inside the GP2X was meant to go in a set-top box

 

[Epicenter]

GPH built the GP2X as a media player to suit the Korean market, and according to what ED told me, they just recently began to realize people play games on it during the past few months. Even though only ~1/25th of the sales have been in Korea, they've been marketing towards that audience. Sort of pathetic, though, that even with that as its main focus, the video player and audio player are still awful, with mediocre interfaces, a lack of features and codec support, the eBook reader is just barely functional, and the photo viewer crashes for every 8th photo. It does a much better job at running game software, yet they market it for everything else. Sheesh.

As fo the MMSP2/MP2520F, yes, it was made for a set-top box or a camera. Hence, the video decoding focus and photo zooming/scaling functionality, as well as, of course, the camera component interface.

VRender3D was designed for a game system. GPH probably didn't choose it due to cost. But it would've been a far superior choice for even 2D games, as the 2D/3D accelerator is fully OpenGL-ES compliant and would've allowed full acceleration of 2D or 3D software, providing vastly superior performance in homebrew titles and graphically intensive emulators (SNES, PSX, GBA, high-end arcade systems, and other 3D-geared systems).

Buuuut .. they didn't pick VRender3D. They picked MMSP2. It's poorly suited for the applications the GP2X was designed for. That is what Shikaku meant by 'we will suffer'.