What do you think? Is the GP32 dead already? Think of it: only 15000 GP32 sold, only a few rflinks sold (because there are just no friends with gp32 to play with), only very very few game releases since over a year now, no release in europe as promised. On top of that the imminent release of the sony handheld psp, the nokia handheld n-gage and Tapwaves palm compatible handheld game machine. Both Sony and Tapwave sport way better hardware specs than the gp32...
Is the GP32 dead soon?
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Rico
Certified Guru
The other machines have companies that can afford to put proprietary garbage around. Gamepark might be confusing to use, but I liken it to linux; it's easy to code for and the SDK is open. I only just bought mine so I'm hoping it stays popular, but it's still a great value machine with promising releases ahead.
crazeeplaya
That's the way I like it
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But are those systems open source? I think not. That's why the GP32 will not die for quite some time 
crazeeplaya
That's the way I like it
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Who voted "Yes", that must be a joke
trooper
Trooper`s watching you !!!
No way, Hosay!!!
The GP32 is a nich market, As has been said before, There has`nt even been an offical Europe or US release.
Commercial games are not it`s main selling point, As Gamepark fully suport the emu and homebrew market.
The owner figures you quoted have been mentioned numerous times before, And AFAIK there are no offically publicly available figures.
The n-gage is for a completely different market. (mobile phone)
The sony PSP is years away, If at all.
That just leaves the Tapwave, Which AFAIK is not open source.
Just my 2p
Trooper
The GP32 is a nich market, As has been said before, There has`nt even been an offical Europe or US release.
Commercial games are not it`s main selling point, As Gamepark fully suport the emu and homebrew market.
The owner figures you quoted have been mentioned numerous times before, And AFAIK there are no offically publicly available figures.
The n-gage is for a completely different market. (mobile phone)
The sony PSP is years away, If at all.
That just leaves the Tapwave, Which AFAIK is not open source.
Just my 2p
Trooper
This system isn't and never was about dominating the mainstream market, so I don't see how Sony's machine could be a threat to the GP32 market. If anyone should be worried about it, Nintendo should. If the PSP really has some surprise killer ap features that would give it some sort of edge with hobbyists there's plenty of time between that and the GP64 release for Gamepark to rip them off anyway. :lol:
The tapwave seems to be a beefed up palm, finally with a decent directional pad and good buttons. Thats what gamers need. As such, you can probably take any of the many options to program a palm and program games for the tapwave. Rest assured, people will also probably figure out soon how to use the advanced hardware in the tapwave. Every palm user and his mom are going to buy those if they have a decent price tag.
Also, from what I can find, though the tapwave helix may have some good specs, and, at least at present, it is fairly easy to get an SDK, how exactly are the games stored on the console? All I can see, is carts, in which case, it's about as developer friendly as the GBA, assuming flashcarts come out for it.
Ah well, I'll stick with my GP32, until the GP64 comes out
Ah well, I'll stick with my GP32, until the GP64 comes out
Axeman
Axemeister
Nah - its the old 'horses for courses' argument again. GP32 will prevail cos of the open source movement around it. Different market.
trooper
Trooper`s watching you !!!
Talking of the Tapwave Helix, Has anyone seen or are there any pictures of the handheld.
Things are a bit vague at the moment considering it down for a 2003 release.
No storage media support info.
No processor spec info.
No price mentioned AFAIK.
And no pictures, Oh i said that :rolleyes: .
VAPOURWARE ?????
Trooper
Things are a bit vague at the moment considering it down for a 2003 release.
No storage media support info.
No processor spec info.
No price mentioned AFAIK.
And no pictures, Oh i said that :rolleyes: .
VAPOURWARE ?????
Trooper
Rigor Mortis
Member
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Who cares if the GP32 doesn't have a big market? Who cares if new games aren't coming out? The GP32 is all about homebrew and emulation. If you're buying it expecting it to hit the mainstream, you made a terrible choice. I know it's probably never going to leave it's niche market status, but I'm buying one for the emulation, so I don't care at all. Even if the GP32 was dead, it would still be worth buying. That's something I wouldn't say about any other handheld.
Mofokubik
Newbie
i dont give two shits if something is dead or not. dreamcast and 3dfx are dead and i still use them to death.
Intruder
Member
Tapwave clarification
- Media : Secure Digital (SD) same as like the other new Palm device outthere, so it is fairly open format no stinky custom card a la Nintendo. But of course they will do something similar like Gamepark so you can encrypt your stuff so people cant copy.
- Processor : Motorola Dragonball i.MX1 series, to be more precised it is the MC9328MX1, not sure about the clock speed, but I think it should be around 200mhz.
- Price : around $299 (not confirmed), they were just talking that it will be price at around the same price as other console. Which make sense considering of everything it will have, it is quite similar to the latest Palm Tungsten C, Zire 71. Just even better (more resolution, joystick, 2 SD slots, etc...).
- Picture : N/A since the complete hardware design hasnt been fully completed. But which can be good, so you can try to voice your opinion. Which I did of course ;-), recommending to have a joystick similar to my NeoGeo Pocket Color or the GP32 ;-). I dont want stincky dpad!
As for open source, it is fairly easy to have access to the SDK. They are not so restricivie from what I have seen. I talk with one of their technical support engineer and he told me they just require people to fill in the form so they can have an ideas of who is interested and what they do. They are not doing some big selection like other big console manufacturer. So indy developer can join in without trouble. Very similar to Palm way of doing business (any one can develop and sell application for the PalmOS).
But I think both GP32 and Tapwave can be on the market it will make more choice and variety. Geez we only have the big N GameBoy thingy.
- Media : Secure Digital (SD) same as like the other new Palm device outthere, so it is fairly open format no stinky custom card a la Nintendo. But of course they will do something similar like Gamepark so you can encrypt your stuff so people cant copy.
- Processor : Motorola Dragonball i.MX1 series, to be more precised it is the MC9328MX1, not sure about the clock speed, but I think it should be around 200mhz.
- Price : around $299 (not confirmed), they were just talking that it will be price at around the same price as other console. Which make sense considering of everything it will have, it is quite similar to the latest Palm Tungsten C, Zire 71. Just even better (more resolution, joystick, 2 SD slots, etc...).
- Picture : N/A since the complete hardware design hasnt been fully completed. But which can be good, so you can try to voice your opinion. Which I did of course ;-), recommending to have a joystick similar to my NeoGeo Pocket Color or the GP32 ;-). I dont want stincky dpad!
As for open source, it is fairly easy to have access to the SDK. They are not so restricivie from what I have seen. I talk with one of their technical support engineer and he told me they just require people to fill in the form so they can have an ideas of who is interested and what they do. They are not doing some big selection like other big console manufacturer. So indy developer can join in without trouble. Very similar to Palm way of doing business (any one can develop and sell application for the PalmOS).
But I think both GP32 and Tapwave can be on the market it will make more choice and variety. Geez we only have the big N GameBoy thingy.
This is just another example of the "specs" game.
First off, forget the PSP - it's Sony, it's closed source and while it will be a solid 3D commercial game system, it won't have aCPU as fast as GP32 so even if emus could be developed somehow and the weird media circumvented, the GP32 is still better for emulation and homebrew.
As for Tapwave, the specs look good. But it's still vaporware. In fact, many systems with wonderful specs by new startups have come and gone over the years, this just being the latest. There is absolutely no guarantee the Tapwave Helix will even happen. Even if it does, many programmers dislike the Palm OS for development, weird memory structure etc. and it will be a while before it has a solid emulation scene etc. in place to compete with GP32. By the time Helix arrives, IF it ever does, the GP32 will have an amazing number of solid emulators and other stuff too.
The real point is that having a real system with real apps in your hand is worth more than a spec sheet. Right now the GP32 has NO competition for what it is - an open source power portable. And it will be at least 6 months or so before that even begins to change.
Let's jump the gun anyway, and say the Tapwave Helix comes out, and turns out as good as the paper specs claim. Let's say they get it right, good controls, screen and all those nifty features. And let's say all the hardcore portable gamers and emulation sceners buy one and development takes off in every direction - commercial games & apps, homebrew games & apps, and of course, emulators for all sorts of consoles and systems. Great. But even then, who's to say Game Park won't react soon after with a GP64? Imagine if a GP64 is backward compatible (it should be) and even faster than Tapwave. The point is any of these things can happen (GP64 is just as "real" as Tapwave Helix at the moment!), and until they do - stick with what you know is real right now. The good old GP32.
First off, forget the PSP - it's Sony, it's closed source and while it will be a solid 3D commercial game system, it won't have aCPU as fast as GP32 so even if emus could be developed somehow and the weird media circumvented, the GP32 is still better for emulation and homebrew.
As for Tapwave, the specs look good. But it's still vaporware. In fact, many systems with wonderful specs by new startups have come and gone over the years, this just being the latest. There is absolutely no guarantee the Tapwave Helix will even happen. Even if it does, many programmers dislike the Palm OS for development, weird memory structure etc. and it will be a while before it has a solid emulation scene etc. in place to compete with GP32. By the time Helix arrives, IF it ever does, the GP32 will have an amazing number of solid emulators and other stuff too.
The real point is that having a real system with real apps in your hand is worth more than a spec sheet. Right now the GP32 has NO competition for what it is - an open source power portable. And it will be at least 6 months or so before that even begins to change.
Let's jump the gun anyway, and say the Tapwave Helix comes out, and turns out as good as the paper specs claim. Let's say they get it right, good controls, screen and all those nifty features. And let's say all the hardcore portable gamers and emulation sceners buy one and development takes off in every direction - commercial games & apps, homebrew games & apps, and of course, emulators for all sorts of consoles and systems. Great. But even then, who's to say Game Park won't react soon after with a GP64? Imagine if a GP64 is backward compatible (it should be) and even faster than Tapwave. The point is any of these things can happen (GP64 is just as "real" as Tapwave Helix at the moment!), and until they do - stick with what you know is real right now. The good old GP32.
trooper
Trooper`s watching you !!!
Too true, Nutzo, Too true.
I`d love to see the day that we all copy our existing software over to compact flash and plug it into our GP64 .
Trooper
I`d love to see the day that we all copy our existing software over to compact flash and plug it into our GP64
.Trooper
Mofokubik
Newbie
i would have to disagree with gp64 being just as real. for one thing (to the depths of my knowledge) gamepark isnt even releasing another system, as where helix is going to be released and is official. but dont get me wrong, if gp is going to make a new handheld, i am all for it.
Personally i dont really see what the big deal is. Currently we have some fantastic emu's and user made games/progs for the system, and the dev scene doesn't look like it is going to be dying any time too soon.
When you think about it the GP32 is practically dead anyway. Sure it's slowly selling imports all across the globe, but it's not like we have any decent support from Gamepark. We get shit all in terms of news for the system, we get no help in terms of possible problems with the system. Gamepark doesn't even seem to have an English speaking employee for christs sake!
So here we are with no real support by the company and yet, we are still putting along with great releases made by the community.
Whether the demise of Gamepark as a company means the true death of the GP32 or not, IMO the system is already dead from a commercial aspect. But I still play my GP32 every day, I still come on these forums and read/post messages relating the the system, and i still get excited when a new program is released for it.
I'm happy with my purchase which i made over a year ago because ever since then i FEEL like i've really got my money's worth with the unit, even more so then if i bought a GBA and payed even more money to buy games.
The system will truly die once i stop using it and at the moment, i dont see that happening any time soon.
When you think about it the GP32 is practically dead anyway. Sure it's slowly selling imports all across the globe, but it's not like we have any decent support from Gamepark. We get shit all in terms of news for the system, we get no help in terms of possible problems with the system. Gamepark doesn't even seem to have an English speaking employee for christs sake!
So here we are with no real support by the company and yet, we are still putting along with great releases made by the community.
Whether the demise of Gamepark as a company means the true death of the GP32 or not, IMO the system is already dead from a commercial aspect. But I still play my GP32 every day, I still come on these forums and read/post messages relating the the system, and i still get excited when a new program is released for it.
I'm happy with my purchase which i made over a year ago because ever since then i FEEL like i've really got my money's worth with the unit, even more so then if i bought a GBA and payed even more money to buy games.
The system will truly die once i stop using it and at the moment, i dont see that happening any time soon.
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