Loving The Gp32! :)


idigital

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Oct 13, 2005
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I know I'm late for this kind of post, but I just received my GP32BLU(+) in the mail today and I just have to write a glowing message of GP32 love for this awesome gadget :)

First I have to admit being a latecomer to GP32 after years of almost buying the thing. Recently I was going to buy a PSP for the apparent power and potentially thriving homebrew scene, then I realised all I was looking for could be found in this ol' handheld.

I sent away immediately for one of the last stock of GP32+ from gbax, a chatboard and glass screen from gp32z, and a 18-in-1 card reader from singapore on ebay ($0.50 bid, $14 postage ;) ).

Not two weeks later and the GP32 is here, packed with three free commercial games, two extras, the usual bits and even a carry bag. Which is actually pretty good, pockets made for the smart media cards and everything, altho it also has "Astonishia Story" on one side which I assume is a commercial game?

Anyway, the included games were an instant taste of some old school gaming goodness, saving me the frustration of having to wait till I got home to download stuff onto a card. Straight away I could play Dungeon & Garder, Rally Pop and Little Wizard, altho I encountered the daylight dark screen effect sitting in the car this will probably be better once I get the glass screen in.

By the time I got home I put the CD supplied by gbax straight in and wiped the extra copies of D&G and Little Wizard to copy over some of the supplied homebrew. I've held off on buying new SMCs until I got this package, wasn't sure how big the supplied ones will be. Well, 16Mb isn't that much space I've found, so I'll be ordering some 128Mb ones as soon as I finish this post ;)

First up in went Doom, cos my g/f is a huge fan of that game having stopped playing games sometime in the early 90's. Stoked, full speed Doom goodness, really looks impressive on the Gp32 screen.

Then fired up some of the old scene demos, nice to see Hitmen in there with some old school demo style. Is there any scene Groepaz is *not* in? ;)

Keeping in the old school theme, I couldn't wait to get Frodo up and running with all the commie classics. This is a massive shock to me, here I was under the impression that Frodo was only good for some of the less impressive titles, incapable of dealing with the "cutting edge" of c64 hacking.

I found only minor issues with the best of the best such as Armalyte, IK+ and Delta, and it was nice to see the old crack intros on the GP32 screen as well. I'll test out some of my old demos on it later, and see if any of the better scene stuff can play passably on it. Great stuff.

Then I was distracted from my nostalgia (no pun intended, if you get that one ;) ), time to checkout this DrMD emulator I've heard so much about!

One word. Wow. Worth the price of entry twice over :)

My experience of the console itself? I have to say that photos of this ol' gadget don't do it justice. I'm actually amazed how well designed it is for it's time and even now in 2005. The new(er) GP32 firmware launcher is much more stylish than the old one I'd seen used for GeePee32, with a nice splash screen and a main menu that has an animation of the GP32 logo that is reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog bouncing.

The thumbstick controller is very easy to use, raised from the main body and balanced in a way that makes movement very responsive. Perhaps too touchy but I'm sure it just takes some getting used to.

The shoulder buttons are also very responsive, and very effective when used to play the Pinball Dreams demo (which I seemed to have no problems with on the Blu+).

I couldn't stop boring my g/f with wowing over the screen itself, which just seems so large and clear. The placement of the speakers, even though they don't seem to be that impressive in function, are well spaced and adds to the overall style of the unit.

When I'd seen photos of the GP32, I wasn't a big fan of the white colour., it seemed tacky somehow. Now that I have it in my hands I wouldn't change it at all, the blend of the white with the band of grey around the side is just right. It really gives me a feeling of having a miniature console of some kind, possibly like the Dreamcast in style.

So, those are my first impressions of this amazing handheld. The GP2X may be coming soon but with the amount of energy and talent that has been poured into the older GP32 it's well worth tracking down and getting one for the collection. Maybe only 30,000 were ever sold and the GP2X will sell so many more, the GP32 is an impressive gadget and my perspective is that it's not going to be dying off anytime soon.

I'm sure that after years of having a cool gadget like this one it could become less impressive, for me this thing is a piece of history, a console that's sure to become a classic, and now that it has been practically declared dead by the manufacturer it's bound to garner a new and revived scene of even more "retro" hackers and afficionados ;)

I know, it's all been said before and I'm a fanboy. I can live with that.

Cheers,

Damian
 
Yeah, I thought you'd feel this way. I went through the same thing, asked some of the same questions, apparently ordered mine from the same place with the same stuff, and had pretty much the same reaction. Everyone was right, it's a great little system.

We thought you'd find a lot of stuff to do with it, glad you did! If you're a Doom fan or perhaps a Goldeneye fan (more so the latter but it's okay if you just lik Doom too) check out the Goldeneye wad. Sure it'll take up a whole 16mb card, but it's a fantastic way to play Doom in a new way on the system.

And yes, that drmd kicks ass (I was just arguing with people on another board about how I love it too but love opensnes even better) but Reesy is responsible for the best of both, and they're great to have on the go.

Glad you got the machine and loved it, I went through the same feelings a couple weeks ago and now I love the machine!
 
I have to say I agree - and for all the same reasons you do. The only thing I haven't tried is the Doom port since I didn't think it fitted on a 16MB SMC, but you seem to be doing fine :). I got mine last December, but I still treat it like royalty.

And I have to say that the GP32 scene has been kicking arse lately despite (or maybe due to) the GP2x coming out. So many releases and ports in the last little while - great stuff.

I was actually going to purchase a GP2x this christmas, but because of the amazing GP32 scene at the moment I have decided not to, and focus on releasing the stuff for the gp32 that I have already started. I might hold of on the GP2x for a year or so. After a year, purchasing a mature GP2x may be more like your GP32 purchasing experience!
 
pea posted on Oct 23 2005 at 08:15 PM said:
I have to say I agree - and for all the same reasons you do. The only thing I haven't tried is the Doom port since I didn't think it fitted on a 16MB SMC, but you seem to be doing fine :). I got mine last December, but I still treat it like royalty.

Yeah, the shareware Doom at least only takes up about 6 or 7 mb I think. If I could ever find the full version (have it for my PC but the files aren't compatible) I could check to see but I don't think the full version would surpass 16 mb. That Goldeneye wad fills a whole card, but then it's a bigger game.
 
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idigital posted on Oct 24 2005 at 04:05 AM said:
Not two weeks later and the GP32 is here, packed with three free commercial games, two extras, the usual bits and even a carry bag. Which is actually pretty good, pockets made for the smart media cards and everything, altho it also has "Astonishia Story" on one side which I assume is a commercial game?
damn your so lucky, I really wanted that bag, but could not buy it anywhere.
And yeah astonishia story r is a commercial game.
 
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It's a cool carrying case, nice color, but the plastic holder inside is a little goofy. STill does the job though, and a very nice pack-in. I'd watch ebay though, surely one of the 100 people who bought the last systems will get rid of it.
 
Great post idigital, but you're really making me miss my GP32 already! I sold it last week to be able to afford a GP2X -- wish I didn't have to, I would have loved to keep both. Damn that's a great li'l machine...
 
gaterooze posted on Oct 24 2005 at 08:30 PM said:
Great post idigital, but you're really making me miss my GP32 already! I sold it last week to be able to afford a GP2X -- wish I didn't have to, I would have loved to keep both. Damn that's a great li'l machine...

Thanks guys, good to see there's still a lotta love for the ol' GP32, no doubt the active gp32 scene might attract more people now some will be auctioning them off on ebay most likely.

I'll not be parting with this carrybag though, it's just class. The plastic internal cover looks like a good idea gone wrong, possibly with time it will wear in and hug the GP32 a bit better. At the moment it sorta fits around it, but not as close as it should to make it really practical. It does seem to be designed so you can play your GP32 while it's strapped into the bag.

Right now I'm off to download some more goodies, and install Doom Goldeneye on the GP32 in the meantime to keep my g/f quiet :ph34r:

I even had it playing my most recent c64 release, a compilation of sid tunes each under 512 or 256 bytes, funky intro and everything. Great stuff, heh.

Haven't given OSNESX a good run yet, playing the sonic series on DrMD just makes me regret ever having played emulators on a PC ;)

Less typing, more downloading.
 
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That's is 100% how I felt when I got mine ~1.5 months or so ago. The GP32 is superbly designed, the screen is magnificent, and the downloads and possibilities leave you speechless.

You'll find that the SMC's will begin to fill up quickly, even the 128MB ones. :(
 
Alex. posted on Oct 24 2005 at 11:02 PM said:
That's is 100% how I felt when I got mine ~1.5 months or so ago. The GP32 is superbly designed, the screen is magnificent, and the downloads and possibilities leave you speechless.

You'll find that the SMC's will begin to fill up quickly, even the 128MB ones. :(

I was wondering about that, hasn't there been a successful hack to allow more than 128Mb SMCs for the GP32? Anything?

I noticed another thread about an SD card hack, that has probably been discontinued due to the arrival of the GP2X and it's SD storage capacity...

Would be excellent to have some way of storing more than 128Mb, but I can deal with buying a few of those and having well organised ready to go collections on the PC.
 
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idigital posted on Oct 24 2005 at 03:05 AM said:
I know I'm late for this kind of post, but I just received my GP32BLU(+) in the mail today and I just have to write a glowing message of GP32 love for this awesome gadget :)

Me too. Got my GP32 about three months for one of my kids and now we both use it (must get one of my own).

My three sons have all enjoyed the homebrew scene on the GBA but the GP32 really hits the spot. Doubtless there will be PSP and maybe a DS in the household at some point but having said that my sons friends were well impressed by the huge number of things he could do with it.

My only slight dissapointment is the Atari 2600 emulators seem a little weak. However one has source code available so the answer would seem to be to fix it up a little myself.

Yes I am one of those sad people who still likes to play 2600 games right up to latest pc fps. Having looked at the source I guess the 2600 emulator could do with options to overclock higher the 133Mhz and an adaptation to the frameskip. Many of the incompatabilties seem to be due to that fact that the limited capabilities of the 2600 meant that many games didn't apply all their logic in a single frame and most of the flickering things weren't being displayed every frame anyway (I think the hardware only supported about five things and the background). So skipping every other frame in the emulator is lethal (you lose game logic) even the default skip of two in three frames is bad for some games. Maybe a sort of 'stutter skip' (ie skip:play:play:skip:skip:play) ?


Sorry for wittering but thats the beauty of the GP32 if I care enough I can get off my ar*e and do stuff for myself :)
 
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I'll throw my hat in the ring here...
I've had mine for about 8 months and still fire it up probably 5 times a day for a 'quicky'.
At the moment I'm trying to beat Stunt Car Racer (thru CaSTaway). What a fantastic game, even now. And I had the original back in the day.

As for 2600, I have to agree it's really the one thing missing (for me anyway). I only play a couple of SNes titles that both work perfectly so I'm happy with that, but I really wish some super-developer would pick up 2600 emulation. I understand it's the toughest of the tough though so I won't hold my breath.

GP32 is a great platform with a lively community. Couldn't get any better imho.
 
Im only about 3-4 weeks into the scene, and Im loving my BLU+ every bit. Can I post that review/impression on my site, giving you full credit of course.
 
PSyMastR posted on Oct 25 2005 at 11:11 AM said:
Im only about 3-4 weeks into the scene, and Im loving my BLU+ every bit. Can I post that review/impression on my site, giving you full credit of course.

Mine? Yeah sure, every little bit of support for the GP32 counts I guess ;)

We need more glowing testimonials on the web to encourage more ppl to buy all the GP32's that will likely turn up on ebay after the gp2x release ;)
 
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2 years, 7 SMCs... absolutely loving it.

Seriously I don't think I have put it away for more than two weeks.

Pre-ordered a GP2X and just picked up a PSP last night and don't see myself getting bored of the GP32 for a while.

Last night I played the updated lynx emu before going to bed. :)
 
Ditto to all of the above...just got mine yesterday and from the same place!! I love the bag too! HOT DAMN I'm so stoked!!! Forgive me my lunacy...
Smiles from Peter :lol:
 
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