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
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
