New Site > Gp2x Vs Psp

[Blah]

Remember that the 2 ARM9 Magiceye cores in the GP2X can be clocked up to 266mhz each without overclocking. And that ARM has been proven to be a great architecture for portables.

 

[junker]

where's info on this 266mhz?
similar to gp32s 133mhz without overclocking?

 

[elinscheid]

Actually if you upgrade to the latest firmware you CAN play back your own H264 movies off of memory card. BUT....then you can't play emulators I will modify my previous post to clarify...

 

[junker]

isn't it limited at 320x240 resolution too for h.264 on the firmware 2.0s? i wanted to use all 480x272!!!

 

[icurafu]

isn't it limited at 320x240 resolution too for h.264 on the firmware 2.0s? i wanted to use all 480x272!!!

​

from what I read if you use h.264 on the GP2x above QVGA, this it will not maintain the full 30fps.

What compression rate this is bases on, I dont know.

But h.264 is fairly cpu intensive remember.

 

[junker]

well, yeah, i wouldn't go above qvga for encodes prepared for gp2x anyway was talking about the psp

 

[Shane R. Monroe]

This is wrong though. Anyone with an internet connection and a blank memory stick can run emulators on the PSP. They can also run them at 333 MHz by simply changing a menu item. There is no hardware mod required. So I would consider these capabilities to be "out of the box"

When I mean "out of the box" I mean NO modification. ANY PSP has to be able to do the specified task WITHOUT firmware revisions. Its this still true? I do NOT profess to be educated about this. This is why I look to you guys with a PSP.

Right now SNES, PC-Engine NES, GB, GBC, Genesis, Atari-ST, Neo Geo, are all superior on the PSP right now to the GP32. The GP2X doesn't even have most of these yet and the ones that it does are choppy and early versions. They will improve but to what level? Will they ever match the PSP in speed? No one knows for sure yet.

Time, indeed, will tell. For me personally, its almost become a religious manner. I don't like what Sony has done with the PSP, and by NOT buying one I'm speaking with the only voice I know how - with my wallet. Those interested in knowing my problems with Sony and the PSP, you can hit my message forums - I lament at length there.

I do believe machine specs *in this case* will not crown the victor ... I believe the spirit of the developers will have the final say on which machine will come out on top in the end. Who will utilize the dual core procs first? Who will maximize the hardware? I also believe that Sony WILL eventually win and lock the majority of hacking out - even if its just through DILIGENCE and TIME.

Right now the PSP IS the best emulation handheld because of its fast CPU. It has other issues such as a dodgy d-pad, slow LCD, and image stretching that looks ugly (to me). So it is not perfect but nothing is yet.

The price of entry is still prohibitive to me. Without a unit-only SKU with a proper price-to-ROI to me, I'm just not there. Honestly, since I'm not interested in commercial games or UMD - the PSP just doesn't make good sense. For ME ...

Again .. Time will tell!

 

[Shane R. Monroe]

I look forward to seeing some updates to the information in the comparison. At the moment I am afraid it is unbalanced.

I'm not sure I agree its 'unbalanced'. There are TONS of technical specifications that are UNKNOWN (closed architecture on the PSP, nothing shipped for the GP2x) at this time.

The fact that someone might have to 'shift' **firmware** to make the PSP viable, that's not what I would consider 'convenient' or 'readily accessible'. For example, while you CAN flash backward, does Sony offer the flash files on their site for "Joe Q. Dumbass" consumer? If not, then you have to obtain them illegally (forget the concept that emulators are legally gray). This requires "acquisition" of those pirated images, which means access to newsgroups or some other method.

This isn't "out of the box". Just because you and I can flash a bios with no problem, that doesn't qualify for "out of the box" functionality. ESPECIALLY if Sony doesn't provide the means in a legal, easy to access manner.

I have a PSP and I love playing emulators and home brew games on it. Installing the emulators are simple enough and they are great quality, especially if you consider the short period of time the PSP has been out. Currently most stores in the US still have units with firmware 2.0 in stock and all you need to do is downgrade to 1.5 and viola, a whole world of unsigned code is availble.

Again ... pick someone you work with, go to school with ... someone without an IP address tattooed on their arses ... and give them a 2.0 PSP and say "Now, go downgrade that to 1.5". Enjoy blank stares now. This isn't going to be the same scenario with the GP2x.

I'm not saying the PSP can't play emulators (and well). I'm saying Joe Q. Public ain't hitting download.com and getting MAME. I know many PSP owners - even those that are "IT Literate" and they wouldn't know how to do this, or where to get BIOS to roll back to (and many of them are now using DSes - Trauma Center owns).

A straight up comparison cannot assume people can rollback firmware, use special loaders, etc.

My point of view is that if you want a quality handheld that can play the latest 3D commercial games, play back MP3s and watch awesome h246 codec movies...AND play unsigned code with minimal effort, then the PSP is one kick ass handheld. EDIT: to play back H264 movies from memory card you need to upgrade your firmware, effectly ending your ability to run unsigned code.....but the UMD movies are still H264 for what it's worth

Now, feel free to correct me ... As I understand it, if I have a standard movie file (the roughly 740x480 variety) it has to be converted to playback on a STANDARD PSP, correct? No hacked firmware, no special loaders - all video must be converted before playback on a PSP. Yes, no?

 

[DaveC]

Well yeah you need to download firmware degraders for the PSP and run once to do it. If all you want is retro and emus then you buy a PSP downgrade the FW and you are done. You say that you don't care about commercial games anyway. So no matter what Sony does FW wise it will never effect you. I don't think Sony will sneak into your house while you are sleeping and upgrade your FW on you

It is not a big deal anyway. Who cares about the average lamer that can't suss it out. We are talking about this for us anyway.

The other thing you need to be fair about is that the GP2X isn't really capable of running ROMz out of the box either. The user has to search for the emulator and the R0Mz anyway so that makes it even with the PSP where you need to flash the FW.

Oh and by the way have you downloaded my ads that are in my sig?

 

[Empyre]

I'm not saying the PSP can't play emulators (and well). I'm saying Joe Q. Public ain't hitting download.com and getting MAME. I know many PSP owners - even those that are "IT Literate" and they wouldn't know how to do this, or where to get BIOS to roll back to (and many of them are now using DSes - Trauma Center owns).

Are you gonna put a column in for the DS?

 

[Epicenter]

The other thing you need to be fair about is that the GP2X isn't really capable of running ROMz out of the box either. The user has to search for the emulator and the R0Mz anyway so that makes it even with the PSP where you need to flash the FW.

​

Um, what? You still need to download the software and put it on a memory stick to use it on a PSP, too. That, then the firmware flash. That's 2 steps on the PSP and 1 on the GP2x, that does not make them even. In addition, one is just a simple step novice users can handle, while firmware flashes are dangerous, advanced tasks that can render a PSP useless, and Sony will NOT replace it because you were attempting to circumvent their anti-homebrew rules.

By your logic a PC is incapable of running games because you have to put in the CD and install them.

Also, please stop saying 'ROMz' for the love of god. It sounds ridiculous.

 

[elinscheid]

Again ... pick someone you work with, go to school with ... someone without an IP address tattooed on their arses ... and give them a 2.0 PSP and say "Now, go downgrade that to 1.5". Enjoy blank stares now. This isn't going to be the same scenario with the GP2x.

​

The type of person you describe sounds like the same idiot that logs into forums to ask how to get RomZ and BIOS files and then complains because installing software is too difficult. Are these actually the people you made your comparison for? I got the distinct impression that the GP2X was marketed for the home brew scene, not the average "joe gamer" as you put it. I guess GP2X homebrew authors better dumb down the Read Me files so that "joe gamer" doesn't get too bewildered...

 

[Cyclops]

The type of person you describe sounds like the same idiot that logs into forums to ask how to get RomZ and BIOS files and then complains because installing software is too difficult. Are these actually the people you made your comparison for? I got the distinct impression that the GP2X was marketed for the home brew scene, not the average "joe gamer" as you put it. I guess GP2X homebrew authors better dumb down the Read Me files so that "joe gamer" doesn't get too bewildered...

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I know this is off-topic, but the reality is having looked at the screenshots of the GP2X its ease of use has just increased no end. It looks to attach under mass-storage. So not a propriatry loader of software anymore. No renaming files to fit the 8.3 extention. Hopefully no more registering the device. Not having to convert movies in virtualdub looks like a major plus over that of the PSP at the moment. I think looking at the firmware that GPH has put a lot of effort into pleasing "Joe Public". Who should not be considered Mr/Mrs thicky but myself who wants as little barrier as possible to doing a task.

Without focussing on emulation, which I belive quite strongly that emulation is not *as* important as on the GP32, and homebrew + movies will become more popular. I'm starting to belive these are the area which will make the difference over any other handheld.

 

[Esn]

OK, a few things that you may want to mention:

-this website
-the GP2X can run PDFs (see info in above website)
-now, I don't own a PSP, but surely it can't be difficult just going here, downloading a file and changing your firmware so you can use emus? If somebody is so stupid that they can't do that, then they probably wouldn't be able to copy files onto a GP2X either. Just because most people don't know about it, doesn't mean it's not easy. Although of course, I may be totally wrong about this... what do the PSP owners say?

EDIT: And if I AM totally wrong, you should still mention this on your site because people may have heard that it's easy from somewhere else, so you need to tell them WHY it's not as easy as they think.

 

[Epicenter]

Again ... pick someone you work with, go to school with ... someone without an IP address tattooed on their arses ... and give them a 2.0 PSP and say "Now, go downgrade that to 1.5". Enjoy blank stares now. This isn't going to be the same scenario with the GP2x.

​

The type of person you describe sounds like the same idiot that logs into forums to ask how to get RomZ and BIOS files and then complains because installing software is too difficult. Are these actually the people you made your comparison for? I got the distinct impression that the GP2X was marketed for the home brew scene, not the average "joe gamer" as you put it. I guess GP2X homebrew authors better dumb down the Read Me files so that "joe gamer" doesn't get too bewildered...

​

I draw a nice thick line between 'harmless software installation that cannot be a detriment to your system and can be rolled back with a few mouse clicks or keystrokes' and 'firmware update to hardware that, if it does not go exactly right, can render your ~$300 game console inoperable and cannot be repaired without soldering skill and a flash writer, or a lot more cash given to a specialist to reflash it'. I would hope more people would, too.

 

[Eolair]

I agree with Epicenter. You need to reflash your firmware to a non offical one risking bricking your PSP in the process. I wouldn't call that "out of the box". So Shane is right. You're also breaking the warrantee of the hardware. Sony hates homebrew/emulators and will never support it. On the GP2X you have none of these problems.

On a less argumentive note; Hello Shane and welcome to the forum. I'm glad your open to suggestions and I'm sure you will improve your site with time. The GP2X isn't even out yet. I'm also looking forward to this months edition of retrogaming radio

 

[TheTurnipKing]

I'm not saying the PSP can't play emulators (and well). I'm saying Joe Q. Public ain't hitting download.com and getting MAME. I know many PSP owners - even those that are "IT Literate" and they wouldn't know how to do this, or where to get BIOS to roll back to (and many of them are now using DSes - Trauma Center owns).

Are you gonna put a column in for the DS?

​

The DS isnt even in the same league as the other two. And I don't nessicarily mean that in a negative way, but it really is something quite quite different. There's little or no overlap of functionality between the GP2X and DS.

 

[Cyclops]

I'm not saying the PSP can't play emulators (and well). I'm saying Joe Q. Public ain't hitting download.com and getting MAME. I know many PSP owners - even those that are "IT Literate" and they wouldn't know how to do this, or where to get BIOS to roll back to (and many of them are now using DSes - Trauma Center owns).

Are you gonna put a column in for the DS?

​

The DS isnt even in the same league as the other two. And I don't nessicarily mean that in a negative way, but it really is something quite quite different. There's little or no overlap of functionality between the GP2X and DS.

​

I think the reality is there is little or no functionality between the PSP and the GP2X.

 

[TheTurnipKing]

I'm not saying the PSP can't play emulators (and well). I'm saying Joe Q. Public ain't hitting download.com and getting MAME. I know many PSP owners - even those that are "IT Literate" and they wouldn't know how to do this, or where to get BIOS to roll back to (and many of them are now using DSes - Trauma Center owns).

Are you gonna put a column in for the DS?

​

The DS isnt even in the same league as the other two. And I don't nessicarily mean that in a negative way, but it really is something quite quite different. There's little or no overlap of functionality between the GP2X and DS.

​

I think the reality is there is little or no functionality between the PSP and the GP2X.

​

Commercial software support is the biggie in favour of the PSP. I can't see Rockstar creating a version of GTA for the GP2X, and even I can see that's a VERY good reason to buy the system - though I'm not a fan of the game myself.

As far as I can see, for everything else, the two are just about even.

 

[Skitzo]

I guess that's why they added that DRM protection to the GP2X, to allow companies like Rockstar to create commercial software which they can still make profits from. I still don't think we'll see native ports of big games from big companies though.