No News.... Good News?

[idarwin]

Hello guys.

First, let me start this topic by telling you all that I love the Caanoo, the community and the forum before I say what I'm about to say.

I'm kindda dissapointed becaouse I'm not getting actually the response or support I was hopping to have on this platform. Let me further explain... the thing is fungp site sucks real time... and that's a REAL MAJOR bummer... if the people who sell the thing is like in stone age... I believe we are kindda doomed.

In second place, I posted like ten messages in this forum and not ONE got me a possitve answer about the thing I was looking for. I really do not want to list the complete messages but I'm frustated. I want the daphne Emu, no sir. I want the Game and Watch sim., no dude. I wanna run Ginge with some games and I could not run ONE.

Besides that, the SNES, MAME and other work great... but then again... doesn't the psp do that as well and with great support and games? I mean... this is the only place where I found info and material about the Caanoo and WE POST LIKE 10 messages a DAY!!! Sincerily I say this with no disrespect, but I mean I think we ought to ourself a sincere good old "think".

Best.

E.-

 

[rotation]

i feel your pain man! what's your problem with Ginge? it took me a minute but I figured that sucker out.

 

[Orion4874]

Let's see if I can help answer. There's a rumor that GPH is leaving the gaming biz. If that's true don't expect anything in the way of help from them. FunGP will probably be gone when their domain expires which imo doesn't matter because it's never updated anyway.
About requesting things like games and emus etc. Devs work on things that appeal to them, plus the fact that they all have lives outside of this place means that 99% of requests aren't done. Also, there just aren't that many devs on this side anymore, the Pandora gobbled most of them up which is understandable since it's the more powerful handheld. The best thing you can do is learn to code and try these things for yourself. I'm not trying to lecture you or anything but that's just how it is around here. Unfortunately, you came late to the party, this community isn't even half as active as it once was.

Oh, check out the archive, there's a bunch of pre-wrapped ginge packs up their now.

 

[holyfuck77]

There's a rumor that GPH is leaving the gaming biz.

Where did you hear that?
I already have this trauma because of the dreamcast cancellation back in the days. Please, not again!

 

[Luo=-_]

There's a rumor that GPH is leaving the gaming biz.

Where did you hear that?

Yes....where did you hear/read that?!?

Luo=-_

 

[sebt3]

Yes....where did you hear/read that?!?

lemme guess, a craigix tweet

 

[rotation]

Yes....where did you hear/read that?!?

lemme guess, a craigix tweet

that's all a bunch of crap.
Pandora didn't snag up all the devs! they could barely MAKE those things. I'd be curious to see how many units were sold- I would be the Caanoo has outsold the Pandora 5 to 1 just from availability.
GPH makes a killing on gaming, they aren't going anywhere. They actually have been expanding their product line- they make a nifty tablet (that I hear runs Dingux)and soon- a convenient, all-in-one spatula emulator.

The Gemei 7x6500 Spatula Emulator will emulate ANY spatula released between 1980 and 2007, even some noodle strainers and salad tossers.

 

[kayuz]

that's all a bunch of crap.
Pandora didn't snag up all the devs! they could barely MAKE those things. I'd be curious to see how many units were sold- I would be the Caanoo has outsold the Pandora 5 to 1 just from availability.
GPH makes a killing on gaming, they aren't going anywhere. They actually have been expanding their product line- they make a nifty tablet (that I hear runs Dingux)and soon- a convenient, all-in-one spatula emulator.

The Gemei 7x6500 Spatula Emulator will emulate ANY spatula released between 1980 and 2007, even some noodle strainers and salad tossers.

completely with you, great reflection

 

[idarwin]

i feel your pain man! what's your problem with Ginge? it took me a minute but I figured that sucker out.

Thank you for your concern.

I've tried several games that I downloaded from openhanheld under the Wiz category; I'll try looking for the pack that the dude mentioned.

About the main topic of this thread; and in a nutshell: I'm happy with the Caanoo, and taking in account what was said here by everyone... For me and I think several other people who are just looking for emulation and fun, a PSP is a better choice

If you think I'm wrong please do list the reasons so I don't end up selling the Caanoo. Really please do.

Best.

E.-

 

[Remy803]

I'm not going to completely disagree with you on that last bit, but it really comes down to how you define "fun" and what you want emulated.

Personally, I had a PSP that I had great fun with - good commercial games and decent console emulation (before I busted the joystick on it). This was awhile back, so I think some of this has been improved, but SNES emulation wasn't all that great (it kept dropping layers, for example in Zelda, the world map didn't work (was completely black) and sometimes the lower level of dungeons would vanish, so the sprites would be walking around on nothing...), but, on the other hand, Super Mario RPG ran at near playable speed, which I haven't found to be the case on the Caanoo (of course, that might just be me and some bad settings, since I really didn't play with it that much).

But, I really wanted a touchscreen for ScummVM - trying to move the mouse cursor around with that joystick on the PSP was a pain, as was using the onscreen "keyboard". It also comes in handy for mouse emulation on the Amiga emulator.

The funny thing is, after I got the Caanoo, I discovered all the great homebrew and ported games. Some of them are available for the PSP as well (like SuperTux, I believe), but alot of the engine ports aren't, like Exult (through Ginge), FreeHeroes2, and Warcraft. I loved these classic PC games from back in the day, and it's great to carry them around in my pocket (which is another thing about the PSP - I had the old fat model, and it's both heavy and large, making it hard to slip into a pocket and carry around). I now rarely play with emulators; I just have too much fun with games like Wind & Water, Paper Wars, and everything else (I have an entire 4gb card dedicated only to homebrew and ports now).

To wrap-up: the Caanoo has some weak spots, mostly due to slow development cycles - but as was pointed out, that's a direct result of how relatively new the Caanoo is (the PSP has been out for, what, 6 years?) and the fact that these devs aren't getting paid or anything - they do it for love of their Caanoos and the community, which is saying something about the fact that it gets done at all.
The PSP has been out longer, has a larger community base and thus a larger developer community, and has had more time to take advantage of it.

The Caanoo has a decent emulator selection, though far from complete, but has some better control schemes for computer-y emulation due to its touchscreen. The PSP has about the same, and maybe even better, console emulator selection.

The Caanoo has a great homebrew selection, where as the PSP has next to nil.

I will give the PSP props in the video playing arena - it has a nice-sized and well-lit screen (and pays for it with battery life...), and one of the best video players I've seen in any handheld.

But it comes down to preference, which I suppose was your point as well.

 

[idarwin]

I'm not going to completely disagree with you on that last bit, but it really comes down to how you define "fun" and what you want emulated.

Personally, I had a PSP that I had great fun with - good commercial games and decent console emulation (before I busted the joystick on it). This was awhile back, so I think some of this has been improved, but SNES emulation wasn't all that great (it kept dropping layers, for example in Zelda, the world map didn't work (was completely black) and sometimes the lower level of dungeons would vanish, so the sprites would be walking around on nothing...), but, on the other hand, Super Mario RPG ran at near playable speed, which I haven't found to be the case on the Caanoo (of course, that might just be me and some bad settings, since I really didn't play with it that much).
...

First of all thank you for such a bast and understanding answer. As well thanks to the forum moderators for allowing this post.

My friend, you are so right when you say that the Caannoo has a touch screen; that's the main advantage as I see it. I must say that I did not find any cool homebrew game besides paper wars (sorry developers, hope u forgive me). Also I understand that many of the people who do stuff for the Caanoo do it for free, and they have lives as well.

It baffles me how does de PSP with a 300mhz cpu to emulate PSX and so many other stuff with such a great performance. Men... I've seen many youtube videos that leave the Caanoo in bad shape. I mean, c'mon! we have a 500mhz machine and we can't run many games faster than the PSP. Have you seen the videos? Someone explain this to me please, it really makes me sad.

In the end, it all comes to having fun, and having a good time right? So, it seems to me that (and I understand the points you made about the PSP being for a longer time, and better $$$) that many of us could do without some home-brew games, and embrace the PSP with several Emu's and great commercial games as well. Right? BUT, the Caanoo has a really undisputable good point... a touch screen; I give you that.

So, why o why with our potent 500mhz cpu can't we do better than the PSP.

Best and thank you for reading.

E.-

 

[rodolforg]

So, why o why with our potent 500mhz cpu can't we do better than the PSP.

Because CPU clock frequency isn't everything? GPU maybe could be more helpful than it is? Memory bus?

Besides, the CPUs of PSOne and PSP are similars: R3000 and R4000. As far as I know - not much about MIPS - r4000 extends the r3000 instructions, as AMD x86-64 extends x86. So, no emulation on CPU point of view.

 

[Orion4874]

Yes....where did you hear/read that?!?

lemme guess, a craigix tweet

that's all a bunch of crap.
Pandora didn't snag up all the devs! they could barely MAKE those things. I'd be curious to see how many units were sold- I would be the Caanoo has outsold the Pandora 5 to 1 just from availability.
GPH makes a killing on gaming, they aren't going anywhere. They actually have been expanding their product line- they make a nifty tablet (that I hear runs Dingux)and soon- a convenient, all-in-one spatula emulator.

The Gemei 7x6500 Spatula Emulator will emulate ANY spatula released between 1980 and 2007, even some noodle strainers and salad tossers.

First of all, Gemei and GPH(Game Park Holdings) are 2 different companies. I don't know what you consider a killing but I seriously doubt they are making it. Second of all, you havn't been around long enough to realize that most of the long time devs here do in fact spend most of their time on the Pandora side nowadays. And third of all, I said it was a rumor, and I actually first read about it on these forums. If I remember correctly it was MWeston that first hinted at it. Craigix also mentioned it on the Pandora forums though. Plus, I myself posted on their Facebook page asking them point blank if it was true. Didn't get any response of course but I guess that doesn't really mean anything.

Edit:
Yeah, here's the original thread, http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/59458-has-gph-closed/

 

[idarwin]

Besides, the CPUs of PSOne and PSP are similars: R3000 and R4000. As far as I know - not much about MIPS - r4000 extends the r3000 instructions, as AMD x86-64 extends x86. So, no emulation on CPU point of view.

Wait, I've seen videos emulating N64 and runs excellent as well. What about a Daphne Emu?? They say there is a Wiz version of it... I've tried to port it to Caanoo but it's like living in Hell.

The thing that bother's me the most is that I guess that the Caanoo could be superior; and the manufacturer should BET in his product. It really could be... anyway... if anyone has anything to say, say it now. I'm selling the thing as I type these words. There... it's published on sale.

Best.

E.-

 

[Optimus]

Oh no. Which will be the next handheld? Pandora? Some random Dingoo/Gemei? The nD?

Seriously, I plan to go retro for deving. GP32 (when I buy a new one), GP2X or even GBA
I'd also love such a cheap, simple and not very high powered handheld like the nD, if it ever makes it at least

 

[kayuz]

yeah! sell the caanoo and buy the pandora! :blink: :blink:
i don't understand you, no, i fund the CAANOO very improved from the wiz, it give me a lot of fun, for homebrew, for emu and for play videos..
the psp? orrible, i sell it, i can't do anything with it, the shitty web browser, the games aren't my favourites...
In fact, today i use only my CAANOO for portable gaming beacouse i love it

 

[Optimus]

Well, my Caanoo is totally dead. I have drowned it in water. My wiz has a horribly kaput screen. Dingoo is even worse, you can't see and only native and tv-out can be still fun. My GP32 had died since ages, I don't know why. Only my GP2X and GBA has left (oh and my NDS and PSP but I only count homebrew consoles that are not very commercial popular). I might buy a Caanoo one day in the future. And a GP32. No wiz. Maybe I buy a gemei a330. Hope the scene moves there. But the dingoo was nice too. As far pandora I don't know. Are they still producing it? Anyway,. all these things will happen when I get a job. It pretty much sucks down here. I am peniless too

 

[coldfish]

Yeah it's a shame the Caanoo hasn't had the attention the GP2X had. I don't mind that much though because the Caanoo is cheap and still has a lot of great software for it, and I have my ole' f100 for all the stuff it lacks.

Pandora has certainly caused a bit of dev' brain drain but seems to be stagnant on the hardware side. Caanoo has the hardware availability but only a trickle of dev' activity.

Maybe Craig and co should ask GPh to produce the Pandora, they seem to be pretty good at getting devices manufactured and into people's hands at a good price?

 

[jmetal88]

Any of you checked the GPH facebook? It says they're performing 'server maintenance' on FunGP.com until September 5th.

I seriously doubt GPH would be doing any kind of maintenance on their website if they were abandoning the business.

 

[Remy803]

I won't argue one GPH device over another, since the Caanoo is the only one I've owned. And it's a shame you don't dig the homebrew and ports, 'cause that's really the place where open-source consoles shine. I know that most homebrew isn't all that involving (not alot on the RPG front), but I most often use my Caanoo to kill small bits of time here and there, so I've a preference for puzzlers.

As I said, console emulation seems pretty consistent across the board. Is there a Daphne emulator ported to PSP? As far as that, alot of the laserdisc games were remade for some of the CD-based consoles like Sega/Mega CD (Picodrive on the Caanoo), and the PC Engine CD (Temper). I realize that it's not the same, obviously, but better than nothing. Though, I took a quick peek and I think a Daphne port might be possible, but I'm far from an expert...

As far as PSX emulation - as someone said, the PSP hardware is very similar to the original Playstation and so it "emulates" it well (actually, I don't think it's even true emulation, but rather a simple compatibility layer like Ginge for the Caanoo). It's not just CPU clock speed - there's alot more that goes into it. Yoshi Dragon found this article that talks about what it really takes to truly emulate. Basically, a couple Mhz doesn't make the difference; what really matters for lower-end machines to emulate (lower-end meaning anything under 1Ghz, for sake of simplicity) is game-specific speed-hacking, which takes a tremendous amount of time for developers to code, since its done on a game-by-game basis.

But, as has been pointed out, it really does come down to a personal preference. I love my Caanoo, so I'm somewhat loathe to say it, but if what you're after is simple console emulation and a good base of commercial quality games, then a PSP or even a NDS (if SNES emulation isn't paramount for you) might be better a choice. I dig the ports and homebrew, and couldn't do without a touchscreen for Amiga and ScummVM gaming. I hope to see a PhoneME version working on the Caanoo soon, but I know that deving is slow - however, I also know that with the Vita on the way, outsider development on the PSP is soon to grind to a halt, and if the past is any marker, that won't be the case for the Caanoo (a quick peek at OpenHandhelds shows me that there's still developing going on for even the old GP32 and GP2X).