Ok... What Happened?

[PokeParadox]

... more games I need to buy... shame I don't have any cash atm... I still want to get my hands on Commercial Vektar... damn these stupid student loans...

EDIT: forgot something: *Shakes fist in the air defiantly*

 

[Vimacs]

damn, i allready have to buy company of heroes and gothic3 at the end of the month, no "game" money left for payback, maybe the month after that

 

[Epicenter]

If the firmware is likely to be re-written, ouch - that could mean that some/most/all current software for the GP2x may not work at all, or introduce further issues. I think we need assurances that this isn't going to be the case!

Unless they stop using Linux, it's not going to break all the software on the machine or anything close to a majority of it .. Don't worry quite so much.

 

[krosfyah]

I recently had a very interesting/worrying conversation with someone. Unfortunately, I was asked not to divulge any details but if anyone was to Google techno+livejournal and then scroll down to the August 8th entry of the first hit, well that would be out of my hands. This may or may not be a big deal, make of it what you will.

 

[Iorgy77]

http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/32623....ew=43119#t43119

So not only are we looking for Venture capital, but we now have the added sweetener of the possibility of recovering damages from the large Korean company in California and small companies in the U.K. and Germany. We don't have any jurisdiction in Germany. but since the U.K. is part of the E.U., we can go after them in the E.U. courts.

In either case, soon after we file suit in Californian, you can expect production of the units to stop. The web sites will fold on their own, not being able to fulfill any future orders. They still will be liable for damages for past sales and copyright violations.

 

[TelcoLou]

http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/32623....ew=43119#t43119

So not only are we looking for Venture capital, but we now have the added sweetener of the possibility of recovering damages from the large Korean company in California and small companies in the U.K. and Germany. We don't have any jurisdiction in Germany. but since the U.K. is part of the E.U., we can go after them in the E.U. courts.

In either case, soon after we file suit in Californian, you can expect production of the units to stop. The web sites will fold on their own, not being able to fulfill any future orders. They still will be liable for damages for past sales and copyright violations.

I read that. Heh.

Do you know why the telephone system in the U.S. was/is referred to as the "Bell" system? Because Elisha Grey was a few hours too late at the patent office. Make of that what you will ...

 

[Shikaku]

http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/32623....ew=43119#t43119

So not only are we looking for Venture capital, but we now have the added sweetener of the possibility of recovering damages from the large Korean company in California and small companies in the U.K. and Germany. We don't have any jurisdiction in Germany. but since the U.K. is part of the E.U., we can go after them in the E.U. courts.

In either case, soon after we file suit in Californian, you can expect production of the units to stop. The web sites will fold on their own, not being able to fulfill any future orders. They still will be liable for damages for past sales and copyright violations.

I read that. Heh.

Do you know why the telephone system in the U.S. was/is referred to as the "Bell" system? Because Elisha Grey was a few hours too late at the patent office. Make of that what you will ...

If gp32z got shut down because of him/these actions, it really begs the question why there was no reason at all why he closed shop, because the "Californian" is GP32z.com...

 

[Dzz]

So for those of us that are dimwits, what could this be about? It can't really be GPH -- they aren't a "big" company (they are barely even a small company), and their product and business model is an extremely straightforward continuation of the old gamepark product/business. Looks like a wacko who still has nothing after three years of "development" just looking desperately for a source of income.

 

[PSyMastR]

Ya, read that livejournal. That guy is angry about life. Read the other things he posted. Its all crap up his ass.

 

[krosfyah]

I'm not sure what to make of it all really.

 

[YakumoFuji]

sounds like smoke up someones dress. gp32 would have been in design long before 2004. an in 2004 'semiconductor memory' was not 'bad' and he is all abot microdrives? shesh. its not that hard to runa prototype from CF or use sodims.

the whole post is just 'off'.

they korean compay used the wrong processor? there is a choice of.. z80, arm, sparc v6/v7, etc. for a handheld gaming device its really only arm + z80. maybe sh.. maybe dragonball 68k... for gp32 arm was right.

lots of info in that post is just odd/off...

since gp2x is really nothing more than a gp32 thats supped up.. i dont think its the device they are talking about.

edit..


the dos/wine thing is a big giveaway. wine is not a cpu emulator. wine doesnt 'run' on non-x86, it abstracts win32 calls. you cant drop win32 binaries on ppc and have wine run it. same with dos.. running dosbox/qemu is sloooooooow, for gaming, for handhelpd cpus (esp back in 2004) it would have been a joke.

 

[krosfyah]

I guess I should've started a new thread with this cause I'd be interested in knowing if anyone has heard anything else about it.

 

[PSyMastR]

No, this thread is fine. My question was answered and it hasn't gone to shit yet so its still good. I would like to know as well.

 

[z32fairlady]

Faintly remember once on gp2x.com before even the first batch of GP2X came out, I've also read somebody wrote on the guestbook with the same claim. And he said the device is supposed to use an AMD...

Not sure if my memory is correct, but I do believe I've seen such claim...

 

[Winterkid]

In all likelihood, any lawyer who hears this will laugh his ass off. Korea and the US are quite different when it comes to law, if I recall correctly. And if they DID sign a non-disclosure agreement, he pretty much violated it by posting about it on the net. Oh, and it costs MONEY to sue people, especially suing someone overseas, and since they don't have money to release a console, I don't think they'll afford to sue anyone or anything. And GPH is NOT a subdivision of Gamepark, they're a completely seperate company. Gamepark themselves have a lot more important things to work on than a trumped up lawsuit, like completing their XGP systems.

Since all the hardware listed about in their "design" were "Off the shelf" like he said, and the SoC they used was also "Off the shelf", there's just as much chance they did their own research and found the hardware on their own.

No offence to your friend, subcon959, but if he thinks he'll get ANY compensation, he's not going to get it.

In Europe also, the courts are highly unlikely to side with a greedy US citizen because his idea was realized by someone else first.

Come to think of it, the most WISE decision this guy could make now is to revamp his design with all-new parts (since he doesn't have the money yet anyway), make it as UNIQUE as possible, give it a REALLY good feature no other handheld has (like a built-in moron lighter or something), stick it on one of those obscure sales sites, and hope for the best. All that's going to come out of his legal action is needless wasted time.

EDIT: Also, I too would like to know about the firmware update. WOOO!!! Payback!!!

 

[icurafu]

http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/

Just read through this.

<speculation>How I imagine it played out. The guy went to MagicEye or samsung to make dev boards.. finds out a company called GamePark is making a similar product who happens to be a partner.

Goes to GamePark and makes them sign a NDA to look at design.

Guy later is pissed off that nobody liked his design and thus lost a lot of money prototying it. (If he was using wine to prototype, you can imagine why noone liked it.)

Guy finds out years later that GamePark and GamePark Holdings has become somewhat popular. Remember that his design doco was copyrighted and decided to wring some money out of them for breaking the NDA?!?!

Guy thinks gamepark broke NDA by cutting and pasting some phase from the doco that is currently on their webpage since July last year. No idea what that phrase is.

I'm not so worried for gamepark(holdings), but I think they are bad if they just stole the guys marketing information, even if it was a doomed product...
</speculation>

 

[Epicenter]

How do you 'steal' a machine that is a System-on-a-Chip? The case, LCD selection, control method, etc. are the only real design issues to make; and they're not things to be proud of, either. I'd want to wash my hands of responsibility for most of what was packed AROUND the MMSP2.

In the case of the GP2X, GPH apparently just cloned Magiceyes' example design for an MMSP2-based "PMP" machine and put it in a more compact and portable form factor. That's not really creative design or something to steal, and it's Magiceyes' design, not this person, whomever he is ...

If he's referring to the GP32, there is more engineering involved but still not all that much given that it's just a Samsung combo-chip, but the ARM processor appears to be discrete. Pardon me if I have something mixed up there, I'm not as well versed regarding the design of the GP32, as I wasn't around here during its hayday ...

 

[Dzz]

How do you 'steal' a machine that is a System-on-a-Chip? The case, LCD selection, control method, etc. are the only real design issues to make; and they're not things to be proud of, either. I'd want to wash my hands of responsibility for most of what was packed AROUND the MMSP2.

In the case of the GP2X, GPH apparently just cloned Magiceyes' example design for an MMSP2-based "PMP" machine and put it in a more compact and portable form factor. That's not really creative design or something to steal, and it's Magiceyes' design, not this person, whomever he is ...

If he's referring to the GP32, there is more engineering involved but still not all that much given that it's just a Samsung combo-chip, but the ARM processor appears to be discrete. Pardon me if I have something mixed up there, I'm not as well versed regarding the design of the GP32, as I wasn't around here during its hayday ...

I don't think the guy himself even knows what he is talking about. He apparently doesn't even know that the gp32 had homebrew before 2005.

I wasn't around then but when did GP start giving out the SDK

 

[LordFu]

Wow, that guy is an idiot. He can't get capital for his "product" because it lacks any commercial merit, and now he thinks he can extort money from what would essentially be his competition. He must have gone to the SCO school of business. :rolleyes:

Edit: From http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/37800.html

The gp32 was open and had a thriving homebrew scene which was its major marketing point LONG before you even wrote your marketing document.

Can you point to a reference to this?

A previous poster said "As a commercial device the GP32 failed at first. Then they opened the device to allow everyone to develope games for it."

I have not been able to find any reference to "opening the device" until 2005, which would put it after they saw our documents.

The 2004 postings, discuss future improvments such as a backlit screen, multilanguage BIOS, etc. There is no mention in any posting, web page, article, etc, that I can find of opening the device before 2005.

Geoff.

Sure, Google is you friend. Effortless searching finds lots of stuff. Here's some easily found stuff:

October 2003: http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gp32/review/R62222.html

"But the little difference that has given this tiny white plastic box the cult following that it has is the fact that its development tools are open source. This means that anyone can make a game or other program for the GP32 and sell or distribute it as they please. "

July 2003: http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3030

"This is what makes the GP32 the open-minded platform by excellence in the heart of all amateur coders or of all types of people who like to freak around. With MP3 and movies playback abilities, with the numerous legal freeware available through the Internet ..."

Etc.

Here's a thread where some folk are talking about the best gp32 homebrew from 2003:

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=6389&hl=

Really, how could you not know that homebrew software was this thing's primary charm and main reason people were purchasing it for years before you showed them your business plan, assuming you actually did at all...

Owned, LoL!

 

[Montsubai]

He really starts talking crap now :lol: