Open2x

[Pickle]

The simple fact is that Pandora is coming and most likely it will be this year. Even though I wasnt here to witness it's generally known that once the GP2X came out the GP32 was dropped all most overnight. I believe the same will happen with the GP2X. There may be activity here and there, but as soon the first 3000 units hit, who is going to bother with their GP2X when it can do everything + more?

So the point of this topic is maybe a warning to those that worked on the open2x project. You should release soon, or you may never have too.
Now there will be those that say it will be released when its done, ok fine, release it a year from now and one is probally going to notice.
Release something while the GP2X is still revelant, its doesnt have to be perfect.

 

[euro48k]

same thing i thought on long time ago ..
gp2x will die ..
devs and guru-devs add your name in gp2x history/culture.. optimize what is left and let that little piece of hardware die happy ..
while many emulators run perfectly&full speed
there are others to be polished
c64, amiga, gameboy advance, gameboy color ...

 

[Orkie]

I do appreciate the fact that people are still interested and we did do some more working rounding things off a few months ago, but the fact is it is basically only DJWillis and myself working on the 'whole' project. I am still at school and DJWillis has a demanding job so for another few weeks, not much is getting done. All that really needs finishing now though is an installer (not quite as simple as it sounds ).

It will of course be F100 only to start with because although I now do have an F200, the time problem has kept me from playing with it.

 

[Pickle]

I do appreciate the fact that people are still interested and we did do some more working rounding things off a few months ago, but the fact is it is basically only DJWillis and myself working on the 'whole' project. I am still at school and DJWillis has a demanding job so for another few weeks, not much is getting done. All that really needs finishing now though is an installer (not quite as simple as it sounds ).

It will of course be F100 only to start with because although I now do have an F200, the time problem has kept me from playing with it.

Well its good know it been worked on, hopefully you can get things wrapped up before Pandora comes out.

 

[imhotep]

I had almost given up on Open2X and now you're getting my hope up Orkie!

 

[moxie]

I'll add my voice to the "still waiting"-crowd

And I don't quite think that the gp2x will drop dead on the day of the pandoras release...

 

[hitbyambulance]

the GP2X still has life ahead of it as a 'more-affordable' open source gaming handheld, i think. options are good to have.

 

[paxl13]

I'm too of the hitbyanmbulance oppinion.

Anyway, can't live without my '2x for now

 

[fishybawb]

I'm also of the opinion that the GP2X will have a longer life span than the poor old GP32. Yes, releases are likely to tail off, perhaps substantially, but the 2X has a bigger userbase than the GP32 did, and the comparatively high price of the Pandora could put people off. I'm not saying it won't be worth that price, for the hardware it probably will be, but £200+ is a lot of money to most.

 

[doc5avage]

the GP2X still has life ahead of it as a 'more-affordable' open source gaming handheld, i think. options are good to have.

If only GPH could have made it affordable.

 

[quasist]

As I remember... I never really tended to buy Gp2x. All I wanted (almost two years ago) was a XGP mini

"Gp2x will never die, only the players"

 

[Pickle]

I'm also of the opinion that the GP2X will have a longer life span than the poor old GP32. Yes, releases are likely to tail off, perhaps substantially, but the 2X has a bigger userbase than the GP32 did, and the comparatively high price of the Pandora could put people off. I'm not saying it won't be worth that price, for the hardware it probably will be, but £200+ is a lot of money to most.

But there will be risk, its in the best interest of open2x to release soon rather than later.

 

[gruso]

If only GPH could have made it affordable.
:lol: indeed. Here's my approximate GP2X spend for the year:

- GP2X F200
- Batteries & charger
- AC Adapter
- Carry Case
- Cradle
- RCA/S-video cables

Total ~$500 AUD. Not including SD cards, shipping costs etc.

Pandora will effectively offer all this for around $350 AUD.

Anyway, price talk aside I'd like to think the GP2X still has some legs. There are some great homebrew projects on the horizon (New SqDef, the Advance Wars clone, several Ruckage releases). And there are plenty of people who won't upgrade to Pandora immediately.

But, a comment from Prophet the other day was interesting. He reckons he's never seen so many devs jumping on board pre-release, the way they are with Pandora.

On the topic of Open2x, I'd love to see it but I'm on an F200 so I guess I'll be lucky if I ever do. I'll be getting a first batch Pandora, but as long as I own my '2X I'll keep it lubed, oiled and tuned.

Thankfully I landed a good job this year, so I can purchase a new gadget or two without selling off my old ones.

[edit] I should add that I agree with Pickle, and I was actually thinking about this the other day in terms of all upcoming software. Any projects in planning neeed to be fast tracked - particularly commercial ones such as Space Varments 2.

 

[slaanesh]

You have to remember that it will take a while for the masses to get a Pandora.

Sure - the first 3000 will sell out quickly but what then? When is the next batch coming? And the next after that? It will take a good year from the first unit shipped until there's a good amount of nice software *and* a good user base. The GP2X still has some time even when the Pandora is released.

Personally I hardly even read the Pandora stuff. Too much speculation! Until I have the ability to order one, frankly, I'm not really interested. I know it's not the same but look at what happened with the XGP. And the GPKiDS (or whatever it was called).

 

[DaveC]

I still think there is room for a GP2X mini.

If one was made about the same size as a JXD with built in battery and compact design and was dirt cheap (100% backwards compatible of course) I think it would live and thrive even after the Pandora was released.

An ipod sized GP2X with a real d-pad that cost $99.00 would probably be a hit I would think.

 

[jbrodack]

actually space varments 2 I'm sure could easily be "ported" to pandora since it uses fenix and as long as thats ported to pandora there should be no problem. only thing that would need to be changed would be executable script and maybe control handling.

though saying no one will use open2x once pandora is released is a bit much it is true that the sooner its released the most the community will be able to get out of it. I'm also hoping for an f200 release.

I don't think gp2x will die out so quickly. price is a definite issue. sure the gp2x with all accessories is more but just the gp2x is much cheaper and you can get accessories at your leisure and need. I've been able to ask for gp2x as christmas gift twice but the pandora pricepoint puts it potentially out of reach or at least in competition with other electronics like a new gaming console or hdtv. The gp2x still has its place as far as I'm concerned. I usually don't get new gadgets as they are released so it'll probably be around a year after release that pandora will be a viable option for me.

edit: I think you have something there davec. there had been talk of some kind of upgraded gp2x or f800 or whatever but there really is no winning for them if they try to compete in the next gen market half assed. however, cheap revisions of the gp2x could still be viable for them. hell I think the f200 has been a pretty good success.

 

[SunSpire]

I bought my gp2x F200 only in january (my old F100 died, had it for a year) and it's working really well so I don't plan to upgrade or replace it anytime soon. At this time I don't have any money for yet another handheld device anyway. There's so much software available already that even if the '2X scene died overnight (which I doubt), I'd still be happy with what I got for a looooong time

...... tho I was hoping to see another update of winuae before that happens ..... ah well

Back on the subject, I'm sure there's good use for open2x should it still be released some time!

"SunSpire"

 

[Ravnos]

I still think there is room for a GP2X mini.

If one was made about the same size as a JXD with built in battery and compact design and was dirt cheap (100% backwards compatible of course) I think it would live and thrive even after the Pandora was released.

An ipod sized GP2X with a real d-pad that cost $99.00 would probably be a hit I would think.

Shit, at that price and size, I would buy two, just in case one broke.

But this is GPH we're talking about, the next version will probably be bigger instead of smaller and completely break backwards compatibility, except for a few games which they will include with the firmware without the original authors' permission.

 

[nickspoon]

You have to remember that it will take a while for the masses to get a Pandora.

Sure - the first 3000 will sell out quickly but what then? When is the next batch coming? And the next after that? It will take a good year from the first unit shipped until there's a good amount of nice software *and* a good user base. The GP2X still has some time even when the Pandora is released.

Personally I hardly even read the Pandora stuff. Too much speculation! Until I have the ability to order one, frankly, I'm not really interested. I know it's not the same but look at what happened with the XGP. And the GPKiDS (or whatever it was called).

When the Pandora is released, I imagine that the GP2X's popularity will decrease rapidly, as the GP32's did. Whilst it would be nice to have the GP2X and Pandora living side-by-side, providing for their respective user groups, it seems far more likely that most will migrate to the Pandora, leaving the GP2X with very little new software. Most Pandora software will be unlikely to have a GP2X port because, like with the GP2X, new devs will come in who only have a Pandora. The GP2X doesn't have much life ahead of it in terms of new content.

 

[TheMinder]

If all this talk of demise comes true then I hope there's enough stock left of the 2X to force the price right down so I can have a working one again.