Polls About The Xgp Kids

[Montsubai]

If it's really small, I would happily buy it, mainly for the multimedia-functions like music and videos.

 

[speedmike]

What will be the pricetag? The GP2X is just too big to use as MP3 Player I found out, but the XGP Kids would be an iPod killer

Also I would like to see full audio-file support. For homebrew and Emulation I already have an GP2X.

I agree w/ the iPod thing. I want to get this for my fiance so she can listen to music, and hopefully it is backwards compat. because then I can run all of the great gp32 games that she likes on it. Plus I want to get some commercial gp32 games with out having to hunt down individual SMCs games. A gp32 with an SD card, no matter how small it is, is like heaven

 

[Epicenter]

Reason why I wouldnt buy it is because i've got a GP2X already.

Personally I'm more interested in a GP2X with high quality d-pad and upgraded (speed-wise and NOT neccessarily different chip to maintain compatibility) CPU.

If GPH made a 400mhz+ version i'd sell my GP2X straight away and get the new 1. Thats just me though, I want a little more power...

The GP2X is based on the MagicEyes MMSP2 SoC chipset. These chips are an all-in-one computer system with processors, video, audio and interface hardware to operate the input/output capabilities like controls, USB, the LCD, SD adapter, so forth. Because of this design, the CPU selection is set in stone-- the MMSP uses a 200 MHz ARM920T and a 200 MHz ARM940T. The XGP and XGP Mini are, last we heard, based on the VRENDER-3D from Magiceyes-- which has one processor, also a 200 MHz part (I believe GP calls it 266 MHz due to overclockability, like Craig does with the GP2X; calling it 240 MHz.) A 400 MHz part can't just be swapped in like that, and getting a custom part made by Magiceyes is probably very expensive.

I've maintained for a while that a different SoC like Samsung's S3C2460 in particular would be an ideal choice for the XGP series, but I don't really think the XGP KiDS should be produced, since it'll just make XGP/XGP Mini more expensive and its market share will be extremely small-- XGP/XGP Mini/GP2X/GP32's market share was already small considering the budget GP/GPH have to throw around.

I've said this in another thread.

1). Must be GP32 compatible. This also means a 320x240 screen.
2). D-PAD would be great. 2 Extra buttons would be really nice too.
3). 16MB would be great.
4). CPU speed at least 133Mhz; 166Mhz or higher would be great.
5). Don't call it GPKiDS. Like someone else said, expand on the known GP32 /GP2X name. Maybe, GP1X

GP can't very well copy GPH's product names. The CPU in the planned specs for the XGP KiDS is already 140 MHz... it's a lower-end chip than the ARM920T in the GP2X though; it only has 4KB instruction/data caches compared to the 16KB caches on the 920T. The rest I do agree with; if the KiDS has any opportunity to capture significant market share of the already-limited alternative-handheld market, it'll be by cashing in on GP32 fans and the existing large software base for that platform.

If it's really small, I would happily buy it, mainly for the multimedia-functions like music and videos.

Gamepark has already said it doubts there will be satisfactory performance from video playback on the XGP KiDS- it apparently has no MPEG4 acceleration like the GP2X has (and the XGP/XGP-Mini's chipset will have). A 140 Mhz ARM9 will have trouble decoding any sort of high-end video (esp. XViD/DivX) with no dedicated hardware assistance.

 

[shinneri]

How hard is it to make GP32 apps backwards compatible when the hardware isn't the same?

If it's really small, I would happily buy it, mainly for the multimedia-functions like music and videos.

Gamepark has already said it doubts there will be satisfactory performance from video playback on the XGP KiDS- it apparently has no MPEG4 acceleration like the GP2X has (and the XGP/XGP-Mini's chipset will have). A 140 Mhz ARM9 will have trouble decoding any sort of high-end video (esp. XViD/DivX) with no dedicated hardware assistance.

Why? GP32 did a nice job with video and music playback with 166Mhz and little else. The main stumbling block for the GP32 was just a lack of storage because of the SMCs.

 

[milky]

i wouldnt buy it because i have a gp2x which i think is better
however i would be intrested in the xgp or xgp mini because it would be a good alternative to the gp2x

 

[Talyz]

Unless it's GP32 compatible, I see no reason why I should get myself one...

 

[tritt_conner]

As long as I can port games that use the wolfenstein, doom, or build engine.. I'll buy it.

 

[JaqMs]

Maybe we can think of this as a redesigned GP32 with some upgrades (brighter screen, 4 buttons, SD card, possible d-pad), but at around half the price. And I'm no expert but even if they changed the screen to 320x240, how will the GPKids be compatible with the Gp32 if one used SMC and the other SD? Is it possible to make some kind of patch or script to convert SMC functions to SD? Or does it even matter?

 

[OMars]

Maybe we can think of this as a redesigned GP32 with some upgrades (brighter screen, 4 buttons, SD card, possible d-pad), but at around half the price. And I'm no expert but even if they changed the screen to 320x240, how will the GPKids be compatible with the Gp32 if one used SMC and the other SD? Is it possible to make some kind of patch or script to convert SMC functions to SD? Or does it even matter?

I don't think that matters but what does matter is the fact that they used different components to come up with the same specs.

 

[Winterkid]

The storage medium wouldn't be the problem, you would just have to have the 6 basic GP32 directories set up, if I'm not mistaken. I don't think they'll make it use SMC files, as that'll just add more complication.

 

[speedmike]

Maybe we can think of this as a redesigned GP32 with some upgrades (brighter screen, 4 buttons, SD card, possible d-pad), but at around half the price. And I'm no expert but even if they changed the screen to 320x240, how will the GPKids be compatible with the Gp32 if one used SMC and the other SD? Is it possible to make some kind of patch or script to convert SMC functions to SD? Or does it even matter?

I don't think that matters but what does matter is the fact that they used different components to come up with the same specs.

This is very true, remember when the BLU switched screens? I can only imagine the headache that would come out of trying to make the xgp kids backwards compatible.

Damn, that just turns me way off of the idea of getting the xgp kids now.

 

[shinneri]

Why should it turn you off, really? As long as some capable devs also jump on board with the Kids, I can't imagine porting to the Kids will be very difficult since the hardware is so similar.

Sure, there'll be some apps that can't/won't be ported, but I'm sure a lot would.

 

[OMars]

But they still made modified the emus to work on them didn't they?

 

[JaqMs]

I am *pretty* sure that those were just videos of a game running

 

[OMars]

I am *pretty* sure that those were just videos of a game running

hahahah..aha...

 

[OMars]

@Shinneri: Have you contacted them about this thread? If you haven't yet, tell them about the other thread too.

 

[speedmike]

Why should it turn you off, really? As long as some capable devs also jump on board with the Kids, I can't imagine porting to the Kids will be very difficult since the hardware is so similar.

Sure, there'll be some apps that can't/won't be ported, but I'm sure a lot would.

But they still made modified the emus to work on them didn't they?

Yeah I suppose y'all are right about that. I guess we won't know until it comes out, apps wise and all.

 

[shinneri]

@shinneri: Have you contacted them about this thread? If you haven't yet, tell them about the other thread too.

Yes, I've contacted them. I'm encouraged that they listen so intently to us. I don't know if they'll come around and make it 320x240, but with this many people pulling for it, I'm remaining hopeful. I'm sure Epicenter will contact them about his poll. Anyway, this was the response:

Dear Chris,

Thank you for contacting GAMEPARK Inc and the support you have shown in the forums of www.gp32x.de.

As I have mentioned to other person from the same community site, we closely monitor gp32x.de to get ideas of what people want to see with our products. The concerns you have are being taken into consideration. I would want to let you know that changing the specification is not an easy task. We have to consider the price of the product, expense, time, and many more. After careful calculation and analysis, if we feel that the outcome of changes will compensate for the expenses, we will make the device the way people from gp32x.de want.

Once again, I would like to express our thanks to you for creating a poll which we should have created long ago and the support toward GAMEPARK. We will try our best to meet the needs of people from gp32x.de

Many thanks,

Nathan

 

[Epicenter]

These guys just keep making a better and better impression on me ..

I'm sure Epicenter will contact them about his poll.

Yes, I do intend to. The results have been about as I expected though with a bigger outpouring of support for a 640x480 display on XGP. I suspect that's too expensive though and they end up opting for 320x240 if they change it at all. I think it'll be pretty apparent to GP that the time of 4:3 displays for handhelds hasn't ended, though, at any rate.

 

[JaqMs]

Ok, question. Even if the GPKids has a 320x240 resolution, exactly how possible would GP32 retrocompatibility be with the slightly-different hardware?