I've got a copy, it's not good. They spent most of the article concentrating on how terrible the hardware is rather than what it can do. I'll see if I can scan it/take photos.
EDIT: I'll just copy it out until I get access to a scanner...
QUOTE
Hands up if you remember the Indrema - an overhyped swiftly aborted attempt to make a Linux games console. Its failure didn't bode well for Linux as a gaming platform, but six years on, Korean company GamePark Holdings is making another attempt with the GP2X. This dinky little handheld, powered by a two-core 200MHz ARM chip and backed with 64MB of RAM, is striving to make home-brew game development a doddle. The GP2X runs Linux and lets you write or port games without any licensing or warranty worries.
Roughly the same size as the Nintendo DS Lite, the GP2X sits comfortably in your hands with nicely accessible controls. Unfortunately, the designers have opted for a terrible psuedo-analogue joystick instead of a D-pad; it's a raised circle in the middle that spins under your thumb (to no effect) and pops off alarmingly easily. GamePark includes a replacement in the pack - a thicker joystick cap that imprints 'GP2X' into your thumb after an hour of use. Otherwise the controls adopt a familiar SNES-style layout, with L and R shoulder buttons.
The unit itself feels flimsy in places - we had to insert a piece of cardboard into the battery compartment to avoid power cuts when moving the device around. The extension ports (headphones, USB and power) hide under tiny flaps connected by worryingly thin strips of rubber. It's by no means a handheld CD32, but you don't feel it could take many bumbs. Screen-wise the GP2X's 320x240 backlight display is fairly crisp - when your batteries are low, however, it messed up pretty badly. You'll definitely need rechargeables for this device; we were averaging a paltry four hours of use.
So, that's the hardware side of the GP2X, but what does it do? For software development, you get the GNU toolchain along with SDL (extra libraries such as Allegro are available from third-party developers). If you've got an SDL game, chances are it won't take much work to port, providing you cater for the limited controls and small screen when compared to a fully fledged PC. The GP2X is supplied with games to demonstrate the porting facilities, such as penguiny platform romp SuperTux. There's also a demo of Payback - an impressive looking 3D GTA clone - and other entertainment tidbits.
Game then watch
Another element of GamePark's marketing is the GP2X's media playback. Drop in an SD card to play AVI, DivX and Xvid movies. It coped with the video files we tried, producing good sound via built-in speakers, but some movies were too choppy to be watchable. MP3 playback, conversely, is superb, despite the screen going blank between tracks. As a personal media player, the GP2X isn't great and you need to convert many movies to smaller sizes and bitrates. Also, the 19-second boot time gets frustrating when you just want to listen to some tunes.
But the killer feature of the GP2X is emulation. At http://archive.gp2x.de there are hundreds of programs for the machine, including many for classic consoles. We had spot-on results with Game Boy, Game Gear and Mega Drive emulation - there's nothing as cool as Streets of Rage II in your hand. SNES emulation was ropier, with glitches aplenty, but developers are updating these to provide a healthy future for the GP2X.
GamePark has done a great job packing punch into this device while keeping the price reasonable, although we do have beefs with the hardware. Drop the stupid joystick, add a sensible D-pad, include a rechargeable battery and use tougher plastic, then it'll be a marvellous machine. Currently, it's a decent hacker's plaything, and if you're a fan of yesteryear's games, research the emulation scene to see if your favourite titles work. Steer clear if you're looking for a personal media player or full games machine, though - when it comes to that department, this is no match for the DS or PSP.
This is a little side box:
QUOTE
Graham says...
"The GP2X feels like a working prototype. An open platform is a great idea and the hardware shows potential, but it's hampered by poor design. Maybe a second generation will solve these problems."
Summary box:
QUOTE
GP2X
Developer: Game Park
Web: www.gp2x.co.uk
Price: £119.99
Features 5/10
Performance 6/10
Ease of use 6/10
Value for money 8/10
>> A retro gamer's dream, let down by build quality and lack of built-in battery.
Rating: 6/10
I did offer them a copy of Open2x but they never bothered to contact me for it in the end. Linux Format has been getting worse over the years, this seems to be fairly common now :S. I will try and get a proper scan if nobody else does in the next few days, but that is pretty much it (there is a couple of photos, the captions to which are "That's a hefty array of functions, but the GP2X doesn't really excel at any of them" and "That peculiar 'joystick' in all its, well, it's hardly glory, is it?"). Sounds to me like they got an old pack that was also faulty :S.
