Should i get a GP2X In 2026 and what programs are the best?


Xboxfreak2004

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May 30, 2023
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He everyone, so anyways i was thinking about getting a gp2x for my birthday. but what programs are the best + if i convert a video that is formatted to the gp32. Will it work on the gp2x? thanks and have a wonderful valentines day!
 
You asked the same question about GP32 already and i think, the answer would be the same - it highly depends on, what you want to do with it. If you want to play games or emulate stuff, you should better get an anbernic device. They are cheaper and they have much bigger game library, especially since PortMaster is online. If you want TO WORK on an old, barely supported device with some partial working ports of some old games, you can buy it.
There is a lot of working emulators for consoles and 8 Bit µComputers, ports of bigger engines for making games, like Löve2d. Frameworks for developing software in C or other languages. There is also a bunch of working software to listen music, watch movies, reading books or view pictures. I think, the closest comparison between GP2X and newer handhelds, would be a comparison between a newer and an vintage car. You can drive your grandpa's car daily to work or to buy groceries or to pick the kids up, but you have to deal with all the work around it. Sometimes the engine just doesn't want to start, sometimes it loses oil, sometimes the battery dies before you even started the car. It isn't pleasure, it is pain
 
Sorry, maybe i was too harsh on you. I think, i should explain myself a bit better. There is a lot of software on GP2X available. But barely anything is finished or working correctly. I didn't test everything now, but i can summarize the programs, that i've tried. So i use the GP2X f200, the one with the touch screen.
Mainly i use not so much on emulation, i play some games on pocket snes, but it's really slow. I play also the gpSP - the gba emulator doesn't support all games or they crash sometimes. The original gameboy emulator has a strange problem, that all few seconds the screen slows down. The only working software in here is PicoDrive - it's the Sega emulator and GPFCE - the Nes emulator, you can play there all the games without any problems, at least i didn't notice anything strange.
If you want to play some games - there are a few roguelikes. Nethack is the most completed one, it looks great, works fine, doesn't have any troubles. Powder works, too, but the game itself is really limited. The one i like, Angband, is'nt as nearly as finished. Due to too big screen the programmer split the screen in 2 halves and you can switch between them. It sounds not as a real problem, but when you see only your character and the enemy, but not your health bar, it can be problematic. There are some more great ports, that are working - Quake 1, but without a local multiplayer, you can only play the single player campaign, no death matches with bots, Warcraft 2 - no sound, some problems with saving, the engine stutters every few seconds and there is no source code available. Quake 2 - unplayable, Battle for Wesnoth - playable, but slow and there is no sound. The only two games, that are finished, that i have played, are Xcom - it's working really well and Cave Story - did'nt notice any troubles.
From the software for Audio, Video and Pictures i can say, that GMU music player is working perfect, like commercial software does, i'm using it every day. The Video player is working, too, but there are some issues with the buttons - if you press the wrong one, the software just freezes. The image viewer, build in in the gmenue2x, is also working well. I think, the PDF viewer does it's job, too. And a honorable mention - the Love2d engine, that i mentioned before, that is your easy way to build some games. But also the engine is old, modern games, like Balatro wouldn't work on it, you have to adapt it on the GP2X port.
There are only few things on GP2X, that are working, like they should, but ALL THE OTHER STUFF needs to be maintained and updated. I spoke to a few people and asked them for help, they all are really kind and friendly, but the most responses were realistic and disillusioning - "It has been over 15 years, that i worked on that project. I would like to help, but i don't have the old source code and i simple don't remember"
I can code a little bit C and some other scripting languages, but when i look at the source code available, i don't understand a single word. So if you are okay with playing an old handheld with all the software, like it was 20 years ago, go for it. If you can code and you have the time and the passion to rebuild most of the things by your self - PLEASE, DO! I would be more than grateful! But if not, the simple answer is - meanwhile every other open source handheld available, would be cheaper AND better, than the old GP2X.
 
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