Wait For The Xgp Mini Or Dive Into A Gp2x?

[semicolon]

you'll probably be happy enough with the GP2X. As a developer, however, its many issues kept me from really enjoying it. Your experience might be totally different.

My concerns are with the joystick (I'd much rather have the d-pad on the Mini), the battery life, the overall size of the GPX2, and getting greedy drooling over the supposed performance boost the Mini will have over the GPX2.

I appreciate the lengthy reply, thanks!

 

[Epicenter]

you'll probably be happy enough with the GP2X. As a developer, however, its many issues kept me from really enjoying it. Your experience might be totally different.

My concerns are with the joystick (I'd much rather have the d-pad on the Mini), the battery life, the overall size of the GPX2, and getting greedy drooling over the supposed performance boost the Mini will have over the GPX2.

I appreciate the lengthy reply, thanks!

What is it you most want to do on the system? That will have a big impact on how much the GP2X's issues and the XGP's advantages would affect you.

Equal thanks, if not more so, for the civility of your response.

 

[saehn]

Epicenter, it seems that you have some regular contact with Game Park. If so, have you heard any recent estimates on a launch date for the XGP line? If you haven't, what would be your personal estimate?

 

[SiDCrAzY]

The stick is fine, you simply need to get used to it, say, after 15 minutes of play. Stop expecting everything to be the same for every single piece of hardware, and bitch and moan when it isn't.

For some applications, the stick is fine, for others, it is unusable. After 9 months of play, I still can't get very far in any Mario games on the GP2X (on the real console, with a d-pad, I can almost always get quite close to the end of Mario 3, if not complete it) because the distance between left and right is too great so it is impossible to stop quickly.

Not even Super Mario World?

It played fine for me, I've beaten it three times on the GP2X.

 

[semicolon]

What is it you most want to do on the system? That will have a big impact on how much the GP2X's issues and the XGP's advantages would affect you.

Well, I always said that the two things I wanted most out of a portable device is internet access, full speed emulation of at least up to NES, Genesis, some Mame, at least playable emulation of SNES (95% speed, but ideally, of course, I'd want something that is fullspeed), a healthy homebrew scene for original creations and interpreters, and an mp3 player capable of 44.1khz 16bit audio.

I'll never pay 300 dollars for a device, so Internet access is no longer an issue. (Although the Nintendo DS has an Opera browser coming out, I'm not interested in a DS)

That would be the other thing I want most out of a system... a price tag that's ~$150.00 usd

 

[reaper79]

What is it you most want to do on the system? That will have a big impact on how much the GP2X's issues and the XGP's advantages would affect you.

Well, I always said that the two things I wanted most out of a portable device is internet access, full speed emulation of at least up to NES, Genesis, some Mame, at least playable emulation of SNES (95% speed, but ideally, of course, I'd want something that is fullspeed), a healthy homebrew scene for original creations and interpreters, and an mp3 player capable of 44.1khz 16bit audio.

I'll never pay 300 dollars for a device, so Internet access is no longer an issue. (Although the Nintendo DS has an Opera browser coming out, I'm not interested in a DS)

That would be the other thing I want most out of a system... a price tag that's ~$150.00 usd

Personally, I don't see how ther current price point for the GP2X could ever really be an issue, ( Unless your 9 years old and deliver news papers ) When you think about it, a one time price of 190 USD to play thousands and thousands of emulated games, and something like 150+ homebrew titles... that is a damn fine deal no matter how you slice, plus mp3, pic, and video play back to boot. What would a DS/PSP and two or three games set you back?

 

[shinneri]

Epicenter, it seems that you have some regular contact with Game Park. If so, have you heard any recent estimates on a launch date for the XGP line? If you haven't, what would be your personal estimate?

The XGP line will launch with the GPKiDS first, XGPmini second, and finally the XGP. It seems to me there will be a decent amount of time between all these launches. It's difficult to guess, but I wouldn't expect to see the XGP in 2007--maybe KiDS and mini.

I'm also looking forward to the mini, but it would just be torture to wait so long without any established release date. Buy a GP2X; you'll be happy with it (as I am) until the mini comes out. Also remember the GP2X has been out a year... it'll take the mini probably just as long to get its own library up to speed with what the GP2X has now (in terms of size of library and whether it takes advantage of the hardware).

 

[darkman]

The stick is fine, you simply need to get used to it, say, after 15 minutes of play. Stop expecting everything to be the same for every single piece of hardware, and bitch and moan when it isn't.

For some applications, the stick is fine, for others, it is unusable. After 9 months of play, I still can't get very far in any Mario games on the GP2X (on the real console, with a d-pad, I can almost always get quite close to the end of Mario 3, if not complete it) because the distance between left and right is too great so it is impossible to stop quickly.

Not even Super Mario World?

It played fine for me, I've beaten it three times on the GP2X.

Me too. I have no problems with the stick. I really don't understand what all the fuss is about. I really don't even noticed the difference when changing from one handheld to another. (I will say that the best stick for fighters is the one on the Neo pocket color. But I think maybe its the design that just fits your thumb.) I play all sorts of games and emus on my GP2X and I am totally satisfied with the experience. Whether its Mario, Neo Geo fighters, shooters, Sonic, or homebrew, I have no problem.

As for the SNES, I have no problem with any slow down with the games I play. I have over 75 SNES games on my SD card. They seem to play full speed with sound for me. The ones that need transparences I play on the SNES emu that supports transparences.

Presently the GP2X does it right for me. It is a great little handheld with great support! It is here and now. To me, XGP is next generation stuff.

If the XGP ever makes it to market, my main concern is the price. With all that's been said about its potential and power, I'm thinking that $300.00 USD or more may not be far off considering that GP's profits will have to come from selling the hardware. I don't see them drawing very many commercial game companies. Maybe by the time it reaches the market the components being considered in the hardware will be cheaper. Lets hope so.

For right now I am enjoying the GP2X season. It, like all handhelds, has its day. This is its time. I have 20 different handhelds and I will always have room for one more.

 

[Epicenter]

What is it you most want to do on the system? That will have a big impact on how much the GP2X's issues and the XGP's advantages would affect you.

Well, I always said that the two things I wanted most out of a portable device is internet access, full speed emulation of at least up to NES, Genesis, some Mame, at least playable emulation of SNES (95% speed, but ideally, of course, I'd want something that is fullspeed), a healthy homebrew scene for original creations and interpreters, and an mp3 player capable of 44.1khz 16bit audio.

I'll never pay 300 dollars for a device, so Internet access is no longer an issue. (Although the Nintendo DS has an Opera browser coming out, I'm not interested in a DS)

That would be the other thing I want most out of a system... a price tag that's ~$150.00 usd

GamePark's stated they aren't married to the original price estimates. They'd like to make the price as low as possible while keeping the machine technically competitive. I strongly suspect they can take the price much lower, especially with some suggestions I've made regarding reducing the price of the WiFi implementation. (Everything you listed should be easily achievable.)

Epicenter, it seems that you have some regular contact with Game Park. If so, have you heard any recent estimates on a launch date for the XGP line? If you haven't, what would be your personal estimate?

It's my expectation they'll have the machine out the door next year, but since I don't physically work at GP, I couldn't tell you for certain. The real XGP development is due to kick into gear after the GPKiDS is fully out the door, right now GP is working to license the design to another company instead of releasing it themselves. The plan is to release XGP after that's over and done with. It's really a "We'll see" situation right now since how long the GPKiDS will take to get out the door is not set in stone.

Regardless of the uncertainty, I don't have reason to believe GP won't be releasing new machines. They've put a lot of work into GPKiDS so far, and it is my personal belief that they'll do the same for XGP. They've expressed extreme interest in molding the machine to fit the needs of the people who'll be developing for it and using it to make the best machine they can.

 

[DaveC]

Hi folks!

I started eying the gp2x around 3 months before it launched in the US.
I thought it was a marvelous idea, sounded like something I'd love to have, but thought it was going to be a total flop.

Today I looked back into it and boy was I wrong. The community support has been outstanding and the gp2x seems to be more than I could have hoped it to be. I'm hooked, ready to invest!

But then, what's this? The XGP Mini! The form factor, style, hardware specs, and proposed market price look AMAZING. I want this thing!

I have no problem waiting for the XGP Mini to come out (Well... no more than 6 months, please.) but as it's developed by Game Park and not Game Park Holdings I'm worried, like I was with the gp2x, that the community will not support it... I'm also concerned about what I've heard- gp2x apps are not directly compatable with the XGP Mini? This will not be running a comparable operating system (flavor of linux) to the GP2X?

I'm just posting because I would like to start a discussion about people considering purchasing a GP2X or waiting for the Mini (which looks immaculate, oh man.) Any advice? Thoughts? Flames?

Well if you don't mind the really really *small* screen on the mini then maybe you would be ok with it. To me a screen that small would get very tedious to use more than 30 minutes.

Then since the batteries are custom you are kind of out of luck if you wanted to keep playing on the road and they went out where you are not near the mains as well. Plus if they discontinued the unit eventually where are you going to get those custom batteries from? Even if the GP2X is discontinued someday you will always be able to get AA rechargeables.

 

[shinneri]

Well if you don't mind the really really *small* screen on the mini then maybe you would be ok with it. To me a screen that small would get very tedious to use more than 30 minutes.

Then since the batteries are custom you are kind of out of luck if you wanted to keep playing on the road and they went out where you are not near the mains as well. Plus if they discontinued the unit eventually where are you going to get those custom batteries from? Even if the GP2X is discontinued someday you will always be able to get AA rechargeables.

Smaller screen means crisper picture--just look at a micro for proof. Also, Gamepark has stated the "custom" batteries will actually be standard ones that can be picked up at any electronics store. Hopefully that's the case.

 

[Alex.]

Smaller screen means crisper picture

You can't get crisper than 320x240 @ 3.5", anything higher than that is useless.

- Alex

 

[saehn]

I'm also looking forward to the mini, but it would just be torture to wait so long without any established release date. Buy a GP2X; you'll be happy with it (as I am) until the mini comes out. Also remember the GP2X has been out a year... it'll take the mini probably just as long to get its own library up to speed with what the GP2X has now (in terms of size of library and whether it takes advantage of the hardware).

I have a GP2X; I'm not the guy who started this thread. I'm just the guy who was asking about the XGP release date. Thanks for your answer, though.

 

[shinneri]

Smaller screen means crisper picture

You can't get crisper than 320x240 @ 3.5", anything higher than that is useless.

- Alex

Oh, come on. Tell me you wouldn't appreciate a 640x480 screen at 3.5". Of course it can get crisper.

I have a GP2X; I'm not the guy who started this thread. I'm just the guy who was asking about the XGP release date. Thanks for your answer, though.

The second paragraph was for the creator of the thread. Sorry for the confusion--I should have specified.

 

[telegramguy]

I have no problem waiting for the XGP Mini to come out (Well... no more than 6 months, please.) but as it's developed by Game Park and not Game Park Holdings I'm worried, like I was with the gp2x, that the

Well even though the gp2x had lots of apps at launch, it took about half a year before word spread and most of the emulators got to a solid rev.

It's hard to beat US$180. Get it now, and wait another 6 months before the xgp is released and then another 6 months for anything to come close to what the gp2x has now.

 

[Epicenter]

It's hard to beat US$180. Get it now, and wait another 6 months before the xgp is released and then another 6 months for anything to come close to what the gp2x has now.

6 months is pretty doubtful. If the OS is indeed Linux, as I strongly believe it will be, porting most emulators will take very little time. Fully utilizing the graphics hardware is a different story, but with a faster CPU and memory subsystem there will be performance improvements 'out of the box'.

 

[sam fisher]

It's hard to beat US$180. Get it now, and wait another 6 months before the xgp is released and then another 6 months for anything to come close to what the gp2x has now.

6 months is pretty doubtful. If the OS is indeed Linux, as I strongly believe it will be, porting most emulators will take very little time. Fully utilizing the graphics hardware is a different story, but with a faster CPU and memory subsystem there will be performance improvements 'out of the box'.

It will be no easier to program for than the GP2x is. Don't lie. IT will be harder to use, as you mention, the graphics hardware. Therefore the time taken for XGP ports is >= The time taken for GP2x ports.

 

[Metalbrain]

6 months is pretty doubtful. If the OS is indeed Linux, as I strongly believe it will be, porting most emulators will take very little time. Fully utilizing the graphics hardware is a different story, but with a faster CPU and memory subsystem there will be performance improvements 'out of the box'.

It will be no easier to program for than the GP2x is. Don't lie. IT will be harder to use, as you mention, the graphics hardware. Therefore the time taken for XGP ports is >= The time taken for GP2x ports.

But GP32 to GP2X ports were ports from GP32 OS to Linux. If the XGP uses linux too, they will be Linux to Linux ports, and that should be much easier. And ports from PC/Linux to GP2X/Linux mostly take care of adapting to a portable environment with the controls and small screen, and that work has already been done for the GP2X, so it should be easy to do for the XGP once the libraries are ready.

 

[Epicenter]

It will be no easier to program for than the GP2x is. Don't lie. IT will be harder to use, as you mention, the graphics hardware. Therefore the time taken for XGP ports is >= The time taken for GP2x ports.

Haha, whio's lying? Most GP2X emulators are based on PC Linux emulator source ported to the '2x with optimizations. Since both systems likely will run the same OS (Linux), porting will be easy. Bringing over 90%+ of GP2X software, or more, will be effortless. But making the software take full advantage of the hardware will take more time, of course.

OpenGL-ES is not hard to use-- it's a great standard and is used industrywide, on PDAs, even. It's about as easy as SDL. OpenGL-ES is even implemented through SDL, as a wrapper. In fact, there are nearly as many tutorials about using the two together as there are for SDL alone.

If a library is written to accelerate SDL graphics functions through the accelerator, some developers won't even need to worry about OpenGL-ES. They'd just link a library, like most developers link in Paeryn's 'HW-SDL' library now. They don't need to understand the inner workings of the GP2X hardware to do so -- same principle for XGP.

Overall? The XGP won't be 'more difficult' than the GP2X to code for. Just slightly different in some ways. A lot of code will be VERY intercompatible.

 

[DaveC]

Well if you don't mind the really really *small* screen on the mini then maybe you would be ok with it. To me a screen that small would get very tedious to use more than 30 minutes.

Then since the batteries are custom you are kind of out of luck if you wanted to keep playing on the road and they went out where you are not near the mains as well. Plus if they discontinued the unit eventually where are you going to get those custom batteries from? Even if the GP2X is discontinued someday you will always be able to get AA rechargeables.

Smaller screen means crisper picture--just look at a micro for proof. Also, Gamepark has stated the "custom" batteries will actually be standard ones that can be picked up at any electronics store. Hopefully that's the case.

Yeah right "crisper". They should make the screen 1/2", just think how "crisp" that would be, who cares if you could use it at lease it would be the "crispest screen ever" :rolleyes:

There is a balance between "crisp" and too damn small. The Mini falls in the too damn small catagory to me. The screen on the GP2X is plenty "crisp" for it's size.