OrR
Corporate games suck.
No, I'm not missing the point. The point is to find a handheld that is good for playing games and that actually has games to offer that you want to play. The Zodiac has lot's of homebrew development and much of it is commercial homebrew development. I like it that way because developers that earn money also invest more time into their games. This results in more polished and overall better games. Still, the homebrew ideal, some guy developing whatever he wants in his basement, does not get lost.Huxley posted on Aug 31 2005 at 02:13 AM said:OrR: You're missing the point. The GPX2 isn't meant to be another Zodiac; it has no PDA-like functions and is geared specifically towards homebrew development rather than commercial. There's no handheld like this on earth, save for the GP32 which was more of an happy accident.
The GPX2 isn't meant to be another Zodiac and that's what I don't like about it. Linux, great! Oh wait, no good text input system or mouse replacement? A 320*240 screen? Well...
An analog stick is a great input device far superior to a d pad. Of course, it is not good for games that are designed for a d-pad. So the perfect handheld would need both.RoboJoe32 posted on Aug 31 2005 at 02:50 AM said:It's ok if you don't know much about the Zodiac. It's not ok if you talk bullshit about it. It is expensive but it is worth every dollar. No other handheld comes close to the Zodiac.
Pardon me while I LOL, analog makes things like a few PSone games a lil better, but for anything beyond that it's hell, plus it's pricy for being a closed setup. (And pay-for emulators= lose.) And I don't dig having an expensive hard to replace battery in a handheld.
My personal opinion on the topic: The GPX2 seems totally useless. It has a little more computing power but too little. It still has the same small screen. It has no touchscreen and not even an analog stick. If you've got a GP32 you don't really need it. The GPX2 needs exclusive content bad because it has not much else to offer. The games is what it's all about after all.
My personal opinion is you are looking for a PDA, and not a multi-function emulation and media behemoth, Screen too small? The aspect ratio is just right to scale just about anything and everything to it properly.
No touchscreen? Oh goodie gumdrops. Just what I always wanted, a screen full of creases scratches and smudges 24/7 just to open a menu I could click in only one millisecond more with a button press. And like I said, you're looking for a PDA or a nintendo DS, not the kind of device the GPX2 is.
and too little power? Dual processors not one 200MHZ base one, but Overclockable Dual Processors and as for exclusive content, what does the zodiac have to offer me? A cut down spy hunter? <_<
Likewise, don't talk bullshit about something you don't know about.
I'm looking for a PDA but NOT a multi-function emulation and media behemoth? :huh: My Zodiac is both of those things already and the GPX2 is none. Media, lol, on a 320*240 screen? That's half the ebook I can read and half the movie I can watch. And if you are going to tell me that the thing puts out 640*480 to TV, well, who cares? It's a handheld, if I want the big screen I'll use my PC or TV with DVD/Video player. I definately won't copy movies to an SD card to watch them via the GPX2.
How is the GPX2 multifunctional if it does not even connect to the net and do word documents? In fact it does not do anything besides media and gaming.
There is something you can do against scraches on your screen. Get a screen protector. It's a 5$ investment. I don't use one, though, and my screen is much more clean than my GBA screen ever was. The thing just does not get scratched. You would be surprised how fast touchscreen input really is. I can type on my thumbboard like I type on my PC. Maybe it's half as fast but still faster than any other handheld input I've ever seen. A touchscreen is totally awesome for RPGs, you've never seen menus rush past so fast. You need it for RTS games, without it you can only play Advance Wars. And a touchscreen is much better for Gloop. Ego Shooters, too, you can see it on the DS. Touchscreen is an input system you never want to loose again.
Maybe I'm not looking for the device the GPX2 is. But you are missing something big here: That's the GPX2's fault.
Next is the power issue. Well, 400 Mhz is ok. That's about what I expect from a handheld at this time and the GPX2 might offer it for a good price. There is one catch, however, and it's the same trick the next gen consoles use: Multiple cores. This is something new and few devs know how to handle it. The first generation games on the new consoles will only run with 3.5 Ghz of power and I don't think it'll be any different on the GPX2. I'm sceptical if anyone ever get's 400 Mhz of power out of those two 200 Mhz CPUs.
And now, exclusive content: The Zodiac has a ton of it, as long as you count the Palm content, too. I usually do since there is no other Palm similarly suited for gaming. In fact, most of the games on the Zodiac are not availiable on other handheld gaming devices. The only things that are not are Stunt Car Extreme (now on Gametrac, too), Tony Hawk (it's the damn GBA game) and some other ports, both homebrew and commercial. There are a lot of games exclusive to the Zodiac, however: Orbz, Bike or Die, Animated Dudes, Mazera, Xploids, Legacy, Warfare Inc, Arvale, ... Of course, you don't know them but that is kind of the point: They are Zodiac exclusive games, you can't know them if you don't know the Zod. I can assure you that I have only mentioned absolutely awesome games, though. They are worth playing and they are worth paying for.
Sure, you GP fans all want to push the GPX2 and want people to get it. Especially craigx since he earns money with it. But I agree with the post that started this thread, it just feels like something nobody needs. What's so awesome about it? The only thing that can convince me that I need it is exclusive content it seems.
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