Why Should We Buy This Gpx2?

[tengen]

I do play my Zodiac but I won't shut up. Why are you guys so allergic against negative comments about the GPX2? Isn't it ok to criticize it? I don't think I'm talking out of my arse or flaming anyone, I try to state arguments and try to actually type stuff that makes sense. Then you come along, call me a dumbass and tell me to shut the fuck up. Huh? How about trying to find some argument for the GPX2 instead of creating arguments against it's community?

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[/quote]

hey that's fine. there's nothing wrong with owning, playing, or liking a zodiac. and yes, it's ok to criticize the gpx2. and it's ok to criticize the zodiac. we all have our personal preferences here which is fine. also, i don't think people should get flamed for defending their point of view. forums are here so we can discuss. and that's what we should do.

 

[gp32rich]

Sounds like OrR's convinced himself that he won't be getting one.
Sounds like he's trying to convince everyone else that he's right.

 

[Johndifo]

"We are sorry to inform you that the Zodiac business was discontinued and service and support are no longer available as of July 25th 2005."

http://www.tapwave.com/


Bad news

 

[Yuglooc]

Old news ^^

 

[Cyclops]

Maybe I'm just being stupid. I liked the Tapwave Zodiac and I could have been tempted if they had been cheap enough. If I do find one cheap enough £20(128Mb) I will definately get one.

In reality though regardless of this handheld is better than that handheld and why. Tapwave Zodiac was working on a linux backend(i don't know if they ever released it), but to me that leaves a lot of cross-development between the developers of the two groups. The Tapwave Zodiac is not dead.

I don't say XXXXX handheld is rubbish. I think the GPX2 has potential for being the *best value* handheld of all time. If my priority was commercial gaming/Widescreen/Force feedback joystick/128Mb memory I might think differently, the petty discussions here are null and void in this instance.

 

[OrR]

Wait at so you just said "PSP commercial games aren't good" essentially, then you're talking about zodiac exclusives? :blink:

Check the man for a negaverse goatee or some sort of bizarro birthmark. That can't be true in this diminsion.

Just messing with you, but seriously. (final note in the arguement and getting it out of the way) You count zodiac's palm content but seem to dismiss the GPX2's linux content? all I gotta say is...

WTF

Really, it always amazes me to see people who just feel this undying need to piss on other's parade or become what I like to call "habitual bitchers". People who -need- something to complain about or belittle. It's like someone going to the ice cream store, and screaming "I DON'T LIKE ICE CREAM YOGURT IS BETTER" and just hanging around despite the fact you don't like ice cream and you're not converting anyone to the yogurt side.

On the flipside, I'm not at the zodiac forums going "Why should anyone buy a zodiac?" Because really, It's my personal preference that I don't much care for the zodiac, Anyone else? Buy one, buy 50, buy a swimimng pool of them! Doesn't really bother me. But complaining -constantly- when you've worn out your welcome? Jesus -christ-.

In other words, Go back to the yogurt shop and let us eat our icecream in peace.

​

The stupid mainstream games the PSP has got are not what I want to play. Of course, there are exceptions but what I really want to play are games made by passionate independent developers. I don't care about graphics and professional polish much, I care about if a game is fun and unique. Maybe I'm a little weird but hey, that's allowed, at least in Germany. So I love strange independent games and that's why I want many of them on the GPX2. On my Zodiac emulation is maybe up to 1/4 of the stuff I play. I don't think that will change much on the GPX2. That's why I've got a different opinion about resolutions than DaveC. (He sometimes seems to think his opinion is a fact... :unsure: )
Hidden in the quite unfriendly post by RoboJoe32 is another argument for the GPX2: Weird indie Linux games and Linux ports of games might be easy to port to the GPX2 or even run without much work at all. As I already mentioned I don't know a thing about Linux games so it would be nice if someone could give some examples of interesting Linux games that will likely be able to run.

Sounds like OrR's convinced himself that he won't be getting one.
Sounds like he's trying to convince everyone else that he's right.

​

Actually that's a pretty wrong interpretation of my comments. I'm quite sure I want a GPX2, I'm just trying to find some arguments to justify a purchase. It's not like I've got too much money... What I also want are arguments that could convince people outside the GP community to get a GPX2 and to develop for it.
I also want an XGP but that's still too far off to decide whether it's worth getting for me.

A little unrelated: Can anyone tell me about how many GP32s have been sold outside Korea? I'd like to ask some of my favourite Palm and Zodiac developers to develop for the GPX2 but I have to present them with some good numbers...

 

[DaveC]

... On my Zodiac emulation is maybe up to 1/4 of the stuff I play. I don't think that will change much on the GPX2. That's why I've got a different opinion about resolutions than DaveC. (He sometimes seems to think his opinion is a fact... :unsure: )
....

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Well those "opinions" as you call them are basically facts, the resolution of the GP32/GPx2 IS ideal for emulators.

You seem to be saying that unless a handheld is a zodiac clone, it sucks. Maybe to you it does, not to me, being different than a zodiac is a good thing. You love the zodiac so much then stick with that, for you there is no reason to get a GPx2.

Again the GPx2 is NOT a zodiac or a PDA. If that is what you are looking for and that is what you want, you don't want a GPx2. You would be better off with a 640 x 480 resolution Pocket PC which has double the resolution of a zodiac, double the CPU speed of a zodiac, and your required touchscreen that you can't do without.

You don't like the GPx2 because of the res or lack of touchscreen? Fine no one says you have to, go elsewhere for your next portable. No need to flame and bash the specs of the GPx2 as they are ideal and better than a zodiac for emulation. Don't care much about emulation? Well then again the GPX2 is probably not your thing. Like it or not emulation will be the biggest most popular thing on the GPx2 because it is so well suited for it. Just like puzzle games are so big on palm/zodiac as those are well suited for those.

XGP? again why bother, a PSP is better and more supported. PSP has a homebrew scene too, probably bigger than the XGp (and maybe the GP32/GPx2 too ) will ever be as well.

 

[Prophet]

OrR just reminded me of something - we need Bike Or Die ported to GPX2. Seriously, you GP32 folk don't know what you're missing. I'd pay for the game all over again to have it on GPX2.

Interestingly, it's also an example of a game where the Zodiac's resolution was a good thing, since it used textured polygons in 2D. But then again it will run smoother on a lower resolution, so you still have tradeoffs either way. It's not a graphics oriented game anyway, it's all about pure gameplay. Good stuff. Really good stuff.

 

[OrR]

Yeah, the GPX2 NEEDS Bike or Die. It does not even require a touchscreen! I'll ask Szymon about it...

 

[Prophet]

OK, do so. And let him know, I'll spread the good word about BOD if he does port it. GPX2 is Linux based so most devs usually find that attractive (i.e. highly portable).

Also mention to him that GPH will have a store where the game could be sold, and has a DRM so it won't get pirated.

 

[OrR]

Do you have any idea about the sales potential? How many GP32s have been sold? 1000? 10000? 100000? Would be interesting to know... Don't forget that he comes from a market of a million Palms even though the average GPX2 user is probably about 10 to 50 times more likely to buy BoD than the average Palm user.

I had also thought about talking to Astraware (Mazera!) and others but the sales potential is a key point. 100 copies don't make a game worth a port to a new operating system but 1000 could.

 

[Draken]

Alright, just registered. ^^

I'm a zodiac user. I've been using palmos for two year, I bought a zodiac as an upgrade and for emulation. I love the handheld, but it has many problems, like the controller moving to the right.

The gpx2 has a digital controller, as of that from the ngpc. I have a ngpc, and it is just so much better then that of the zodiac. Analog is good for 3D games, but, gpx2 won't have that much 3D games... The controller is perfectly fine.

Touchscreen? Meh, I don't care about it. There's palm, there's the ds, and there's the pocketpc, why does every handheld need a touchscreen? To play OpenTTD?

The screen? Well, it's smaller, right, but still a lot bigger then the ds and gba screen.

The specs? Better then the zodiac...

The gpx2 will get commercial games as the gp32 did. Korean games. And I love that korean style. Mill looks great.
PSP games are total shit, unless you need another doom clone, or you are a sportfreak, it's worth nothing right now, just as the ds.

The thing is, I WANT homebrew, I WANT emulation. I want a handheld that will run all the old classics from snes, gen, etc, have many interpreters like ScummVM, lot's and lot's of homebrew, still have the function to play movies and music, etc.

You can say: The zod has that too. Right, but not as good, especially not with all the problems, like the friggin controller moving to the right.
The zod won't live forever, it'll die, where the gpx2 lives:
AA batteries. Praise to GPH that they still use AA batteries.

Oh yeah, TV out function, anyone? I don't recall the zod having this, right?

I love my zodiac, but, it's time to move on for me.
I'm not a gp32/gpx2 fanboy, because I don't have one. I need a new handheld, and the gpx2 seems most fit for the job.

Palms are the most bought handhelds. It's no trouble to optimize to 480x320 for zodiac. Don't compare the most used handhelds to an unknown handheld only handheld/linux fans outside the mainstream will buy.

People who brought us stuff like ljp, tcpmp, etc all started out with a different handheld btw. Look at Yoyo, he used a gp32 and only started working on the zod cuz he won one. Or picard, he used pocketpc. He was given a zodiac to optimize for it. Zodiac users are desperate for new apps, so they give zods to dev'ers...

Sorry for the long post.

Stevie

 

[OrR]

Touchscreen? Meh, I don't care about it. There's palm, there's the ds, and there's the pocketpc, why does every handheld need a touchscreen? To play OpenTTD?

Exactly. And RTS games, FPS games, puzzle games, RPGs, all can benefit from it.

The gpx2 will get commercial games as the gp32 did. Korean games. And I love that korean style. Mill looks great.

Looking forward to the Korean stuff but I would also love to see some Palm devs at least port their games.

The thing is, I WANT homebrew, I WANT emulation. I want a handheld that will run all the old classics from snes, gen, etc, have many interpreters like ScummVM, lot's and lot's of homebrew, still have the function to play movies and music, etc.

You can say: The zod has that too. Right, but not as good, especially not with all the problems, like the friggin controller moving to the right.
The zod won't live forever, it'll die, where the gpx2 lives:
AA batteries. Praise to GPH that they still use AA batteries.

The trouble is that I want even more: I want internet browsing, I want to type articles. The GPX2 won't do that so it'll never be able to replace the Zodiac for me. However, I don't want to miss the GPX2 content and I also have to admit that there are some more SNES games I'd like to play. (Harvest Moon and Umihara Kawase pull a little too much to the right... )

Oh yeah, TV out function, anyone? I don't recall the zod having this, right?

Well, I can't find a use for this but maybe others can... TV out on a portable... Hmm... Might as well take my Revolution.

 

[Draken]

If you don't have a snes, and want to play snes games on a big tv?

Qua games that require touchscreen:
All games could in some way benefit, but it's not a requirement. Games that use a mouse and are ported to the gpx2 could, but, OpenTTD, Scumm, etc all still can be played with the controller as a mouse.
And I don't recall games as FF, Chrono Trigger, etc benefit from it.

For FPS', we won't get a lot. You have Doom, Quake, and all that, but it's not full 360° turning. So the touchscreen isn't necessery. Zodiac doom, quake, hexen etc don't use the touchscreen either.

I understand you would like pda functions. You want a gaming based handheld, with nice controls, emulation, homebrew etc, but also pda functions. All in one nice and small handheld, like the zodiac. But you are pissed there is no zodiac replacement. There are no gaming ppc's. The handhelds that are gaming based don't have pda functions either.

There is no other handheld that combines pda and gaming, so we'll have to be glad with what we have.

Oh, there's one thing I don't like about the gpx2: it's design. Too squary for me, I like the gp32 design more. But ah well.

 

[OrR]

If I would want to play SNES games on a big screen I'd use my PC...
How do you control OpenTTD without mouse/touchscreen? It's not possible. Of course Chrono Trigger does not benefit from a touchscreen but Legacy does. It's so goddamn awful to navigate menus with buttons... Imagine having to do the save states and options in Little John with buttons... Urgh... Not if I don't have to. Well, I guess I'll have to on the GPX2 :rolleyes:

 

[DaveC]

If I would want to play SNES games on a big screen I'd use my PC...
How do you control OpenTTD without mouse/touchscreen? It's not possible. Of course Chrono Trigger does not benefit from a touchscreen but Legacy does. It's so goddamn awful to navigate menus with buttons... Imagine having to do the save states and options in Little John with buttons... Urgh... Not if I don't have to. Well, I guess I'll have to on the GPX2 :rolleyes:

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Navigating with buttons is fine, especially if done right. It is actually preferable to me. On a TS based menu you pick up the unit and play but everytime you want to change an option you need to dig out the stylus scribble on the screen then put the stylus back. With buttons you just keep your hands on the unit and make your selections, no futzing around with a stylus that can be lost or dropped etc. Besides I don't change configurations all of the time either.

The GPx2 has no TS either deal with it or don't buy it.

 

[DaveC]

If you don't have a snes, and want to play snes games on a big tv?

Qua games that require touchscreen:
All games could in some way benefit, but it's not a requirement. Games that use a mouse and are ported to the gpx2 could, but, OpenTTD, Scumm, etc all still can be played with the controller as a mouse.
And I don't recall games as FF, Chrono Trigger, etc benefit from it.

For FPS', we won't get a lot. You have Doom, Quake, and all that, but it's not full 360° turning. So the touchscreen isn't necessery. Zodiac doom, quake, hexen etc don't use the touchscreen either.

I understand you would like pda functions. You want a gaming based handheld, with nice controls, emulation, homebrew etc, but also pda functions. All in one nice and small handheld, like the zodiac. But you are pissed there is no zodiac replacement. There are no gaming ppc's. The handhelds that are gaming based don't have pda functions either.

There is no other handheld that combines pda and gaming, so we'll have to be glad with what we have.

Oh, there's one thing I don't like about the gpx2: it's design. Too squary for me, I like the gp32 design more. But ah well.

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Actually it was said that the GPx2 has a hardware 8 position stick that actually has 8 individual switches (most d-pads have 4 and diagonals are read wby reading two of the 4). If this is programmable you could actually get 16 positions out of the stick giving more in-betweens.

The zodiac was the jack of all trades, master of none. It wasn't particularly great for emulation because of the analog and stretching, there werent too many good z specific games, but it was a PDA. The GP32/GPx2 is best at homebrew and emulation because of the digital controls, matching screen res etc, but had no PDA functions. It was not a jack of all trades but it was a master of emulation and homebrew. It didn't do as much but what it did it did better, so everything is a compromise. If what you want was what it was good at then you would be happy with it.


Too squary? looks fine to me. But you could always get a GP32 BLU too if you wanted. It is one of the nost ergonomic handhelds I have played, much better than those Nintendo abominations. There will be alot of homebrew that will not make it to the GPx2 so you would have it all covered.

 

[OrR]

If I would want to play SNES games on a big screen I'd use my PC...
How do you control OpenTTD without mouse/touchscreen? It's not possible. Of course Chrono Trigger does not benefit from a touchscreen but Legacy does. It's so goddamn awful to navigate menus with buttons... Imagine having to do the save states and options in Little John with buttons... Urgh... Not if I don't have to. Well, I guess I'll have to on the GPX2 :rolleyes:

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Navigating with buttons is fine, especially if done right. It is actually preferable to me. On a TS based menu you pick up the unit and play but everytime you want to change an option you need to dig out the stylus scribble on the screen then put the stylus back. With buttons you just keep your hands on the unit and make your selections, no futzing around with a stylus that can be lost or dropped etc. Besides I don't change configurations all of the time either.

The GPx2 has no TS either deal with it or don't buy it.

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I always use my long fingernails. The stylus is only needed for stylus based games. I even type with my thumbs. Touchscreens are awesome.

 

[Magus 86]

Touch screens are gimmicky, unnecessary bullshit. I'd rather use a mouse, or even a D-pad and a few buttons any day. RPGs and FPSs benefitting from touch screen? wtf are you talking about? maybe RPGs like friggin' Neverwinter Nights, which sucks anyway. If I wanted to play an MMORPG or an RPG that's in a similar style to most MMORPGs, I'd be on my damn computer playing an MMORPG. and why would you want to play a first person shooter on a handheld anyway? It's bad enough playing it on a regular console... but if I can't have a mouse, I'll be damned if I'm playing any first person shooter without two analog sticks. you take away the sticks, and my interest goes away with them. please tell me exactly how a touch screen helps? What do you do, drag your stylus around the screen to aim? Then how do you shoot and change weapons with only one free hand with access to 2 buttons? if I can't have a PS2 controller or a keyboard and mouse, then there's no point in playing a first-person shooter anyway.

Imagine having to do the save states and options in Little John with buttons... Urgh... Not if I don't have to. Well, I guess I'll have to on the GPX2"

Uh... wtf? Little John is on the GP32... and you have to use buttons and the D-stick to do the save states and navigate thru the menus... and there's absolutely no problem with it... it works perfectly. Get your head out of your ass. "omg, i have to hit the R button and then the A button, and then wait a few seconds before I can continue playing... SO MUCH WORK!!! SO DIFFICULT!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!"

 

[OrR]

You obviously never touched a touchscreen. I played the Metroid demo on the DS, it works great apart from the jumping. You aim with the thumb on the touchscreen, walk with the d-pad or four buttons and shoot with the shoulder button. Works much better than two analog sticks, about as good as mouse & keyboard.
You obviously don't know what a handheld is for: It's for playing games when you are NOT at your PC/Console. Why not play MMORPGs on a handheld?
Many RPGs (especially turn based ones) have menus. Menus are much faster to navigate with a touchscreen. Yes, it is too much work to press all those buttons to navigate the menus if you could just use the touchscreen. It's bothersome and can make some games much less enjoyable.
I don't think I am the one who needs to get his head out of his ass.