Games and consoles
The GP2X sounds almost too good to be true. After Korean manufacturer Gamepark announced a successor to their massively popular handheld platform GP32, gamers worldwide have been holding their breath. Far from being just a portable console, the homebrew and development community is already in awe of its publicized specifications and features. Sporting a powerful Dual CPU core at its heart, the GP2X will prove to be a true multimedia machine with its multiple codecs support (DivX, MPEG, MP3,...) and TV Out capability. Being Linux based, it promises an Open Source environment for loads of garage-programmed games and applications in the future. Not only great for enjoying movies and music on the go, the GP2X is also a fine device to play free emulators on: SNES, NES, GB, Sega Mega Drive, Spectrum, C64, Atari, PC Engine (to just name a few). With a 3.5" TFT LCD Screen and High-Speed USB 2.0 connection, it's portable gadget glory at its best.
Comparison with Sony PSP.
Order your GP2X here.
Review of GP2X
Click on the images for a larger view.
The Latest item in the Age of Digital Convergence, Gamepark Holdings' GP2X
The trend regarding digital devices goes towards convergence or integration. Simply put, the market offers products featuring music and movie player, image and text viewer and even gaming capabilities. These items, with all the integrated features, attract a wide range of users due to their multi-purpose nature, in contrast to products that emphasize on one main function only. They are favored also because it's simple to use them. Among these products, there is one that particularly appeals to users. It is the GP2X, a new product by Gamepark Holdings that works as a music and movie player, as well as a gaming platform, which usually can be expected only from dedicated game devices.
GP2X - A Stylish Design
At first look, the product seems to be designed for easy operation. Various control parts on the black body are clear and big enough to give the impression that it's designed to make using it easy and simple. The control stick on the left side is big enough to allow for convenient control by users. In addition, operating the device is fun due to the control stick's flexibility and it's very comfortable to click the button to select the menu. In the bottom part, there is a button to adjust the volume.
In addition, when viewed from the front, there's a central part that divides the front and rear panels and is located on the lower part of the product. The POWER LED and BATTERY LED are manufactured in acrylic plastic and the logo etc. are printed in a fresh color so that the user can check the basic operation status easily via the lower part of the product, while viewing the LCD. On the lower left and right part of the front panel there are stereo speakers, and in the center is the LCD of the GP2X. The LCD used for the GP2X is a QVGA grade TFT LCD with 320 x 240 resolution and a size of 3.5 inches. Though the basic specification states that 167 million colors are supported hardware-wise, which is excellent, GP2X supports only 260 thousand colors to guarantee processing speed or more stable operation by controlling the colors through software.
The size is 143.6mm in width, 82.9mm in height and 34mm in depth. The size of the device is small enough that it can be put on a man's palm. Tapwave's Zodiac 2 was thin enough to carry, but the feeling of holding the device was not so good, while GP2X by Gamepark Holdings is designed to allow the users to hold the device with both hands. The height of each button and the depth of the body have enough mass in order to provide users, that are having a go at basic features, a good, comfortable grip, even more so when playing games. Due to the pronounced depth, it might not be that portable, but it's not such a big problem to put it into your bag, since the weight of the device is just around 161g (excluding battery).
On the right side, there are four basic buttons built-in, used to navigate the action, plus 2 buttons which are located below that, which aid in operating the device. The buttons are all in deep grey color which blends with the black color of the body nicely and each is easy to manipulate, since they are appropriately pronounced.
GP2X has an embedded NAND FLASH MEMORY of 64MB. There is just 20MB of space in the 64MB of internal memory since it is used for running the OS etc. But there is a function found on the top of the device that does away with concerns regarding the memory issue. On the top side of the GP2X, there is a slot where one can insert SD CARDs. By utilizing external memory cards, the users can carry additional games or movies if needed. On the right side of the SD CARD slot, there is an additional interface for external speakers or headphones, as we can see in the picture. Considering that the price of a 1GB SD CARD has recently dropped to 50,000 KRW (approx. USD 47.70), we can say that we can expand the memory capacity easily at a lower cost now.
On the top left and right sides there are L/R buttons to be found. A user who has experienced the SONY PSP before might welcome this also. It brings more comfort due to the control being quite intuitive. Due to excellent buttons resistance when holding the device with both hands, pressing the basic GP2X buttons with the thumb while controlling the L/R ones conveniently with their index fingers, users will be able to have fun navigating the action.
On the left side, there is a power switch and the right side offers DC IN and USB interfaces. The power switch needs to be moved down or up to turn the device on or off. It's convenient to connect an additional DC adapter through the DC IN interface instead of using two AA batteries since the user can then enjoy the GP2X for an unlimited amount of time, for as long as the power is supplied. With the GP2X, file transfer at high speed is possible, because it supports USB 2.0, the ultimate standard for High Speed transfers. Each interface is well protected, since they are covered by a silicon plug as is the headphones jack on top of the device (the color may be changed to a darker one for mass production).
GP2X supports TV OUT. There is an EXT interface for TV OUT on the bottom of the system. If we can enjoy games or movies stored on the GP2X on a TV with a big display, how much fun might that possibly be? GP2X seems to be appealing to users by triggering the memory of their Super Famicoms they have enjoyed playing with in their childhood. Gamepark Holdings will sell the TV OUT cable separately so that the user can purchase it if needed. It might be better if Gamepark would include the cable in the package as a bundle. But because not all use TV OUT and the price of the cable is not so expensive, there will be no big complaint by users even if they sell the cable separately. If there is a user who is not satisfied with the size of the GP2X display, he may purchase an additional TV OUT cable and connect it to TV etc., then it can work not only as a game device, but also as a movie player, image and text viewer or even as an audio player.
On the back of the system, there is only a compartment that can accept two AA batteries, the basic power source of the GP2X. There are no additional control parts here. Because the GP2X was designed considering not only the performance of a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), but also with an emphasis on creating a gaming device, we think that a decision to solve the power issue - the weak point of a portable device - was made by using AA batteries that can be obtained easily. According to Gamepark Holdings, the GP2X can operate on two AA batteries for 6 hours of playing movies and 10 hours listening to audio with the LCD turned off. Upon official release of the GP2X, it may support 6 hours of game playing time for games that require full specifications, so it seems that there is no need to worry about the power issue.
GP2X - Fresh Color And A Clean GUI
Though the color of the GP2X is not so flashy, the GP2X is a product that displays fresh color and a clean GUI, with an emotional style and a coherent design, as we can well see in the starting display with its clean logo.
The GP2X's display impresses with a vivid and fresh visual atmosphere, since the icons are white in color with shading shown on the orange background color.
The control stick located on the left side allows the user to navigate between icons and when an icon is selected, it gets displayed in black - sort of an inversion effect - so that the user can recognize it easily.
Though not every function was completely implemented yet, the basic operations of the GP2X can be seen. Because every menu has a different color, the user can easily see how to navigate between menus. In the case of loading a file, the menu where you can select between the internal NAND FLASH MEMORY and external SD CARD slot appears again, so users can utilize the relevant device properly.
GP2X shows the files that are suitable for each situation, by processing the basic action assigned to each icon. As the GP2X is based on Linux, an open source environment, it has expansion capabilities that can run future released programs in the UTILITY menu. There are also icons to carry out Test Mode and to check the battery status as well as for the TV OUT display, etc. in the SETTING menu.
GP2X is More than a Game Device
GP2X uses a MagicEyes MMSP2 SoC core, consisting of a ARM920T and ARM940T Dual CPU Core as a main chipset. It has the basic capability to run not only games, but also music and movies as well as additional files. Based on this, it can support not only music files such as MP3 and OGG etc., but also movie files at the speed of 30 frames per second. Moreover, it has been said that in case of various games which are ported to the GP2X, it can support up to 30 frames per second as well. Using a GP2X, the user may not have any problems in using these additional files. Though AC3 and WMV files can't be played due to licensing issues, the GP2X can play files in MPEG4, XVID and DIVX codec with 720 x 480 size at 30fps. We can furthermore expect that it may support even more additional files. Someday GP2X will be reborn as a more advanced 2nd generation PMP.
We call it 'PEP'!
GP2X has more additional features than a device we'd just call a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), as we usually call other similar products. The basic features of the GP2X are very similar to ones of the PMP, but new features are being added and new utilities and games are being ported to it even now through many advanced users and programmers who worked together on the previous model. We can say that the vision of GP2X regarding expansion and additional files is bigger than any other existing PMP.
Source: Gameparks Holdings, via Minivian