You maniacs! You blew it all up!
When the GP32 was first announced, I got very excited. Finally, a handheld system that anyone could program for without any special equipment! It was going to be an open-source revolution for console gaming! Brilliant, free games would flow like wine in the streets, and everyone would sing out in glee! When it came out however, I didn’t have the money to get one. When I did have the money, a new, backlit version was announced, so I decided to wait. By the time that one came out, I’d lost interest, particularly because it had been a couple of years and my utopian dream had not been realized. In fact, it had ended up sort of gruesomely dystopian, by which I mean “Dyhard - with Infinite Stairs“.
Earlier this year they announced the GP2X, the amazing next generation version of the GP32, and I got excited again. I held off on buying one, though, since there were ZERO games available at release. And now, alas, I learn that they are horribly, atrociously buggy. Both kinds: country and western hardware and software. Oh well, at least there are still those plucky optimists in the PSP homebrew scene, fighting against “the Man” to bring sweet, sweet wine-in-the-streets free gameness to the masses… or at least lots and lots of Tetris and Pong clones. Sigh.
And no, before you mention it, I don’t have any faith in the XGP.
November 30th, 2005 at 8:01 pm
Why oh why do open hardware platforms like this always fail so spectacularly?
November 30th, 2005 at 9:26 pm
I think it goes back to the Soviets’ failure to capture the arcade game industry. The Poly Play proved that communism cannot be applied to video game hardware, but Alexi Pajitnov demonstrated that it COULD be applied to video game software. At that point it was set in stone that software for the good of the people can be pretty good, but hardware must be awful.
December 1st, 2005 at 3:55 am
You don’t know what the scene is up to. The source to the linux kernel will be released soon and then we have the power.
The open platform won’t fail.
Take a look at the GP32 for example - crappy start too.
December 1st, 2005 at 12:20 pm
Well, I am hopeful about it, especially since Lik Sang says that Gamepark is releasing a new version of the system that supposedly fixes ALL of the bugs reported so far.
As for the GP32, I know there were a lot of ports and emulators on it, but I never heard of a single “killer ap” game for it that made it worth the purchase for casual gamers. I think Astonisha Story was about the closest thing, and they’re remaking it for the PSP having “tested” it on the GP32.
December 1st, 2005 at 12:34 pm
Gabe: Come on! Stuff like this fails because people won’t get behind it and would rather spend their time belittling than supporting. The GP2X has already had a major firmware upgrade and GPH started releasing the source code to the platform today. The GP2X is a PMP, not just a game player and with access to the GP2X source code, just think what people will be able to do.
December 2nd, 2005 at 4:00 am
AFAIK, the ‘hardware’ problems are actually FIRMWARE problems. These can (and will) be fixed when the updated firmware arrives (the current one is an unfinished beta that was rushed out due to the deadline being held forward). The poor battery life is caused by people using POS non-rechargeable batteries (a good NiMh will get 2200 to 2400mAh) and the firmware keeping the processor constantly at the highest clock speed.
December 2nd, 2005 at 8:51 am
Here’s my early first take on the hardware unpacking. I’m going to add a firstlook of the software in the next couple of days:
http://www.datarealms.com/gp2x
- D
December 3rd, 2005 at 1:35 am
Indeed, it’s been said already, but the bugs will be fixed. The unit was rushed out the door because they had to: they need the cash to keep going. I’m all for taking a chance and supporting them, think of it as a pay-to-play beta program. Not such a bad thing, because with some fixes and some tweaks it’s gonna be a sweet little system. I’m drooling just thinking about portable MAME shmupness alone.
Bill
December 3rd, 2005 at 8:58 pm
I have a GP2X….Got it last week. Best handheld ever. Homebrew games up the wazoo.
December 3rd, 2005 at 9:14 pm
Oh and I forogt to mention…….someone is making a PSX Emu….