Gp2x

Timans

I've been thinking about getting myself one of these.

They look brilliant, mainly because I'm a mad Retro gamer.

GP2X

What has made me even more interested, is that I saw them on playasia.

PLAY-ASIA

This makes it really cheap, would it still work?

Also, Any people have one of these? Feedback etc?

Kristok

Nice system not too powerfull but some pretty nice stuff on it. Was thinking about getting one myself but then i put a modded firmware on my psp and found it did pretty much everything i wanted the gp2x to do.

super_furry

Kristok wrote:

Nice system not too powerfull but some pretty nice stuff on it. Was thinking about getting one myself but then i put a modded firmware on my psp and found it did pretty much everything i wanted the gp2x to do.

Pretty much what I did. I have the original GP32 and still use it on occasion - it's a great piece of kit - but the PSP has kinda made it obsolete.

Timans

I was going to get a psp but this is more cost effective and I only want a handheld retro console.

This is cheaper and the storage cards are cheaper.

Will it work from playasia?

Kristok

Do you mean will it work over here like power wise ? if so it runs on standard aa batteries so will work anywhere.

Check out does it have emulators for what you want the psp is further along with emulation than the gp2x and has more people working on projects for it. im not proclaiming that the psp is great or anything in fact not a big fan of it but compared to the gp2x theres not allot that cant be done better on the psp. An example of this is the most advanced console being worked on for gp2x afaik is the gba while on the psp there working on ps1 and n64 emulators.

However gp2x looks to be a good console with a good battery life and easier video playback and uses standard sd cards so no need for stupid ms pro cards.

Trode

Just on the subject of emulation, it's worth noting that the GP2x really struggles with SNES and arcade games(whether that's lack of power or bad emulators I don't know), so I wouldn't get one purely to play those. That said, it handles the Megadrive and 8-bit stuff well, plays Doom and Duke Nukem 3D fine once you set up the controls, and has a nice and simple MP3 interface.

Retr0gamer

From my experience of PSP emulators 8-bit is fine. However MD games chug a little on the best emulator meaning only slow games like RPGs are entirely satisfactory and many just don't work. This is on Dgen supposedly the best on the PSP.

SNES games are fine on SNES9x until it gets a sniff of mode 7 or transparencies and it turns into a slideshow. Only early games are playable.

PS1 emulation is perfect but it's a pain to get working. Gave up trying since it just wasn't worth it.

N64 emulation is pretty poor at the moment with only Mario 64 anyway near playable (and only just).

Probably better with a GP2X. Emulation is better and the controls are much nicer than the awful PSP d-pad and slightly better analogue nub.

Timans

Have you got a GP2X?

Nice reply, cheers. Although, why don't you get rid of your psp? You seem to hate it nearly as much as your bebo-Addicted brother.

Retr0gamer

I haven't a GP2X so my info on it is second hand.

I don't hate my PSP at all. It's a fantastic piece of hardware with some really good games but let down by a dodgy d-pad and an analogue nib that isn't great for most 2D games. The only problem is that the DS is a much better console with far better games on it. Still I couldn't live without Loco Roco, Gradius Collection, Wipeout Pure, Every Extend Extra, Lumines etc.

I'm just really disappointed with the emulation capabilities of the PSP. Thought I'd be playing full speed MD and SNES games by now. At least the Phantasy Star series is playable, currently working through them.

Funnily enough Castlevania 3 Draculas Curse works perfect on the PSP. There's only 1 PC emulator that runs it.

super_furry

Retr0gamer wrote:

I don't hate my PSP at all. It's a fantastic piece of hardware with some really good games but let down by a dodgy d-pad and an analogue nib that isn't great for most 2D games.

If you can, get hold of the stick on joypad that Capcom released with their Capcom Classics pack. It makes a world of a difference.

Nick_oliveri

Retr0gamer wrote:

PS1 emulation is perfect but it's a pain to get working. Gave up trying since it just wasn't worth it.

I found it to be easy, which firmware are you using? I was going to play FF7, but its a multidisk game and my 1gb card doesn't have the space.

Bought a 4gb card off ebay which turned out to be fake, the psp even with custom firmware will not write savegames/corrupts them probably because of a magicgate/copyright issue. Im currently trying to get my money back, but its a longshot with paypal.

Retr0gamer wrote:

N64 emulation is pretty poor at the moment with only Mario 64 anyway near playable (and only just).

Oh stop! Horrible emulators! I went and got a lend of a mates N64 for the zelda!

Retr0gamer wrote:

Probably better with a GP2X. Emulation is better and the controls are much nicer than the awful PSP d-pad and slightly better analogue nub.

My anologue nub (shíte as the psps anologues are) is only a stick, i lost the round nub thingy. Rage!

Retr0gamer

Nick_oliveri wrote:

I found it to be easy, which firmware are you using? I was going to play FF7, but its a multidisk game and my 1gb card doesn't have the space.

I'm using 3.10 OE-A. Just seemed like a pain to me. Converting the game or ISO to raw data, downloading Hot Shots 2, making an eboot for the game, couldn't have been bothered. If there is an easy way I'd love to hear.

Nothing beats playing the old games on the old hardware However I'm not a big fan of the N64 since Nintendo stupidly took out Scart and S-video output from the PAL models. The games look lovely on the Wii's VC in comparison.

Retr0gamer

Right figured out PS1 emulation and it wasn't all that painful. Really impressed with it. It's perfect. Only problem is the disc changing problem but it's only annoying me because I really want to play Koudelka.

Timans

I am extremely tempted to get myself a Gp2X. I'm desperate for portable Retro Gaming. And, Retro Gaming in general. It's hard to track down the original consoles.

I would mainly be playing Mega Drive roms though, 16bit. So, if the GP2X isn't good at running these, I'll stear well clear.

I was thinking about getting a psp, but they don't sound very good for retro gamin.

Nick_oliveri

Retr0gamer wrote:

...big fan of the N64 since Nintendo stupidly took out Scart and S-video output from the PAL models. The games look lovely on the Wii's VC in comparison.

[stupidquestion]Can you play N64 games on teh wii?!![/stupidquestion]

Trode

Timans wrote:

I am extremely tempted to get myself a Gp2X. I'm desperate for portable Retro Gaming. And, Retro Gaming in general. It's hard to track down the original consoles.

I would mainly be playing Mega Drive roms though, 16bit. So, if the GP2X isn't good at running these, I'll stear well clear.

If you're after Megadrive stuff, definitely get one, it handles that almost perfectly. In general it's worth the money for what it can do anyway, it just doesn't fulfil everyone's (occasionally unrealistic) expectations. And the poor SNES emulation is really the only caution I'd give someone( as long as they're aware of it's power and aren't expecting Dreamcast emulation or something) looking to buy one.

Timans

Trode wrote:

If you're after Megadrive stuff, definitely get one, it handles that almost perfectly. In general it's worth the money for what it can do anyway, it just doesn't fulfil everyone's (occasionally unrealistic) expectations. And the poor SNES emulation is really the only caution I'd give someone( as long as they're aware of it's power and aren't expecting Dreamcast emulation or something) looking to buy one.

Ah right,

MegaDrive is what I'm mainly looking for, yeah. Is it difficult to get the Emulators and ROMS working on a GP2X?

Isn't SNES 16bit as well? Why doesn't it work well on GP2X?

I thought good SNES emulation was one of its improvements of the GP32? The main problem I had with the GP32 was that you were playing games on a portable system that weren't designed for such.

Retr0gamer

The Snes is a much harder machine to emulate since it's more complicated. The SNES CPU is under powered compared to the MD but the Mode 7 custom graphics chip, the fact that it displays 32,000 colours instead of 256 and (most of all) the fantastic sound chip make it a lot more processor intensive.

MD games run okay on the PSP. I found the framerates onm most games aren't perfect and they seem a bit choppy. The main problem is that the emulator won't run all games, some like the Strike games crash at points and others refuse to load. Another thing to consider are the PSP controls. I can't stress how bad the d-pad is and the analogue nub is only a slight inprovement. You may be better with the GP2X just because the controls are better.

Trode

Timans wrote:

Ah right,

MegaDrive is what I'm mainly looking for, yeah. Is it difficult to get the Emulators and ROMS working on a GP2X?

Isn't SNES 16bit as well? Why doesn't it work well on GP2X?

Luckily for you, the main MD emulators are fairly simple to set up and get working, provided you get the latest versions off the net and not the ones that come on the packaged CD. Create your ROM directory, start the emulator and point it at the appropriate place, like a PC emulator. Some of the other emulators around can be pretty awkward to use, though, requiring specific paths for the ROMS and arcane sequences of button presses to perform some actions.