You Know You Wanted This As A Child

Like anything else that came from Japan during... ever, it's cooler than our knitting magazines stateside.



Stolen directly from Kotaku.

GP2X a promising alternative for PSP Homebrew.

So, you want all those cool homebrew applications that Sony shakes its giant corporate head at, but you’re afraid of the potential dangers of downgrading your current PSP Firmware or downloading any Custom Firmware that will allow you to continue to use all those nifty applications and games?

Are you the retro gamer? A lover of the classic PC, arcade, and console games, lamenting the fact that so few have been re-released on the current handheld systems or that you have to own a very expensive piece of Next Gen Gaming technology just to download some of these games?

Maybe you’re just a rebel, living on the ragged edge of the gaming world. You’re looking for a handheld system that isn’t tied down and mired by a large company’s own ambitions, instead letting itself be fully open to developers world-wide thanks to it’s open source Linux OS?

It could very well be that you’re a coder/hacker and you’re looking for a new platform to show off your 1337 skills.

If you’re any of the above, then let me introduce you to Gamepark Holding’s GP2X. The GP2X seems to have been designed as the homebrew lover’s alternative to the PSP. While the GP2x is not as powerful as the PSP and does not enjoy the support of a great number of commercially released games, its open source Linux OS and wide availability of SDK’s (Software development kits) has provided many smaller developers the opportunity to show their stuff. The fact that Linux already has a loyal “fan base” and many ports of PC games as well as console and arcade emulators have been made adds to the draw of this system. Many Linux Programs and ports have already been converted for use on the GP2X with relative ease.

When it comes to emulation, the GP2X is ready for you. Popular emulators for Neo Geo, Sega Master system/Genesis/Mega Drive, The NES, and even MAME are already available for download. Just consider taking your favorite classics on the road with you, Marvel vs Capcom at your fingertips!

In addition the GP2X, unlike the PSP, already has some PDA features and is only a peripheral or two away from becoming a mini computer. Thanks to the USB and a special proprietary EXT port, quite a few hobbyists are creating breakout boxes that allow the addition of even more functions, and ports. You can even add small, self-powered external laptop hardrives for more storage, add a box that allows for more USB connections, a keyboard and say.. a mouse or USB gamepad? Couple those with the TV output and the appropriate software and you have yourself the world’s smallest MAME box/Computer. It’s certainly no laptop computer, but as more and more people begin to understand the source code the potential for this powerful little system seems nearly infinite.


Now some of you reading this article are going to assume that I’ve got something against the PSP. That’s just not true. There are two things I did today aside from sitting here and writing this article: Eat and use my PSP. I like to eat, but I promise you I did more gaming than eating today. I also watched Steamboy while I was away from the house and bored. I absolutely love my PSP. That doesn’t stop me from looking over the GP2X and being so impressed that a PSP-like system could emerge from anyone but one of the superpowers of gaming.

In all fairness I’m ending this article with a decent comparison between the two handhelds. In many ways the PSP easily comes out on top. It’s inevitable, Sony Computer Entertainment has the money to put behind the R&D that Gamepark Holdings does not. Still there’s no doubt in my mind that the GP2X could handle being more of a direct competitor to the PSP if it had more 3rd party support in the way of commercially released games and a more defined distribution here in the United States. The GP2X does have one more, almost inconsequential, advantage over the PSP; it's about ten US Dollars cheaper at $189 - some stores $179.

	PSP	GPX2
Dimensions	Approx. 6.7 in [W] x 2.9 in [H] x .9 in [D]	Approx. 5.66 in [W] x 3.26 in [H] x 1.06 in (excl. joystick) / 34 mm deep (incl. joystick) [D]
Weight	Approx. 280g (including battery)	Approx. 161 g (without battery)
CPU	MIPS R4000-based (globally clocked 1- 300 MHz, overclocked to approx 333Mhz)	200MHz ARM920T host, 200MHz ARM940T (both can be overclocked to at least 300MHz)
Memory	32MB, 4MB DRAM	64MB, 64MB SDRAM
Display	4.3 inch, 16:9 Wide screen 480 x 272 pixel, 16.77 million colors Backlit TFT LCD	3.5 inch, 320×240 pixel, 260,000 colors backlit TFT LCD
Sound	Built-in stereo speakers	Built-in stereo speakers
Main Input/Output	IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi) USB 2.0 (mini-B) Memory Stick Duo™ Infrared Port	USB 2.0 Proprietary EXT Port TV Output SD Card (up to 4MB)
Disc Drive	UMD Drive	None
Power	Lithium-ion battery, AC Adaptor	2 AA Batteries( NiMH or Lithium recommended), AC Adaptor
Codec Support	Video: Mpeg4 Audio: ATRAC3plus, mp3	Video: DivX, Mpeg4 Audio: Mp3, OGG

How To Kill Your Brand

Saw this on Kotaku and found it amusing and share-worthy. Enjoy!



The first spoken "quote" from Phil Harrison is edited, but the rest are all true. Ouch.
Also, comments have been turned on for now. We shall see how that goes. ;o)

News For The Week of February 23rd

Well, this is the first time I've done this bit, so bear with me. It felt like a slow news week anyway...

• As it may have been noted, I am not the biggest PS3 fan. I do wonder what is going through the head of a company who decides to *remove* functionality from a later revision of a piece of hardware, which is what Sony has done to the PAL version of the PS3. It is just the hardware PS2 emulation, which I understand will drive down costs, but at least you could throw Europe and Australia a bone and let them know how long they'll have to keep their PS2's out.
• Wing Commander Wing Commander Wing Commander! Oooh, maybe not so much. Thanks EA, I just knew you would wreck it. It's been a long time since since I've seen a good space flight game, and this looks like it'll keep that tradition alive. At least it looks like the previous games and not like the movie.
  
• The Halo 3 Multiplayer Beta Invite Crackdown came out this week. Looks like it was pretty well liked, despite being a little light on the plot and having a few other issues. I guess there is something to say about being able to fix all problems with violence.

Testing The Ratings

Five is best, one is worst. Percentages are rounded up or down.

Retrospective

I'm Jon. Hitherto refered to as Nass. "Master" or "Lord" are acceptable titles. Simply drooling on yourself due to fevered adoration in my presence will suffice in a pinch. (It happens)
I've been involved in gaming from an early age starting with such systems as the Atari 2600 and 5200, Tandy's Color Computer 2 and various Tandy PCs afterwards (the 1000 series..still love them!). Later I received the NES system, followed by the Gameboy and the Sega Genesis, which quickly acquired the 32x and the Sega CD peripherals.
I own the previous generation of gaming consoles (Xbox, Ps2, Gamecube) with the current gen in my not too distant future, but I hold a great love for the classics and their games - this includes old PC games. I'm a collector of classic games and systems and my current focus is on the Handheld gaming systems, with only the Lynx, Gamegear, and Nomad left to add!

I don't play WoW, I'm not falling all over myself for the PS3, and the 360 can wait. I'm more interested in the games you've forgotten than the games not worth remembering.

So enough about me...
Let's talk about you...

What do You think of me thus far?

I Said Good Day, Sir!

I'm David, better known as Shini on the intertubes. I hail from Seattle, home of gray skies and apparently really bad American Idol contestants. I have been gaming since the 2600, sometime around 1984 when I was four, so I blame my older male relatives for my addiction. I have fond--if not rather vague--memories of crashing snowspeeder after snowspeeder into the ground in The Empire Strikes Back.

I love the hell out of news. If I can't be playing games, I will be almost as happy reading about them. Yes, there are few things that brighten the recesses of my dark heart more than seeing another state slap down unconstitutional gaming bills. That is the very definition of schadenfreude.

Unlike Nass, I am a fanshogun. I just made that up. I largely consider myself to be secular in the fan way. If it's good enough to make me like it, I will, platform be damned. Except for the PS3. Anything on that can go to hell.*

*Don't get me wrong, I will still review PS3 games fairly, when I get around to reviewing them. When, someday, the PS3 costs less than my car.

Last But Not Least!

Shini has joined our ranks! A news hound, Shini will keep us up to date with the new and fascinating goings on of the gaming world. If it strikes his fancy, he may post a review, and he will gladly announce any win for the gaming world against the ilk of Jack Thompson. Be sure to catch his weekly round-up every Friday!
Welcome Shini!

Another Warm Welcome!

Another wonderful gaming beast has joined the fray! You will come to know him as Nass and he will be ruthless with your world, but you will thank him for the wake-up call once it's all over. Then you will come back to hang on his every word, his every thought, and you will know it all to be true for he is not a fanboy. No. He is a fanman. ;o)

Welcome Nass!

Greetings and Salutations

Thanks for the welcome, Nikoda. My name is Heath, otherwise known on the intarweb as Gerard Paloma. I live in sunny California, and work for Kaiser Permanente.

But this blog's all about games, so let me rundown my qualifications. I've been gaming since 1987, when I received an NES for my 5th birthday. Since then, I've owned a myriad of systems, from the Atari 2600, to the Sega Genesis, to the Nintendo Gameboy, to the Sony Playstation, to the Microsoft Xbox. Of course, there's my PC as well.

I don't really have a favorite genre of game, and there's no way I could name my favorite game of all time. I'd need to have a top 5 list for each system in no particular order.

That's all I can think of right now. I look forward to gushing about the awesome games, and tearing into the terrible ones. Excuse me while I get back to playing my DS.

Welcome Our Newest Contributor: Heath Wheeler!

Heath is a video game lovin' beast unafraid to say what he really thinks. His reviews are honest and fair and we know that you'll enjoy him as much as we do! Welcome Heath!