GP32 / GP2X - Best Handheld Console Ever?

[Hickabod]

A few years back (2001 to be exact) a Korean games company called GamePark released a games console; The GP32
http://www.vgmusic.com/faq/gallery/hardware/hw-GP32-Front.JPG

Personally I never got on with the GP32 and picked up a GP2X too, which I prefer infinatly, as its now got a much clearer screen, Back lighting instead of Front lighting, better software, and looks a whole lot sexier. I picked up the GP32 for around $120 and the GP2X cost me $200 so their not amazingly expensive pieces of equipment.

http://www.softwarereality.com/images/gp2x-1.jpg

It is designed to be a media centre, with videos, images, music, ebooks and best of all it's completely open source for users to develop their own software for it, or simply use the vast archive of free software developed by the huge community following it. But what does that mean? It's simple, this console can emulate other consoles. In other words, it can play Nes, Snes, Genesis/Megadrive, Amiga, and others all from an SD card, which come pretty cheap anyway. I have never developed my own software for it and just get all I need from the community, installation is so simple its funny, all you have to do is copy the program from a .Zip into a folder on the SD card.

Here are a few pictures of what mine can do:
Sonic The Hedgehog (http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7208/26012008016st1.jpg)
Super Mario World (http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/8752/26012008018df8.jpg)
Streets of Rage (http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/2965/26012008017ta0.jpg)
Unfortunatly my camera is having trouble focusing on the screen but I can assure you that the graphics are crystal and true to the original games

Size Comparison (http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/2381/26012008021xm2.jpg) (sorry for the lack of DS, but now I don't think I'll need one)

A quick note about Emulation and Roms; having these games on my Gp2x is legal, and it was legal for me to download the Roms because I own the original cartridges.

[Dexide]

Wow, it looks pretty nice. Know where someone can pick up one now? Also, do you know if it is possible to use 3D style games on it? or just 2D?

[Hickabod]

Wow, it looks pretty nice. Know where someone can pick up one now? Also, do you know if it is possible to use 3D style games on it? or just 2D?

It can handle pretty much anything that comes on a cartridge, but some larger GBA games have been known to run slowly.
Secondly your best bet is eBay, if your struggling I know theres always a good 5 or 6 on eBay.co.uk (http://www.ebay.co.uk), I'm not sure if theres an official site or anything.

[Sarge51]

Looks pretty good actually.

[MistyTehMoose]

My boyfriend has one, it is pretty nifty but it loses its appeal after a while. It is fun to play emulators, but we always found ourselves going back to our DS's. It's a gimmicky thing, like playing emulators on your PC.

[Hickabod]

My boyfriend has one, it is pretty nifty but it loses its appeal after a while. It is fun to play emulators, but we always found ourselves going back to our DS's. It's a gimmicky thing, like playing emulators on your PC.
You're obviously not as much of a Retro gamer as some are then. I, personally, am made orgasmic by the idea of taking a long journey (such as a flight) whilst being able to play things like Sonic 3 + Knuckles, Robocop Vs. Terminator, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe and Road Rash

[scrapz]

Yeah, it's pretty nifty, and I loved it at first, but it really struggles when I don't have it hooked up to a power adapter (ie: battery powered). Maybe it's just the Emulators I'm using, but things lag up. What do you use Hickabod?

Moose and I typically go back to the DS for it's multiplayer feature, which the GP2X is lacking.

I might have to dust it off again though, nothing new and exciting has come out for the DS recently.

Screens 1 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/01.jpg) | 2 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/02.jpg) | 3 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/03.jpg) | 4 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/04.jpg) | 5 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/05.jpg) | 6 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/06.jpg)

[Hickabod]

Yeah, it's pretty nifty, and I loved it at first, but it really struggles when I don't have it hooked up to a power adapter (ie: battery powered). Maybe it's just the Emulators I'm using, but things lag up. What do you use Hickabod?

Moose and I typically go back to the DS for it's multiplayer feature, which the GP2X is lacking.

I might have to dust it off again though, nothing new and exciting has come out for the DS recently.

Screens 1 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/01.jpg) | 2 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/02.jpg) | 3 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/03.jpg) | 4 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/04.jpg) | 5 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/05.jpg) | 6 (http://www.scrapz.org/gp2x/06.jpg)

I pretty much only ever play stuff by Sega, such as the Genesis, Master System and GameGear. Reesys DrMdX (http://reesy.gp32x.de/DrMD.html) can play all 3. Never had any noticeable lag problems.
The only time I've ever had lag or frame rate problems is with trying to play GBA games