Revised GP2X MK2 now available

A new revision of the GP2X handheld is now available, sporting a few minor changes that should make new buyers happy but are probably not enough to make you regret your purchase if you just bought one. The new version, dubbed MK2, comes pre-loaded with the V2 firmware, a larger "more grippy" joystick, a pre-attached screen cover, and two game demos (Vektar and Payback). Although considering you can already upgrade your old GP2X to the new firmware and download the game demos for free, you're basically getting a screen cover and a better joystick. But if you've gotta have that extra grippiness, the GP2X MK2 will cost you about $170.

[Thanks, Craig]

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 3:26PM]

Die PSP....DIE!!!!

Gimme my GP2X!

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 3:32PM]

One of these days, I'm going to have to pick up one of these. Of course by that time it'll be GP3MX. I like my PSP, but I like the homebrew scene for devices as well.

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 3:49PM]

Payback looks like a lot of fun. I've been waiting for 4 years for the Pocket PC version... that I don't think will ever be released.

http://www.apex-designs.net/payback.html

[jollyllama Posted May 22nd 2006 4:24PM]

Can anyone that has one of these confirm that it's the coolest thing ever? Cause really, it seems like it should be. An awesome emulation device should be the pinicle of portable gaming, right?

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 4:55PM]

I confirm that it is one of the coolest things ever. Great emulation. Better battery life then the PSP. I love mine. Never regretted it.

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 5:32PM]

Hey, Elliot. I have one and yes, it is awesome. The best thing about the MK2 though is that the screen cover comes pre-attached : ). I still have dust under mine : (

[neoben Posted May 22nd 2006 5:39PM]

I want one of these to go right next to my Gizmondo and NGage units... Complete the collection... :-)

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 6:02PM]

God that's a direct design rip-off of the NeoGeo Pocket.

PSP - there can only be one.

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 6:12PM]

And also the joystick has been rotated due to the fact that with the mk1 the diagonals were a bit too easy to hit, and the screen has been replaced, with a different screen that doesnt suffer from scanlines.
But apart from that theres also the new joystick cap and the screen protector.

I obviously do already have a gp2x and I love it, especially after watching my brothers feeble attempt at waiting forever for gta to load up just so that he could load homebrew.
I spend many hours playing full speed megadrive, nes, gbc, neo-geo, mame, watching movies, listening to music when I have a couple hours inbetween lessons at college.
Theres 2 emulators at the moment that I am really putting my hope in and they are the snes and amiga emulators because at the moment they are playable, but snes can get a bit slow if theres too much on screen and amiga needs frameskip to run.

But apart from that it's a really solid investment and I would thoroughly recommend the gp2x to anyone wanting to relive their childhood days of gaming.

[shawndoc Posted May 22nd 2006 6:46PM]

For emulation you are better off with a DS and a M3/passme device. That way you get SNES support that works real good, plus the ability to play GBA ROMs, something the GP2X can't do. Plus you can play all the hot new DS games coming out.

I believe however movie playback is better on the GP2X than the DS.

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 7:55PM]

Right, take this and add:

- Touch screen
- Bluetooth
- palm os 5
- web browser and wifi card slot
- masses of offical palm and homebrew free software: media player, many emulators (all your favs, snes, nes, genesis) pdf viewer etc.


What have you got?

Tapwave Zodiac! Why Why why didnt this machine succeed? its perfect!

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 10:28PM]

Personally, I never understood the appeal of most
homebrew. These subpar games created by high school students, free as they might be, never hold my attention for more than 30 minutes

I'm a sucker for emulation, though, and a 1.5 PSP is still the best out there. I own a PSP, DS and an MK1. SNES, Genesis, and Neo Geo are definitely the best on the PSP (limited SNES compatibility on GP2X). Movies are the best (not necessarily UMD as it's pretty easy to either convert your own or find pre-formatted PSP video on the internet). I appreciate the love the GP2X gets, but 3 things turned me off:

1) AA batteries.
2) Slower than advertised emulation (GP2X fanboys sugarcoat ALOT)
3) Horrible, horrible, horrible joystick... even with a third party (DaveC) cap (I heard this new stick is not a major improvement i.e. it's like using a DaveC cap).

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 11:04PM]

I have the original version of the GP2X, and love it. There's so many great free homebrew games and emulators for the system. The SD slot makes it much cheaper to add extra space than the PSP's MS Pro Duo.

If you want to know where to buy one, here's a link.
http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-vp1-71-d1-49-en-84-j-70-uq6.html

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 11:37PM]

Okay, turns out that I will be getting one of these, yay for gamepark holdings!

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 11:39PM]

i love my gp2x because it runs piggy tracker (lgpt). all the music soft for psp are toys.

#14/jV, homebrew is about making your machine do what you want, and not having someone else tell you what to do with some hardware you bought.

[(Unverified) Posted May 22nd 2006 11:56PM]

"Tapwave Zodiac! Why Why why didnt this machine succeed? its perfect!"

Lets see:
Wanted >$20 for Doom II for the console
Cost 3-4 times as much as the GP2x does

Things that were fixed later, but hurt it alot in the beginning:
Lack of free emulators for systems other than the GameBoy for Palm OS, which made finding a user base hard.(syptom of the fact that it was released not long after Palm OS 5)

Games that could use the 5-way d-pad and buttons were quite rare, other than the expensive games they sold. (same as above)

First emulators for the Zodiac were nearly all for-pay, adding to the expense of an already expensive unit, hurting the number of early adopters.

The first revision of the license for the SDK needed to use all the buttons, the D-Pad and some internal functions was not directly compatable with GPL and simular licenses, which caused the problem directly above.It also drove away alot of developers.

[(Unverified) Posted May 23rd 2006 9:36AM]

pspseq is hardly a toy

Synthesis +Samples -> Samples Alone

:D

http://www.dspmusic.org/psp/

[(Unverified) Posted May 23rd 2006 10:51AM]

haha peter swimmmmmm!!!

i'll admit i haven't tried PSPSeq but the screenshot i saw didn't give me the impression it was going to be as easy to use or as full featured as lsdj :)

piggy doesn't have tables yet but when it's planned ... let the RE-synthesis games begin ;)

[(Unverified) Posted May 30th 2006 12:28PM]

-----
i'll admit i haven't tried PSPSeq but the screenshot i saw didn't give me the impression it was going to be as easy to use or as full featured as lsdj :)
-----

hi! i'm the developer for pspseq; hoepfully in looks are decieving in this case. ;) i've never used lsdj but i think that PSPSeq is pretty easy to use; it's styled more after fruityloops rather than a traditional tracker. i'm only at rev 0.2 so all you can do is make loops with a preset kit but 1.0 will allow for song-sequence + swapping instruments + a lot of other fun things. if you give it a shot let me know what you think, always happy to have feedback...