GamePark poised to release "XGP kids" handheld

Many people look upon GamePark's GP32 handheld console as a revolutionary product in the world of videogames -- it was, after all, one of the first platforms to actually encourage homebrew and emulation -- and now DCEmu is reporting that the company is poised to launch what it's calling the GP32's successor, the "XGP kids." Shaped more or less like a tiny PSP, this new model is the third in the XGP lineup (following the original XGP and XGP mini), none of which should be confused with the similarly-named GP2X (this latter console is manufactured by GamePark Holdings, a company composed mainly of disgruntled ex-GamePark employees). Although not all its specs will be revealed until September 16th, we do know that it will be powered by a 140MHz ARM processor (probably overclockable), sport a 2.2-inch, 220 x 176 LCD, feature 8MB of RAM and 2MB of flash memory, and support USB 1.1 file transfers, but unlike the GP32, will eschew the old school SmartMedia slot for more modern SD cards. The best part here is the anticipated price (according to Wikipedia, at least); unlike the $300 XGP, $230 GP2X, and $150 XGP mini, the XGP kids is expected to slide in at under a C-note -- $75, to be exact.

[Via DCEmu]

[Nikolai @ Sep 11th 2006 5:21AM]

Never even heard of them, and it is not due to lack of looking.

[ChrisRX @ Sep 11th 2006 5:39AM]

The XGP kids isn't supposed to be the gp32's successor, it's just a smaller version of the original gp32. The XGP and XGP mini are the successors

[Mank @ Sep 11th 2006 5:40AM]

@#1 Nikolai:

You serious? GP32? GP2X? XGP? XGP mini? PSP ripoff? GBA Micro ripoff?

[DarkFader @ Sep 11th 2006 6:03AM]

Their naming scheme isn't very nice.
And "kids" is a bit limiting your audience.
Anyway, the media slot seems smaller than SMC, so is it binary compatible?

[PEZ @ Sep 11th 2006 6:27AM]

This looks NEARLY EXACTLY like the Gizmondo Wide Screen 2 gaming device that never saw the light of day.... Wow... what a rip off! Either that or, wow what a buy out of intellectual property.... ha.


Check it out -

http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2002-53,GGLD:en&q=gizmondo%20wide%20screen&sa=N&tab=wi

[0_0 @ Sep 11th 2006 7:25AM]

Will this run the same OS/software as the GP32? IAW, will there be emulator extravaganza for this device?

[EdZ @ Sep 11th 2006 7:38AM]

Gamepark: The original company, made the GP32. And it was good.

The company then split into two;
Gamepark Holdings: Made up of the developers and engineers who made the GP32. Created the GP2x, which is a GP32 with updated specs (and running a variant of linux). Completely open-source and highly moddable.

Gamepark (new): Made up of the executives from Gamepark. Have not yet released the XGP, which is closed-source and supposedly will only run proprietary games. Pretty much a failure before it even launches.

Just so nobody gets the two companies confused.

[Dx2 @ Sep 11th 2006 10:07AM]

I find it interesting. Personally I've never heard of this machine, or it's predecessors, and now I'm excited about hand helds again. Ha!
I look forward to hunting one of these suckers down when (if) they're released...if for nothing else than to tinker with it.
Methinks it would be easier to mod than my PSP anyway..and much more affordable as well.

[Mr. B @ Sep 11th 2006 10:24AM]

As a GP2X owner this is certainly interesting, as I suspected the XGP consoles were just vaporware. It's a shame they aren't releasing teh XGP Mini first though, the GPKids screen is only 220x176, which is a pretty severe limitation.

[bmp @ Sep 11th 2006 3:07PM]

$75 bucks and an already-owned SD card for emulator fun? Not a bad deal at all. Can it do mp3's or movies (or is there software to do it?)

[Jay Vaughan @ Sep 11th 2006 6:54PM]

Errmm... the GP2X (I have 3 of them) is not an 'updated GP32' .. it is a completely Linux-oriented machine, whereas the GP32 is not. You cannot run GP32 software on the GP2X unless there has been a port (and many GP32 authors have ported to GP2X, incidentally).

These new XGP handhelds represent a 'third wave' of portable Linux-based handhelds .. and should do quite well, if the GP2X is anything to go by .. at $75, I'm certainly going to invest in thew new GPH machines .. after all, when it comes to Linux boxes, "the more the merrier"!

(distccd runs great on my little GP2X beowulf cluster, tee hee...)

[Epicenter @ Sep 13th 2006 1:55AM]

The XGP systems, GamePark has said, will not be for proprietary games only; they'll be free for anyone to develop on with an SDK they'll release. If they are indeed Linux-based like GP2X (they claim on their site it'll run 'GPOS, Linux or Windows CE (option)'.. porting existing software will be a breeze. I look forward to the XGP/Mini, but not this machine ... the resolution is simply too limiting, and it's fairly underpowered especially with an OS' memory footprint to consider. I honestly wish GP would drop the XGP Kids idea and just reconcentrate their resources to drop the prices of the XGP and XGP Mini which will be much more powerful (200 MHz+ processors and 2D/3D PowerVR MBX Lite accelerator, Mobile DDR memory, WiFi..)

[TA @ Apr 8th 2008 7:58PM]

i read on wikipedia that this system is not going 2 be released because gamepark is bankrupted.

is it true?