Alternatives to the gp32


Dozer

Efram the retarded rabbit
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For the newbies out there, I thought that it would b cool if they were given all the options before they pull out their cash and buy a gp32, I've only really become aware of the alternatives since buying my gp and others might find this information valuable. This is just covering the main alternatives for portable emulation and gaming, I am aware there are others, these are the main ones tho ok :D. Feel free to correct mistakes that I have made or to add your own thoughts.

Firstly, there's the gba (sp if u want) + linker.

The gba advance community is apparently one of the most active on the net at the moment. It also has many of the emus that are available for the gp. I believe that there is nes, pc engine, spectrum, and many other consoles emulated at good speeds. I'd also say that it looks a lot better (in my opinion) and probebly has better quality construction than the gp. There is also a MUCH bigger and better library of commercial games. One last point is that the linker cartridges can go up to 256mb(!), although this is v. expensive, it does leave tons of space for your games, a lot more than the 128mb smcs.

However, the gba does not have the power to have full speed emulation of, say snes, which is widely believed will happen one day on the gp. Although the quality of construction is better than the gp, the gp is definitely not shoddily made and has the advantage of a much bigger screen. This screen allows for better viewing of games and the like as well as being able to show emulated games at their correct resolution. Another thing the gp has over the gba is that it can play videos and music. The media that the gp uses is a lot cheaper than the gbas also and can be bought from most electronics shops. One last point that the gp32 has over the gba is that it seems to be easier to dev for (I cannot prove or disprove this point as I have no experience in programming).

The next alternative is the pocket pc.

I've always thought of the gp as a gaming pocket pc in a better shell so here's what the real thing can do.

The pocket pc has the advantage of being the most widely used platform that I am giving a quick review. Now the pocket pc has a LOT more to tinker with than the gp, (as long as u are running the right os and have a nippy enough unit). There are literally thousands of homebrew games, emus, image viewers and editors etc. There are also video players and audio players. Pocket pcs can also surf the net (wirelessly if u have the right hardware). Storage is also good on the pocket pcs giving users a range of media that they can use. From our own smart media cards to giant 1 gig micro drives. So far, looks like it has the gp beat. But...

The gp also has some major improvements. The gp is basically designed for just games. And it excels in this area. Where the pocket pc has been designed to do everything, they had to cut corners on some things to allow for others. For example, the controllers for the majority of games are much better on the gp and definitely enhances game play. Price is another point, you are going to be paying hundreds for even a second hand GOOD pocket pc. For the gp you could pick up a flu for £130. I know I’m a lot more comfortable watching Bill and Ted in the car with my gp, than I am carefully holding my friends mint pocket pc, if press the damn on switch too hard I might have to pay 80 odd quid to get it fixed :(.

One last up point for the gp, and one of its best is that the community is so cheerful and quick to respond to any questions or issues that you may have. I have had my gp for hardly anytime at all and during this time there's been massive improvements on snes emulation, a Neoga pocket colour emu has been released. The 15 day competition games rock and all the doom games are now full speed high res! I can't wait to see what this little thing can do by this time next year.

All I can say is that I am very happy with my purchase and I'm glad I chose the gp32, although there are alternatives, if you want good games and help, a gp32 is the way to go.
 
this is a great review + isn't very gp32 biased i'd agree that really pocket pc's do what the gp32 does + better but dont hav a sensible control system for gaming
GBA are better for those that want no hassle + are after the games + gp32's are for us peculiar people who like olddd games + uber doom :)
 
1 point, linker cartridges are 1gb and SMC is 128MB that means different measures,
128MB=1024mb=1gb, that's beacause GBA carts are measured in megabits and the SMC is measured in MEGABYTES, 1byte=8bits.
 
The PCengine emu isn't upto much, the only good ones are the Spectrum and the NES emu (hives colleco emu shows promise though).

You can't really compare the GBA emu screne with the GP32.

GBA for modern games (thousands of them it seems), the nice SP setup & super easy to use.

GP32 for emulation, ports, free software and divx etc. + you must be at least a bit computer literate.

-Craig

www.gbax.com
 
normally I wouldn't disagee with craig but - i have to say the GBA has a wonderful emu scene. ok so it's not as out-n-out hardcore as the GP32, but just having the NES emulated to the degree that it is, makes it worthwhile. SMS is apparently stellar as well, and for the more "hardcore" you've got the spectrum thingy plus WIPs (coleco..) and eventually, POSSIBLY maybe C64 and atari 2600 (though don't hold your breath). This should be plenty for alot of folks who only have a passing interest in the subject (ie. people who grew up glued to the NES). Otherwise, like I said, the hardcore retrogamer's choice would be the GP32.
 
The main reason why I like gp32 is, because it's barely reaching my time... I was part of the sega genesis and snes generation and I think it's possible that we'll see both of these systems emulated at full speed at one time. The other thing is... chicks dig gp32s :rolleyes:
 
Dozer posted on Aug 9 2003 said:
One last point is that the linker cartridges can go up to 256mb(!), although this is v. expensive, it does leave tons of space for your games, a lot more than the 128mb smcs.
Nice summary. Let me correct a little problem I see in your writeup -- Wave started to correct this but I can add more detail.

The flash carts for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance are measured in megaBITS. 8 megabits equals one megaBYTE, which is a more common and useful measurement. So the 256m flash carts you've seen only hold a total of 32 megabytes, or 1/4th the space in a 128MB flash card for the GamePark 32.

According to the FAQ I've seen (http://db.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbadvance/file/gameboy_advance.txt), this is the maximum size of the ROM supported by the GBA. The largest games I've seen so far have been half that size, and probably due to cost restraints, there haven't been many of them. The Two Towers, Super Street Fighter II, and Street Fighter Alpha 3 all took up 16MB (128 megabits) each -- half of the space on the biggest currently available flash card on the GBA. You could fit 8 games of this size on a single 128MB GP32 card. The GBA fla

Fortunately, most TurboGraphx, NES, and Sega Master System ROMs are much smaller than that, so this space restriction isn't really an issue with the GP32. Besides, flash memory for the GP32 is very cheap ($0.17 per MB on on the GP32 cards versus $4.50 per MB on the GameBoy), so you can carry around another card for more data with the GamePark.

I don't have my GP32 yet (it's in the mail from the UK), but I do have a Pocket PC (Dell Axim), a GBA SP with a flash linker, a Neo Geo Pocket Color, and a pair of monochrome Palms (Palm m105, Sony Clie SJ20). The Pocket PC can do more, and it has a better screen than the GP32, but the power usage and rechargeable battery makes it less convenient for travel. It also lacks a PC Engine/Turbo Graphx emulator that runs full speed with sound. The GBA is great for NES emulation and commercial games, and I love the form factor -- it fits right in my pocket and I don't need to worry about scratching the screen. But the flash carts are expensive, and the screen, while backlit nicely, isn't as big as the GP32. Plus the power for future emulation isn't really there. As for the Palm, it's nice for text, but not for fast action games, especially with color graphics or those that need good controls.

If you want to play lots of old games on the run, aren't afraid of setting up things on your computer, don't care about commercial releases, and don't need PDA functions or a folding device, the GP32 is the one you want.
 
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