The GP2X is a handheld device which runs the Linux operating system and is aimed at homebrew developers and programs which emulate various retro games consoles.
The device is powered by 2 AA sized batteries and features a 320 by 240 backlit screen and has an eight way digital joystick which also acts as an action button, plus four main action buttons and two shoulder buttons which are used extensively in gameplay and while navigating around the menu system. The unti also has the near compulsory Start and Select buttons which are used in the standard contradictory manner as that found on other consoles and handhelds.
The system comes with 64 megabytes of DDR RAM and 64 megabytes of NAND memory. It also has the capacity to take SD cards of between 16MB and 4Gb. The system has two 200mhtz processors in it and a USB input and a proprietry EXT I/O port.
In addition, the console can be connected via a TV out cable to a television and there is a breakout board available which will alow users to connect peripherals such as a mouse and a keyboard to the unit.
This is an amazing console. It can do anything, except perhaps make the coffee, although I am sure there are developers around who will one day work out how to get it to control home devices.
There are arguments over what makes the system so powerful, but for my money there are a couple of reasons.
The first is that the system is built around the incredible free operating system called GNU/Linux. For those of you not in the know, GNU/Linux is an computer operating system like Microsoft Windows XP.
The similarities between Linux and Windows stop around there though, because Linux espouses a philosophy which is much demonised by Microsoft and which is also the second reason I believe the GP2X is so powerful.
That philosophy is called the Open Source Movement and it is a philosophy which harnesses the power of community to create a truly stunning amount of software to use and play with. Put simply, Open Source means anyone can take a piece of software and adapt it to his or her needs. All they need are the skills, which aren't so difficult to attain as one might initially think.
In any case, within 20 minutes of my opening the GP2X's box and putting the batteries in, with the power of the Internet I was playing Quake and having a ball.
Shortly after that I was looking through our collection of SNES games to see what I could legally play on the GP2X and as it turns out, I had quite a lot (partially due I think to my kids spending all their pocket money of SNES games at car boot sales.
A quick search on the internet turned up the game roms in question and with the instructions supplied by the incredibly active community at gp32x.com I was soon playing Sonic the Hedgehog and all my other favourite SNES games.
There are emulators out there for all sorts of systems. Atari 2600, Commodore 64, DOS, SNES, Neo-Geo (those arcade games you used to pump money into while waiting for your chips to cook) and so many more its dizzying.
There is something there for the developer as well though. The challenge of writing programs for a console is quite appealing to a lot of people and subsequently there are more applications than you would credit available for this little machine.
The list includes programming environments which are aimed specifically at writing software for the GP2X, terminal software to allow users to access the heart of the linux system and entire PDA environments which will have integral text writing applications and PIM applications.
Just with the bare system though there is plenty to keep one amused.
The system's base software includes a text reader, an mp3 and ogg-vorbis player, a video player capable of playing DivX and Xvid format files and a photo viewer.
Thats right, basically it's a multimedia console.
The real kicker though is the SD card capability. SD cards these days are getting incredibly cheap and capacities are becoming huge. For less than £20 you can easily get hold of a 2Gb SD card and the amount of information you can keep on something like that is truly stupendous.
Currently I have several albums of music, LOTS of games, several ebooks and the latest set of pictures frtom my father in law's 5 megapixel camera on my card and I still have room for more.
This is a bloody marvellous unit and you can expect to hear a lot more from me about it.
