These things look like a pirate's dream come true. Arr, me matey! ;)
In all seriousness, that thing rocks! How are the controls?
I find it odd that Amiga emulation would be perfect whereas the C64 would suck.
The beta version of the Wizz actually had two thumb pads but the final version has a regular left thumb pad and a similar thumb pad functioning as four separate buttons. The left thumb pad functions well, it is responsive and I have no problems hitting diagonals. I prefer it slightly over the DSLite thumb pad. The other 4 button thumb pad thing looks a bit iffy but actually is very usable. It actually is 4 separate buttons configures to look like another thumb pad. Two button action needed in games like Super Mario World etc are very easy to do - it really functions as four separate keys but with the added bonus that it can also function as a thumb pad. This whole controller thing really is far better than any other GPH/Gamepark console out there.
Of course it is odd that Amiga emulation is quite good and C64 emulation is iffy - I didn't have enough time to get Amiga gameplay in so I sort of made it into a teaser. But when demand is high enough I might do a second part showing c64, Atari ST, Amiga, CSP1, CSP2 and PSX emulation.
The hiccups in C64 emulation may have something to do with my unit having the latest firmware 1.1.0 on it whereas most software was developed with the 1.0.0 firmware in mind. This causes slight compatibility issues in a very few apps like Vice. But actually c64 emulation was problematic on the original gp2x as well with micro pauses etc. Frodo offers a smoother experience but has not been ported to the Wizz yet. As Vice is a complicated emulator it uses a lot of recourses and for some reason increasing the clock speed doesn't solve the hiccups. It seems to be a timing issue as sometimes the emulator is very smooth and then it stutters periodically. But perfect C64 emulation on a handheld has yet to be achieved....
It is a homebrew-fan's dream this console and emulation is rapidly getting there. Mind you it is not compatible with the original gp2x and binaries will not be cross compatible despite the many similarities. The original gp2x had a two cpu design featuring two ARM cpus with the secondary cpu suffering from a limited memory bottleneck. The gp2x only has one cpu but has a specialized 3D chip that is OpenGL compatible - no software apart from OpenGL demos is using that hardware acceleration yet. It has the same amount of RAM and also suffers a memory bottle neck problem. But devvers have already put out quite a few nice emulators circumventing those problems.
There is a screen update issue with a vsync diagonal line appearing because the frame buffer has some off-timings in the default setting. Homebrew / User- enthusiasts are already creating scripts to circumvent that as well. This truly is a device to watch as it is more powerful than the Sony PSP in a few ways.
It swallowed quite a few DivX avi files without any problems by the way.
These things look like a pirate's dream come true. Arr, me matey! ;)
In all seriousness, that thing rocks! How are the controls?
I find it odd that Amiga emulation would be perfect whereas the C64 would suck.
The beta version of the Wizz actually had two thumb pads but the final version has a regular left thumb pad and a similar thumb pad functioning as four separate buttons. The left thumb pad functions well, it is responsive and I have no problems hitting diagonals. I prefer it slightly over the DSLite thumb pad. The other 4 button thumb pad thing looks a bit iffy but actually is very usable. It actually is 4 separate buttons configures to look like another thumb pad. Two button action needed in games like Super Mario World etc are very easy to do - it really functions as four separate keys but with the added bonus that it can also function as a thumb pad. This whole controller thing really is far better than any other GPH/Gamepark console out there.
Of course it is odd that Amiga emulation is quite good and C64 emulation is iffy - I didn't have enough time to get Amiga gameplay in so I sort of made it into a teaser. But when demand is high enough I might do a second part showing c64, Atari ST, Amiga, CSP1, CSP2 and PSX emulation.
The hiccups in C64 emulation may have something to do with my unit having the latest firmware 1.1.0 on it whereas most software was developed with the 1.0.0 firmware in mind. This causes slight compatibility issues in a very few apps like Vice. But actually c64 emulation was problematic on the original gp2x as well with micro pauses etc. Frodo offers a smoother experience but has not been ported to the Wizz yet. As Vice is a complicated emulator it uses a lot of recourses and for some reason increasing the clock speed doesn't solve the hiccups. It seems to be a timing issue as sometimes the emulator is very smooth and then it stutters periodically. But perfect C64 emulation on a handheld has yet to be achieved....
It is a homebrew-fan's dream this console and emulation is rapidly getting there. Mind you it is not compatible with the original gp2x and binaries will not be cross compatible despite the many similarities. The original gp2x had a two cpu design featuring two ARM cpus with the secondary cpu suffering from a limited memory bottleneck. The gp2x only has one cpu but has a specialized 3D chip that is OpenGL compatible - no software apart from OpenGL demos is using that hardware acceleration yet. It has the same amount of RAM and also suffers a memory bottle neck problem. But devvers have already put out quite a few nice emulators circumventing those problems.
There is a screen update issue with a vsync diagonal line appearing because the frame buffer has some off-timings in the default setting. Homebrew / User- enthusiasts are already creating scripts to circumvent that as well. This truly is a device to watch as it is more powerful than the Sony PSP in a few ways.
It swallowed quite a few DivX avi files without any problems by the way.
Xbox 360: Lactobacillus P | Wii: 8151 3435 8469 3138
Armchair arcade Editor | Pixellator | www.markvergeer.nl
Armchair Arcade Editor