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GP32
 

The GP32 (GamePark 32) is a hand held console built by the Korean company GamePark. While it outwardly resembles a Nintendo Game Boy Advance, its features are quite different.

Description

The console is based on a 133 MHz ARM CPU (most units can be software overclocked, many to 166Mhz, some even up to 250Mhz with special Overclocking Mods). This is backed by eight megabytes of RAM (upgradeable to 32/64 MB www.cobbleware.com, but this RAM Mod is not really used by programs). Unlike similar gaming systems, which are proprietary cartridge-based, the GP32 uses rewritable SmartMedia cards, making it very appealing to amateur game developers. The console also has a USB port for connection to a PC and a serial expansion port.

There are three main commercial versions of the unit: the original GP32, with no light, the front-lit unit (FLU), modified for GamePark by Hahotech, and the back-lit unit (BLU), released in Europe on mid-summer 2004. At the end of 2004, GamePark also released so-called BLU+ versions, which have a different screen than the normal BLU units, which does not mean that it looks better at all. All commercially released units are white with grey or white buttons. There are also a number of differently coloured promotional units, and several prototype units with wildly different designs.

GP32 Features

DivX

One of the biggest reasons to import the GP32 was its capacity to play DivX movies, of course in low resolution and framerate compared to a modern PC, but better than its contemporary, the Game Boy Advance. People would often buy a GP32 only for this feature.

Installing Software

The GP32 stores its software on SmartMedia cards varying in size up to 128Mb. This allows the user to store custom media, applications and games on his GP32, including alternative firmware. Commercial games can be aquired via internet download or in a retail box. The box contains a game CD, which is placed in your PC, so that the software can be transferred to the GP32 system's SM card via USB cable. This method effectively reduced the price of the games because you weren't paying for cartridges (though you still had to pay for high priced SMCs to store the games later on). Downloading a game online could range from $10 to $30 only.

HomeBrew Friendly

Game Park wanted their system to be powerful and useful, but exceptionally, made for homebrew. When buying a GP32, you could register it on the official website and get a free suite of development tools to create your own games and applications for the GP32, completely free of charge. Moreover, you could even publish them by Internet on their website if they accepted.

Through this strategy, the then-powerful GP32 (130 MHz and overclocked at 166 MHz and 188 MHz by some people, proving the GP32's quality due to overclock support) was the host of multiple home brew applications and games, even game makers resembling the popular game RPG maker. The various applications made for it ranged from alternative firmware (GUI), games, DivX players, image slideshow, game makers, and the last but not the least, emulators.

Emulators

The system was powerful enough and easy enough to program for that many emulators have been released for the system. Emulators are available for many popular 16-bit and earlier consoles, as well as for some older computer platforms. Those allowed gamers to play a large variety of older games on their GP32 systems. There is also a Windows-based emulator for GP32, which allows users to run GP32 software on a Windows-based PC. [http://www.zophar.net/gp32.html

Games

Although the number of official games available for the GP32 system is limited, many open source/free software developers are working on various emulators and are porting PC games. In addition to this, a wide range of free, public-domain games are being created by amateur developers. GamePark does not ask any royalties to release games for its device, which makes it much easier for small editors or independent developers to release software.

The modification of Ericsson Chatboard micro-keyboards to work with the system has seen a new flourish of software development, including countless attempts at ports of Linux, and keyboard support being added to many emulators.

After months of confusion surrounding its European arrival, the GP32 BLU model was finally released in three European markets (Spain, Italy, and Portugal) on June 15, 2004 with a price point of €199. However, there are no plans to release the console commercially in America.

Despite not being released worldwide, it has a large and ever-growing community of users and developers.

BLU+

A back lit GP32 (Released on December 2004) was given the name BLU+ by the community. The back lit unit featured a different LCD display (Taiwanese manufactured instead of Samsung) which led to some compatibility problems with certain applications, problems such as annoying white lines. However, nearly all applications were fixed. The back lit GP32's were commercially named "BLU". The BLU+ was, as stated, a name that the community gave it to notice the difference between the two.

Whilst there were initial problems, these were soon fixed, and the new screens were found to have better contrast than the older samsung screens.

There were many applications that worked with the BLU+ and other models. Mirko's SDK could autodetect which version you had). All the big applications such as emulators, movie players, and the like worked as well on the BLU+ as on the other models.

A small collection of interesting links regarding the subject:

Specifications

Dimensions147 mm × 88 mm × 34 mm
Weight163 g
Display3.5" TFT, 16-bit colour, 320 × 240 pixels
CPUSamsung S3C2400X01 (ARM920T core), 20 (and under) to 133 MHz (overclockable to 166 MHz+ in some cases. Some have even reached 256 MHz (not always stable, low battery life). Overclocking ability is random, however all GP32s are supposed to reach 133 MHz. A few early "bad" units maxed out at 132 MHz.)
RAM8 MB SDRAM
ROM512 KB
Sound44.1 kHz 16-bit stereo sound
four-channels and up software WAV mixing (it is up to the coder, but four channel is built into the official SDK)
16-part polyphonic software MIDI (in official SDK)
earphone port
stereo speakers
StorageSmartMedia 8–128 MB
Power Supply2 × AA batteries or 3-V DC adapter. Batteries last between 6 and 12+ hours, but actual amount depends on a number of factors.

See also

External links

Official site

Distributors

  • GameTronics.se - GP2X Official Distributor Sweden
  • GBAX - UK distributor of GP32s
  • Virgin Play - Official GP32 distributor in Europe (Spanish-language site)
  • GP32Z - USA distributor of GP32s

Development information

News and community

Handheld game consoles | Sixth-generation video game consoles | GamePark

GP32 | GP32 | GP32 | GP32 | GP32 | GP32 | GamePark 32 | GamePark 32

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "GP32".

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