GP32

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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.

Contents

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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.

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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 recent 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.

Even though it has just been officially released in Korea and Europe, it has a growing community of users and developers.

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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 compability 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:

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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.
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See also

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External links

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Official Site

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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
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Development Information

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News and Community

de:GP32 es:GP32 fr:GP32 ko:GP32 it:GP32 nl:GamePark 32 sv:GamePark 32

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