GCW Zero - open source handheld gaming console

[NoeL]

Kickstarter link [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gcw/gcw-zero-open-source-gaming-handheld]

I know the majority on this board will be totally unimpressed by this device (I posted about it six months ago and no one seemed to care), but for the small percentage of users that are enthusiastic about retro PC and console gaming you're really not going to find much better on the market right now than this little baby (in this price range at least).

Want to play Doom, Duke3D, Descent, Quake 2, Hexen 2, Rise of the Triad, Abuse, and many more classic PC games on the go? Or how about great indie games like Cave Story? How about NES, SNES, Genesis, Neo Geo, CPS2, MSX, Atari, PSX, and other home consoles? The Zero has some of the best emulators out there, and they're continually improving. It even holds its own against the Xbox - what many consider the king of emulation machines. Or maybe you're a budding developer yourself and want to port your own games over - and even sell them on the platform?

The Zero even comes with a wifi antenna, allowing for online or local multiplayer. So why not grab two?

More videos here [http://www.youtube.com/user/qbertaddict1/videos?view=0], and here [http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkXdWqQxb8AlH5E5H5sAgMg/videos?view=0&flow=grid].

EDIT: Specs and pricing

Specifications

CPU: Ingenic JZ4770 1 GHz MIPS processor
GPU: Vivante GC860, capable of OpenGL ES 2.0
Display: 3.5 inch LCD with 320x240 pixels; 4:3 aspect ratio is ideal for retro gaming
Memory: 512 MB DDR2
Internal storage: 16 GB, most of which is available for applications and data
External storage: micro SDHC up to 32 GB or micro SDXC up to 64 GB (SDXC cards must be reformatted before use)
Mini USB 2.0 OTG
Mini HDMI 1.3 out
3.5 mm (mini jack) A/V port for earphone and analog TV-out
Stereo speakers, mono microphone
Accelerometer (g-sensor) and vibration motors
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz, can connect to access point or direct device-to-device
Dimensions: 143 * 70 * 18 mm
Weight: 8 oz / 225 g
Battery: 2800 mAh

Minimum pledge to score a console is $135 (plus $20 shipping if outside the US. Sucks, that).

 

[Smooth Operator]

Easy there on the advert push, if you want to have a proper discussion and not just be banned then let's start with you telling us what this thing has under the hood and what the prices are.

 

[Signa]

I love these things. I just hate how much wasted potential is in most of them. There was another device a few years ago that I wanted called a Pandora. It was about the size of a DS, but it had a keyboard and dual analogues. It was supposed to be powerful enough for PSX emulation.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Wait...the Xbox can be used for emulation? Are we talking 360 of regular because honestly I would be surprised by either of the two. Personally don't use emulators though...granted I could probably convince myself to get into it if only for Starfox 2 and the various Fist of the North Star RPGs released exclusively for the Famicom.

 

[NoeL]

Easy there on the advert push, if you want to have a proper discussion and not just be banned then let's start with you telling us what this thing has under the hood and what the prices are.

It was one click away. :/ All you had to do was look at the Kickstarter page, but whatever, I'll provide them here:

Specifications

CPU: Ingenic JZ4770 1 GHz MIPS processor
GPU: Vivante GC860, capable of OpenGL ES 2.0
Display: 3.5 inch LCD with 320x240 pixels; 4:3 aspect ratio is ideal for retro gaming
Memory: 512 MB DDR2
Internal storage: 16 GB, most of which is available for applications and data
External storage: micro SDHC up to 32 GB or micro SDXC up to 64 GB (SDXC cards must be reformatted before use)
Mini USB 2.0 OTG
Mini HDMI 1.3 out
3.5 mm (mini jack) A/V port for earphone and analog TV-out
Stereo speakers, mono microphone
Accelerometer (g-sensor) and vibration motors
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz, can connect to access point or direct device-to-device
Dimensions: 143 * 70 * 18 mm
Weight: 8 oz / 225 g
Battery: 2800 mAh

Minimum pledge to score a console is $135 (plus $20 shipping if outside the US. Sucks, that).

I love these things. I just hate how much wasted potential is in most of them. There was another device a few years ago that I wanted called a Pandora. It was about the size of a DS, but it had a keyboard and dual analogues. It was supposed to be powerful enough for PSX emulation.

You can still buy them (called 'OpenPandora'), though spec-wise they're no better than this and about 4-5 times the price. Granted you get a higher res screen with touch input, dual thumbsticks and a full keyboard, but personally I couldn't justify their high asking price (and apparently low build quality) for a gaming console. Even the Zero is a little on the steep side, but small teams and limited production runs make things that much more expensive, so they're really not making huge profits (the early-adopter "Special Edition" units ended up being sold at a loss due to faulty parts and terrible QA at the factory. Luckily GCW give a shit about the community (hell, they're a massive PART of the community) and didn't ship anything out that didn't meet their standards).

Also, regarding the Pandora, there are still a ton of people that pre-ordered their device YEARS ago and haven't received it. The devs ran out of money and are trying to sell more units to fund the production of their initial pre-orders. It's a bit of a clusterfuck.

Wait...the Xbox can be used for emulation? Are we talking 360 of regular because honestly I would be surprised by either of the two. Personally don't use emulators though...granted I could probably convince myself to get into it if only for Starfox 2 and the various Fist of the North Star RPGs released exclusively for the Famicom.

Talking about regular Xbox, though you could probably hack a 360 too. That said, from what I've (briefly) looked into it seems like a huge ordeal to hack the Xbox. Personally I'd recommend picking up a second hand Wii (dirt cheap these days) and soft-modding it. Very simple to do, don't need to open the case or anything, and in my own experience the emulation is flawless (for NES/SNES/GBA anyway. I haven't looked into PSX/N64 much so have no idea how well they run, if at all. At least there's some N64 games on the Virtual Console you can grab).

EDIT: Yeah, PSX and N64 emulation sucks on the Wii. Looks and sounds VERY good on the Xbox though - thank that x86 architecture that allows PC emus to be ported over easily.