Game Park GP32

2003-11-21
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Game Park GP32--main_title_2

Entertainment, Hardware > Game consoles / Computers, Portable computing > Portable gaming >

(on Wikipedia)
was english.gamepark.com

The GP32 is a brand new handheld game console. It has double the resolution of a Game Boy Advance SP and up to four times the processing power. It is an open platform (like the PC) and a lot of private development has already begun, including emulating other game consoles on it.

Hot damn this thing’s got potential.

  • Abandoned
  • It looks like this will be overtaken by the XGP and GP2X.

  • There were problems in 2002 with Game Park finding a European foothold, but that problem has apparently long been resolved.



Table of Contents [hide]

Notes ∞

  • One version has backlighting and the other does not.
  • 8.3 filesystem
  • 128MB card is able to keep a two hour movie only with a small 150k rate.
  • The placement of the direction controls might be a bit odd for some.
  • The shoulder buttons may need some getting used to for those of us with long fingers (all the better to play the piano, my dear).
  • SmartMedia card not included
  • AC Adapter not included (DC 3V Adapter)
  • Not backlit. Absolutely require the lit screen version. Not having it is disasterous.
  • Forced to register it on the web through the Game Park website and download a launcher program
  • TCP/IP-based clients (PC) can play games with GP32.
  • Could theoretically be connected to a phone for wireless net access

  • A port of WinCE was attempted [http://users.skynet.be/firefly/gp32/project/gp32wince/index.htm WinCE for the GP32] but dropped because of the general uselessness of it.

CodeJedi’s GP32 observations ∞

https://web.archive.org/web/20230127082350/http://www.codejedi.com/shadowplan/gp32.html (from somewhere therein, late Nov ’03)

  • You must setup your SMC card by installing the PC-Link 1.2 software on your PC, and using the “Format” command to prepare the directory structure, or else you need to know how to do it yourself. You cannot just use any old directory structure
  • .fpk files are Package Bundles; you need to “File -> Install” them using PC-Link to get them unpacked onto your GP32. Most apps just come as .fxe or .gxb files to put into \GPMM yourself, but some come as packages and you cannot just copy them over!
  • When the battery gets low, games/apps that run in high processor clock speeds (like 130MHz, ScummVM, Frodo, etc) will crash/reset in weird ways. Just swap batteries. Don’t worry that your device is broken.. just swap batteries :)
  • ScummVM datafiles are all .000, .001, etc. For Sam-and-Max you need to rename them since they use .s01 instead!
  • GPengine (TG16 emulator) is easy to set up, and very good (full sound, fast framerate.. a joy to behold!)
  • Current port of Doom doesn’t have save game support
  • Wolfenstein 3D does have full save support.. woowoo!
  • Overclocking too high can damage some GP32s video systems; it is wise not to clock past 135MHz. Mine runs up to 150MHz without a problem, but you may not be so lucky!
  • Some apps put their datafiles in \GAME, others in \GPMM. All apps go into \GPMM for the free launcher.
  • You need the GP Free Launcher to run all these nifty apps. Register in the English was gp32.com site to get the Free Launcher and PC-Link software. English link is in the top right in small letters.. I had to look hard to find it!
  • Doom needs its data files in \GAME\DOOM
  • Wolfenstein needs \GAME\SW_WOLF and \GAME\WOLF3D
  • Put your ScummVM games into \GAME\whatevers (like \GAME\DOTT)
  • Put Frodo .d64 disk images in \GPMM\C64
  • Put GPengine TG16 roms in \GPMM\GPENGINE
  • Put MODplay MODs into \GPMM\MOD
  • Put SMS32 Game Gear/SMS ROMs into \GPMM\SMS32
  • Put SNESemu SMC ROMs into \GPMM\SNES

  • Put Snes9xGP SMC ROMs into \GPMM proper (annoying!)

Specifications ∞

  • Dimensions

    • 6.0 x 3.5 x 2.25in (147 x 88 x 34mm)

  • Weight

    • 7.5oz (163g)

  • CPU

    • 32bit RISC (ARM9) CPU @ 133 MHz
    • 20mhz to 186mhz, and many programs do this for you to save power.

  • Display

    • 3.5″ Reflective TFT
    • Resolution 320 x 240 pixel
    • 65,536 colors

  • Memory

    • SDRAM 8MB
    • ROM 512 kbyte

  • Storage

    • One SMC (Smart Media Card) Slot, up to 256MB
    • 8.3 filenaming scheme

  • Audio

    • 16Bit PCM Stereo Sound
    • Over 32 Poly S/W MIDI support
    • 4 channel WAV mixing
    • MP3 MPEG Layer 1 & 2 Support

  • Batteries

    • 2 AA batteries
    • Battery life of ~ 10h, or 5ish with the forward lighting on.
    • Overclocking and underclocking will influence battery life.

  • I/O

    • USB port
    • Stereo speakers
    • Headphone jack
    • RF module: 2.4GHz ISM Band (10m range)
    • 8-way gamepad, a/b buttons, l/r shoulder buttons, start/select buttons. The select button is grouped with a/b and is used in some games.

Game Park GP32 Reviews ∞

Games ∞

Storebought games
  • Dungeons and Guarder – a game similar to Golden Axe (multi play available)
  • Astonisha (rpg)
  • Megaman X5 (Capcom)
  • Her Knights: All For Princess – A beat-em-up

  • Tomak: Save The Earth Again! – A side-scrolling shoot-em-up

    • Good, but a short game
Homebrew Games

  • Arcano

Game Ports ∞

Emulation ∞

Developers ∞

Applications ∞

ROMs ∞

Application Studios ∞

Resources ∞

Secondary Resources ∞

Retailers ∞

Linux and the GP32 ∞

See Linux

Footnotes


  1. was http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD01Mzc= [ ↩ ]
  2. was http://www.gbax.com [ ↩ ]
  3. was http://www.gbax.com [ ↩ ]
  4. was http://world.altavista.com [ ↩ ]
  5. was http://www.lik-sang.com [ ↩ ]
  6. was http://www.gbax.com [ ↩ ]
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