Though sales of the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable are strong, there are many who use the devices exclusively for homebrew applications. While some of these homebrew devices or homebrew-enabling schemes are looked upon less than favorably by the big manufacturers, such as the infamous R4 flash cart for the DS, there are some companies who see the value in releasing devices capable of homebrew software. Enter the Wiz, a new open-source handheld gaming unit from GamePark Holdings.
Homebrew and open-source applications often offer utility unrivaled by the more mainstream units, and that's something GPH is hoping to take advantage of with this new handheld. The Linux-powered device (running its own GP2X distribution) sports an Arm9 533MHz processor with a 3D accelerator, 64MB of RAM, 1GB of built-in NAND flash memory, an external SD card slot, and a single USB 2.0 connection. The display is a 2.8" OLED touch screen panel with a resolution of 320 by 240 (QVGA). The unit is powered by a 2000mAh Lithium-Ion battery that nets an advertised five hours of play time.
Official commercial games, launching alongside the unit, are a strong focal point. While previous devices in the line have been host to for-pay games, the Wiz will debut with a full suite of official games from third-party developers. Launch titles Asura Cross Wired, a fighting game, and Her Knights, a side-scrolling action game, will come alongside the release of the handheld and future titles that are slated for release through 2009, including puzzlers, rhythm games, shooters, and even RPGs.
The most attractive feature for gamers is surely the device's ability to play classic games via emulation. There are no fewer than 130 different emulators currently available for the GP2X which can be used with the Wiz, including emulators for nearly every console, handheld, and home computer ever released—and even some arcade machines. Thanks to the inclusion of an external SD card bay, gamers will easily be able to fit all of their favorite Atari 2600, NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis, N64, and Neo Geo games. Other more powerful but imperfect emulators for the device, such as those for the PlayStation and the Nintendo DS, are also ever-evolving.
The Wiz supports many different games, including commercial titles and even Flash games
Other out-of-the-box applications include a digital media player, a photo viewer, a comic reader, an E-Book reader, a planner, a calculator, a voice recorder, and more. The device also comes with an integrated Flash Player (Flash plug-in 7.0). The device also includes a number of built-in smaller games, as well as support for user-created games and other software, such as emulators. Built-in games include a number of original titles like Myride, a UFO shooter mini-game collection, and a touch-to-kill game called Space Varmits, as well as popular clones like Snake on Dope, a Snake clone.
GamePark Holdings is no stranger to the handheld market—it is responsible for the GP line of open source handhelds. The company's previous unit, the GP2X F-200, proved to be a solid handheld with a great screen and a level of versatility unrivaled by popular mainstream gaming devices. Low battery life and a lack of commercial games hurt the device overall, and those ailments are two of the main points of improvement with the Wiz.
Given that the operating system of the device is open-source, a large homebrew community has already begun preparing for the launch of the newest model. A wide variety of homebrew applications are already available for the various GP2X devices. The unit itself also comes packaged with the SDK, so hobbyists can begin making their own open-source games right out of the box. More information about the GP2X homebrew and open-source development community can be found at the GP2X file archive.
Of course, the question of whether or not the device can truly challenge the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable is liable to arise when discussing the advent of any mainstream open-source portable. While the Wiz may never be able to capture the mass market in a significant way, the attractive device could become a hit amongst savvy gamers: the flexibility of the device is extraordinary, and making use of homebrew doesn't require time-consuming firmware hacking that could irreversibly damage the device.
The Wiz is expected to ship in mid-October of this year. While it's not the strongest mobile open-source device of its kind, the likely price point of around $170 (the F-200 retailed for the same) makes it an incredibly attractive device at a modest price.
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