Quadhorn

Firmware v4.0.0 is the "F-200" firmware; it takes into account the touch screen and other minor hardware tweaks, including the SDHC support. It is not intended for the F-100 and will not work with it. Similarly, pre-v4.0.0 firmware will not work with the F-200. So far as I knew (could be wrong...?) SDHC needs slightly different hardware to "vanilla" SD. The F-100's don't have the hardware and so can't support SDHC, nor are they likely to. The new F-200's support SDHC and also provide an interface over USB to it as a standard disk device, making accessing the SD(HC) card and moving files over easier. For the F-100's there's a v3.0 firmware, though opinions on it seem split (slower boot time by a few seconds, some other issues...?) and upgrading can be difficult. The Pandora looks interesting, but won't be out for a while and software / emulators will take a while after that. In the meantime, there's the F-200.

The new GP2X has finally arrived and works great. I'll put up some details about how the touch screen works later - when I manage to prize it out of the grasp of a lass obsessed with BoomShine. (And she stole my high scores! ) Weren't there utilities to tweak the TV output for otherwise broken games...? I can't find one at the minute, but thought I remembered seeing one in the file archive at some point.

Are you after one specifically to own a Nomad, or just for the mobile Sega fun?

The F-200; it's the same as the F-100 with a few tweaks (d-pad instead of joystick, touchscreen, support for larger SD cards). I'd count it as the same machine.

That is ... a strange console ... Right; to get back to your original questions: Does it work with normal Atari 2600 game cartridges? If so, we can assume that we can treat it as an Atari2600, so... [1] I don't know. I do not know who made it - it is a clone, not an original Atari machine. [2] See [1] [3] A 5V non-volatile memory chip. The cartridges use ROM chips, but to make game cartridges some kind of EEPROM chip is better. Something like the NOR EEPROM chips from ST: http://www.st.com/stonline/products/famili..._emb/fl_m29.htm Look at the M29F devices. They may be of use - they are larger than necessary, but I do not know of many other 5V EEPROM devices still in production. You will also need some way to write programs on to the chips and a PCB to put the chip on to fit in the console. To write to the EEPROM chip you will need some kind of "programmer" device (sorry - I don't know much about them). Before trying hardware / chips I would try some of the software in [4]. [4] Look at: http://www.atariage.com/2600/programming/index.html To do it "properly", you will need to learn 6502 / 6507 assembly (look at the "Tutorials" material). Use a text editor (such as Crimson Editor) to write the programs, then use DASM and the atari header files (vcs.h, macro.h) to compile it (create a program the Atari2600 can understand). You may also want to try batari Basic - it may be easier than assembly to begin with. Test your programs in an emulator; try z26 or Stella. This is much easier than using the actual console. Get your program working in the emulator before trying it in an EEPROM on the console. Does any of that help?

Get some 'boards, EEPROMs and a programmer and use them as the cases to make yourself some new games...?

There's free software for most of what you need even for Windows, whilst we're at it; OpenOffice is free and Microsoft Office compatible (includes versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc., can import from and export to) and Gimp does a fair job of image manipulation. There's OpenWorkbench for project planning (ala Microsoft Project) and Gnu Octave for heavy number crunching and numerical work (Matlab clone). Have a browse around for "open source <whatever>". The main differences with Linux are that some projects are Linux-only (no Windows binaries) and that where there are both the Linux versions tend to be more up to date than the Windows port.

!?! ... I suppose it would be a cheap machine to run a cabinet for anything pre-PSX ... and I think it'd be happy with the HDD as a Mass Storage Device, but specifically a USB HDD that can be interfaced using _only_ the standard USB Mass Storage Device class drivers. If it needs any special driver software it would need to be ported to the GP2X somehow, which would likely be difficult if not impossible. The GP2X wiki mentions connecting a USB HDD via the USB Host cable. The Cradle provides the same USB Host capabilities plus some other stuff, like the TV-Out you'd need for the cabinet. You might want to check whether you can find a cheap PC that can do the same for the same price or less, though.

I'd have linked to something like that, but SRG seems to have beaten me to it. Aye, reports say that it works well. A nubbin is stuck in the middle of the d-pad to provide a pivot point and the cap sits on top, providing a single solid surface that presses the buttons underneath whilst allowing your thumb to slide across it smoothly. To be fair, the GP2X d-pad buttons themselves work fine, it's just that your thumb gets caught when sliding 'cos of the individual buttons. We did ... and they pretty much said "Tough, there's none in stock. Here's your money back."; I have a replacement on order...

PSX Bust-a-Groove. Y'know, the cheesy dance-'em-up thing, not the bubble-puzzle thing (Bust-A-Move = entirely different). And the sequel. Maybe it's the way the stages start blowing up when you do well, maybe it's the dancing mouse...

A brief update. The promised GP2X did indeed turn up ... but the touch-screen didn't work. The good news is that I've tried the NES, Master System and Megadrive emulators, ScummVM, PrBoom with Ultimate Doom and Doom II and a good selection of the better PD games and they're all fantastic. It's great having the whole collection at hand to play wherever you want. And Doom looks so cute on a hand-held. Awww ... 'ickle Cacodaemons ... <blam blam blam> ... I've yet to try the movie players and I had some trouble with Duke Nukem 3D. There're also the rest of the emulators and game interpreters to try, but I'm expecting much the same. The battery life is also much as expected: 4-5 hours of happy fun. The bad news is that it had to go back fairly quickly with the knackered touch-screen. GP2X UK said they were sending it to Korea to be fixed and I'd have to wait up to a month for it to come back ... not exactly the best response to a customer reporting an out-of-box hardware fault. Worryingly enough, they mentioned they were sending a "batch" of units back for repair - have there really been that many problems with quality control on this round? There's also the issue of the d-pad - it has separate buttons for each direction, which feel fairly solid and responsive but are a pain for doing Street Fighter-style fireball / dragon punch / etc. moves because your thumb gets caught on the edges of the buttons. It's also a little ... small? It feels like my wrists are forced in too far trying to match the button layout, which gets uncomfortable after a while. With, e.g. a Playstation pad, your wrists come in at an angle which is a lot more comfortable. A final thing to mention is SD cards. Know this: Any SD card, rather than SD HC card, over 2GB does not meet official specifications and you can expect problems. For a start, your average cheap USB SD adapter will likely report the size correctly, but any attempts to read or write beyond 2GB will screw up - the reader may report the data is there, but it's lying. To address any SD or SD HC card of 4GB or more correctly requires a proper SD HC adapter. The GP2X F-200 (not the F-100 from reports) itself presents itself as an SD HC adapter over USB and so can deal with the cards correctly, but without the AC adapter you'll find even fresh batteries will go flat before you can transfer the full 4GB+ across. Writing to the SD card takes a lot more power than reading from it. If you have a 4GB or larger card, you will need either a proper SD HC USB adapter or the AC adapter. I really don't want to slate the GP2X. I'm still greatly impressed with what it can do and how well it works. I want it back so's I can play Streets of Rage and ScummVM stuff like Sam and Max out and about. I thought I should give you an honest account of my experience, though. I'm annoyed how things have gone, but not put off entirely. If you can put up with its "little niggles" it's a fantastic little hand-held, but there are those known issues and the GP2X distributors aren't helping things. If you decide to get one, seriously consider getting the following bits and pieces to go with it: * A 4GB SD HC card (watch out for dodgy cheap copies) * An SD HC card reader and/or the AC adapter * At least four high-capacity NiMH AA batteries (2600mAh+) * An NiMH battery charger (note that the cheaper ones are slow (up to 14 hours) and have no built in timer or auto-shut-off) Also note that the basic GP2X cannot act as a USB Host (i.e. cannot use a USB mouse, keyboard or gamepad); that requires either a dubious mod or the GP2X Cradle. QH.

Title Match Pro Wrestling and RealSports Boxing...?

'Looks like I am getting an F-200 for Christmas ('parents were asking us about extras to go with it - they still get us presents, though we're all well past kiddy age). I'll tell you how it goes.

@Trey: Javascript and Space Invaders for someone with no previous programming experience? Sure, simple enough compared to modern games, but still maybe a little complicated for a first step. @so_tough!: I think Atari2600 assembly's a little harsh to start with. Assembly is fairly simple, but the A2600 is not beginner-friendly. I'd recommend starting with BASIC on an emulated 8-bit computer, like the Atari 400 or Atari 800. I'd suggest an emulator ... but somehow those're some of the few systems I've never dabbled with. Pick something off http://www.zophar.net unless someone here can recommend something. BASIC is much the same on any computer, but the Atari would make sense if you were to follow the "Atari BASIC" tutorial boook on the http://www.atariarchives.org/ site that acousticguitar suggested. There're also a couple of BASIC games collections books there. Give yourself a chance to get to grips with the concepts involved first; computers are weird beasties. Work through the tutorials and find out how the computer deals with numbers and letters, does maths, makes decisions, gets user input, creates displays (text, line graphics and tile/sprite graphics are all different), loads and saves programs, etc. Start with simple "guess the number" games, then move up to "Noughts and Crosses" (Tic-Tac-Toe for American-types reading). Type in some of the example games and tweak them for your own amusement. When you're feeling happier with it, have a stab at bBasic or assembly for the A2600. It's not quite so scary, as long as you start simple and work up. Programming basics and text first, graphics and sounds later. If you get stuck, give us a shout. Someone here'll help.

As I've ranted about on another thread, playing WinXP-happy updates of Doom, Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior. I'm also watching through Ranma 1/2 bit-by-bit between bouts of company-santioned acts of technomancy.

Strange that this should come up the week I've started getting back into classic FPSs, after a 4 year hiatus... How many of you are actually playing DOS / Vanilla Doom and how many are playing using one of the source ports? For anyone who doesn't know what I mean, look up zdoom or gzdoom - updated WinXP-happy versions of the original game engine. gzdoom is an OpenGL implementation of zdoom providing a "proper" 3D engine (no distortion looking up or down ... which is one of the many things zdoom added). Other things I've been looking up over the last week included: * "Knee-Deep in ZDoom"; a remake of Doom's episode one "Knee-Deep in the Dead" using zdoom's more advanced capabilities. * JFDuke3D and EDuke32; similarly updated engines for Duke Nukem 3D. * The Duke Nukem 3D High Resolution Pack; an updated set of high-resolution textures and 3D enemy models for JFDuke3D/EDuke32. Mostly complete and very impressive. There's similarly updated music in .ogg format. * JFShadowWarrior and swp.exe; like JFDuke3D and EDuke32 for Shadow Warrior. * There's also an HRP for Shadow Warrior, but it's very much a work-in-progress at the minute. You almost have to look for where new textures have been added and only one of the enemies has a (partial at that) 3D model. Some may remember glDoom; that was the "original" OpenGL Doom port, but so far as I know it's long since died. zdoom and gzdoom are far superior. Apparently they support Heretic and Hexen as well. I've been playing with the above for most of this week and it's been great. A return to classic FPS-ness but with added shinyness. Any thoughts from the rest of you, about the above or anything similar I've yet to find?

Mmmm .... GP2X-F200 .... smells like Christmas .... For those of us that can't afford a set of Ben Heck Specials, it doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Has no-one mentioned Smash TV yet? "Big Prizes. Big Money. [big Women.] I-i-i love it!"

Whilst we're on the subject of the first console I ever owned (the A2600 was technically owned by my parents until years later) can someone answer a (possibly dumb) question for us: as the core hardware of the SMS is the same as that of the SG-1000 Mk. III (just repackaged...?) and the SG-1000 Mk.III was backwards compatible with the SG-1000 (the one Sega console I don't own) - would it be possible to build a simple adapter for the SMS to allow it to run SG-1000 games? Would an SMS be able to run SG-1000 games from an SMS Flash cart?

"Love hotels" were the places young couples go to shag, 'cos steep Japanese housing prices prevent them from getting a place of their own until much later in life; and who wants their parents to hear them at it? Edit: I stand partially corrected; there's sometimes prostitution involved. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_hotel

Atari 2600 (Junior x2) Atari 7800 Gameboy (Pocket) SNES Master System (Mk.II) Megadrive (Mk.I, Mk.II) + Mega-CD (Mk.II) Saturn Dreamcast Playstation (Old Grey, PSOne) PS2 I'll never be a hard-core collector, but what I have keeps us amused.

Aye, we all have off days. If you can find them, there are converters to play SMS games in the Megadrive/Genesis or even the Game Gear. Don't worry too much about which version of SMS; the originals have slots for card games missing from the later consoles, but to be fair they mostly sucked and are almost impossible to find. The SMSII's are cute.

Shenmue 1 and 2 (You want both. Really.) Power Stone 1 and 2 Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 Grandia 1 and 2 Chu Chu Rocket (hey, they're like 50p) House of the Dead 2 Soul Calibur, if you don't already have any of the later ones. I'd recommend Phantasy Star Online, but there's a lack of servers these days, getting on is hassle and the 1-player part gets tired rather quickly. I don't know about the two you mentioned. In the meantime, happy hunting.

Oh ... that. Well, on the bright side the Mega-CD version was at least more complete than the PC-88/MSX version. Aye, tag that in there; I'd go back and have the Snatcher story completed properly (and without the stupid censorship that happened to the PSX version). Heck, they could even do it now - what would a Snatcher game be like done with the MGS4 engine?

Que? What cliffhanger? I'd change the industry's habit of only releasing the interesting, strange and unusual games in Japan; there should be seizure-inducing craziness for the whole world.