The GP32 is a handheld games console by the little known Korean company GamePark. I myself have owned a GP32 for about eight months now and I still get people asking me if I’m playing on a Game Boy, this is quite an unfair judgment on the GP32 as it is light years ahead of Nintendo’s current Game Boy Advance. For a start the GP32 is more of a portable computer with upgradeable firmware (operating system), a large hi-resolution screen which is far better than that of the GBA and a 32bit ARM CPU which can be set to work from around 130-160 MHz which is huge compared to the GBA’s tiny 14 MHz. The GP32 is also comfortable to hold and the shape molds to the hands nicely so all six buttons are within reach of the fingers easily, this means long sessions of playing won’t cause cramp or discomfort.

Right so you’ve just bought your nice shiny new GP32, what do you get when you open up the box? For a start you obviously get the GP32 itself, a PC link cable and a manual (depending on where you got the GP32 the manual may be either in Korean or English). First of all to get your GP32 working you need two AA batteries and you will require an SMC (Smart Media Card) - this a common form of memory card used in many digital cameras and other devices and as the GP32 does not have a built in hard drive this is what you upload all your games and programs onto. Now, to get your PC link cable to work you need the appropriate drivers, these can be found on a variety of websites and I suggest you make sure you get the correct driver files for the operating system your PC runs on, I.e. Windows 98/2000 etc.

The main thing many people buy the GP32 for is the emulators, for those of you who do not know what an emulator does it basically allows you to play games from consoles such as the SNES and so on. Currently the GP32 can emulate the following consoles the NES, PC Engine, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Game Gear, SNES, Sega Mega Drive and controversially the Game Boy, Game Boy Colour and GBA. Not all emulators quite run at full speed yet which is a slight downfall, but this isn’t too much of problem as most emulators are full speed and the ones that aren’t are still being worked and run fairly well as they are.

Another ability of the GP32 is that it has the power to play certain PC games depending on whether someone has ported them across to the GP32 or not. Some of the current games that are working are the usual classics such as Doom (full speed), Wolfenstein 3D (full speed) and amazingly Quake has recently been ported across to the GP32 running at a very respectable speed and still being worked on. This brings me nicely onto the LucasArts game. The emulator ScummVm plays all the classic old point and click adventures such as Sam & Max and Day of the Tentacle, which is brilliant news for fans of the genre and should excite at the possibilities of adventuring anywhere (I know I was).

Now, onto the MP3 and AVI/DivX players, yes that’s right this little beauty plays music and videos as well. I use the MP3 players feature a lot for long bus journeys and car journeys etc. and the video player is especially good too. Although encoding your own AVI’s to watch on it can be a pain, but I do have my favourite episodes of Futurama and Family Guy on my SMC.

Unfortunately there is a down side to this handheld as there is very little in the way of commercial games and first party support, even what there is in the way of games are fairly poor quality. That aside there are a few good commercial games like Her Knights (All for Princess) and Kimchi Man and they both have quite a good professional sheen to them with good playability overall. This may be quite off putting for some people but what it lacks in commercial software the GP32 more than makes up for with the vast amount of emulators and homebrew programs it has to offer.

A major key to this handheld’s long-term success will be due to the fact that it is completely open source, this means anyone can create their own games or useful programs for the GP32. Another thing is that there is a very strong online community and the homebrew development scene is very strong with coders and people taking an interest in developing for their console.

Finally, to end the review I would just like to point out that the GP32 is much more technical than most of its competitors and requires a level of commitment to get what you want from it, but if you are willing it is definitely money very well spent. Also I would just like to say that if you are interested in buying a GP32 I advise you to visit www.gp32x.com, it is the best place for news and downloads on the GP32 and the discussion board is full of helpful people who are happy to give you any information you need to get going with your GP32. AS

Technical Specifications:

• Dimension/Weight: 6.0 x 3.5 x 2.25in (147 x 88 x 34mm), 7.5oz (163g).
• Display: 3.5", 320 X 240 pixel, Reflective TFT LCD, 65,536 colors.
• CPU: 32-bit RISC CPU(ARM9).
• RAM: 8MB SDRAM, ROM 512K.
• Sound: 44.1Khz 16 bit Stereo Sound / 4 Channel Wav Mixing, 16Poly S/W MIDI Support / Earphone Port / 2 Speakers.
• External Storage: Smart Media Card (SMC).
• PC Connection: USB Port Connection.
• Power: 2AA batteries (12 hours use time between charges) / DC 3V Adapter.