Gamertell

Korean company Gamepark Holdings Co., Ltd.,  has released the GP2X Wiz handheld game system and… what, you though Nintendo’s DSi was the only new handheld on the block?

The Wiz will be offered early May 2009 in the US through various web sites - although it is available now on the GP2X Store - for $179. Part of the excitement surrounding the system is that it runs on Linux and will have an open SDK, meaning just about anyone can make games for it.

I’ve been toying with the Korean game system for about a week and I’m pretty impressed. And by “toying” I do mean more than just playing games. Here’s a look at the hardware, the games it ships with and my initial impressions.

Gettin’ Phsyical

The system is pretty light at 4.8 oz.(140 g), which includes the internal rechargeable battery. It measures 4 7/8 in.wide, 2 7/16 tall (with about 1/16 extra for the L and R buttons) and 5/8 in. thick (with approx. 1/8 more for the height of the face keys).

The all-plastic case is shiny, black and rather rectangular with a metallic-red stripe running along the edge, reminiscent of the GameBoy Micro.

On the left side of the face are a multi-directional pad, a Menu button and a speaker slot. The middle has the OLED touch screen display that measures 2.25 in wide and 1.75 in. tall and the full-color images are displayed on every bit of that area. The right side of the face has four buttons (A, B, X and Y) shaped like a “+,” a round Select button and the right speaker slot. The face buttons all have a surrounding silver edge that looks like metal but is likely plastic as well.

On the bottom edge are two volume buttons (- and +), a data/power cable slot and a standard headphone port.  On the let edge is the strap slot and the of the stylus. On the top edge, from left to right, is the Left shoulder button, a microphone slot, a DS card slot, a small hole (I am guessing another microphone mini slot for stereo recording) and the Right shoulder button. On the left edge is a recessed Power and Lock combo button (which is fairly difficult to toggle). On the back is the GP2X Wiz logo in grey/silver and the panel for the battery (which is screwed down with two tiny screws).

When on or charging, an LED next to the power/Lock switch illuminates, changing color to show the status (Red for charging, Purple for charging while powered up and Blue for powered up). The connector for the power/data cable also has a status LED (Green when powered and Orange when charging the Wiz).

I only received the system with the stylus and a data cable (4.5 ft. USB). The boxed system will also ship with a carrying case CD Manual and Quick Guide.

Here are some of the key specs:

• CPU: ARM9 533MHz CPU with 3D acceleration
• Memory:  64MB RAM and 1GB of NAND Flash memory
• Display: 320×240 2.8 inch AMOLED Touch Screen. 30 frame/sec.
• Audio: MP3, WAV, OGG format on the multi-codec MP3 player, 100mw high Fidelity sound. You can also record audio to the SD card.
• Photos: Supports JPG, BMP, PCX, GIF, PNG files. The console also allows enlargements and 90° rotations.
• Text: Text reader for ebooks.
• Video: Supports DivX, XviD, (MPEG4) and Flash
• Storage: SD with SDHC support (also access via PC with the USB 2.0 cable)
• Battery:  2000mAh Lithium Polymer rechargeable battery (via USB cable) that promises up to 5 hours of gaming.

Playin’ Games and Videos and Music and…

This system runs (Qplus Embedded) Linux and will play some homebrew games created for its predecessor, the GP2X system. It also has a GUI that allows you to play videos (including Flash), view photos, record audio and read ebooks and comics.

After the boot menu, the main menu invludes the following icons: Wiz Game (for purchased SD card-based games), Built-In Games, Flash Games, Entertainment (subdivided into Video, Flash, Music, Photo, Comics, E-Book, Tools, Recorder), Launcher (to launch games or apps from the internal memory or SD card) and Settings.

Unlike the non-Wiz GP2X, retail games will be sold for this system on an SD card and as downloads (which can be saved to the SD or to the internal memory). Gamepark has already started working on an online store for purchasing games that will include homebrew, indie and professionally developed games, much like Apple’s App Store. It’s planned to have a soft (aka beta) opening in August 2009, test for a few months and officially launch June 2009. The company promises SD-card games by the end of march or beginning of June 2009, 30 new games by the end of the year (2009) and, from the press release, “everybody will be able to produce games and other applications and share and sell them with users around the world.” It’s being called the Game Contents Open Store, or FunGP, and will work online and from the GP2X Wiz’s yet-to-be released Wi Fi adapter.

Putting games or other apps on the system is as easy as plugging in the data cable and dragging and dropping apps from your PC either to the SD card or to the internal memory. You then scroll through to the Launcher icon, find the app and press B to launch. One word of caution: The Wiz may automatically reformat your SD card so make sure you’ve backed up the data before trying it. This may be because the system puts a few required folders on the card.

With only a few exceptions, most are simply scrolling file-name based menus with mini icons next to the name. In most menus you cn press the Select button to switch between the internal memory (aka NAND) or the SD card. The Entertainment seetion contains the sub menus with only Tools broken into four icons (Calendar, World Clock, Calculator and Timer). The recorder has a combination menu interface and recording icons (Rec, Play, Trash and Back, one for each of the right face buttons). Likewise, Settings is broken into various system settings with sideways-toggled options. From there you can change defaults including brightness, menu volume and clock, as well as access a testing mode and calibrate the touchscreen.

Gettin’ M’ Game On

The Wiz I received came with several game re-installed. Likewise, the retail version will come with a few games pre-installed so you aren’t game-less from the get go.

Under the Built-In Games icon (on the system’s main menu) were six games. The final release will come with eight which will likely include most if not all of these:

• Animatch - Your usual match-three game with cute little animal icons. (It even says “Paws” when you pause it). It offers some assistance and uses both the touch screen and button controls.
• Myriad - An inverted Space Invaders where you shoot a city from above as well as whips that speed by. Your avatar looks like the scrubbing bubbles guy.
• Snake on Dope - Yeah, it’s ye olde Snake game literally on dope. If you play the “Dope” version the screen gets all wiggly and psychadellic the better you do.
• Space Varments - It’s literally a point-and-shoot game where you tap the touch screen to shoot passing aliens. They are all cranky, pop i from all sides at various speeds and make a bloody mess.
• Square Tower Defense - A tower defense game that is rather cubist (as in based on little squares). From the startup screen it looks like it won a 2007 coding competition although they forget to include basic instructions.
• Mystery Korean Match-3 Game - It’s a mystery because the name is in Korean as are all the instructions. It’s basically a sliding match-three game where you slide colored cubes next to each other to make vertical or horizontal triads.
• Wiztern - Yep, it’s a play on the word “Western.” It’s a demo version of the full game but still pretty fun. You tap the screen to shoot at cards flipping over.

It also had has five pre-installed Flash games, each in English and Korean (all the file names are in Korean), which will likely come on the final version. Each is a speed game with only a few rounds and, luckily, includes an instructional screen.

The games in the Flash Games section are:

• I.Q Jump! - Look for the Same Pictures - Click on the two images that rae the same until you clear the board. Simple and easy, lasts only ten breif rounds.
• I.Q Jump! - Addition and Minus - Solve the math problems as quickly as you can. Again, only a few quick rounds.
• I.Q Jump! - Look for the Coin in the Saving Pocket - You click on bags of coins and then double click on the stack of coins worth the most.
• I.Q Jump! - Crisis Ladder - You have to quickly pick the end point for your avatar at the bottom of oddly rung-ed ladders.
• I.Q Jump! - Look for the Missing Number From the Order - You are shown two rows of numbers, they get jumbled and you have to pick the number that was left out. Maybe the hardest of all the games.

Initial Impressions

The system runs well with no noticeable lag, short load screens and god looking color. All of the games ran smoothly and the touch screen and buttons worked fine. The PC connection and SD slot also performed well for transferring files.

I also tested several audio and video formats, which all played well. The recorder did accurately capture spoken audio fairly well, albeit it quiet. Otherwise, the system’s audio comes in very clearly for games and menus.

I downloaded various application and games developed for the predecessor system (the GP2X) with mixed success. When things worked, they worked wonderfully. When they didn’t, they pretty much resulted in a blank screen and a required reboot. Of course, those apps were not really intended for the Wiz. I also had mixed success with Flash games which would also result in a blank screen.

As for being a DS, PSP or iPod Touch killer or not, I’ll post my full review coming in a couple days.

Site [GP2X Store] Photo Gallery [Gamertell]

Note: Photos on this page and some in the photo gallery by PJ Hruschak exclusively for Gamertell.

Check out the gallery: GP2X Wiz handheld game system images