Forget the PSP, disregard the DS and close your eyes and contemplate the existence of a device featuring a dual-core CPU, hardware MPEG decoding and a 3.5 inch LCD screen running Linux. Now open your eyes and imagine that it comes at an affordable price and you may have the ultimate portable gaming machine.
Game Park, creator of the GP32, is a Korean company that enjoyed an almost cult status among gamers with its previous handheld console. Its efforts however were hampered by a somewhat erratic PR policy and some very odd decisions. Game Park employees, involved in the creation of GP32 left the company and formed Game Park Holdings. It is this new company that has created the GP2X, the handheld described above.
Any device utilising open source Linux is bound to interest a large segment of the gaming community and GP2X has done exactly that with some gamers creating a development portal for the device. Many gamers use the GP2X for emulation purposes with some claiming that it can contain up to 40 retro emulators at any one time.
The big bet for the GP2X creators however, is whether it will receive support from developers and established content producers. If that happens you may end up having a device that can run linux games, play movies and music and feature functionality you would expect from a PDA device.
