Hi I am new to the board... and actually just ordered my GP2x a few days ago.

I have been busy setting up my software so that (hopefully) I can just put in my SD card and play. I actually have two questions... first : How come there seems to be a shortage of MAME racing games available. I this just a short coming of the emulator? And second... how come BOB is more expensive than the cradle. I thought they were the same thing with the exception that BOB is housed in the cradle.

Thanks for taking the time to read and/or answer my questions.

My unit should be on the way... it just needs to travel across Canada from Montreal to Vancouver... in 3 to 5 days...??? I guess we will see...

The Developer's BOB is without a case, but functions the same. As for why the new one (the Cradle) is more $$ ... No one knows. Also, it requires a center-positive AC adapter @5V, and the Dev. BOB needs a center-negative 3V adapter .. kinda makes the head spin, eh?

MAME racing games .. well, not too many good ones for MAME 0.34 I guess.

Actually there are a few racers that seem worth trying.... such as F1 Exhaust Note... Continental Ciruit... and even Crus'n USA.

As for BOB.. that was my point... the new Cradle is $49.95 and BOB is $54.95 at gamersection.ca, the company I am dealing with in Montreal, Canada.

Anyhow... thanks for responding.

However I am having some concerns... I was perusing the for trade/sale section and noticed a number of GP2x's for sale or trade, the thing that is disconcerting is that those selling all seem to be saying they have only had the unit a week or so.

Don't get me wrong I would not consider myself as a total noob... I am one to tinker and I love the retro games... though I not fimilar with Linux... I am comfortable with computers other OSes. I am looking forward to the tweaking ahead... I just hope the GP2x is everything I am expecting, I have a Toshiba e830 that pretty does everything I want as a mobile unit... and though it is adequate as a gaming device it is not ideal. And that is where the GP2x comes in... Looking forward to receiving my unit next week... (fingers crossed).

I put a VERY important game of Time Pilot '84 on hold to respond to your post, so I hope you appreciate it

"Actually there are a few racers that seem worth trying.... such as F1 Exhaust Note... Continental Ciruit... and even Crus'n USA."

Download the MAME emu for the GP2x, and have a look-see at the gameslist.txt ... this will show you all the games compatible with this version of MAME (0.34)

... and don't worry about those folks selling their '2X. They likely didn't do any research about what this amazing device can do.

... and now if you'll excuse me, I have a High Score to obliterate ...

woah, hang on, the Cradle requires Center-Positive power? When did this info appear? gawd, if I ever get my GP2X working I'm going to wait for an official power supply before pluggin in the Cradle.

Or just get the dev BOB and one of the already released official PSU's, then build the crucible

tempting, but I've aleady got a cradle, just no ability to use it (gp2x burned out and couldn't get cradle working before then)

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Sorry about interrupting your game of Time Pilot '84 I know how stopping can throw off your timing.

As for the txt file I already know about it and went through it.... the games are not on the list. I have also gone through the other files for the other emulators I plan to use (I do try to do my homework before asking questions).

Well you have eased my mind a little... but I guess we will see how much I love this unit when it arrives... I am impatiently tapping my foot. Hoping that it will arrive early next week. Would love to be playing my old favorites at full speed... could be the last portable gaming device I ever own. There is just something magical about the old games... not sure if it is because they have more substance than flash... or that it just takes me to a better more relaxing time in my life when things were so much more simple.

Now come on get here already...

Rest your mind... you're gonna love it...

I picked up my GP2X and Cradle (and AC adapter and extra D-pad and a whack of other stuff) at Gamersection.ca as well - those guys are great to deal with ime...

I'll admit that I do my video racing on my PSP (there are a whole raft of great racers on the PSP!!), but besides racing games and PSX emulation, most of my gaming time is spent on the GP2X... It's a great unit, and once you've tweaked out a killer set of Emulators and ROMs to meet your tastes, you'll have trouble putting it down too! For me, having every Genesis game tucked away at my finger tips is a wonderful thing, and playing Neo Geo games on a handheld still makes me giddy when I boot one up! It's a terrific piece of tech, and anyone who's the least bit interested in old-school 2D gaming should pick one up...

Thanks... appreciate the reply.

I do my gaming on my xbox... (the original) with the Toca series and with Forza. Love Forza... but I love the fact that I can race with additional AI cars in Toca when playing on-line with friends (using X-Link).

I was just looking for something to take care of my racing fix on the handheld. Actually I found some games that would tie me over... but I would need an emulator for Sega's System-16, and I searched but there does not seem to be one for the GP2x or a least all the responses seem to be rather vague about it. If it was available I was hoping it would allow me to play the arcade versions of games such as Hang-On, Super Hang-On and OutRun.

As it is... if everything I am reading is accurate... I will be thrilled with a full stable of my favorite retro games.

On a sad note... gamersection.ca states that shipping is 3-5 days on its website, but I just entered the tracking number into the Fedex website and the ETA for my package is June 4. It took 2 days to just get shipped after I placed my order... oh well... I guess patience is suppose to be a virtue (I just don't have much).

Ooh, don't buy the Bob or the cradle until you weigh the pros and cons and see some of the links in my sig.

IF you don't give a crap about the Serial port (AFAIK only a few hardy souls are making linking cables, wireless boxes, and/or GPS units), or the JTAG (bricking is pretty rare these days, or alternatively you actually debug running processes in the ARM )

Get the Artaylor USB cable and a USB 1.1 powered hub locally for $10, that way you don't need to buy a power adaptor, and you save half the cost.

He can put TV cables on it for you too, so you aren't missing out on that.

Just chiming in, at $50 and then a power supply, freakin forget it, not to mention that you can't work the power switch without cutting on the cradle, and the GP won't even go into the cradle with the rubber flap still attached.

Good idea, poor execution, and Artaylor has made a very slick USB cable already for us.

Please be pissed that GPH didn't take the time to add under a $1 in parts and give us USB host inside on the top next to the SD card slot. There is also enough room to add your own USB board and A/V socket, in your home with hand tools, their designers are crap-heads. This is also at least the second board revision, and a lot was changed, perfect time to put in the top A/V, or at minimum the USB Host.

The USB circuit is also missing a $0.20 chip, it could go onboard, it is all that is really stopping them from internal USB host plug.

I'm little bit confused! Does MK2 need a dedicated AC adapter when connected to the Cradle? In other word, does the system (MK2+Cradle) need TWO AC adapters to work? Can someone explain to me please?

Yes.

I can't explain it because it isn't logical.

The Answer Is : Depends...

I have the Cradle and a MK2 GP2X. I only have the AC Adapter for the GP2X. I use the Cradle with a Logitech USB control pad to jack my GP2X through my TV so that I can play NeoGeo and Genesis stuff on the big screen from time to time. Using it in this way, I've never had problems with the Cradle running off the GP2X's power, either on batteries or with the power supply plugged in (which is how I normally run it)...

Ok... so you are saying that I can power my cradle with my GP2x.

Ok another question... and its a vague one... but how large a SD card do I realistically need? I noticed that most of you seem to be using a 4gb card... but do I really need more than 2gb (this question is more concerned with emulators and games, I can put movies and music on seperate cards)...???

I used to juggle a couple of 1gig cards, worked well for the first couple of months, as megadrive and snes games don't take that much room. Then along came PicoDrive with MegaCD support, PSX emulation took another step towards playability and GBA apeared on the scene - now I juggle 2 4gig cards