GameGadget - Your impressions

[DreamcastRIP]

I suspect sales of this new handheld would spike if/when someone hacks the firmware and releases it on the 'net.

[crusto]

Its got legs. But only if it does everything extremely well and extremely competitively. I'd be interested as I dont really do jail breaking etc. I like my devices to do exactly what they say on the tin.

[thevulture]

I suspect sales of this new handheld would spike if/when someone hacks the firmware and releases it on the 'net.

Wonder if we'd be talking days or weeks before firmware was hacked....

[DreamcastRIP]

I suspect sales of this new handheld would spike if/when someone hacks the firmware and releases it on the 'net.

Wonder if we'd be talking days or weeks before firmware was hacked....

As Sony had no involvement in making the device's firmware I'd say weeks rather than days.

[Liamh1982]

Days? You're giving Sony too much credit there!

[FatTrucker]

Any portal that offers the ability for people to purchase retro games legally is a good thing in principal. As always it will be largely dependent on pricing, ease of use, quality of the emulation and the variety of titles on offer.

[DreamcastRIP]

Days? You're giving Sony too much credit there!

Good point! Am I correct in recalling Sony once released a new PSP firmware update only for it to be hacked with new CFW files released on the 'net within 24 hours?

[themightymartin]

I suspect sales of this new handheld would spike if/when someone hacks the firmware and releases it on the 'net.

Wonder if we'd be talking days or weeks before firmware was hacked....

As Sony had no involvement in making the device's firmware I'd say weeks rather than days.

I'm betting on hours rather than months, weeks or days.

[AmigaJay]

I'd be interested to see what games are available, but as far as emulation goes, for the same £99 you can get a Caanoo with a 533mhz CPU that overclocks to 700-800mhz, so unless this thing matches that there's not alot of point, and going by what I can find, it looks like just a rebadged Dingoo with a 400mhz CPU with 2gb in built memory, but I'd be pleasantly surprised if the specs are better than the Dingoos.

[TwoHeadedBoy]

It's a weird one, definitely. Reading the press statement, it seems like it's putting the developers/publishers before the customers, saying they can charge what they want without having any more costs put on them.

If it was a cartridge-based thing, I'd be all over it, but not as it is. MAYBE when they realise they should be selling the hardware dirt-cheap with a view to making money on game sales? But not at £100, nah.

[Liamh1982]

Days? You're giving Sony too much credit there!

Good point! Am I correct in recalling Sony once released a new PSP firmware update only for it to be hacked with new CFW files released on the 'net within 24 hours?

That's certainly true of 6.60 iirc.

[Liamh1982]

I'd be interested to see what games are available, but as far as emulation goes, for the same £99 you can get a Caanoo with a 533mhz CPU that overclocks to 700-800mhz, so unless this thing matches that there's not alot of point, and going by what I can find, it looks like just a rebadged Dingoo with a 400mhz CPU with 2gb in built memory, but I'd be pleasantly surprised if the specs are better than the Dingoos.

If it's just a Dingoo then SNES emulation will be a bit dodgy like on the PSP. Mind you, a PSP's a lot cheaper and much better supported.

[DreamcastRIP]

Days? You're giving Sony too much credit there!

Good point! Am I correct in recalling Sony once released a new PSP firmware update only for it to be hacked with new CFW files released on the 'net within 24 hours?

That's certainly true of 6.60 iirc.

[AmigaJay]

I'd be interested to see what games are available, but as far as emulation goes, for the same £99 you can get a Caanoo with a 533mhz CPU that overclocks to 700-800mhz, so unless this thing matches that there's not alot of point, and going by what I can find, it looks like just a rebadged Dingoo with a 400mhz CPU with 2gb in built memory, but I'd be pleasantly surprised if the specs are better than the Dingoos.

If it's just a Dingoo then SNES emulation will be a bit dodgy like on the PSP. Mind you, a PSP's a lot cheaper and much better supported.

Yeah SNES wasnt the best, but still playable all the same, yes the PSP is the cheapest method of getting decent emulation on a handheld, but there is little support left for it esp emulators, and the Pandora is too expensive now (£375 ish) thats why I've gone the Android route now, new emulators monthly and being updated too, sure some charge on the market, but a quick search finds them for free, and of course with android, its compatible with newer and faster hardware, meaning emulators like MAME will get faster and emulators like Dolphin will be ported when the time comes...good times for emulation

[DreamcastRIP]

I'd be interested to see what games are available, but as far as emulation goes, for the same £99 you can get a Caanoo with a 533mhz CPU that overclocks to 700-800mhz, so unless this thing matches that there's not alot of point, and going by what I can find, it looks like just a rebadged Dingoo with a 400mhz CPU with 2gb in built memory, but I'd be pleasantly surprised if the specs are better than the Dingoos.

Your post made me curious to find out more about such devices - more from curiosity than anything else.

I discovered some info on the Caanoo and new (I think) Dingoo A380 (not the older A320). They appear to be of a similar spec in terms of power and cost about the same price - in the region of £130-£140 from what I could determine. In trying to determine which of the two is 'best' it seems they both have their own strengths and weaknesses which didn't make it an easy call. I like the look of the nice big screen Caanoo has but I also liked the design of the smaller more portable Dingoo A380. Do you have any views on which of the two is best?