GCW Zero

Console, handheld and computer games, retro and modern.
Post Reply
User avatar
FrancoB
J+ member of the year finalist!
Posts: 4758
Joined: June 8th, 2009, 10:42 pm
Location: Oxfordshire
eBay: francosquashking
Initials: FRN

Re: GCW Zero

Post by FrancoB »

Oh cool, glad to hear you think it's decent!

I've not had my shipping notification yet :(
User avatar
pubjoe
Fosters Political Ambitions
Posts: 9836
Joined: August 19th, 2008, 8:58 am
Location:

Re: GCW Zero

Post by pubjoe »

cools wrote:Mine arrived sometime this week, picked up today. First impressions, seems well built and the controls and screen are excellent. Need to sort some emulators out next.
Great! I was preparing myself for the moment where I wonder 'why did I order this piece of tat'.

Did you have to pay import tax cools?
User avatar
cools
Armed Police Buttrider
Posts: 13457
Joined: August 17th, 2008, 4:49 pm
Location: Wales, United Kingdom
eBay: hordarian
Initials: CLS

Re: GCW Zero

Post by cools »

No import duty - it was marked at $30 value.

I picked up the package wondering what the hell I'd bought that (a) I hadn't put works shipping address on and (b) wouldn't fit in my letterbox.
Image
User avatar
cools
Armed Police Buttrider
Posts: 13457
Joined: August 17th, 2008, 4:49 pm
Location: Wales, United Kingdom
eBay: hordarian
Initials: CLS

Re: GCW Zero

Post by cools »

One thing I just noticed - the FAQ says "A power adapter specific for your country/region will be included with the console."

Yeah... about that. I'm not in the USA.
Image
User avatar
cools
Armed Police Buttrider
Posts: 13457
Joined: August 17th, 2008, 4:49 pm
Location: Wales, United Kingdom
eBay: hordarian
Initials: CLS

Re: GCW Zero

Post by cools »

baddy wrote:This looks very promising, I would've loved a microswitch based d-pad, but the 4/3 3.5" 320*240 screen looks already quite nice. If the emulation is spot on it could be the handheld console I've been waiting for since my GP32 10 years ago!
We have a winner.

The screen is stunning, the dpad is good(not quite SNES standard but very good - I'm able to do all of Ryu/Ken's specials without issue in SF2SCE), the audio is good - stereo is nice for a change, and it's powerful enough to run 0 frameskip Mega Drive with all the accuracy options turned on. Haven't tried anything more advanced yet.
Image
User avatar
LEGENOARYNINLIA
Kameo-ken
Posts: 3429
Joined: March 19th, 2012, 7:22 am
Location: Finland
eBay: ⸨◺_◿⸩
Contact:

Re: GCW Zero

Post by LEGENOARYNINLIA »



:palm:
Emulation's nice when done well
User avatar
crunchywasp
stompin' an' jumpin'
Posts: 8080
Joined: February 10th, 2012, 2:51 pm
Location: Northern Ireland
eBay: crunchywasp
Initials: MAK

Re: GCW Zero

Post by crunchywasp »

Eek! Grind it then colour it in. Very subtle :palm:
Image
User avatar
supergoose
Please Continue...
Posts: 737
Joined: September 12th, 2010, 10:38 pm
Location: Raccoon City, Germany

Re: GCW Zero

Post by supergoose »

:-o
Wanted: SNK Candy 18 spares. Mainly looking for a marquee holder & the "video games" sign.
User avatar
cools
Armed Police Buttrider
Posts: 13457
Joined: August 17th, 2008, 4:49 pm
Location: Wales, United Kingdom
eBay: hordarian
Initials: CLS

Re: GCW Zero

Post by cools »

crunchywasp wrote:Eek! Grind it then colour it in. Very subtle :palm:
Completely unnecessary on mine, worked perfectly out of the box.
Image
User avatar
FrancoB
J+ member of the year finalist!
Posts: 4758
Joined: June 8th, 2009, 10:42 pm
Location: Oxfordshire
eBay: francosquashking
Initials: FRN

Re: GCW Zero

Post by FrancoB »

That issue was shown up when the SE GCWs (pre-kickstarter units) were sent out. After discovering this the whole lot of Kickstarter units were sent back to China where they had correct fitting d-pads installed. None of the Kickstarter units should have that issue.
User avatar
crunchywasp
stompin' an' jumpin'
Posts: 8080
Joined: February 10th, 2012, 2:51 pm
Location: Northern Ireland
eBay: crunchywasp
Initials: MAK

Re: GCW Zero

Post by crunchywasp »

Glad to hear it and glad your first impression are positive cools. It looks pretty neat and I'm kicking myself a little that I didn't commit.

Looking forward to hearing the general consensus once more of these start landing.
Image
User avatar
cools
Armed Police Buttrider
Posts: 13457
Joined: August 17th, 2008, 4:49 pm
Location: Wales, United Kingdom
eBay: hordarian
Initials: CLS

Re: GCW Zero

Post by cools »

Well, looks like the USB on mine is borked. I've not seen any other reports of this so assume a rare problem. Not sent it back yet, waiting for Justin to finish his remote diagnosis ;)

Had plenty of time to play about with it and I've got most of the emulators available at the moment working. Results vary. Gameboy is fantastic. SMS is a little rough around the edges but functions well. Megadrive needs optimisation, it's not full framerate yet. Snes is much the same as MD. FBA needs quite a bit of work - plays CPS2 pretty spot on though the screen resolution is a touch noticeable on static screens, NeoGeo looks brilliant though. The indie stuff comes out the best so far, apart from the GB that is.

However... having used it quite a bit more, the Dpad lets it down. It's a cross dpad, but would actually be better as a circular one. The cross is too big, and with my fairly slim thumbs it's exceptionally difficult to tap diagonals with any sort of consistency. The analog nub is awkward to reach where it is and probably a lot tougher to move around than it should be.

I honestly think the Dpad could be sorted if the plastics (pad and case front) were replaced so the unit had a circular dpad rather than the cross. The software will come along, it's impressive enough already, and the rest of the hardware is great. I can only guess that all the other testers have massive thumbs.
Image
fagin
Posts: 800
Joined: February 9th, 2009, 7:04 pm
Location: UK

Re: GCW Zero

Post by fagin »

Cools - How does it compare to (for instance) emulation on the PSP (assuming you have experience of this), which in many ways is probably one of the key/interesting comparisons for some of us?
User avatar
opt2not
Posts: 500
Joined: March 8th, 2011, 11:14 pm
Location: California
eBay: n/a
Initials: OPT

Re: GCW Zero

Post by opt2not »

cools wrote:Well, looks like the USB on mine is borked. I've not seen any other reports of this so assume a rare problem. Not sent it back yet, waiting for Justin to finish his remote diagnosis ;)
Did you happen to try out another cable?
I was having a flaky time getting my PC to connect to my GCW, but I eventually swapped the cable and it connects without incident now.
Had plenty of time to play about with it and I've got most of the emulators available at the moment working. Results vary. Gameboy is fantastic. SMS is a little rough around the edges but functions well. Megadrive needs optimisation, it's not full framerate yet. Snes is much the same as MD. FBA needs quite a bit of work - plays CPS2 pretty spot on though the screen resolution is a touch noticeable on static screens, NeoGeo looks brilliant though. The indie stuff comes out the best so far, apart from the GB that is.
I agree, though I haven't tried any arcade titles yet. Gameboy (OhBoy) emulation is great, Nintendo (FceuX) and Neo Geo Pocket (Race) as well. Haven't found any issues yet.

SNES (Snes9x4d) has actually been really good for me, the only games that are having issues are the heavier FX games like StuntRace and Starfox2. Starfox 1 runs amazingly well, and less frame drop than the original hardware it seems.

I haven't been able to get Atari Lynx emulation working though, but it might be my roms. I have another romset that I'm going to try out to see if it's a compatibility issue.

MSX (openMSX) completely fails for me.

Playstation (psx4all) has been a mixed bag of working, non-working, working without sound, etc... But I was able to play Einhänder and Ridge Racer without problems.

DOS (dosbox) emulation is hit and miss too. Some games run great, some are really choppy like Dark Forces. But the mouse support for the GCW through Mice in Joy is kinda flaky, and I hope they work on getting it sorted out. Without a proper mouse, DOS emulation is kinda pointless.

Haven't tried Scumm emulation yet.
However... having used it quite a bit more, the Dpad lets it down. It's a cross dpad, but would actually be better as a circular one. The cross is too big, and with my fairly slim thumbs it's exceptionally difficult to tap diagonals with any sort of consistency. The analog nub is awkward to reach where it is and probably a lot tougher to move around than it should be.

I honestly think the Dpad could be sorted if the plastics (pad and case front) were replaced so the unit had a circular dpad rather than the cross. The software will come along, it's impressive enough already, and the rest of the hardware is great. I can only guess that all the other testers have massive thumbs.
I completely agree with this. Though I have been able to adjust to it, but it really could be better as a circular pad.
I've also found that for the first few hours of gaming, the buttons would stick, but eventually I worked it in enough so now the buttons feel fine.

Lack of a physical volume and brightness knob/dial is killing me, but I've gotten used to using the system hotkeys. I really wish the start and select buttons didn't make such a loud clicking sound. Trying to play RPG's in bed while the missus is sleeping is tough with all the loud clicks I'm making from going in and out of my inventory/status screens.

But overall, I really think this is a great piece of hardware, and am happy about my backing. For emulation I've tried the PSP, GBA SP and even the predecessor -- Dingoo A320 and so far, the GCW has topped all of these in terms of performance and ease of setup.
User avatar
cools
Armed Police Buttrider
Posts: 13457
Joined: August 17th, 2008, 4:49 pm
Location: Wales, United Kingdom
eBay: hordarian
Initials: CLS

Re: GCW Zero

Post by cools »

Never found an audiophile with perfect equipment either.
Image
User avatar
FrancoB
J+ member of the year finalist!
Posts: 4758
Joined: June 8th, 2009, 10:42 pm
Location: Oxfordshire
eBay: francosquashking
Initials: FRN

Re: GCW Zero

Post by FrancoB »

You do have to remember that the device is still in its infancy. A lot of the emulators are being worked on and they're regularly being updated. Hopefully once more devices get out there then more devs will get to work on them and the emulators will improve even more so. From the reports that I've read from the forums and from you guys it does sound a good start. Glad to hear the Indie stuff runs well, I'll probably be more interested in that than most things.

It's a shame the D-pad/buttons aren't as good as you originally thought. Software is relatively easy to work on but the hardware isn't so much, although not impossible.

Still no shipping info here. I'm guessing it's because I backed one of the higher levels with the t-shirt and glass :palm: From what I've been reading a lot of the glasses were smashed when they opened the cartons :palm: I'm guessing that they're waiting for new glasses to come in and are just shipping the console only rewards for now. It's just a guess though, trying to get any shipping numbers or plan out of Justin seems impossible as he just keeps dodging the question. :problem:
User avatar
cools
Armed Police Buttrider
Posts: 13457
Joined: August 17th, 2008, 4:49 pm
Location: Wales, United Kingdom
eBay: hordarian
Initials: CLS

Re: GCW Zero

Post by cools »

I've tried two cables. Both could be bad I guess, I'm having trouble finding another though - I've got dozens of micro but hardly any mini USB cables.
Image
User avatar
opt2not
Posts: 500
Joined: March 8th, 2011, 11:14 pm
Location: California
eBay: n/a
Initials: OPT

Re: GCW Zero

Post by opt2not »

Yeah Franny, I chose the console only backing which is probably why I got mine early(ish).

And you're right, it's really early for this device but its off to a great start. I'm expecting some great developments out of this thing! As long as Justin can get these orders out quick. :problem:
User avatar
cools
Armed Police Buttrider
Posts: 13457
Joined: August 17th, 2008, 4:49 pm
Location: Wales, United Kingdom
eBay: hordarian
Initials: CLS

Re: GCW Zero

Post by cools »

opt2not wrote:SNES (Snes9x4d) has actually been really good for me, the only games that are having issues are the heavier FX games like StuntRace and Starfox2. Starfox 1 runs amazingly well, and less frame drop than the original hardware it seems.
Had another go with SNES, you're right - it's better than I first thought. You get odd framedrops rather than solid 60 fps, but what's bugging me is that the audio (music) seems to have constant timing issues, really noticeable.
Image
User avatar
pubjoe
Fosters Political Ambitions
Posts: 9836
Joined: August 19th, 2008, 8:58 am
Location:

Re: GCW Zero

Post by pubjoe »

I haven't heard anything about mine yet either. I paid for the console only.

I've just read a kickstarter update that went along the lines of...
Project Update #61: GCW-Zero: Open Source Gaming Handheld by Justin Barwick

Every day I get in from work, spit at my family, answer 400-500 emails, then ship GCWs. Ship ship ship ship ship wooooowooooo! I'm a **** shipping machine. *Smash* Great! There goes another glass. Hahahaha!
Post Reply