Maxconsole has posted a review of the latest version of the open source handheld, the GamePark GP2X-F100. The GP2X doesn’t really seek to compete with the Nintendo DS or the PSP; it is a handheld, but the entire product is geared towards homebrew and open source development. Even the firmware source has been released for the console, for home gaming tinkerers to play with. The GP2X is the hardware sequel to the GP32, GamePark’s original handheld. There aren’t a lot of available commercial games for these devices, instead, the focus of gaming is on homebrew, emulators, and media player functionality. The media playing functionality is decent in the handheld, supporting MP3/OGG audio playback, and a number of video formats, including DiVX and MPEG4. Emulators have gotten a great deal of support from the homebrew community, and there are number of options available, including SNES, Genesis, MAME, and Playstation emulation. The emulation on the handheld is clearly better for lower powered machines, but with an open source community, this can be expected to improve over time. The fit and polish of the GP2X is decent, but not really up to the standards of Sony’s PSP or the Nintendo DS. Maxconsole has more in depth interactions and video of the machine in action on their site.

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