Gamepark Holdings has announced its new games handheld - the followup to its (fairly) successful GP2X

Like the GP2X, it runs a Linux-based OS, has a GBA-ish form factor and is wide open for homebrew developers to code original games and — always the killer GP2x app — emulation, emulation, emulation.

Unlike its ancestor, it has a 533MHZ Arm 9 processor with 3D acceleration, 64MB of Ram and a touchscreen. There is only the one screen, so DS emulation is fairly unlikely, but there are already some touchscreen games and apps in the pipeline as you can see in this ridiculously large picture. Long JPG is loooong.

Also new is support for Flash 7.0 which should open up the possibility of playing web-based games that you manage to get on an SD card by whatever means necessary. There is no wifi, which is a shame, but you can't have everything.

The Wiz is available for pre-order now at around $US 179.99 , due out in October.

Odd. But different! Capcom have teamed up with Etchstar, a - would you believe it - etching company, to offer an etching service for your shiny, metallic objects. Ever wanted a Sagat iPod? You got it. A set of Cammy dog tags? You got it. A Leon Kennedy boiler plate? You can...probably get it. No word on pricing for this stuff, but since it's custom-made, you may as well brace yourself for "expensive".

You Got Cammy on my iPod [Capcom]

Happy Fourth of July you American readers you... and anyone else looking for an excuse to get drunk and blow stuff up. Make sure to drink your mojitos responsibly today and at some point sit down and watch this robot arm suck all of the fun out of Air Hockey. Man, I'd pay good money to see this thing score on itself... I'd pay even more for someone to give it a face just to see the expression when it happens.

iPhone gaming is growing at its own, methodic pace. EA's interested, Sega wants in, Nnooo has a few ideas and even Bioware has its thinking hand stroking its chin. Great stuff, sure, but it makes you wonder what happened to the whole iPod gaming movement.

Never fear, Australian developer Firemint is holding down the fort with Sims DJ. Yes, a few months back CEO Rob Murray stated the studio was excited about the iPhone. Yeah, the iPod isn't the iPhone, but Sims DJ is a step in the right direction.

I haven't played Sims DJ (I don't even own an iPod, let alone anything from Apple), but apparently review site Pocketgamer gave it 8/10. Not too shabby.

The product page on Firemint's website says the game was released on June 9. No worries guys, just let us know a little sooner next time!

Hit up the official site for download and installation instructions, but obviously not before you check out the compatible hardware guide. And the demonstration video, natch.

Genetic Lifeform and Global Positioning System [via Waxy]

Thanks, Barts!

On Monday there's a good chance that Nintendo's console war is going to get a new front. That's when many believe Apple's Steve Jobs is going to unleash the iPhone's App Store and with it the ability to download directly to your iPhone, applications and, yes, games.

Forbes points out that with a fairly powerful engine and the ability to do both motion and touchscreen, the iPhone could be a threat to Nintendo's lucrative handheld business. Of course the DS' staggering numbers will be the biggest opposition to Apple crushing Nintendo directly in some handheld-to-handheld combat, but even that could change over time. And keep in mind a slew of companies have announced games for the iPhone already, also Apple is giving away their SDK.

I had my PSP playing Angband for a few months, until my brother updated the firmware and I lost heart in the whole homebrew venture. If only there was a boutique manufacturer willing to build a handheld console dedicated to playing roguelike games such as Dwarf Fortress, ADOM and Nethack? Sadly, no such vendor exists, but that hasn't stopped BoingBoing from coming up with Photoshop prototypes.

From the post:

Some sort of UMPC or handheld console solution dedicated to one single purpose: Playing ASCII rogue-likes on the go. Everything has to be designed so you can play Dwarf Fortress or Nethack with the minimum amount of bullshit.

Who'd like a portable text game console? [BoingBoing, via Backstrip]

This is John Nilsson's J-Dome, a projector-based screen that's the result of some nifty ideas concerning field of vision. Wrapped around you like a lowered umbrella, the J-Dome promises to give the player a whopping 180-degree field of vision, as opposed to the standard 15-20 degrees you enjoy from a flatscreen monitor/TV, meaning you'll be able to see stuff in the corner of your eye without having to actually point you character in that direction. While the screen itself is a little dorky, the experience looks mighty promising, and is expected to cost around $US 150-$US 200 (excluding projector, obviously). Vid's after the jump if you'd like to see exactly how it works. Those not interested will still enjoy Nilsson's salesmanship.

What, Ben Heck, coming up with excellent, crafty, gaming-related things? You don't say. This is his latest contraption, a heavy-duty pedal designed to work with Guitar Hero to give it that extra dash of authenticity. After Heck did some one-handed GH controllers for the Games for Health conference, Activision decided to send him some guitars for further experimentation, and these are what he came up with. Although primarily designed to allow someone with the use of only one hand to play Guitar Hero (as the pedal allows them to strum with their feet), they can also be used to activate the whammy bar, giving them a much more general application. While they look nice and rugged, the highlight's got to be the fact he wired them using the controller cables from an old Jaguar controller.

Guitar Hero pedal controllers [Ben Heck]

A patent's been uncovered by VentureBeat, which Apple first filed in November 2006. It's for a pointer/remote device, that communicates via IR, and has a sensor bar you place in front of the tellie to detect 3D movement. You know, just like a Wii Remote. The patent states the following:

...the absolute x- and y-positions of [the] remote control can be used, for example, in video games to position a user's character or to otherwise track the movement of the remote control in a user's environment.

Though Microsoft has not yet set a release date for XNA Zune games, the company confirmed that the first community technology preview is targeted for this month.

Earlier this year at GDC, we got to check out a little preview of what Zune XNA gaming might look like — check here for a refresher, and check here for what we've learned on how multiplayer might go down.

My son has one of those cool remote control R2D2 robots, the one with a little cup holder that is absolutely perfect for holding an ice cold can of beer... and it sits under a thick layer of dust in the corner of his room, housing his one very cool hat. McWhertor would be proud. Me? I'm just bitter.

And now even more so when I see what could have been. Someone took one of those babbies and turned it into a projector that supports a whole slew of inputs including game consoles. That's right, you can play the Force Unleashed on a 260-inch picture coming from R2's head. Gets no cooler than that.

R2D2 DVD/games projector [Wonderland]

The Etch-A-Sketchist is a talented kid. We've featured his stuff many times before, but you know what? It's GTA IV week, so let's feature him again. This is his take on the game's box art, which I'd write more about, but it's hard to type when you can't stop applauding.
Grand Theft Auto IV [The Etch-A-Sketchist]

It's not "legit" in that its licensed by Nintendo or anything, but since most of Nintendo's patents relating to the NES lapsed between 2003-2005, it is guaranteed to be lawsuit-free. This is the FC Mobile, a handheld gaming system selling for $US40 which plays real NES carts. Like, the ones you have in that dusty box under your old bed at your parent's house. No modding, no dodgy imports (console excepted), no hassle. Oh, except it runs on AA batteries. Guess that's a slight hassle.
FC Mobile Portable NES, Because One Screen Was Once Enough [Gizmodo]

The premise is simple: take one NES cart, one NES, empty the working-bits from the NES, empty the NES cart, put the working-bits from the NES and squeeze them into the NES cart. Insert actual NES cart into NES cart NES, plug into TV, play Mario. Easy. It's the slimline NES we would have had if old Nintendo ever pulled a new Nintendo and released a slimmer, smaller NES, then released it in limited-edition, themed variants.
Fami-card [Kotmoi, via technabob]

You sit in His cubicle every day. You do His work. On His computer. While drinking His coffee. We'd say that your life sucks, but your life isn't even your life. It's His life. The Man's life. And yeah, it sucks.

At GDC, we had the opportunity to demo a Zune running an XNA game. And it looked pretty good. So what has been Microsoft's Zune team been thinking about in the several months since then? XNA commander and chief Chris Satchell fills us in:

One of the things we talked about was the network play, and we've had people doing prototypes internally of multiplayer shoot-'em-ups both in versus and co-op.

Comparisons between the DS and PSP were played out years ago. Especially when you consider the DS doesn't give a hoot about what's under its hood. But you know what, fuck it, let's dredge the subject up again, because RoughlyDrafted have compared the tech specs of both handhelds and put em up against the iPhone. Their point? Showcasing the potential Apple's phone has in the gaming arena. Click through for the full, grisly details.

Yesterday's news of a free SDK for the iPhone unleashed a slew of gaming news for Apple's popular phone. Both Electronic Arts and Sega are hard at work making games for the new platform. Now Freeverse, the folks behind (among other games) Marathon: Durandal for XBLA, have announced they've got some games in the works for the phone.

Yeah, we're a little sick of the rumour merry-go-round on this one too, but it's OK. This one's not a rumour. It's a patent application, and those are much more exciting! This application's for a gaming phone, which Sony filed back in 2006. While it looks like a double-sided phone, it's actually packing an iPhone-like full-screen touchscreen, allowing the device to emulate the interface of both a Sony Ericsson phone and a PSP. Course, this has never actually turned up, and in the iPhone's wake probably never will, but sometimes it's nice to just close your eyes and imagine what could have been, you know?
ORIENTATION BASED MULTIPLE MODE MECHANICALLY VIBRATED TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAY [USPTO, via Unwired View, via Pocketgamer]

In all of the major announcement that hit during Apple's software development kit (SDK) meeting today, it's easy to overlook what may have been the most important aspect—the SDK itself. Formerly Apple's internal development tools, the software package is being released to the entire public for no charge starting today. It doesn't need an expensive or hard to acquire development kit. You don't need to pitch Sony on why you're worthy for a dev kit during times of shortages.

Hell, you don't even need an iPhone (though it's recommended). All you need is an OSX based Mac and, you know, a bit of genius and a lot of work ethic. (Apparently you can actually develop right on the iPhone as well...but who knows how well that'll work.)

So you're thinking, "But I want to sell my product on their Apple Store. That'll cost me a tonne and be impossible". Nope, it won't be either of those things.

As Apple's software development kit (SDK) presentation continues, SEGA reveals what they've had up their sleeve—Super Monkey Ball. Boasting an excellent framerate, the developers claim:

This is not a cellphone game. This is a full console game. And we underestimated the power of the device. We had to fly in a developer to upscale the art for the iPhone.

Today, Apple shows off their software development kit (SDK) for the iPhone. This is a series of tools that Apple is releasing so third parties can make (authorised) programs for the system. And game makers showed up. In droves.

First up, Spore for the iPhone.

Today during Carl Freer's Georgia Tech speech, he revealed that while his company plans to release the Gizmondo with unchanged hardware (save for a new graphics chip) to the market in the near future, the company is already collaborating with NVIDIA on a completely new circuit board for a future Gizmondo.

He explained that since the platform "could never compete with Sony or Nintendo in content", they planned to take a completely open source approach instead, promoting software development from within universities. He also added, "If we do well, our roadmap entails expanding the hardware and supporting full telephony". For the full story, make sure to catch our liveblog of the event.

Hopefully most of you still remember Microsoft's Surface, that tabletop computer system that uses intuitive multitouch control. And while we doubt the platform will be replacing Street Fighter IV cabinets any time soon, Microsoft's first game for the device, Firefly (by Hexic's Carbonated Games), is interesting from the technical demonstration standpoint. Now I'm ready to see them really push the boundaries and aggressively integrate all ten fingers into a game design.

Firefly: The first game for Microsoft Surface [SarcasticGamer]

This is the Fly Mobile MC100. It's a pretty standard phone from a phone company I've never heard of. Which should make it utterly unremarkable. It's got one thing going for it, though - comprehensive and most probably completely unlicensed support for the NES, SNES, Game Boy and Game Boy Colour. I say probably unlicensed because all Fly will say is that, to play the games on the handset, you can just download them "freely" from the internet and bung them on your phone. Which I'm sure Nintendo's lawyers are totally cool with.
Nintendo games available on a mobile phone [Pocketgamer]

Late Thursday night I rolled in to Jillian's at the Metreon Center spent and exhausted. A week of running around GDC was beginning to take it's toll, but I was told I had to come check out a special surprise dealing with Texas Instrument's DLP technology. Being a DLP owner myself I decided I'd check out what all the hub-bub was. Turns out it was really quite interesting.

We had a few minutes yesterday to play a bit of shoot-em-up Zurai, that fast little game shown during the Microsoft keynote. The game plays surprisingly well. The ship constantly fires and you move it around with the Zune's touch pad. To fire off bombs you click the pad. Unfortunately, the game was developed specifically for the keynote, so it's not clear if it will ever actually see the light of day.

Can't say we didn't see it coming, but Microsoft officially announced today that XNA Game Studio games would soon be supported by the Zune. The portable media player is expected to get simpler fare like the vertical space shooter Zauri and puzzle staple Hexic, the former of which was shown to feature MP3 support.

The Zune's touchpad will hopefully make for a decent controller, but we haven't gone hands on with it yet. Graphically, Zauri, the only game demoed via video, was simple in nature, but the addition of music library support could make for interesting shooter gameplay.