Topic: GPD Win 2: The Most Powerful Handheld Ever Made

@JaxonH That's pretty small indeed! I expected it to be.. bigger. Maybe because it looks like a small laptop.

Weird. Now that I think about it, I've always played Tropical Freeze using the analog stick, at least I think. So it's definitely possible. I don't really mind either way, a comfortable position is often more important than stick vs d-pad for me. We've come a long way since the N64 controller

@Octane
Yes we have.

PC is an amazing platform, but it does have its drawbacks. For example, most of the games I have on the system run flawlessly without a hitch at 720p. But every now and then you run across something that has an issue that needs to be fixed or worked around. I'm playing Wolfenstein New Order and Wolfenstein Old Blood on the Win 2- it's running full 720p at medium settings (can even run high settings but the frame rate doesn't seem quite as smooth). It looks absolutely stunning, and if I'm being perfectly honest really makes me resent the lower res of the Switch version of New Colossus, even if it is still playable and smooth and has benefits like motion. Nintendo really should have put in a larger battery and allowed for 8.5W of power undocked. We would be playing in 720p had they done that. The system is perfectly capable but they limit its performance so much in handheld mode because the battery would drain too fast otherwise. Perhaps the homebrew community can find a way to unlock the power profile so that the adaptive resolution of games can run higher.

Anyways, the game looks absolutely stunning on Win 2. I don't think I need to tell you how amazing Wolfenstein looks on medium settings in 720p on a 6 inch screen. Dang near feels like I'm playing on an Xbox One. But for what ever reason every time I launch it the video is all messed up like old TV's would show a snowy image- it looks like that, only it's reddish and I can kind of sort of tell there's an image there in that snowy mess. But if I hit Alt + Tab so that the windows taskbar shows up, and then click on the application for the game in the taskbar to go back to the game, the display is fixed. It's just one of those things you have to deal with in PC gaming. I've tried everything to fix it but that's the best I could come up with. It's literally two extra button presses and click when you start the game- takes a matter of seconds, and sometimes it does it when switching to a cut scene at the end of a chapter, so I will have to Alt-Tab out and click on the game to make it full screen again, but it's still an aggravation.

Another issue I ran into was N64 games. I've found proper emulators for just about everything aside from PS1 and N64. None of the PS one emulators I've found work properly- either they don't work in the button mode or won't map of the controls, or whatever, and eventually I just decided I don't really want to play PS1 games anyways so why bother. As for N64, it runs flawlessly and games look amazing, but for whatever reason the emulator doesn't map the C sticks- it's a bug that's been present for years, and no one seems to know how to fix it. So games like F-Zero X run fantastic, but any game that needs the C stick is going to be hard if not impossible to play. StarFox needs it for doing loops and do U-turns. Zelda needs it to turn the camera, as does Mario. Now, you can center the camera behind you in these games so they are still playable, but it's just an aggravation and it really sucks, cause otherwise the emulator runs perfectly, and there's really no other good alternative that works. All the others are either incompatible with Windows 10, or they are command line, or they have serious issues, or whatever.

Those are some of the things you have to deal with when playing on the PC platform. The good news is, those are exceptions rather than the rule- all the SNES, GBA, GC, Wii, PSP and PS2 run perfectly. All the other Steam games run perfectly. But still, it does lack that ease and standardization of console gaming. It takes a week to get everything set up, but if you invest the time to do that, then it truly does feel like a real handheld console. Set it to hibernate when you close the lid which serves as a proper sleep mode when you are done playing and want to put it back in the case while suspending the game you're playing. Everything is set up and working so you're just double click/tap (it has a touchscreen also) to run it, and there you go.

@JaxonH As far as N64 is concerned, are you using anything other than Project 64 v2.0? Because that most definitely has button mappings for the C-stick. I have that installed on my PC, and it comes equipped with several add-ons/configurations to completely adjust it to your own liking/preference.

As for PS1 (or 2): if you ever change your mind and decide to give that another go, then you might want to take a look at ePSXe or PCSX2 respectively. Got the first one running on my PC, with all PSX games running in hi-res mode, and looking and playing pretty darn good. And I have a REALLY old PC...

@ThanosReXXX
That's what I'm using, in fact it's Project64 2.3 or something. Using NGage plugin like they say to use because it supposedly works but it doesn't and if you Google it you'll find have the Internet flooded with complaints that it won't map properly. They just don't work in game

Also, I have PCSX2 for PS2, and it runs beautifully. But when it comes to PS1, I tried ePSXe and no cigar. I tried multiple versions of ePSXe and no cigar. It works on my desktop, but not on my Win 2, despite both of them running windows 10. You can only spend so many hours trying to get something to work before you say screw it, it's just not worth it.

Now, if you have a Project64 version that you think will work though, by all means contact me outside of this site for further discussion ([email protected]).

@JaxonH Hm, sounds to me like there are some critical differences between this device and "normal" windows devices, because if it runs Windows normally, there's no real reason why it shouldn't work. This guy seems to have got it to work just fine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI5IhAs5sk
And here are some interesting discussions about it:

Perhaps you'll find something useful there.

As for N64: on PC (I'm running Vista. Yeah, I know... ), I use Project 64 v2.1.0.1 and the controller plugin is Jabo's DirectInput 1.7.0.12. I don't know if that's compatible with the GPD Win2, but you could try.
(for gfx and audio, I also use the Jabo plugins, by the way)

I have an Xbox 360 controller plugged into my PC, and when I start the emulator, and select that controller, it immediately maps all buttons correctly:

@JaxonH I can't remember what emulator I used on my previous PC, but it seemed to work fine. I've now got an N64 hooked up to my monitor, so I don't need to worry about any of that anymore.

@ThanosReXXX

Unfortunately every link takes you to a recent 2.3 download, despite what it's called. And they don't have them available on their side so I would practically need the installer from somebody.

Idk.

@ThanosReXXX
Dude, you're a rockstar. It works!

Well... with a small caveat.

See, the Win 2 screen is actually hard wired in portrait mode because it's a mobile screen. As such when you do your fresh windows installation it displays sideways. You simply go into your display settings and swap the resolution numbers to make a display correctly. Which works fantastic. Only issue is when you're dealing with older software like this that doesn't understand how to display correctly because of the hardwired portrait mode of the system.

So I am playing perfectly with the C sticks working, but only in windowed mode. The minute I go full screen it turns sideways and shrinks into the corner a bit. This is actually not an issue on the newest version of Project64, unfortunately the C stick issue is all too real in that version so, it seems like you just can't have your cake and eat it too.

Even so this is a huge step because I can just run in windows mode in the largest size I can fit from top to bottom and that will do in a pinch. But I was reading online about some .dll that can actually fix the portrait issue on the GPD win for this emu. Time to do some research but at the very least the games are running and I cannot thank you enough!

edit
And, with some tinkering I got it working in full screen now also. It crashes when you stop emulation or exit full screen, but I can live with that. Just a quick double tap on the home screen and I'm right back in to play a different game.

@JaxonH You're welcome, man. Anytime. Always glad to be of service.
By the way, I looked it up and you're right: you automatically get the latest public version.
But if you just look around for a version 2.1 or 2.1.0, it's pretty easy to find. Perhaps these run even smoother, you might never know until you try...

Here ya go:
http://www.1emulation.com/forums/files/file/1-project-64/
https://project64.en.uptodown.com/windows/download/53203

EDIT:

By the way: these aren't installers, but simply WinRAR archives with copy/paste folders with executables, so you could even run two versions side by side, to see which one works best.

@ThanosReXXX
Ya I found one, that's how I got it working. It's amazing how tough it was to get N64 running properly. Spent a fair a few hours on this, so I'm glad it's done and over with.

Now... do I want to play Wolfenstein New Order, or jump in to some Metroid Prime? Or Fire Emblem Path of Radiance. I absolutely have to play through Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. I think that's what I'm going to do. And play them in order.

And I'll be ready for Fire Emblem Three Houses.

Now, whether to install Citra to run Metroid Samus Returns? Not too many games are compatible and I really don't like the idea of emulating at two screens system on one hand held screen. Could probably go with the AM2 Remake or whatever instead.

@JaxonH I would agree on Citra: just wouldn't be the same, regardless of being able to play 3DS games in HD.

Just out of curiosity: did you ever ponder the choice between this GPD and the other one, that only does games? That was the one that I was actually always interested in, especially because of the built-in "eShop" for Dreamcast titles, amongst other things.

@ThanosReXXX
Never considered the other ones. I wasn't really interested enough in previous models. Too many design flaws, not enough power, etc.

And to be honest I wanted full GameCube, Wii, PSP and PS2. The previous Win had heat issues and a manual fan, keyboard was offset to one side, The L3 and R3 were actually keyboard buttons, and it couldn't do anything beyond N64. And as far as PC games it could barely handle a few select games like Fallout 3, but pretty much most of everything was off the table.

So I always knew I wasn't going to buy any of the other models. My brother bought the first one and while I did think it was a fantastic device I just felt it needed a successor that addressed all of the negatives from their first attempt, and beefed up the power to a level where pretty much any 7th generation games and even some 8th generation games can run properly, and Dolphin and PSP and PS2 could run properly.

And that's exactly what they did. They literally addressed every single issue with the original GPD Win. It was a good first attempt at a proper handheld gaming system and a very good learning experience for the team. And now they have learned from those mistakes and rectify them and they've brought this new system that just blitzes every single expectation of what a handheld gaming system can be

But if you want just Retro on a handheld, GPD XD might be a solid choice.

@JaxonH I didn't mean the previous version of the GPD Win2, but the GPD XD: that's also supposed to have an improved model out by now.

The reason why I was interested in that, besides Dreamcast emu compatibility, is that it's an all games system, which isn't burdened by having to run Windows as well. And regardless of how well it may all work, Windows does most certainly have its various quirks, as we all know, and as has happened to you now, with the emulation struggles, although that was probably more a GPD Win compatibility issue than an actual Windows issue, but still...

@ThanosReXXX
I hear ya. I mean yeah if you're just looking for retro emulation, that's a really viable option I think. A really viable option.

At the same time, if you're going to spend that much on a handheld retro system, why not spend a little more and go proper, and not only get all of that same emulation but add on PSP, PS2, GameCube, Wii, 7th gen Steam and partial 8th gen Steam... with full 720p for all of it? N64 probably can't do more than 480p on the XD, and I imagine PSP as well, and I'm not sure if it can run all the games simply because of its more limited power. Might also apply for Dreamcast as well.

Idk, I think it's a really awesome system and if you can pick one up for 200 bucks it's really hard to argue against that. But I also kind of feel that if you're going to spend money it's always better to spend a little more and do it right. At least for me, having a 720p PS2 in my pocket is worth a few hundred bucks alone. Having a 720p GameCube in my pocket is worth a few hundred bucks alone. I probably spend $400 on a device that just ran those two systems alone. Sheer number of amazing games (that actually look great in HD at that) between those two systems is mind boggling. Tack on Wii games, even if a few of them are off-limits due to their heavy reliance on motion, and I find it really hard to choose anything other than the Win 2.

But it is a heck of a lot more expensive too. Still, if you can afford it, I'd say go with the Win 2. It's just so much better in so many ways and has so much more compatibility with so much better resolution. But if that sort of purchase isn't really in your budget then yeah, XD is definitely the logical choice. You'd be hard-pressed to find a better emulation hand held for the price.

@JaxonH Right now, I don't have the extra cash available, but even if I did, then I honestly don't think that I would go for it. I wouldn't even spend that much money on a home console, so spending it on a handheld is completely out of the question, far as I'm concerned.

But after having looked it up, it's clear to me that now that I know what the GPD Win 2 can do, it certainly also makes me think twice about the GPD XD Plus, because the price difference is also very clearly reflected in the respective hardware power. Of course, it doesn't need to be equally powerful, seeing as it doesn't need to run Windows 10, but the difference is actually a bit bigger than that.

It's still an interesting system for retro gamers and people who like to stream games from their PC, though, so I'll leave this two-part review up here anyways, for those that might be interested in a cheaper, non-Windows model GPD handheld:

@ThanosReXXX
Ya it's definitely priced outside of the average consumer spending limits. But gaming is like my one hobby I have to fall back on (aside from my newly found hobby of stacking gold and silver coins- A perfect hobby for me because it allows me to spend my money and satisfy that urge without actually really "spending" anything, since gold and silver is actually more real money than the paper we use).

I figure $1000 a generation to cover all 3 consoles, but that only comes up every 5 to 8 years. So it's basically $142/yr on average, if you average out the lifespans of all three consoles. Not a bad price to gain access to every single console game in existence.

As for handhelds, The market has basically moved on. Sony is done making handhelds and Nintendo has now consolidated into a hybrid. So there's really no future expenses for handheld gaming going forward. This was a one time exception purchase to cover handheld gaming for the span of the next 5-10 years or so. And comes with very little software expense (which is something to take into consideration- higher up front cost but lower maintenance cost of software flow). If I use this device for the next 10 years, it's only an additional $65/yr on top of my console expense. And I really don't see a need to upgrade beyond this particular model for at least five or 10 more years because it can already emulate everything up through 6th gen. Unless they come out with some crazy powered Win that can emulate PS3/360 (which is already kind of unnecessary since all of those games are mostly on Steam) I can't really see any forward strides that would warrant a further upgrade in the near future. Maybe getting CEMU fully running? Sure, most of the Wii U games are already on Switch, so there's a little need for that. Not to mention the dual screen gameplay would become quite problematic for a number of titles.

So ya, definitely an expensive purchase but also not very frequent.

@JaxonH Haha, yeah, that's one way to look at it. Me, I just stick with two consoles, or rather: console brands, them being Nintendo and Microsoft. And besides that, I simply look at personal value for money. Last Christmas, I walked into my game shop, and I saw both the Xbox One S and the Xbox One X. The One S was €299, and the One X was €495.

Besides the rather big price difference, there was also a difference in what was in the box: both were 1TB models, but the X only was just the console and the controller, and one month of Game Pass, whereas the S had all that, but also Forza Horizon 3 plus Hot Wheels expansion, and another free game of choice, out of four. Don't know what the others were anymore, but I chose COD WW2.

So, all in all I may have chosen the less powerful model, but it was most certainly a heck of a lot more bang for my bucks, and as such, that was my choice. I will upgrade some time in the near future, though. And the S model will then be passed on to a friend for a small fee or something. And besides my main console purchases, the only thing I do, is collect stuff like the Minis. Finally got my hands on the NES Mini as well, because I missed that the first time around, but the SNES Mini was easy as pie to get a hold of, so that collection is now complete, so far, until they decide to bring out another Mini, of course...

By the way, when I was looking up articles for you, I also came across mentions of the Pandora handheld, which looks to be even more powerful. The main difference is that it runs on Linux, but other than that, it is better at running quite a few of these emulators, so if I was serious about looking into one of these handhelds, then I would certainly also take that into consideration.

Slick... this mod has you install drivers to use the Joycon as a controller like on Switch

Which GPD Win 2 is the best one to get?

@DannyBoi
Imo, yes it is.

Unless you're willing to sacrifice running the majority of the 7th gen library, 8th gen library, GameCube, Wii, PSP, PS2 and deal with 2 hr battery life with heatsink issues and a fan that isnt automatic... absolutely.

It's quite simple. $350 for NES, SNES, N64, PSone, keyboard keys for L3/R3, and old STEAM games where you struggle to run Tales of Symphonia HD and Fallout 3 on ultra low settings, with heat issues.

Or, you pay $650 for NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Wii, GBA, PSone, PS2, PSP, all of 7th gen, half of 8th gen, longer battery life, proper shoulder buttons for L3/R3, better Dpad, automated fan, fixed heatsink.

Which is better value is up to you. I know what my choice is though...