-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
GCW Zero - new retrogaming open source handheld!
- Thread starter Vitacat
- Start date
I saw that update. Now I'm wondering if they have even recieved the KS units or if they still have to wait on their manufacturing/shipping
Here I am, feeling all of this to be prety amateurish and reading him take a jab a other systems while again asking us "to be patient".
KodeAndGame
Member
Glad I wasn't the only one who thought that update was pretty dubious. Ugh.
Dudes been lying forever. He implied that the starter editions were all done and mailed already and he had already started on the Kickstarter units. Now he says he's only 3/4 done the SE units and has to deal with repairing them.
Earlier I said I'd be happy if I got mine before PAX which is a good 6 months after the promised delivery date. Now It looks like I'll be lucky if I get it by next PAX.
He's getting closer and closer to Pandora levels of nonsense with each passing day.
KodeAndGame
Member
Pretty disappointed in this whole mess. I hadn't bought any of these open source handhelds since GP32x and I think I learned my lesson for good this time.
SnakeSlashRO
Banned
I have two opinions about how this went down, first off I have plenty of other things to wait for and things to keep me busy on the portable scene not to keep up with the zero from update to update, hell I usually delete the emails from KS without reading them.
But from April - June and they are still fiddling around with the SE units? The SE units that had nothing to do with KS? I wonder if they used KS funds to help finish those units, but this whole ordeal has taught me a lesson.... that and also how horrible ouya is...
Theres tons of things I could be spending my money on (or saving for) I am officially done with these damn things. Only one I have hope for now is Skull Girls..... but still hasn't even hit Steam... let alone the DLC characters I paid for.
Is there a thread for KS and Indiegogo? We need to have like a supporters beware, because I have yet to see any group deliver when they say they will.
KodeAndGame
Member
Yeah I was very patient to begin with, I believe. What ticks me off is the dubiousness of the updates and the unapologetic nature in them. It's one thing to realize you were wrong and apologize for that and use that knowledge to set a realistic schedule. Instead he just snowballs his lies into other lies and it's become really tiresome.
I don't think he's lied outright (please correct me if I'm mistaken) -- it's more like he's had to learn about transparency. He wasn't transparent with the SE backers, and that's engendered quite a bit of buyers' remorse from just a handful of people. It seems like he's learned how to communicate with his customers throughout the Kickstarter project. He still needs to figure out humility and how to apologize, but there is only so much that he can be blamed for.
Most of the issues this project is running into are typical for a product that's moving from prototyping to manufacturing. I am not at all surprised that he's had issues like the kernel and D-pad, and I'm glad his team has been able to move past them and deliver a corrected product to customers. I expected delays since engineering brand new hardware from near-scratch is exceedingly difficult. I would rather he delay further and deliver a working product than have to deal with massive warranty issues right after release.
Yeah I am still trying to figure out what the big deal is...
OK, there are some delays... I am not naive enough to have believed there wouldn't be...
Everything else seems to be what I expected...
The only thing here that has truly surprised me is how Vitacat up and disappeared from anything and everything related to this...
OK, there are some delays... I am not naive enough to have believed there wouldn't be...
Everything else seems to be what I expected...
The only thing here that has truly surprised me is how Vitacat up and disappeared from anything and everything related to this...
I went back and double checked when He received the shipment. It was around May 15th. So in 6 weeks he's finished 120 units. That's a whopping 3 per day. We were promised a team of people flashing and sending out the units within a reasonable time, instead we're getting one guy working on it an hour or two a day and only if he feels like it.
Only a year and a half to go until everyone gets there's!
Only a year and a half to go until everyone gets there's!
KodeAndGame
Member
And that's why I think he's lied to us
WOW @ this whole fiasco!!!!!!!!
Was only mildly interested in this because of the emulation support but damn...seems like it's approaching vaporware levels.
I'll just buy an nvidia shield instead and suggest you guys do the same.
Was only mildly interested in this because of the emulation support but damn...seems like it's approaching vaporware levels.
I'll just buy an nvidia shield instead and suggest you guys do the same.
Shield has started to look appealing to me since it's a more powerful device with better controls, screen and sound. One of the RetroArch guys mentioned Nvidia sending them a project Shield kit, so they'll probably optimize that for the device which will mean a nice singular interface and pretty accurate emulation cores as well. I worry about Android sound lag issues though. Funny that the Shield got delayed as well, though it'll still probably be available before Kickstarter Zeros ship.
The Zero does have pocketable form factor over Nvidia's device, so I'll wait until I get mine and can see how good the emulation on it is myself before I think about the Shield more seriously. $300 is still quite pricey so I'd wait for a sale also.
zephervack
Member
Im still hopefull the guy wasnt lying, im dying for my zero, i just hope that once it gets here it actually works 
Fox Mulder
Member
The shield is like $300 though, and even they have had problems delivering it to market. If I'm going to buy a niche product that's going to fail at retail, I might as well spend as little as possible. You can also get a ps4 for $100 more.
I got an ouya fom gamestop and it's cheap as a roku and fills my emulator needs. I would be interested in this handheld too if it actually comes out around the same price. I'm glad I avoid all the headaches of kickstarter by ignoring it completely.
I don't mind paying $300 for a kick ass portable that
A)Has more power than any other portable device on the market
B)A nicer and bigger screen than the competion
C)Has built controls that mimics the design of one of the greatest controllers ever made(Xbox 360 controller)
E)Has HDMI out and the ability to play all your PC games via streaming...an excellent feature!
ThatCrazyGuy
Member
I just want my unit
I just want my unit
SE or KS unit?
ThatCrazyGuy
Member
My KS unit.
I'm starting to believe that vitacat was part if the project.
Wouldn't be surprised anyway
The shield runs Android. That's a huge problem if you're looking for smooth, stable performance in games.
Marty Chinn
Member
Ya he was advocating this hard. He was popping in other threads pushing it.
Black Door
Banned
Vitacat said:
lol, sure
Shipment of the SE units has been paused to exchange the dpads while the KS dpads will be upgraded by the factory. KS units will follow after all SE units have been shipped.
And no, Vitacat is unrelated to the project.
Noisepurge
Member
the Zero has a better screen for emulation than the Shield 
dät 4:3 aspect ratio!
dät 4:3 aspect ratio!I wonder. Does 4:3 aspect ratio correction look good on a 320x240 LCD? On higher resolutions you can use bilinear filtering or a shader like Pixelate (evens out pixels at non integer resolutions with minimal blur) to make it look good. Most of the videos I've seen of existing SNES or Genesis emulators on the Zero are running at pixel aspect, which means black bars on the top, bottom and sides for SNES, and just on the top and bottom for Genesis. Not sure how many of the existing emulators have aspect ratio correction options.the Zero has a better screen for emulation than the Shield
Many emulators support fullscreen and native resolutions. Scaling will become hardware accelerated when we start using the IPU included in the jz4770 chipset.
Hmm, sounds good. It'll probably be in a much better state software wise by the time people start getting KS units.
Trying to stay positive here... But if yet another promised date slips by, it's going to be hard to keep putting my faith in GCW.
Really they need better public relations, and communication in general. These kinds of delays do not surprise me, but the poorly written communication and unfulfilled promises do.
The PR/COO left (because of personal reasons), so there isn't much we can do about public statements made by Justin. He probably feels pressured into making a statement and he's the only one that can answer questions on Kickstarter and place updates.
Jack Videogames
Member
I'm tremendously disappointed to read all this because I really want to buy a nice retro-gaming console and I don't want a 7" behemoth - and you know how it is with chinese devices, you need to be extremely conscientious of what you buy (Never had any trouble with my Cubot M6589 cellphone though, save for the fact that some Kairosoft games work wonky and I can't get Horn to work)
Anyone knows of a good, cheap, retro handheld?
Anyone knows of a good, cheap, retro handheld?
Noisepurge
Member
Dingoo A320 still has a healthy scene. http://boards.dingoonity.org
Good build quality for the price and versatile features. Its the handheld the Zero wants to replace.
You can install a dualboot system with the original OS and Linux.
Dingoo A320 still has a healthy scene. http://boards.dingoonity.org
Good build quality for the price and versatile features. Its the handheld the Zero wants to replace.
You can install a dualboot system with the original OS and Linux.
Not to mention that this is the scene the GCW Zero originates from. Most developers are now working on GCW Zero ports. The system you can install as dual boot on the Dingoo A320, OpenDingux, is the same system that ships with the GCW Zero.
thechristoph
Sir!
Are you picking on SE units or Kickstarter units? SE units have shipped AFAIK.
The lack of a "we shipped all SE units" update makes me think otherwise.
No they haven't. He said that 120 of them are shipped a couple weeks ago and hasn't said a thing since.
Justin should halt the retail shipment until all of the SE and Kickstarter units are out. Realistically, this should only take a few days for his fulfillment contractors to QC and ship.
The silence is annoying.
EDIT: Speak of the devil. They've received the remaining SE and KS units.
The silence is annoying.
EDIT: Speak of the devil. They've received the remaining SE and KS units.
GCW as a company will not sell any retail units until all SE and KS units have been shipped.
God this dude is full of it. He keeps implying he might get them over to Europe in a way that will allow the EU backers to avoid paying the VAT. He has zero intention of doing that. Nobody should expect that anyway, yet he keeps on being vague on purpose.
I also like how this also implies that all the systems will be flashed by Sunday without specifically saying as such. Yeah right.
Edit: Also "We" will start flashing instead of "I" as it's clearly still just him.
Alright. You'll have to pardon my trepidation, given the Ithic post and Justin's silence until the update a moment ago.
Yeah, he probably needs to consult someone with experience getting product to the EU before saying anything else. As to the flashing, I thought he said he had fulfillment contractors set up to deal with this. I might have seen that on Dingoonity, I don't see any mention of it in the updates.