Cheapest portable device to play ScummVM games on?

spookypeanut · Post by **spookypeanut** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 11:02 am

Been lurking for ages, and now have 12 ScummVM games. I also have two and a half hours of train journey every day, so I'm looking into getting a portable device to play all my wonderful games on. Since that is (in the first instance) the main use of the device, I'm looking for the cheapest one possible. I can get a PSP for £150 (280 USD), but is there any other device that is cheaper? And what is the playability like on these portable devices?

Adventureguy · Post by **Adventureguy** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:47 pm

Well, I bought myself a Pocket PC to play ScummVM games. How much a PDA costs depends on how old the device is, what functions it has (e.g. GPS navigation) and such. I bought me a Pocket PC capable of being a GPS navigation system, too, because that way my Pocket PC can do more than just help me write documents or playing ScummVM, but it's your choice what you need or don't if you buy one. With some devices which have a screen size of 640x480, you can e.g. play Curse of Monkey Island in fullscreen. A Palm would also go for playing ScummVM, but I don't know much about the different Palm versions.

I've also heard that cell phones with a SymbianOS are capable to emulate ScummVM, though not every game (e.g. MI3, BS1, BS2, etc.). Don't know how it works because I don't have a Symbian cell phone.

And last but not least there's also the new Nintendo DS port, but it doesn't support all ScummVM games, especially 640x480 games like MI3, BS1, BS2, etc.

Or maybe you just get yourself a PSP, if it's worth the price for you. I think they are a bit too expensive for myself.

slake_jones · Post by **slake_jones** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 11:28 am

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there is a way to play homebrew games on a PSP with firmware version 2.80. If you want to get a PSP you will need to make sure it has an older firmware version.

I don't know what the newest version of the firmware is that you can play homebrew games on.

Tom.

Anotherguest · Post by **Anotherguest** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 2:25 pm

If you don't want to shell out a lot of cash, don't have an urge to play the 640x480 games , then an older UIQ2.1 device is quite nice, since it has the pen input. I guess you can get a Moto A92x, A1000,SE P800, P9xx rather cheaply these days.

But I guess any pocket pc or palm device is also ok, but I would guess Pocket PC has an easier use compared to Palm. But I might be wrong.

agentq · Post by **agentq** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 3:08 pm

The DS version is probably the cheapest way to get ScummVM on a portable device, and plays very well as long as you don't want want to play the 640x480 games, or The Dig/Full Throttle.

Taking a look on the web, a PocketPC is much much more expensive than a DS.

fingolfin · Post by **fingolfin** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 4:17 pm

Are you sure about that? At least over here in Germany, you can get *very* cheap older (used) PocketPCs, e.g. via ebay, capable of running ScummVM. OTOH, for the Nintendo DS, as I understand you also need to buy some extra stuff in order to use ScummVM with it, don't you? In that case, you'd have to add the price for these things if you want to make a fair comparision.

That said, I don't own *any* portable device capable of running ScummVM, and am not really biased towards any... I.e. maybe the playing experience is much better on the DS (or any of the others), no idea.

For my part, I'd be happy to compare the DS, PSP, Palm and PocketPC versions, if somebody is willing to donate the hardware to me *ggg*

agentq · Post by **agentq** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:09 pm

Well, if you're willing to go second hand, you can get a used DS lite for about £40, and I'm sure the screen and battery life would be better than an older Pocket PC.

You do need extra stuff though, you could probably get a CF card reader for the DS and CF card for another £40.

corpse · Post by **corpse** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:12 am

You could, also consider the gp2x, the last time I looked into this had resonable scummvm cover. This will cost you £124.99 from http://gp2x.co.uk/ordergp2x.html. The gp2x aslo supports many other games and ports, its wellworth looking into.

spookypeanut · Post by **spookypeanut** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 4:15 pm

Wow, thanks for all the replies!

That's a bummer about the firmware on the psp... anyone know if there's any way to downgrade firmware? Will have to google it. Did Sony specifically block homebrew games then?

I would ideally like to be able to play all the games I have, which includes mi3 and ft and dig, but will look into everything. £80 for DS + reader sounds reasonable, will check ebay to see. Why do the dig and ft not work on DS? As for that gp2x that corpse mentioned, it looks nice, but I've never heard of it... will have to check out some reviews.

Cheers people!

slake_jones · Post by **slake_jones** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:11 pm

Sorry about the late reply. As far as I am aware Sony have deliberately stopped homebrew games.

I don't think its possible to downgrade the firmare but its worth looking into. Another thing to look into is the GTA game had an exploit that can allow you to play homebrew games. I heard they fixed it so you would need to get an old copy. I also don't now if Sony has stopped it in new versions of the firmware, as far as I am aware, it works on all vesions but its worth checking first.

As for the other plantforms, I can't really help there. Most people I know say that the DS is a better console (I have a PSP persionally) and there are more/better games for it. In this way, it could be a good investment as you could play other games as well.

I hope this helps,

Tom.

agentq · Post by **agentq** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 9:12 am

The GP2X seems like a great little device, and I'm very tempted to get one for myself. It most likely has the power to play every ScummVM game, but lacks a touch screen for control, which is a shame. Also, there aren't really commercial games for it in any quantity, so it would be a homebrew-only device. On the other hand, it seems like it has a very active community and plays videos better than the PSP does.

The Dig and FT don't work on DS primarily because it only has 4Mb of RAM, and other reasons.

cappuchok · Post by **cappuchok** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 10:19 am

agentq wrote:The GP2X seems like a great little device, and I'm very tempted to get one for myself. It most likely has the power to play every ScummVM game, but lacks a touch screen for control, which is a shame. Also, there aren't really commercial games for it in any quantity, so it would be a homebrew-only device. On the other hand, it seems like it has a very active community and plays videos better than the PSP does.

The Dig and FT don't work on DS primarily because it only has 4Mb of RAM, and other reasons.

Continuing the GP2X line of thought, is there any word on the quality/open-ness of the XGP? The GP2X has reportedly been the subject of some complaints regarding their failure to comply with the GPL and their addition of DRM to the device.

slake_jones · Post by **slake_jones** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 11:23 am

I have just been informed that, as of four days ago, the 1.71 version of the PSP firmware can now play homebrew games. I don't know where to find this info though.

Hope this is useful.

Tom.

Shenmue_Saga · Post by **Shenmue_Saga** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 2:46 pm

slake_jones wrote:I have just been informed that, as of four days ago, the 1.71 version of the PSP firmware can now play homebrew games. I don't know where to find this info though.

Hope this is useful.

Tom.

Firmware 1.71 doesn't exist, you mean 2.71 right? also you can do a downgrade to 1.50 if you have a 2.71 and if you don't have a TA82 board.

Muncher666 · Post by **Muncher666** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 4:39 pm

cappuchok wrote: Continuing the GP2X line of thought, is there any word on the quality/open-ness of the XGP? The GP2X has reportedly been the subject of some complaints regarding their failure to comply with the GPL and their addition of DRM to the device.

The GP2x has had problems with the third party software developers screwing them around code wise - not to mention the people who make the core they are using are only 98% open about their hardware, they refuse to let out the methods they use to decode Mpeg4 (due to an agreement with DivX Networks) on the second processor the 2x has. Still, every passing day brings us closer to unlocking the second processor's full potential. In short though, the gp2x is now actually fully GPL compliant. As for the DRM stuff, it's not actually DRM - the translation of something about copy protection for the relatively few commercial games the 2x has is what they are talking about, and someone thought it would be a good idea to translate this (ie; from Korean to English) as DRM. And the panic ensued.

Seriously, the 2X is a wonderful little device to play ScummVM on. I highly recommend giving it a go. I honestly have never had any problems with it that go past the niggle stage.

Allan.