Okay Geek Farm
GP2X Caanoo MAME/console emulator review
Jason Tsay
When the term “portable game console” comes up you probably think about the PSP or the Nintendo DS. Today, we’re going to be taking a look at something a little different: the GP2X Caanoo. This portable handheld is a console emulator device capable of playing games from the Commodore 64, NES, SNES, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, and NeoGeo, just to name a few. How’s it feel to take or retro titles on the road?
Features
- Can emulate different old computer systems, arcade games and retro gaming consoles
- Emulation software available for: MAME, Gameboy, NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, NeoGeo, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, Atari 7800, Colecovision and more
- thumbstick on the left with 4 buttons on the right and two shoulder buttons on the top
- Runs Linux
- ARM9 533MHz processor (overclockable to 800MHz), H/W 3D Accelerator
- 3.5” QVGA OLED touchscreen with removable stylus
- Buit-in 2000mAh Lithium Polymer Battery runs the system for up to 7 hours
Our Impressions
The GP2X Caanoo comes in a fairly nice cardboard box with several images of the console as well as some features. Inside, you will find the Caanoo, a 4GB SD card, extra stylus, USB cable, and wrist strap.
The device itself is actually surprisingly well built. It’s no iPhone but none of the plastic bits felt like they were going to fall off. As far as size goes, it’s a tad narrower than a PSP (standard one, not the Go) and should definitely be able to fit in a pocket. On the front side, you’ll find a rubberized joystick and two buttons to the left as well as A,B,X,Y and a home button on the right. A tiny microphone hole is placed between the circular buttons and the home button. On the top side, you get two depressed shoulder buttons an SD card slot, and volume slider. The right side features a PSP-like on/hold switch while the left side has a large indicator light. On the bottom, you’ll find the proprietary charging port, USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The lower right hand corner conceals a stylus for use with the 3.5” QVGA OLED resistive touchscreen. That just about sums it up for the exterior – it’s not the best looking device we’ve ever seen but should serve its purpose well enough.
After letting the 2000 mAh battery leech off of our USB port for a while, we fired up the device and were greeted by a fairly simple interface. Using the joystick, we cycled through menus for games, apps, e-books, photos, explorer (file manager), movies, and music. The 533 MHz ARM9 processor certainly did not show any lag during usage and is capable of overclocking to 800 MHz in the occasion that you need it for a particularly intensive game. Everything loaded quickly and the GP2X delivered us to our desired games with minimal waiting times. The controls are fairly versatile and work just fine for a variety of games and emulators. We suppose the joystick could have been slightly better but we do appreciate the fact that it is an actual joystick and not the strange sliding pad on the PSP.
Now the SD card comes preloaded with a couple of games, none of which are particularly interesting or amusing to us. But once you go online and grab a couple of emulators and ROMs, that’s when things start to get exciting. We tried out a Gameboy emulator and were able to relive a couple of older Pokemon games. But that was just the beginning. We went on to test out some more emulators and an arcade machine as well. After getting so used to modern smartphone games and super advanced console games, it was nice to rewind and play games such as Superman, Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, and Street Fighter.
Overall
The GP2X Caanoo is not something we can recommend to everyone. As a matter of fact, the $170 price tag may seem a bit steep to most buyers. However, for what it’s meant to do, the Caanoo does an excellent job; those looking for a dedicated emulation device will find it a joy to use.
Pro’s
- Plays classic games
- Snappy and fluid performance
- Solid and robust hardware
Con’s
- Not cheap
Where to buy
MSRP: $169.99
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This review was done by Jason Tsay, who was provided the GP2X Caanoo by Think Geek.
