It's great being able to tote along all of my favorite C64 games with me where ever I go.

I was tidying up a few things around the computer room and uncovered my GP2X Linux gaming console. I haven't used it for a while, but now that I've “rescued” it, time to play some C64 games!

Because it's Linux based, and open source, there was quite a bit of community development done for the GP2X. Most importantly, at least for me, was getting VICE running on it. This was one of main reasons I bought the GP2X - Commodore 64 emulation! I really enjoy being able to play all of my favorite C64 games in the palm of my hand.

Although the GP2X also has other emulators ported for it, like MAME, Sega Genesis, Turbo Grafx, Atari, and NES, not to mention all of the native games created for it - I still mainly use it to play my C64 and Intellivision games.

In the photo above, you can see me enjoying a round of Bruce Lee, in all of it's C64 goodness. As emulation goes, the ones ported for the GP2X are pretty good. The sounds and game play stay pretty true and authentic. Even the Sega Genesis games sound very close to the way they sound on the actual console. No out of tune Sonic soundtrack for the GP2X! And the C64 SID emulation sounds really good, too.

One of the really cool features of the GP2X is that you can hook it up to a T.V. to play the games on the “big screen”, which makes it better than any all-in-one gaming device you'll ever find out on the market today. The real unfortunate thing about it is, it's no longer being produced, as far as I know. I don't even see old GP2X units showing up in eBay. So, they are a real treasure for retro gamers, like myself, who would like to have a portable console emulator to carry around with them.

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