Hando's Interview

 

Hando's gp32 site is www.gp32x.com.

 

Hooka: When did you get your gp32?

 

Hando: It was around May 2002. I got mine from Lik-Sang.com.

 

Hooka: Did you open gp32x.com before or after you got it?

 

Hando: It was a few weeks after I got it.

 

Hooka: What made you want to get one?

 

Hando: Actually I wanted to buy a GBA with flash stuff ;) and when browsing Lik-Sang.com product pages I found info about GP32. Then I started searching information about Gp32 and found info about Wolfenstein port, Descent WIP. I realized that this console has a great potential and there would be a lot of emulators for it in the future. Anyway it was really a tough decision to make :) but finally I decided to buy GP32 and I haven't ever regretted this decision.

 

Hooka: How long has gp32x.com been open now?

 

Hando: For 2 years :)

 

Hooka: How long has your other site www.emu.pl been open?

 

Hando: I started emu.pl on 01 March 1998 so it is 6 years old now :)

 

Hooka: Do you have any other websites?

 

Hando: There are a few websites I am involved in but nothing particular and worth of mentioning :)

 

Hooka: Was it a change having gp32x in English compared to emu.pl being in Polish?

 

Hando: Yeah, very big! Polish is my native language so it is not a problem to write news in polish :) Writing news in English was and still is kind of difficult for me as I don't use English in Poland at all and the last time I used it was like 12 years ago for only 3 weeks :) But I am improving every time I write news and now I hope I don't make as many errors as at the beginning :)

 

Hooka: How did you wind up hosting GPengine? (An excellent project if you ask me, it's the reason I finally saved enough money for my gp32, well it, Doom and the other Emu's, but it was one of those really high up ones ;) )

 

Hando: It was actually Black who asked me if I would like to host a cool project :) (he didn't tell me that it was going to be a PC Engine emulator) but I agreed and this is how it all started :)

 

Hooka: I remember when you were first looking for GP32 X-treme members, how did that work out? I've kinda noticed EvilDragon and you are the only ones posting news anymore ;)

 

Hando: Every time I post such news a lot of people send me emails asking about joining XTeam. It is actually the only way I can find people for a news writer position. Sometimes it works sometimes not. Xteam doesn't only mean news writing. Most of us are mainly moderating board, so this is the reason that mostly Evil Dragon and I are writing the news.

 

Hooka: Who are the current members of the gp32 X-treme team?

 

Hando: Here is list of people straight from database but most of them are not active: Meonlyeviler, Evil_Cartman, EvilDragon, akumajo, hardcoregp, GeneralNMX, Axeman, and Rico. Some of them just moderate boards, some like EvilDragon and me write news and moderate.

 

Hooka: Did you ever expect your site to get as much traffic as it does?

 

Hando: Actually no, but I assumed that it can be high.

 

Hooka: Is it hard to keep up with the gp32scene news sometimes?

 

Hando: The only problem is when I have to go to another city or country (like now I am in Hong Kong and I am still waiting for an Internet connection in my apartment :). I try to check news when it is possible but sometimes it is hard so this is why I need people to update the news section.

 

Hooka: Do you code at all? If yes, what have you coded?

 

Hando: Not at all. I mainly do web stuff like php/msql coding but it is not real coding like C++.

 

Hooka: What are some of your favorite games that are emulatable on the gp32?

 

Hando: Streets of Rage 1,2,3 for Genesis. Final Fantasy 3, GunNac and few others for Nes, Rtype 1 for PC Engine, Fred, Draconus and Zybex for Atari 8bit. I play a lot of games I really enjoy so this is very hard to choose only a few games : )

 

Hooka: What is your favorite homebrew game?

 

Hando: I like Asteroids by Giffel very much. I like a lot of other PD games but this one is always on my SMC.

 

Hooka: What is your favorite game port?

 

Hando: Without any doubts Scumm port :)

 

Hooka: What is your favorite actual gp32 game?

 

Hando: Her Knights and Pinball Dreams.

 

Hooka: For the future what projects can't you wait to be finished?

 

Hando: I have so many ideas all the time :) but not too much time and actually I don't know for now which project I will realize first :)

 

Hooka: What new projects are you hoping will eventually be made?

 

Hando: I’m thinking about Demo coding competition. No games, no emulators only demonstrations :) It is actually the idea I am working on currently.

 

Hooka: How long do you think the gp32 will be around?

 

Hando: I think that Gp32 will share Dreamcast fate. No commercial releases but the Scene will last long :)

 

Hooka: Do you think the gp32 chatboard will become a common add-on for the gp32?

 

Hando: It depends. If there would be more software with chatboard support than more people will buy chatboards :) I haven't got any yet.

 

Hooka: What do you think about the 32/64 MB mod's by Robster?

 

Hando: It is nice that there is a possibility of increasing the memory but I think it is rather for geeks :) There is actually no useful software using 32/64 MB of memory for the moment and I don't think we will see too many of them. But still it is good to have such a possibility for future. Maybe next Snes emulator version will support 32/64 MB mod to allow playing big games like Tales of Phantasia :)

 

Hooka: Thanks for your time, If you feel I missed anything or you would like to add anything feel free to do so!

 

Hando: Long live GP32 :)

 

Hooka: Have a Good Day!

 

Hando: Thanks. Bye.

 

Thank you Hando for doing this interview!

 

*Interview finished 10/06/04*