*I was just going to tack this on to my last blog, but then I just started going on and on, so made a new one.*

Well I retract what I said about GS2x Wiz, it does look like it could be a more indie friendly and actual competitor for Nintendo's DS.

At first it seemed like it may be tricky to work with, what with me disliking complicated mess that true hard-core/in-depth programing can create. One of the reasons I like GM was how it packaged everything so nicely.

With a bit more attention and research, I found a nice replacement in general for GM, GLbasic. Unfortunately you have to pay for it much like GM, and it cost a little more, however unlike GM its designed to port to many different platforms.

I've downloaded the demo to play with, I'll get back to you all on how it played out or you can check it out yourself.

Also I did a little more looking into OLEDs and found that you can get some rather cheaply ($20 at the lowest), however not quite the resolutions I'd like, typically cell phone like resolutions. Arduino also looks like it could be used to make your own portable system ranging somewhere between Gameboy color and advance.

I've seen a few DIY home brew console, but those seem to be targeting serious programmers…but so does the Arduino. Otherwise they'd be fun for learning how to make your own electronics.

Anyways, with the discovery of some cheap OLEDs, coupled with a possible single board computer under $60, it seems a little more possible to make a decent handheld for near or less then a DS or GP2X Wiz. Possibly…if you make your own case and find cheap buttons/joystick/ect.

One catch is that the distributor of the single board computer may not support the low resolutions the OLEDs provide.

So for OLED screens, you can find them at 4D Systems, found at http://www.4dsystems.com.au/

They seem rather nice for the price, given that a lot of alternative LCD screens, despite being small, are in the $100-100s range.

http://www.compulab.co.il/ Is where I found a cheap all-in-one single board computer. CMX300 I believe its called, but you need to pay a little extra for extra bells and whistles.

So couple these things together, using GLBasic, DamnSmallLinux, you can potentially make your own hand held system. Cut cost lower by just having AV jacks and no LCD to create a game console. This may interest me more than some of you, but its something I always wanted to toy with.