Games - GameKing

	Games - GameKing

The GameKing 8-bit handheld game console has been made by the Chinese company TimeTop since 2003. It is based around a 65C02 CPU running at 6.0 MHz and exists in two variations, the original GameKing and the GameKing II, with mostly aesthetic and ergonomic differences.

The consoles have above-average sound circuitry capable of multi-channel music and digital sound playback but has quite inexplicably been equipped with an incredibly poor quality black and white LCD screen, only supporting four shades of grey and having a very low (48 by 32 pixels) resolution, combined with a slow refresh rate, poor readability and adjustments, compared to the original Game Boy.

The quality of its games, graphics wise, can be compared to some of the best built-in cell phone games (excluding Java games), while their playing speed (scrolling etc.) and audio is far superior to those found on cell phones (multi-channel music and digitized samples and voices are quite common in GameKing games).

Models and features

GameKing "I"

More precisely, the original GameKing console is fashioned to look like the Game Boy Advance and comes in a wide array of vivid pastel colours, either opaque or transparent, and uses 2 AAA size batteries. The original GameKing lacks a backlit screen, a feature which has been added in its "successor", the GameKing II.

GameKing II

The GameKing II on the other hand is fashioned to look like the Sony PSP, comes in more sober colours (either black, grey , white or aqua - but yellow ones do exist), and uses 3 AAA size batteries, of which only 2 are used to actually power up the GameKing's hardware, while the third one serves to power up both its built-in audio amplifier (a bit more powerful than the one on the original GameKing) and its backlit LCD screen (which can be turned on and off at will, depending on external lighting conditions, thus saving power). The unit can still work with 2 batteries, only with no sound and no backlighting avaiable.

Also, the GameKing II has a fixed color background picture for its LCD screen, only visible when the backlighting is switched on. This is probably to give the false impression of having a colour LCD screen, as implied on its box.

The picture may vary between various GameKing models, however it has a mostly negative effect on screen readability when the backlighting is turned on.

This background picture can also be removed or replaced simply by opening the machine and removing the small plastic transparency behind the LCD. Removing it makes using the backlighting much more effective. Notes: Likewise with the GK, no page exists for the GKII, but the chinese site stills lists the machine.

GK "I" vs. GK II

The two models are however fully hardware compatible, can use the same games/cartridges, both have volume and contrast controls and use the same LCD screen. Also, they both have an external DC power supply 3.5mm minijack plug, which however isn't labelled as one, and its function is only slightly hinted at in the units' manuals. The GameKing requires 3V DC, while the GameKing2 requires 4.5V DC with the peculiarity of needing to keep at least a battery in order to have sound and backlighting.

Game Star

The Game Star, manufactured by seems to be based on Game King II hardware. As it's possible to see from on the Chinese version of the site, it looks distinctly like an original-format Gizmondo. Significant changes:

There is no card slot. Game King carts will not run on this unit.
It runs off 2 AA batteries. There is no option to turn off the LCD backlighting.
Sound is controlled by a button, that cycles between 3 sound levels and silent. There is also a headphone jack, that isn't affected by this setting - but it is very loud.
The games included are modified copies of original GameKing games: CS-I(Soldier), 2005, Risk King(Carlo). All feature a new "character select" option.
The Connect Line lets two persons link their Game Star consoles to "fight each other".
When the machine goes into standby, the backlight remains on.
Start Button is named S/P. There is no Select button.

Game Star linking procedure

According to the manual this is the procedure to initiate a successful link: Connect both machines. Pick identical games and press S/P. Both machines shall make a sound. Press S/P again to enter the game. 1P will be the first to press the button.

GameKing III

Timetop has also released -or plans to release- a third Gameking machine, called the 'GameKing III'. Although accurate technical information is hard to obtain, it seems to be a handheld console using a 64-colour (or grey shades) LCD or TFT screen, although little else is known about it.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for GameKing ]

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