# History of video games/Platforms/GCW Zero
## History
### Development

GCW, short for "Game Consoles Worldwide", was a company based in Kansas City, and was started after it's creator got into the Dingoo A320 scene in November of 2009. After a false start in 2010, development began in earnest in 2011 when a new attempt was made, along with a company and a prototype. After having independently solicited preorders, Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign was launched in January 2013, which sought to raise $130,000 to create a console which would fill the role the Dingoo had in the previous generation. Backers who had pledged $125 or more received a unit. Though the console only raised $35,000 from backers 15 days before the end of the campaign, a surge of investment lead to the project raising $215,000 near the end of the campaign. Ultimately the campaign raised $238,498, allowing GCW to achieve an economy of scale and lower production costs below $100 per unit.

### Launch

The post campaign development suffered from delays, with initial units having been expected in March. The 2012 preorder consoles became the special edition consoles, and those were shipped around June 2013. the system was eventually released by September of 2013. Though the launch had supply issues, quality was kept high. The post-launch retail price of the system was $150, and was distributed by ThinkGeek.
GCW was at PAX Prime 2013 in late 2013 and had booth #6206.
Over the course of 2014 a small number of indie titles were released for the console. The machine was also commonly used for emulation of older game titles.
From December 22nd, 2015 to December 4th, 2019 GCW promoted official 3D printed multicolored button replacement parts through Shapeways.

## Technology

The system was based on an MIPS ISA Ingenic JZ4770 CPU clocked at 1 gigahertz. The GPU used in the GCW Zero was a Vivante GC860. The system shipped with 512 megabytes of DDR2 RAM, an increase from it's initial announcement of just 256 megabytes. The standard internal storage capacity was 16 gigabytes,, though the special edition consoles shipped with 32 gigabytes of internal storage instead. Initially only 8 gigabytes of internal storage were planned.
The GCW Zero ran the operating system OpenDingux, based on Linux 3.7, uClibc, and BusyBox.
The system had a LCD with a size of 3.5" and a resolution of 320 by 240 pixel screen, which was seen as low end at the time. The system also had a speaker and vibration motor.
The system had an accelerometer and microphone.
The system had a 2.4 gigahertz radio for Wi-Fi supporting b, g, and n.
A 2,200 mAh capacity rechargeable battery powered the system.

## Games

* Griffin Legend - Action RPG
* Sqrxz series - Ports

## Gallery

* A GCW Zero from the front.
* A GCW Zero from the bottom.
* A GCW Zero from the top, showing the AV ports.

## References

* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Open-source handhelds group test: GCW Zero review | Micromart". web.archive.org. 21 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150621050905/http://www.micromart.co.uk/gaming/group-test/1225/open-source-handhelds-group-test-gcw-zero-review.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "KC entrepreneur's game console tops $130k Kickstarter goal, nears $230k". Silicon Prairie News. 28 January 2013. https://siliconprairienews.com/2013/01/kc-entrepreneur-s-game-console-tops-130k-kickstarter-goal-nears-230k/.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "GCW Zero: Another Linux Game Console Attempt - Phoronix". www.phoronix.com. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTI3MzU.
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/gcwzero/status/296054967729524736" (in en). Twitter. https://twitter.com/gcwzero/status/296054967729524736.
* ↑ "FS GCW Zero Special Edition". AtariAge Forums. https://atariage.com/forums/topic/214171-fs-gcw-zero-special-edition/.
* 1 2 3 "Old-school gaming on the sly with the GCW Zero" (in en-CA). torontosun. https://www.torontosun.com/2014/01/14/old-school-gaming-on-the-sly-with-the-gcw-zero.
* ↑ "GCW Zero - An Open Source Gaming Console Built by Gamers for Gamers..." www.gcw-zero.com. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
* 1 2 3 4 5 "GCW Zero Starts Seeing New Game Releases - Phoronix". www.phoronix.com. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTg0NzQ.
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/gcwzero/status/679521948125282304" (in en). Twitter. https://twitter.com/gcwzero/status/679521948125282304.
* ↑ "https://twitter.com/gcwzero/status/1201570639448039424" (in en). Twitter. https://twitter.com/gcwzero/status/1201570639448039424.
* ↑ "Meet GCW-Zero, a Linux-based, open-source gaming handheld" (in english). Destructoid. https://www.destructoid.com/stories/meet-gcw-zero-a-linux-based-open-source-gaming-handheld-243609.phtml.
* ↑ "GCW Zero Special Edition - 32 gig internal 64 sd card included as well | Dingoonity.org - The Dingoo Community". boards.dingoonity.org. https://boards.dingoonity.org/gcw-general/gcw-zero-special-edition-32-gig-internal-64-sd-card-included-as-well/.
* 1 2 3 4 "GCW Zero - An Open Source Gaming Console Built by Gamers for Gamers..." www.gcw-zero.com. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
* ↑ "GCW Zero - An Open Source Gaming Console Built by Gamers for Gamers...". www.gcw-zero.com. http://www.gcw-zero.com/news.php?id=2.
* ↑ "GCW Zero - An Open Source Gaming Console Built by Gamers for Gamers...". www.gcw-zero.com. http://www.gcw-zero.com/news.php?id=4.