Commodore Amiga 1200 & AGA

[TL]

There wasn't a thread for the 32-bit AGA version of the Commodore Amiga so I thought I would start one.

[move:12edoh32][size=280]Amiga Rulez Supreme.....greetings go to Zapiy, TrekMD, Lorfarius, Shadowrunner, AmigaJay, Greyfox, RetroText, WiggyDiggyPoo and all the great members of the RETRO VIDEO GAMER FORUM.. [/size][/move:12edoh32]

[DreamcastRIP]

That advert makes for interesting reading - Commodore UK were offering a £200 discount on the CDTV if folk traded in their Amiga 500. I'm guessing that was an early tactic to try shifting stock given that the CDTV was a commercial flop, afaik.

[Katzkatz]

The A1200 did get criticised(and quite correctly in my view) for not being up to technical scratch, namely, having a 68020 instead of 68030, not having a high density floppy drive like the PCs of that era(that would come late in add-on drives) and not featuring a DSP and beefed-up soundchip.  Compared to the Falcon it was underpowered.

The A4000 also got criticised for being underpowered.  It first got released with a 68EC030(cut down version of 68030 without a Memory Management Unit) and later on got the 68040.  It also featured an IDE interface instead of SCSI(ironically found in the older model A3000).

Never the less, despite these faults, the machines sold fairly well(even the CD32 - just look at that in comparison to the CDTV) and were Commodore's last success before filing for bankruptcy. 

[DreamcastRIP]

Fascinating to learn of how the A1200 was commonly received at the time relative to the Atari Falcon. I'd started to drift away from the gaming 'scene' a little by late-'92/'93 so my memory of such things is sketchy at best so many thanks for sharing that, Katzkatz. I guess the relative strength of the Amiga brand helped sell the computer though as, afaik, it certainly was a greater commercial success than the Falcon was... albeit not in the same league of success as the ST and Amiga 500 were.

[guest4724]

I loved my 1200. Sold my A500 and strolled into the local computer shop with the cash. Was pissed off to find that all I got was the A1200 - and NO software  :21:

[Katzkatz]

I loved my 1200. Sold my A500 and strolled into the local computer shop with the cash. Was pissed off to find that all I got was the A1200 - and NO software  :21:

Ahhh - the infamous incompatibility problems with Kickstart 3.1.  To be fair, there were problems with the A500 Plus and A600 with Kickstart 2.05.  It was one of the reasons that third part add-ons like ROM switchers became available for the A1200 to help solve this problem. 

Ironically, if you get an A1200 now, and install a CF card via the IDE interface, you can use WHDLoad to run games quite easily. 

On the plus side for the AGA machines, they did get some(perhaps not massive) support from the software developers to produce AGA versions of games.  A few games got upgraded to AGA status, like Zool 2 and Civilization.  If you had a CDROM drive then you could also make use of the upgraded games for the CD32. 

[DreamcastRIP]

If you had a CDROM drive then you could also make use of the upgraded games for the CD32.

I'm guessing not all Amiga CD32 games though? A minority of CD32 games utlised the console's Akiko chip that, afaik, the A1200 didn't have.

[Katzkatz]

If you had a CDROM drive then you could also make use of the upgraded games for the CD32.

I'm guessing not all Amiga CD32 games though? A minority of CD32 games utlised the console's Akiko chip that, afaik, the A1200 didn't have.

I think the Akiko chip had some sort of specialised graphics mode(quasi 3D - I think) that caused some compatibility problems.  It was however, rarely used - so I think the list of games that didn't work on an A1200(with a CDROM) was quite small. 

[Rogue Trooper]

Think only Wing Commander used the Akiko chip for the chunkytoplanar stuff to get game running at decent speed, might have been a few more, but it never saw the wealth of  planned PC-Amiga conversion CBM hoped it'd make possible it seems.


AmigaJay could answer this far, far better than i could, but:

My (limited) understanding of the Akiko chip was that it was used to 'handle' data coming from the CD drive, had the functions of the CIA chips found in other Amiga and did the Chunky/Planar stuff.

Chunky and Planar 2 different methods of storing screen in memory or something, Chunky used for 3D games, Planar for scrolling games and my understanding always been that , whilst the Amiga was idea for scrolling shoot-em-up's, platformers etc, things like Doom (2.5D FPS) games were always a nightmare on the hardware and the Akiko designed to help produce such games...

Hopefully some of that is along right lines.


Had an A1200, loved it (knackered the HDD somehow mind), but it never really seemed to offer much more than A500 games in 256 colours and better sound in some games, but then that could be due to more memory for all i know.


Picked mine up dead cheap years after owning things like MD+MCD.



Desert Strike sounded bloody superb on it, that's all i cared about back then.

Quick search threw up the A1200 Squirrel PCMCIA SCSI Adaptor, which had an external SCSI CD drive that used custom emulation to trick games into thinking the A1200 had the Akiko chip+1K save game flash Ram, but results were mixed.

[Rogue Trooper]

The A1200 did get criticised(and quite correctly in my view) for not being up to technical scratch, namely, having a 68020 instead of 68030, not having a high density floppy drive like the PCs of that era(that would come late in add-on drives) and not featuring a DSP and beefed-up soundchip.  Compared to the Falcon it was underpowered.

The A4000 also got criticised for being underpowered.  It first got released with a 68EC030(cut down version of 68030 without a Memory Management Unit) and later on got the 68040.  It also featured an IDE interface instead of SCSI(ironically found in the older model A3000).

Never the less, despite these faults, the machines sold fairly well(even the CD32 - just look at that in comparison to the CDTV) and were Commodore's last success before filing for bankruptcy.

Mentioned it before and hope Laird will find and put up the article from it, but i was gobsmacked going through the mag scans of C.U Amiga to see the A1200 being slagged and the Falcon praised....in many areas from technical point of view, wonder how different things would have been, had the Falcon hardware been in hands of CBM....

[Katzkatz]

The A1200 did get criticised(and quite correctly in my view) for not being up to technical scratch, namely, having a 68020 instead of 68030, not having a high density floppy drive like the PCs of that era(that would come late in add-on drives) and not featuring a DSP and beefed-up soundchip.  Compared to the Falcon it was underpowered.

The A4000 also got criticised for being underpowered.  It first got released with a 68EC030(cut down version of 68030 without a Memory Management Unit) and later on got the 68040.  It also featured an IDE interface instead of SCSI(ironically found in the older model A3000).


Never the less, despite these faults, the machines sold fairly well(even the CD32 - just look at that in comparison to the CDTV) and were Commodore's last success before filing for bankruptcy.

Mentioned it before and hope Laird will find and put up the article from it, but i was gobsmacked going through the mag scans of C.U Amiga to see the A1200 being slagged and the Falcon praised....in many areas from technical point of view, wonder how different things would have been, had the Falcon hardware been in hands of CBM....

The 68020 was considered a bit outdated in 1992.  The 68040 was Motorola's new chip on the block and it was speculated that a new updated entry level Amiga would have at least a 68030.  Likewise with the Amiga's soundchip, whilst it was impressive in 1986,  by 1992 other computers were getting more channels and installing a DSP(the Mac and the Falcon).  Those were some of the big talking points in the Amiga press before the AGA machines got released. 

[DreamcastRIP]

£299 for a CD-ROM drive!

[Rogue Trooper]

£299 for a CD-ROM drive!

And CBM mocked the MCD as poor VFM at £270 for a stand alone CD unit (but one which had custom sound+graphics chips etc on).

[AmigaJay]

£299 for a CD-ROM drive!

And CBM mocked the MCD as poor VFM at £270 for a stand alone CD unit (but one which had custom sound+graphics chips etc on).

Wasnt just Commodore ripping people off, in 1992 the average PC-CDROM drive was $400 (£300 in UK).

And C: mocked the £280 for an add on that needed a £130 MD to use it with totalling £410.

[Rogue Trooper]

£299 for a CD-ROM drive!

And CBM mocked the MCD as poor VFM at £270 for a stand alone CD unit (but one which had custom sound+graphics chips etc on).

Wasnt just Commodore ripping people off, in 1992 the average PC-CDROM drive was $400 (£300 in UK).

And C: mocked the £280 for an add on that needed a £130 MD to use it with totalling £410.

Shop Smart..shop S-Mart!

Basically CBM had a black pot, Sega a black kettle, both wanted you to pay a small fortune for them.