I have some spending money after selling a few items and looking to add either one to my collection. Eventually, I'll own both (along w/ a Wondermega, PC Engine LT, and Navi HiSaturn, but that's a different story). For now, I have enough to buy one. I was wondering what everyone would choose and why? Side note, I live in NTSC land (US). Thanks!
There isn't really any reason to own a SuperGrafx unless its 6 (or rather 5) exclusives are games you're desperate to play, whereas the CD32 is essentially an Amiga 1200 with a CD drive, minus a floppy drive, keyboard, and mouse - but there are addons available (both from back in the day, and modern ones) that will let you use all those. It'll play pretty much every Amiga game you want to play from the 500/1000 era all the way up to the end of Commodore, unless for whatever reason you want to try Amiga Quake, since I don't know if any of the current crop of Amiga accelerators are compatible with the CD32.
I did the whole Marie Kondo thing with my consoles last year - if it sparked joy, I kept it. My Amiga 500 (upgraded with ACA500+) was one I kept; late 80s/early 90s Amiga is an incredible game library. Silkworm, Hybris, SSI advanced D&D series, pinball, Indy 500, anything by Geoff Crammond (stunt car racer and F1GP), Prince of Persia... the list goes on The polygon racing games are particularly better in NTSC Amiga mode because you get a couple extra FPS (which makes a big difference if the default is like 8 )
I don't really know anything about the Amiga CD32 but I think DeChief makes a good point about the SuperGrafx. Only a handful of games. But it also depends on other things. If you don't already have a PC-Engine system of some kind I'd definitely go for the SGX over the Amiga. But I doubt that is the case. But if you're a really big PC-Engine fan the SGX can be very appealing as the ultimate version of the console to have. SGX + Super CD + Arcade Card and no game is off limits. The downside though if you're adding the SGX to an existing PCE collection is if you require a RGB video mod or CD-ROM addon for it. But if you were just going to have the SGX to do SGX games maybe it works for you. So I would say unless you're an extreme PCE fan I would get the Amiga CD32 first. And again I don't really know anything about it. But it's got to have more than just a handful of games to play. And you said you'd get the SGX later anyway.
Yes that's true, I forgot that the SuperGrafx can play all PC Engine games. So if you don't already have a PC Engine then yes, get a SuperGrafx like MottZilla said.
I wrote the CD32 guide for racketboy, and as a huge amiga fan living in the US, let me suggest an Amiga 1200 over a CD32. I'm not sure what type of display you intend to connect to, but getting a CD32 working in the US is a pain unless you're using a PAL->NTSC converter. And, be aware, if you're buying one of those NTSC CD32 units off of ebay, that the vast, vast majority of software has problems with it, even in 60 hz mode. You are really going to want a PAL unit, especially if you plan on using something like the SX-1 to expand your CD32. Speaking of the SX-1, it's pricey, even if it's not as much as the much more expensive SX-32. And in the end, all you'll be doing is paying a lot of money to inch closer to an A1200 anyways. Consider all the extra costs -- if you want to use a gotek floppy drive emulator, for example, you're gonna need to hack up a custom serial cable. Or if you want to use a CF kit, you'll need to rig up a different PSU, which is not that easy to do. The CD32 PSU is awful. Want to use a keyboard? You'll need a special PS/2->Amiga4000 converter, which also cost some cash. Consider that you'll have no PCMCIA expansion, even with an SX-1. Consider that your ram upgrading options will be much lesser. Consider that any sort of accelerator board options are nill. The A1200 is a way, way smarter option these days. You can nab an indivision scan doubler/flicker fixer from amigakit and install it in your A1200 and bam -- never have to worry about PAL->NTSC bullcrap again. I have a tricked out CD32, trust me I know they are pretty cool kits. But an A1200 is way, way more economic and can do much more in the long run.
Thanks for the input. Although I don't know much about the A1200, it definitely sounds like the A1200 is the way to go. But I'm more interested in consoles and don't really plan on diving into the Amiga library. At most, I plan on buying a handful of affordable "good" games. And I don't plan on buying games that require the use of a keyboard. I actually sold most of my accessories, including the keyboard for the Dreamcast, from all my consoles. I suppose you could say I'm more of a console collector than an actual gamer.
Yes, but the Amiga is a computer at heart, even the CD32. You'll quickly find that CD32 games are not that plentiful, that most of the games in the format require a keyboard in one way or another, even "console"-like games, because the Amiga was flatout built with the expectation of a keyboard in front of you. For example -- Turrican 2, one of the most "console-like" amiga games. Even though it's been ported to the CD32 by fans, it *still* needs the keyboard at parts. The Amiga already is not like most computers. For example, for most games, you do not go through any CLI or GUI to boot -- you just pop the disk into the game (or USB drive with a Gotek Floppy Emulator) and turn on the machine and it boots directly into the game, just like using a cartridge. Actually, to get the same effect on an Amiga CD32, you'd need way, way more equipment, and would probably spend 2-3 times as much as you would if you just bought an A1200. The Amiga has more than a handful of good games. I have over 200 games in my Amiga library, all boxed. I think you should do some more research into the format before you make your selection, because it's not as simple as, say, picking up a PC Engine Duo. Buying the wrong Amiga can be seriously expensive and could *still* lock you out of like 90% of the library. Just realize that I'm telling you this from experience. I decided several years ago that I wanted an amiga after playing with an emulator for a bit and went in blindly with the CD32 because, hey, I'm a "console gamer" and it's a "console." Every bit of advice I've given, I've found out the hard way. From buying the NTSC CD32s before looking into the PAL models, to buying the SX-1 and eventually SX-32, to finally buying an A1200 and realizing it's what I should have gone with from the first place. You'll find that the vast majority of good, "console-like" games on the Amiga didn't get native CD32 ports and thus, even on the CD32, they need you to occasionally hit the space bar or something. To be sure, there ARE some unofficial CD32 ports which have been extra fixed so to not require a keyboard at all, but these kinds of releases are super rare among the fan community. I personally did this for a release of GoldenAxe on the CD32, mapping the start button on the CD32 pad to "P" on the keyboard to give it a pause button, and mapping the blue button to "space bar" to eliminate the need to press spacebar to use magic. But doing this is extremely complex and not viable for most games. The Turrican CD32 port from RGCD, for example, does not update the controls for a CD32 pad at all, so you still need the keyboard just to get through basic screens to get into the game. Most unofficial CD32 ports, which constitute the vast, vast majority of the CD32 library, are like this. And overwhelmingly the "good" games. Also, just to clarify, the A1200 can already play the CD32 games. Way easier than setting up a CD32 in the US, actually. you can easily add a CD-ROM drive to your A1200 - any modern IDE CD-Rom or DVD-ROM drive works. And, more importantly, you can add a CF Card as an HDD inside the A1200 (you'll spend maybe $300 on an SX-1 for the CD32 before you can do this: I know, I know, ebay and all, but look at this, this is an average price even on amibay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/SX-1-PARAV...554424?hash=item41e12ad338:g:SUoAAOSwnE5abFfw) that would allow you to add CD32 games directly to the machine from HDD using WHDLoad. In terms of hardware, the CD32 is a stripped down A1200, not the other way around.
I've had an NTSC CD32 for years, haven't dusted it off in awhile but I'm glad I bought one. Not necessarily an Amiga fan so I like the CD32 for what it is and don't have any problem doing without the computer side of the library (although I may look into it someday, would certainly expand the library). I found the number of games on it that I liked were comparable to other less successful systems (Jaguar, CDi, 32x, 3DO .etc). There are both NTSC and PAL CD32 consoles, but most of the CD32 games are PAL only. While it is possible to boot into PAL mode on NTSC CD32's, it's more of a hassle than just owning a PAL console which can play all the games without the extra step. I use RGB out and run it through a DVDO or XRGB to play PAL games. There are a handful of good NTSC games like Lost Vikings, Myth, Arabian Nights, Legends, Lotus Trilogy, Disposable Hero, D-Generation .etc but some of my favorite games are PAL only too (Guardian, Roadkill, Super Stardust .etc)... if you just want an obscure niche system with a few cool games to run on it you could stick to NTSC console and just the NTSC games, but I think it's worth checking out some of the PAL games too.
A problem I've run into that isn't very well documented on a game by game basis is that sometimes vital information will be cut off the picture due to the extra resolution in PAL displays. All the "NTSC/PAL" switch in hardware does is change the frequency from 50hz to 60hz and vice versa, but doesn't do anything about the resolution. So like, even while games like Skeleton Warriors works and will boot and is technically playable, a large portion of the screen can't be seen. It's kind of exasperated because many Amiga games don't fill the entire screen and draw to just a region, and that region could be low on the display, meaning in some games almost half of the screen is down below the limit of the resolution on NTSC. Bleeehhh.. My solution was to buy an Atlona CDM660 PAL->NTSC converter. Pretty good converter - low latency enough that I don't notice, the pull down effect is pretty smooth (only notice a single frame hitch every now and then but perfectly playable). A scan doubler/flicker fixer will let any normal VGA/DVI monitor display the full image, regardless of PAL or NTSC. But you need an A1200 for that, won't work on the CD32. Also, for certain games, the change in timing seems to screw them all up, and that really really applies to demoscene stuff (which is so cool to check out).
The funny thing is that the only game I've noticed part of the screen getting pushed off a playfield on an NTSC system yet is on the NTSC version of Zool, where despite being NTSC and not drawn in full screen, the play field is drawn at the bottom of the screen and about 6 rows are pushed off. Not a big deal but just sad considering it was easily avoidable and it'd have been nice if the screen was centered. If you have an XRGB it is possible to adjust the horizontal and vertical position of the screen, so you can see any part of the play field that is being pushed off screen. Another hassle of owning an NTSC system. Thankfully I've never noticed the issue before which means that none of the games I care about playing are affected by it!
Thanks for the input. I actually plan on getting a used TV/monitor that take either PAL or NTSC signal. And I also have an XRGB. I hooked it up to a Samsung LCD TV but I think the model I TV I have doesn't support 50Hz so it skips when first loading. I played around w/ the settings for a little bit.
