Thoughts on old gaming computers

Screwing around with Emulators has been quite the history less as to where gaming has been.

MSX- I'm having fun with it It has good just about everything and even ran Basic which is always fun to screw around in.

Amiga- This stupid thing is a Pain in the ass. I only got 1 game running and even then I couldn't quite figure out how to get past the controller config screen. The sound sucked too. and I never could get Workbench installed.

X68000- NOW THIS ONE I am amazed by espcally for 1987 Castlevania on it is AMAZING and Final Final Fight is also really good (turns out this was the CPS1 development platform?) Great computer that should've left Japan but didn't. Even the Knowledge of Dos I have works here (DIR to figure out what to do to get the game to boot works) AMAZING machine.

 

For the Amiga, WINUAE is the best emulator to use. I couldn't figure out how to get a hard drive emulated either, so I just use the disk images.

The Amiga was an amazing machine for its time and still has a cult following. The "workbench" though which was the desktop operating system was absolute trash (and yes I had an actual Amiga). I've seen pics of Workbench 3.0 which was a modern update for some low run amiga machines made by a non commodore developer, and it looks only slightly better.

As for games, even though the graphics engine was superb, I think the Commodore 64 before it had a far better line up even if it was an 8 bit machine.

 

At the very least, C64 games have awesome music. Granted, many games on the system haven't aged well at all, but there are some real gems.

 

I was using WinUAE It did work It was just the game line up was trash assuming the games even booted up in the first place.

I'm still in awe of the X68000 It's a crime it never made it outside Japan it was light years ahead of anything that was out at the time.

 

Well, maybe you should tell us what Amiga games you tried, because IMO the Amiga has a great library of games.

Also, some awesome C64 games: Uridium, Paradroid, Phobia..

 

Street fighter II

MK II

Prince of Persia

Second Samurai? I thnk

 

Check out the Cinemaware series of games, specifically Rocket Ranger, It Came from the Desert, and Three Stooges for the Amiga.

Like all retro games, they're abit difficult but Rocket Ranger especially is worth checking out. Plus it has one of the best video game opening themes ever.

 

Weren't the old Cinemaware games released as freeware?

Anyways, check these games out on Amiga: Alien Breed, Lotus Turbo Challenge + sequels, Project X, Apidya, Moonstone, The Chaos Engine, Speedball 2, Xenon 2, Cannon Fodder, Wizkid (also Wizball on C64)...

 

http://www.cinemaware.com/default.asp right on their site under the vault. So any game they made for any old comp format is available for download.

 

Guess I'll give the Amiga another go then

 

the emulator WINUAE is a bitch to configure , so if I should choose I would rather have a real Amiga computer (if I had the space for it) instead of either WINUAE or winfellow, cause both emulators are too much of a hassle .

 

They really are

considering I live in the US and Amigas aren't nearly as common place here as in europe I'm stuck emulating

 

a fun comparison: Amiga > Xbox360

 

True it also had a price tag to match, in 1987 the X68000 cost 369,000 yen or about $2500, the Amiga A500 at the time was around $1000.

The desirable X68000 XVI HD in 1991 was 518,000 or... wait for it... $3850....... The FM Towns II CX-40 (40mb HD version) was slightly cheaper at $3220. For reference the Apple Powerbook 140 was about $3200 on launch. The Commodore Amiga A3000 (with 52MB HD) was around $3500 and the Amiga A500 was $600.

 

What gets me about the X68K is that it's still a computer. Does it run any productivity software, like a spreadsheet or word processor or graphics utility? Can you print stuff with it?
Or is it just a $3800 console?

 

Back in the 80s and early 90s, the Amiga was the best computer to have for near-arcade conversions, but the choices of powerful computers were very limited besides the Amiga anyway. With the wealth of emulators and systems we have now, Amiga conversions are sad affairs indeed, with programmers doing awfully lazy jobs on graphics, music, gameplay, extras, etc. What irks me most are the shoddy arcade conversions that use Atari ST limitations on Amiga hardware: even though the Amiga could do over 360x280 pixels with overscan, some games ran in a tiny window like 300x150 with gigantic ornamental borders all around the window. One wouldn't think the Amiga is as great or as superior as it really is (was).

So, stick with original games only, which are creative, unique, and keyed especially to the Amiga's strengths.

 

The Amiga computer had it all back then, heck even BB King used the Amiga when he made music. So basically the Amiga back then was what the "PC" is now. A serious cool machine ahead of its time, and still even to this day the best version of Space Crusade is the Amiga version, just to mention of the awesome games that were on the machine. To me the Amiga is probably the best computer of the eighties in Europe. But if we switch to consoles in comparison of some games, then it is another story.

 

Amiga was one of my favorite computers. I emulate it on my Xbox now.

There's a nice frontend for Windows WinUAE called Lemonade. You can dload a pack of screenshots for the main select menu, have the frontend suggest the best settings for the game...ie the best type of machine, A500, A600, A1200, CD32 etc. Quick start options and more...

 

I do know it was used for game development. In paticular CPS games and judging how spot on the arcade "ports" for it were I suspect other games were developed on it.

 

I remember when the Genesis came out I had to have one since it was basically as strong as the amiga hardware (except for the sound chip), for $200. My family didn't have an amiga yet so it was perfect for pure gaming. Eventually we got the amiga but the genesis held me over.

I was really into computers back then, so while my friends were playing their 8 bit Nes, I was dreaming of getting an Amiga while making do with my C64.