ARMiga (not a typo) • Gaming • Retro • Eurogamer.net

CalamityJames 5 May 2017 09:36:58 315 posts
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I've just had a rush of blood to the head and ordered myself one of these ARMiga thingies after watching this video of one in action.

I know there are other, cheaper ways to achieve the similar results, but my last few attempts at getting UAE running on my Mac have been, at best, mixed. I've looked into buying an A1200 a few times, but for various reasons it wouldn't be a very convenient option for me. So the ARMiga seems to be the best solution for me personally.

Given that I already have a CD32 (which I rarely use because the controllers are knackered), this probably isn't my wisest purchase ever. But I'm really excited to give it a whirl.

Anyone here got one? Looking for recommendations for USB keyboards to go with it -- ideally I'd like to use a small one (i.e. without the number pad, or even one of those handheld RF ones that people use with their Android/Kodi boxes). I'd be interested to hear what people have got working with it. Joypad recommendations also gratefully received.

Cappy 5 May 2017 11:01:22 14,393 posts
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I've managed to get FS_UAE up and running on my Mac with a bit of work I can get everything working so far, it's way too high maintenance if you just want to have a fun hour or two just playing games though.

Constant fiddling with RAM and Kickstart configuration, what works with one game crashes another, it doesn't help that the Amiga catalogue is an absolute mess of multiple cracked versions, more often than not with no clean version. But you'll need them all to try and find the one that works, so I can see some sort of dedicated hardware solution being far more usable.

chopsen 5 May 2017 11:08:55 21,958 posts
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Commercial games were copy protected and sometimes used non standard formats from what I remember so if there is software in circulation these days it's inevitably copy protected.

Interesting that they've got a FDD controller. The format was a bit weird and not compatible with drives in PCs at a fundamental level.

Also nice they've licenced kickstart properly. Finding a copy of that was the trickiest bit of getting UAE working ime.

chopsen 5 May 2017 11:09:55 21,958 posts
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The amiga has dated awfully though mind. C64 has faired better with time.

Deleted user 5 May 2017 11:11:15

Price of at least 120 to up to 190 Euros. GTFOutta here (apparently sold out anyways).

Having said that, for half of that it would be tempting, I never really bother with UAE (on PC even) for similar reasons Cappy mentions above. The need of having to mess with config files, depending on the game at hand (even though they can be saved I suppose) usually steers me towards KEGA or ZNES instead.

The other thing is, I find most Amiga games have aged worse than say Mega Drive or SNES titles (and I used to be super envious of my friends in school who owned Amigas). Sound quality can be better but I still prefer consoles when it comes to retrogaming.

Edit: should probably clarify my above statement; I did bother for quite a while and I did manage to get a decent config going that works for most titles, but it's still not as convenient as other emulators to use, as good as UAE is really.

Edited by SYS64738 at 11:13:18 05-05-2017

Deleted user 5 May 2017 11:26:29

chopsen wrote:
Also nice they've licenced kickstart properly. Finding a copy of that was the trickiest bit of getting UAE working ime.

You can legally buy the kickstart roms through google play and copy them off your phone/tablet. There is also the "Amiga Forever" package for PC that comes with the roms and loads of games/demos etc. all configured so you don't need to touch any settings.

I always dreamed of owning a A4000T... :'(

Cappy 5 May 2017 11:31:16 14,393 posts
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chopsen wrote:
Commercial games were copy protected and sometimes used non standard formats from what I remember so if there is software in circulation these days it's inevitably copy protected.

Yeah, it's kind of annoying though. The cracked intros really bug me, usually because of the ugly typography. 99% of my Amiga games were original so having a shitty intro piggybacking on games I want to play is jarring.

I suppose we are at the point of no return with a lot these games and a lot of the originals will never be properly dumped now. Clearing up in the house I grew up in I came across boxes crammed with my old games, a quick search on eBay and I can see loads of them sell for an absolute fortune now. Anybody serious about preserving the catalogue would have to track down a diminishing pool of working copies of games that in a modern context are extremely rare. In those days 20,000 copies was often considered a big seller.

Edited by Cappy at 12:23:15 05-05-2017

CalamityJames 5 May 2017 11:53:51 315 posts
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SYS64738 wrote:
Price of at least 120 to up to 190 Euros. GTFOutta here (apparently sold out anyways).

It's only the disk-drive model that's sold out. I ordered the other one as I don't have any physical Amiga disks anymore, only adf files. As it doesn't actually load from disk anyway (just rips them to adf), I figured I didn't need that feature.

As far as the price is concerned, yeah, it's a little on the steep side -- but what's GTFO-worthy to one person is going to be tempting to another. For me, I've tried the CD32 route and it wasn't terribly practical, getting an A1200 would pose me similar problems, UAE hates me and my Mac, and it's my birthday next week so I thought I'd treat myself.

Deleted user 5 May 2017 11:59:00

CalamityJames wrote:

SYS64738 wrote:
Price of at least 120 to up to 190 Euros. GTFOutta here (apparently sold out anyways).

It's only the disk-drive model that's sold out. I ordered the other one as I don't have any physical Amiga disks anymore, only adf files. As it doesn't actually load from disk anyway (just rips them to adf), I figured I didn't need that feature.

As far as the price is concerned, yeah, it's a little on the steep side -- but what's GTFO-worthy to one person is going to be tempting to another. For me, I've tried the CD32 route and it wasn't terribly practical, getting an A1200 would pose me similar problems, UAE hates me and my Mac, and it's my birthday next week so I thought I'd treat myself.

Yeah as you say it depends on each person's circumstances - wasn't a dig at you but for me that's waaaay past the pain barrier in terms of price. That's what I would be willing to pay (plus maybe 50 notes) for a full fat modern console but not a ROM player that still requires you to move in the legally grey area of ROM's.

PS and before anyone is lecturing me on terminology, I know that technically they're not called that

Edited by SYS64738 at 12:00:23 05-05-2017

Deleted user 5 May 2017 23:26:44

Cappy wrote:
Yeah, it's kind of annoying though. The cracked intros really bug me, usually because of the ugly typography. 99% of my Amiga games were original so having a shitty intro piggybacking on games I want to play is jarring.

I used to load some of the copies just to listen to the cracktro music, and dream about the murky world of BBS's trading software all over Europe. Did any of those phone numbers on them work, how come the po-lice hadn't locked them all up? Most intriguingly, how did those games make their way into the schoolyard? No one had modems back in the day.

I share your despair about preservation, though.

Trekster_Gamer 10 Jan 2018 07:48:18 4 posts
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I owned an Amiga 500 in the day, upgraded to the fatter Agnus because 1 meg of chip ram was needed on some games. I later upgraded to an A1200, AGA was awesome. I sold both of them in 1994 when Commodore was headed down the tubes. I have always looked back on my Amiga Gaming days with fond memories and have enjoyed with varying success over the years playing games via emulation.

The Armiga although a little pricey really appeals to me. Constructed in a Sleek Amiga looking case with HDMI out . Copy ADF games over hook up keyboard and mouse and gamepad yes you have to have a USB hub that's okay they're cheap and boom you're back in Amiga gaming.

An earlier post someone said the Amiga games haven't fared as well as the Commodore 64 games a my honest opinion they are completely incorrect I love c64 games but Amiga games blew them away.

And the GTFO comment, gimme a break. To each his own

Deleted user 10 January 2018 08:35:07

I have the PC version of Amiga Forever and honestly it's great. Gets rid of all the faff of using winuae. Comes with the kickstart roms and pre configured configs for all the Amiga versions. You can combine multidisk games into one RP9 file and it even identifies the game name from its database and loads it using the most appropriate version/config of Amiga. You can just run the RP9 from windows and it loads the emulator and boots the game automatically.

The only thing the armiga has over it is its all in a nice little standalone box.

Edited by Spectral at 08:37:00 10-01-2018

Deleted user 10 January 2018 08:58:33

What's up with all these bumps of older threads by single post accounts registered years ago?

OT, chopsen is right though. Amiga games have aged rather badly - I use C64, Amiga and 16bit console emulators, the only area Amiga games (some of them) still shine in are audio. Graphics and gameplay wise, 16bit console games have aged a lot better and are still as much fun to play, can't really say the same about most (not all) Amiga games. As a result, I hardly ever boot up UAE. And I say this as a former C64 owner who was dead jealous on my friends' Amigas back then.

Trekster_Gamer 10 Jan 2018 21:57:47 4 posts
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@KnuttinAtoll
I guess it does depend on your point of view. I've loved and enjoyed gaming since I first saw combat 1977 on my first Atari 2600 and now I enjoy the highest and Graphics possible on a console via the Xbox One X that being said I still have very nostalgic memories for Amiga games that look and play good. Games I still cherish blood Money, Menace Alien breed Shadow the Beast, Stunt car racer, Lotus series Project X Agony, Apydia and many more.
To each his own I also have Amiga Forever on a PC and it's nice but that doesn't change the charm that the Armiga has for me.

If you compare any Commodore 64 game ported to the mega or vice versa Amiga outshines it in every possible manner.

Don't get me wrong I started on the Commodore 64 and they're still mini games I enjoy on that as well.

mal 10 Jan 2018 22:31:28 29,326 posts
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I never owned a C64, so the graphics have always looked kinda brown and very blocky to me. Spectrum games I can admire still, because of the limitations of the hardware, and somehow Amstrad games still look kind of okay for an 8-bit machine (it's just the gameplay where they mostly fall down).

For a real disappointment spend hours getting hatari installed and launched, and then faff about trying to find and install TOS files, only to discover there really aren't any ST exclusive games that are worth even five minutes of your time.

Trekster_Gamer 11 Jan 2018 04:09:21 4 posts
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@mal Although I owned an Amiga I admired the Atari ST. I still love many c64 games, yes with the limitations of the hardware it still managed to deliver some neat games. For me
Elite, Beach Head II, Raid Over Moscow, The Last Ninja series, Bruce Lee� and so many more,
The Mighty SID chip blew the competition away.

Deleted user 11 January 2018 08:14:25

I think it makes a difference if you owned the hardware back then.

On Amiga, stuff like Stunt Car Racer did blow my mind at the time, and I can still play it and enjoy it today. But games I didn't play (but was aware of it due to magazine reviews) and am trying now feel decidedly average.

Because I owned the C64 I'll always have a soft spot for it but can see mal 's viewpoint for sure, I probably wouldn't touch its games if I hadn't because for many you can find better versions on the Amiga.

As a whole though and to my original point I do think that most 16bit console titles have aged a lot better and are still fun to play and to look at.

beastmaster 11 Jan 2018 09:00:48 22,373 posts
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I can see my 1200 and monitor from here. Could set it up if I wanted to I guess. Not got any interest in this one really.

Dr-Strangelove 11 Jan 2018 10:48:58 2,309 posts
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Supercars2 and Speedball2 will never age imo

Trekster_Gamer 11 Jan 2018 13:46:00 4 posts
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@KnuttinAtoll stunt car racer was the first game that kind of made my stomach turn a little bit when you would hit them Giant ramps a very cool game indeed.