Amiga 500 Mini - £119.99, due 2022

[DarhkFox]

1 hour ago, Dudley said:

 

ATR: All Terrain Racing - No-one liked this, better examples of the genre literally everywhere, including on Amiga.

 

Whaaat   I loved this game. Bit hard on the moon levels though. One of the standouts of this collection !!

 

Admittedly I haven't played it for a while.

[SeanR]

2 hours ago, K said:

The faux-CD32 pad is presumably in there because it's the closest thing to an official pad, surely? There wasn't an official Commodore joystick; or at least, not one for the Amiga. It's not very ergonomic, but then neither is the Amiga-style mouse. I would assume the goal is to evoke the era, rather than to provide the best option by modern standards.

the vic-20 and c16 both had custom sticks, and what did the 64GS use? Cheetah Annihilator?

[shynra]

Near the end of my time playing on amiga I picked up these 3rd party snes like cd32 pads:

 

They worked great Iirc, is what I expect the pad experience will be. 

[Anne Summers]

On 10/08/2021 at 13:26, Number 28 said:

Is Amiga emulation worth it these days? The last time I tried it, it took as long as the actual disks, rendering 'a quick blast' impossible. It was also very flaky. I won't be getting one of these because they're too expensive, but hypothetically I would put the following games on it;

Monkey Island 1+2, Rick Dangerous, Hunter, Pinball Fantasies, Lemmings 1+2, Flashback, Cannon Fodder, Lotus Turbo Challenge 2, Jaguar XJ220, Supercars II, Gods, Magic Pockets, Agony, Live & Let Die, Syndicate, Theme Park, Archer McLean's Pool, Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker, James Pond 2: Robocod, Super Frog, Elf 

Most of them would be shite now, but man, the nostalgia.

 

(Never liked footy games so I'll just stand back )

 

Use WHD instead of ADF - it's a right ball- ache to set up for the first time, but once you get the hang of it, you won't look back. Just the same as using a hard drive on a real Amiga was a far superior experience to floppies. Plus WHD gets past the problem that most Amiga games weren't even HD installable. 

 

 

 

On 10/08/2021 at 12:54, strider said:

Kick Off 2 is interesting, I'd imagine if it's in there over SWOS it's because they can't get the rights off EA (I'd love to be proven wrong though).

 

Has that deal gone through? I hadn't heard about it for a while , but seeing as the old Codies/Sensi IP is still widely available on other licensed platforms, I assumed either it hadn't , or it had but EA weren't being over-protective of their retro IP. 

 

 

On 10/08/2021 at 17:22, Protocol Penguin said:

No offence, but why? You’re an intelligent guy. This isn’t a legit Amiga anymore than a MorphOS PPC box is, or a MiniMig is, or your PC or Mac is when it runs an Amiga emulator. Note that there’s no Amiga trademark in use here – it’s the “A500 Mini”, not the Amiga Mini. Other than the case and mouse design, there’s nothing to suggest that this is an Amiga. There definitely won’t be the tactile feeling of playing a real Amiga 500, even if this actually ran real Amiga code.

 

And, sure, Amiga emulation isn’t as easy to get working as some other emulated systems, but it’s easier now than it ever was. Also, let’s be honest – all of the decent games of the 25 pre-installed on this device had superior versions on other formats which are easier to emulate than an Amiga, or are able to be legitimately purchased over on GOG or Steam or similar places.

 

Sorry, but I strongly disagree with this! Most of the Amiga-first games (Bitmaps, Sensible Software etc) were better in their original Amiga incarnations than the half-arsed console ports that followed. 

 

 

 

On 10/08/2021 at 18:57, Protocol Penguin said:

The terminally gullible?

 

If this was the quality of the Super NES Mini or Mega Drive Mini, with their authenticity and curated software selections, I could see the appeal. As it is, you’re getting a meagre selection of games on a dubious device that doesn’t even have the Amiga trademark attached. I really despair at the critical faculties of some of the people here.

 

 

Personally I don't see the lack of Amiga trademark as being particularly important to enjoying this. 

 

 

[Fry Crayola]

13 minutes ago, Anne Summers said:

Has that deal gone through?

 

Yep, went through earlier in the year I believe. Codemasters games appearing on Game Pass (via EA Play) is one very visible result.

[Dudley]

And F1 2021 has been promoted as an EA Sports game from the start and the box has the EA Sports logo.

 

[Anne Summers]

1 hour ago, Fry Crayola said:

 

Yep, went through earlier in the year I believe. Codemasters games appearing on Game Pass (via EA Play) is one very visible result.

Oh yeah!

In that case, they can't be being tight-fisted over licensing their retro IP because, as I said, it still seems to be available on at least 2 other retro re-release platforms. So maybe RGL are just saving the Sensi stuff for their next announcement. Having a mouse seems to make including Cannon Fodder an obvious choice. Also I heavily doubt they would turn down the chance to have Sensi Soccer, if they can get it. 

[Anne Summers]

21 hours ago, K said:

I guess the question would be, what joystick do you release it with? Zipstick, Bug, Cruiser, Competition Pro, Quickshot 2, Quickshot Cobra, etc etc? They're all the classic Amiga joystick to someone. You'd need to license an actual Amiga-era stick to make it worthwhile, I would think - which would make it even more expensive.

Well they've already done that right , with The C64 and Mini, which both included a full-size Amiga era stick. Not sure if it was licensed, but doubt it. 

 

Anyway, pretty sure the reason they've gone for the pad is so they can remap Jump to a controller button. Obviously that wouldn't work with another Competition Pro replica, because although it's got 2 buttons, no one uses both of them - they are just there so you can use a different button depending on what hand you hold the stick in. 

[Anne Summers]

On 11/08/2021 at 06:30, krenzler said:

Where's all the Cinemaware titles?

My guess is that these are too expensive to license. Obviously Defender of the Crown has had quite a few remakes and remasters and suchlike, but I haven't seen anyone do anything with It Came From The Desert for a long time, which I'm sure someone would have done, if they had the chance. 

[Anne Summers]

On 11/08/2021 at 09:59, Rex Grossman said:

Can I make Babylon 5 with one of these?

Actually that's just made me realise - if we can side-load our own content, we could put Deluxe Paint on this. 

That thought has brought me closer than anything else has, to making me want to buy one. I'd love to teach my daughter how to do animations on DPaint on a little dedicated box like this. 

[SeanR]

Quote

To answer 'that' question we are being asked over and over...

"Regarding the question being asked about a full-sized machine.  This is something we've considering for sure, as per in the press release, THEA500 mini is the first in the planned THEA500 range, but as you're all aware, such a project is very expensive to develop let alone design and manufacture, not forgetting this is not being paid for in advance like a 'Kickstarter' project like some peer products, this is straight to retail. Thus we have followed the process we have with THEC64 range, and started with a more mass-market "mini" device that will reach a larger audience and perhaps introduce a whole new generation to the much loved home computer.  If this is successful, and after the response we've had over the last few days we are sure it will be, then we will very definitely consider a full-sized release in one form or another.  Though this will likely be some time away in the future, as in, after the release in 2022 of the mini of course. To answer the question further also its worth saying, in very rough figures, THEC64 mini has sold approximately 80% of the total volume of global sales so far for that range as opposed to 20% of volume of sales for the full sized version. So prior sales indicate the mini is the more popular option for most consumers, but we still do want to create full sized versions for that very sizable 20% of you as well! So basically yes is the answer, as soon as practical!"

full sized Amiga on the cards

[marsh]

I'd guess that EA could release one of those shit mini consoles with just sensi on it and it would sell by the truckload.

[SeanR]

[K]

Fucking hell, that mouse is huge.  

[SeanR]

“finally…”

[Ninja Doctor]

1 hour ago, K said:

Fucking hell, that mouse is huge.  

It’s just really really close

[roobarb]

5 hours ago, SeanR said:

Aww I thought I was oot on this but that's cute

[SqueakyG]

21 hours ago, SeanR said:

 

 

I see a crack above the numpad. If that's a prototype, I hope you make sure that crack doesn't become common.

 

Also, I just said in the retro thread -- I kind of wish this was an A600. I know the A600 has a taint of failure and doesn't have the iconic form of the A500, but in practical terms a full-size A600 with working keboard would only be slightly bigger than this A500 Mini.

[Dudley]

And indeed the Pi400 is explicitly based on the A600.

[Anne Summers]

4 hours ago, SqueakyG said:

 

 

I see a crack above the numpad. If that's a prototype, I hope you make sure that crack doesn't become common.

 

Also, I just said in the retro thread -- I kind of wish this was an A600. I know the A600 has a taint of failure and doesn't have the iconic form of the A500, but in practical terms a full-size A600 with working keboard would only be slightly bigger than this A500 Mini.

Also ask them if they could have found a better condition pound coin. 

[K]

There's a short piece about this in the new issue of Retro Gamer, with some new information. The CD32-style pad has been revised to make it a bit more ergonomic, and the controls for each game can be completely remapped. There are some pictures of the UI as well, which looks quite slick.

 

I'd be interested to know what the CRT filter is like, and how adding your own games works (i.e. is there a card slot to stick them on, or do you have to put them on a USB stick), but this is otherwise quite promising. Slightly more tempted to get one now.

[SeanR]

 

[K]

I can see why they kept them under wraps; the Amiga version of California Games is a pretty bog standard port from the C64 version, and I can't imagine many games will have aged worse than a b-team flight simulator from 1989.

[Clipper]

There are two sides to this. I can see the desire to keep the dross tucked away but surely you need regulary PR positive reveals to keep momentum to your upcoming release. SO it is a balance between revealing the meh titles but also a few gems to inspire. THe fact this didn't even merit a post  here until now means that they are succeeding in hiding the dross but failing to push their device.

[Chadruharazzeb]

I take it these things are going to be very limited in numbers? I'd be well up for this, had a relatively decent amiga emulator on OG Xbox but there was just too much goddamn guru meditation. 

[Scribblor]

No Turrican, Sensi, New Zealand Story, Last Ninja or Brutal Sports Football? No Agony or Walker? No BloodNet?  Why even bother? 

[SeanR]

33 minutes ago, Scribblor said:

No Turrican, Sensi, New Zealand Story, Last Ninja or Brutal Sports Football? No Agony or Walker? No BloodNet?  Why even bother? 

 

they still have games to announce AND you could probably just sideload them anyway 

[Scribblor]

I could just emulate every Amiga game ever made. Spending £120 for something I then have to fuck about wirh in order to make it work in a manner it's not intended to would be a waste of money.

 

But as I was typing that, I realised that -to me- this would be a waste of money anyway. If I want Amiga games, I can emulate them for free. This is really just paying for the form factor, and I'm not so in love with the shape of the Amiga that I'd spend that sort of money on a case that's a small version of one.

 

So, this was a bit of a pointless post, I guess. One of those "I'm out" posts that always annoy me when I read them. I don't want to shit on this: who am I to tell people how they should spend their money? I hope anyone who buys one really loves it. And if someone bought it for me, I'm sure I'd get a lot of pleasure out of it. But I won't buy one for myself, certainly not with that rubbish selection of games.

[choddo]

On 10/08/2021 at 12:52, Eighthours said:

As I said in the other thread, the inclusion of Kick Off 2 is making me tempted. I never owned an Amiga (I went straight from C64 to SNES), but loved going round the houses of friends who did. I spent many hours playing the likes of Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker, Kick Off 2, Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge... and Madden! I always preferred Kick Off 2 over Sensi.

My mates and I played KO2 for hours and hours. About 10 years ago I ran into a community who were still holding tournaments. I bought a 500 (though we’d always played on an ST when I was 20) and that was fun for a while but they battered me every time. Don’t think there was a game I didn’t lose by at least 4 goals. After a few months I moved on and I donated them the amiga & sticks in case one of their machines ever broke down, as a kind of thankyou for letting me join their little underground subculture for a while. Wonder if they’re still playing it…

 

anyway yes, where is Fire & Ice and Virus on this, hmmmm?

[Rex Grossman]

I’m STUNNED that this isn’t coming bundled with every single game that everyone fondly remembers from that era. I hope someone gets fired for that blunder.