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Amiga: To use actual hardware or Emulate
jukingeo:
Hello All,
I have been recently interested in several Amiga game titles, but I do have a couple questions that are aimed at those that are more familiar with the Amiga than I am.
I will say that I have lived through the Amiga era, but didn't jump on the bandwagon when it was released. Rewinding the clock, I had a few console machines before contemplating my first computer. (Atari-2600, Colecovision, Sega Genesis). The first computer I had was the Commodore VIC-20. I got it when it was on the tail end of sales prior to the Commodore 64 being released. That was mistake number 1 as the C64 turned out to be Commodores big hit. So then I got wind of the Commodore 128 being released and that it would be backward compatible with the C64. So I bought the C128....mistake #2. While I was able to play C64 games on the C128, there was very little that was released for the C128's 128k mode. So the C128 spent most of it's time in C64 mode. There was talk of the Amiga since the C128 was a flop and I was interested in it but it was something I kept an eye on closely.
By now it was 1994 and I wanted a computer that was a bit more than just a gaming machine. Commodore announced bankruptcy and I pretty much ruled out the Amiga since I thought that it would go with Commodore. I tried a TRS-80 machine for a short time...it sucked. I took it back and ended up with a custom made PC.
Later on I realized that Amiga became a separate entity outside of Commodore, but I didn't pay it any mind. I did also learn that while it wasn't the greatest business machine, it was great for gaming. Many of the Amiga ports of arcade games were actually pretty much spot on. So that is my early history regarding my exposure to Amiga.
Fast forwarding to now, I am thinking about the Amiga again. I did some research and found out that the models 500,1000, &2000 were the most popular.
I am thinking about setting up an Amiga arcade system (using arcade style controls), but I have a few questions to ask:
1) Would it be better to use an emulation or an actual Amiga machine? If the former, what is the best emulator? If the latter, are all of the Amiga models I mentioned compatible? (meaning would games that are made for the 500 work on the 2000 and/or vice versa)?
2) In the event of using emulation, would it run well on a PC of about 1.0gig processor with 512meg ram?
3) How difficult is it to set up Amiga emulation on a PC?
4) When using actual Amiga hardware, is there a way to set up multiple games on a system and make a game selection?
And the most important question of all...
5) Should I not even bother and just stick with MAME?
Thanx for the input.
Geo
Silas (son of Silas):
If you really like Amiga games then buy an Amiga whilst they're still common enough to be cheap.
I remember loving my A500 so I installed E-UAE emulator under linux. Then I realized that it wasn't quite as hot as I remembered. The games were OK but back in the day, I had an Amiga because I couldn't afford an entire arcade full of machines. Given the choice I would have traded my Amiga in a blink of an eye for a few real arcade machines.
With MAME you can have your 'entire arcade' all in one box.
An example I specifically remember is spending my summer one year playing Double Dragon in the arcades in Chicago and Florida, then getting VERY excited about it being released on the Amiga. Compared to the real deal it was rubbish. See this review of the Amiga version
speedklz:
If there were jsut a few games you were interested in then I would just use and emulator and add it to what ever front end you are using.
Dizzle:
Even though it never saw anywhere near the same amount of action as my Commodore 64, I really did enjoy my Amiga 500. I will agree with the previous post though – I wouldn’t bother running arcade ports on the Amiga (Double Dragon was so bad I remember wanting to cry). That is of course, unless you really have a soft spot for some particular port. That being said, I still think there are quite a few Amiga games that make it worth while to check out. Some of them were ported to systems like the Sega Genesis also, but they weren’t as good in my opinion.
Winuae is pretty much the emulator to get for the Amiga. It emulates various Amiga models/chipsets including the Amiga 1200 and CDTV. Because of it’s complex architecture, the Amiga can be a pain to emulate – so it might be a little much for your 1.0 GHz set up. But it’s worth a try. I found it pretty easy to set up, which basically means that anyone can do it. I haven’t updated it in a while, so I’m running a fairly old version, but from what I remember, the GUI isn’t the slickest interface in the world.
CrazyKongFan:
I had the Vic 20, C-64 then the Amiga 500...Lots of good games on the latter 2. One of my favorite games on the Amiga was Lemmings. If you have 2 mice, that game plays completely different with 2 players...one can send off one lemming to screw up the other guy big time (my roommate in college was good at doing that ;D )