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The A500 Mini

Posted at 19:54 on August 10th, 2021 | Quote | Edit | Delete
Mr Creosote
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Latest in the line of "mini computers" (i.e. standard boards running an emulator): an Amiga lookalike. The usual issue of mini computers (--> unusable keyboard) will obviously apply.

The games lineup doesn't sound so bad, though: Alien Breed 3D, Another World, ATR: All Terrain Racing, Battle Chess, Cadaver, Kick Off 2, Pinball Dreams, Simon The Sorcerer, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, The Chaos Engine, Worms: The Director’s Cut, Zool: Ninja Of The ”Nth” Dimension. 10 of those 12, I would definitely consider should be on a list of most significant Amiga games.
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Now you see the violence inherent in the system!

Posted at 10:59 on September 10th, 2021 | Quote | Edit | Delete
Trevor
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Although the Cloato emulator will run in the background (my guess, at least they have a deal with them) and it will be only slightly more "retro" than playing on a PC in an emulator, I will definitely buy the console.

I assume - or hope! - they will release a A500 Maxi a year later with a working keyboard... that would be cool.

But the gamelist is not bad: SPeed Ball 2, Kick Off 2, Chaos Engine, Pinball Dreams.... some great classic in my opinion (I loved to play Speed Ball 2).

G.O.D.S. would be great, too.
Posted at 16:17 on September 10th, 2021 | Quote | Edit | Delete
Mr Creosote
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At the very least, they will need licensed Kickstart ROMs. Whether it will be software emulation of some sort of FPGA inside, who knows?

About the keyboard, obviously like with the C64 Mini, users will run into issues. Many games simply require/expect a functional keyboard. It's not a pure games console, after all.
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Now you see the violence inherent in the system!

Posted at 05:13 on September 13th, 2021 | Quote | Edit | Delete
Trevor
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Hah, just seen... the A500 Mini is now available for pre-order at Amazon (shipping date March 31th, 2022 :D)

As far as I know, Cloato is the company who is the right holder of the kickstart ROMS. If you want some for UAE, for example, you have to buy their IDE. I haven't tested their product but isn't it just more or less an UAE emulator with a GUI front-end made by Cloato?

Anyway, I totally agree: a keyboard will be needed to get the whole power of an Amiga. Maybe they support a bluetooth keyboard?! Might be a solution - not great, but better than nothing...
Posted at 13:28 on January 2nd, 2022 | Quote | Edit | Delete
Mr Creosote
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Full games lineup has been announced:

Alien Breed 3D
Alien Breed: Special Edition'92
Another World
Arcade Pool
ATR: All Terrain Racing
Battle Chess
Cadaver
California Games
The Chaos Engine
Dragons Breath
F-16 Combat Pilot
Kick Off 2
The Lost Patrol
Paradroid 90
Pinball Dreams
Project-X: Special Edition 93
Qwak
The Sentinel
Simon the Sorcerer
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
Stunt Car Racer
Super Cars II
Titus The Fox: To Marrakech And Back
Worms: The Director's Cut
Zool: Ninja Of The "Nth" Dimension

Again, not too bad, even if a tad one-sided. Very focussed on British studios, and action games. Understandable, though. It's unlikely that anyone will want to sit down in front of a TV with a mini computer and play a large strategy game, I guess.
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Now you see the violence inherent in the system!

Posted at 20:04 on April 21st, 2022 | Quote | Edit | Delete
MarkTheMorose
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I'm sure there must have been issues of finding publishers a) still active, and b) that were willing to license their old games, if they were even still the rights holders.
Posted at 07:55 on April 22nd, 2022 | Quote | Edit | Delete
Mr Creosote
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I assume most A500 Mini owners will want to load their own games anyway. Which games are you looking into trying?
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Now you see the violence inherent in the system!

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Edited by Mr Creosote at 07:57 on April 22nd, 2022
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