Help [Amiga CD32]
I have been looking to start collecting for a new system and i think I want to find out what the Amiga 32 CDX is all about but I cant seem to find a way to find games for the system - Is there an online community that supports this stuff which I am just unable to find or is this stuff just really hard to find. Any advice would be appreciated!
You're probably not finding anything because thats not what the console is called its actually: Amiga CD32
Indeed, 32x is the name of one of Sega's add-ons for the Genesis/Mega-Drive.
Well if you were searching for the CDX didn't help you either since that was an 'all-in-one' unit made by Sega that had a SegaCD and a Genny together.
This online community supports it (as does the fact that this community supports most every system). Hit up the Buy/Sell forum and make a WTB thread and see if you get any bites. I know a few of our forum members are pretty big Amiga nuts (i'm looking at you Ze_ro and Icbrkr both spring to mind) and i'm sure they could help you a bit more if asked.
Because it makes no attempt to be great, it is therefore extremely great.
Some of My Game Collection Mah Mac n' Cheese Blog
You can find games for the system on eBay easily enough, that's where I got most of mine. Here's a complete list of titles:Originally Posted by Coleman
http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/lis...mf?system=1054
From personal experience I would equate the system quality somewhere between a Sega CD and a 3DO. There's plenty of good stuff in there, but lots and lots of trash. Do your homework!
2-3 weeks ago, a guy on the Buy/Sell forums was selling a North American Amiga CD32. Don't know if it sold or not, went to Ebay or whatever but if you post a want ad in Buy/Sell, maybe someone will PM ya.
There was a warehouse find of NTSC CD32s in China last year - they're still going on Ebay for $80ish and 50 shipping. My opinion? It's a steal. Grab one while you still can. NTSC CD32s are rare, a new one is just sex in a box. I bought one new to go with my normal everyday machine and the transaction went smooth.
I'm not sure I agree with the 'lots of trash' Joe, but I'll agree with 'lots of lazy ports'. If you were a hardcore Amiga user at the turn of the 90s (I was) you wanted to see something more on the CD32. Converting an 880K floppy disk onto a CD that can hold 650MB+ was pretty weak. But then again, I don't believe many companies knew what to do with that much space (look at the Sega CD... FMV goodness!).
Good games to find are Pirates! Gold, Speedball, Super Stardust for a start. There are some games that are PAL-only though many games can be played on a NTSC CD32 (Super Stardust being one of them). If you come across a PAL only game, you can hook your CD32 to a 1084 monitor to have it display properly.
There are a bunch of other good games that I can post later. I believe Ze_Ro and I are aiming for complete collections (though he's winning by 20 right now).
Unless you are a collector or simply starving for software to play, then don't pick up Battletoads on the Amiga CD32. Looks similar to the NES version, plus "attack" and "jump" are both mapped into one button, as if Battletoads isn't hard enough on its own. I've also read 2-3 reviews saying that Brutal Sports Football on Amiga CD32 runs even slower than the Atari Jaguar version, which is so choppy you can't even see the ball most of the time. As bad as that game ran on Jaguar, I can't imagine what it plays like on Amiga CD32 if it really is slower than the Jaguar version.
A couple you may want to skip unless you are planning on collecting for the system.
Last edited by bangtango; 09-02-2007 at 09:35 PM.
Personally, I love the CD32. The Amiga computers had a ton of great games, but thanks to hardware incompatibilities, the general prices of Amiga hardware, and the lifespan of 3.5" disks, the CD32 is a great way to get to play some of these games. There are a lot of great games that, for whatever reason, never made it to any other console systems... so the CD32 is the only place you'll get games like Alien Breed, Beneath a Steel Sky, Simon the Sorcerer, Superfrog, Last Ninja 3, Pinball Illusions, Super Skidmarks, Frontier: Elite II, Disposable Hero, Super Stardust, and others. There are also plenty of really obscure, fun games on the CD32 that no one really knows about, like Vital Light, Pierre Le Chef is Out to Lunch, and Liberation: Captive II.
Before you get involved in this system though, you absolutely have to be sure you have some way of displaying a PAL signal. The CD32 was just barely released in North America, so 99% of the stuff you find will be from Europe. Many PAL games will work in NTSC without serious problems, but the problems that DO happen are difficult to predict and include games crashing partway through. I'd recommend getting an NTSC system and an Amiga mouse (PC mice won't work) so that you can switch into PAL mode when necessary. Note that buying a PAL system is probably a bad idea, because then you also need a TV/monitor that can handle a PAL color signal, which is even harder to deal with.
When it comes to games, one of the better resources around is Hall of Light, a general Amiga game site. Their CD32 list is probably more complete than what Digital Press has. Also, I've found many of the rarities listed in Digital Press to be somewhat inaccurate, so take them with a grain of salt. Most of the games are reasonably easy to find on eBay if you wait a while, though there are a few really rare ones that I've had a hard time finding.
Since you mention collecting, I should probably point out that CD32 game packaging is not very standardized at all, which can be very frustrating for completists. Most games were released in regular jewel cases, but some companies did their own thing; Mindscape released all their games in jewel-case-sized cardboard cases, Microprose games came in double-height cardboard cases, and companies like Psygnosis packaged their games "PC Style" in a big box with the disc in a paper sleeve. Some games came in jewel cases, but had no rear insert. I've been trying to put together a listing of what actually exists for each game, but it takes time.
Overall, the CD32 is kind of a difficult system for those of us in North America. I enjoy it, but it's definitely not for everyone. If you already have an Amiga computer, then a CD32 probably isn't worth bothering with, but if you've never dealt with Amiga before, then the CD32 can show you a lot of stuff that other consoles don't have.
--Zero
Any opinions on the ProModule and the SX-32? A good option, or not worth bothering with?
Relatedly, is it possible to use a kickstart switcher in conjunction with a CD32 and its add-ons?
Anyone actually ever created a video with Video Creator?
They're both too expensive to make them worthwhile. They usually go for around $200 on eBay. If you want an Amiga computer, I think you're better off getting one of the actual computers rather than trying to turn the CD32 into one.
--Zero
Actually, almost all of the CD32 games were sold in big boxes initially. I have a near complete CD32 collection and roughly 80% of the games come with some sort of box. Same goes for CDTV games. In speaking to a number of Amiga dealers over the years, it seems many of them either got games from distributors who were liquidating without boxes or simply asked the distributors to destroy the boxes before shipping them to save on shipping. CD32 games are getting harder to find new in box and CDTV games are nearly impossible to find in their CD style long boxes. Other than a pack-in game or two that may have shipped without a rear insert, every other CD32 game in a jewel case has an insert. There are of course some big box games that didn't have rear inserts, but those were mostly the later German developer releases.
1997, I've just gotten my boxed CD32 from a work collegue for GBP 50.00 with a bunch of games, and I knew that one of my local second hand compu/game shops still stocked a bunch of games, around 60, at a good guess.
When I managed to go to the shop later in the week, I wondered where the CD32 stuff had gone, and the shop manager said, 'we just trashed it in the middle of the week, sorry'. Of course, the trash cans were emptied by then too.
I was mad.
To make matters worse, 2000, I moved to a different county, and in a little village I've noticed a second hand gaming shop and they had CD32 games on display (Shop was closed, but I could see the games through the door window). Cool, I thought, once I've settled in a few days time or so, I check it out to see what I get buy from this shop. When I got back to the village a few days later, the shop had closed down. It was just an empty place. Just my luck.
Last edited by tom; 09-03-2007 at 01:41 PM.
Ouch. That's too rich for my blood. But, I hate having too many systems. I don't have room for all of 'em as it is. It'd be nice to kill two birds with one stone. Also, the ability to play CD32, OCS, EGA, and AGA games all in one would just be freakin' sweet.
So, I guess I'll file those under the 'someday' pile, and look for a cheap A500...
I just splurged and bought one of those new CD32's off eBay. I've been thinking about this system for years, and figured this was a good opportunity. So, yay.
Is there a list somewhere of which CDTV games are and aren't compatible?
Instead of an A500, you'd probably be better off looking for an Amiga 1200... it's the computer equivalent of the CD32, with AGA graphics and all that. If you were to set one up with an accelerator, more RAM, and a big hard drive, you could use WHDLoad to play just about anything on it. If you add a CD-ROM drive into the mix, you'd even be able to play most CD32 games on it.
I haven't seen any lists, nor have I even heard of any specific games not working. There's really only a handful of CDTV titles even worth owning it seems, as almost all of them are multimedia discs with stuff like gardening information or educational stuff. I know Xenon 2 and Lemmings work.Is there a list somewhere of which CDTV games are and aren't compatible?
--Zero
Hmm, that's interesting. I'd really rather not use anything like WHDLoad, but I suppose a 1200 (or a 3000) with a kickstart switcher would work. The only problem is, this is America.The only Amiga that I'm likely to find with any ease is a 500, and more importantly, stuff like accelerators and fast RAM are pretty rare. And, most games were made for the 500 anyway. If I have both a 500 and a CD32, I don't think I'll be missing much. Feel free to prove me wrong with a list of some sort.
Hmm. Wikipedia says that some of the 'earlier' CDTV titles don't work. I guess they could be wrong, or there could be like 2 multimedia crapfests that are incompatible.I haven't seen any lists, nor have I even heard of any specific games not working.
Yeah, the system is a product of the multimedia revolution that never materialised. See also CDi. I'm really glad that kind of stuff never took off.There's really only a handful of CDTV titles even worth owning it seems, as almost all of them are multimedia discs with stuff like gardening information or educational stuff.
Why not? Do you enjoy swapping disks?
Why wouldn't you want to use WHDLoad? It makes everything FAR easier! Not only does it let you perform HD installs of games that don't otherwise support such an option, but the authors of the slaves often fix bugs in the originals, many of which would otherwise prevent you from running the game. WHDLoad is probably the best thing to ever happen to the Amiga scene. It also completely eliminates the need for hardware kickstart switchers, as it does it all in software.
I have an Amiga 3000 set up with WHDLoad, and I can run basically any game that doesn't require AGA (That's where the CD32 comes in handy).
Yeah, finding a system can be tough. I have three Amiga's, though I'm quite lucky to have them. The Amiga 1200 is a good option here because the accelerators for that model are actually relatively easy to find on eBay... usually for around $120 or so (Believe me, if it was that cheap and easy to install an accelerator in my Amiga 3000, I'd jump at the chance!). Just about every 1200 accelerator also has regular SIMM slots on it for memory, which is very helpful since that damn ZIP RAM is next to impossible to find.The only Amiga that I'm likely to find with any ease is a 500, and more importantly, stuff like accelerators and fast RAM are pretty rare. And, most games were made for the 500 anyway.
With a 1200, a lower-end accelerator (say, a 68030), a modest hard drive and some extra RAM, you'll have a pretty powerful Amiga capable of running just about every Amiga game via WHDLoad... getting an Amiga 500 to that point would take a much larger amount of work and money.
Well, with a 500 and a CD32, you've probably got about 99% of the worthwhile games available to you, so I'd agree with that. I know there are a handful of games that won't work on anything other than an original Amiga 1000, and there are some really high-end games like Descent: Freespace that all of 5 people can run anyways.If I have both a 500 and a CD32, I don't think I'll be missing much. Feel free to prove me wrong with a list of some sort.
The main problem you're likely to have with a 500+CD32 is AGA games that were only released on disk, or ones that require hard drive installation.
Heh, I actually kind of like the CD-i. I find it strangely curious. It's weird to think of how much money companies like Philips and Sony were putting into the whole "multimedia" thing, when it doesn't really seem like they knew where to go with it all.Yeah, the system is a product of the multimedia revolution that never materialised. See also CDi. I'm really glad that kind of stuff never took off.
--Zero
I don't know. It seems... inauthentic? I guess I don't have a logical reason, I just don't wanna.
Hmm, that's interesting. Aren't there accelerators for the A500 that have the AGA chipset on-board?Yeah, finding a system can be tough. I have three Amiga's, though I'm quite lucky to have them. The Amiga 1200 is a good option here because the accelerators for that model are actually relatively easy to find on eBay... usually for around $120 or so (Believe me, if it was that cheap and easy to install an accelerator in my Amiga 3000, I'd jump at the chance!). Just about every 1200 accelerator also has regular SIMM slots on it for memory, which is very helpful since that damn ZIP RAM is next to impossible to find.
With a 1200, a lower-end accelerator (say, a 68030), a modest hard drive and some extra RAM, you'll have a pretty powerful Amiga capable of running just about every Amiga game via WHDLoad... getting an Amiga 500 to that point would take a much larger amount of work and money.
The other thing is, I've never even heard of there being a 1200-compatible CD-ROM drive. I know that one that Commodore released (which, IIRC, is also CDTV compatible) was only compatible with the A500, and maybe the 2000, but not the 1200.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking would be the only major gap... but how many such games are there? I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I'm not as well-versed in the libraries as I'm sure you are.Well, with a 500 and a CD32, you've probably got about 99% of the worthwhile games available to you, so I'd agree with that. I know there are a handful of games that won't work on anything other than an original Amiga 1000, and there are some really high-end games like Descent: Freespace that all of 5 people can run anyways.
The main problem you're likely to have with a 500+CD32 is AGA games that were only released on disk, or ones that require hard drive installation.
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