Amiga, Happy 30th Birthday!

[Nz17]

In July, the Amiga computer celebrated its 30th b-day. Have you ever owned an Amiga? Which one? What do you think of the platform? If you don't have one already, would you like to own one? Why or why not?

Personally, I have never owned one. But I have heard THE LEGENDS. I have heard how beautiful it was, how revolutionary it was. How it was the true beginning of what many incorrectly associate with IBM compatibles. How expensive they could be. And how quickly the company fell from grace. It is truly made of the stuff of legends with its dramatic rise and fall.

Here is a nice tribute... from Australia! http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/stories/s4326068.htm

[wizardofwor1975]

Happy to report my Amiga 500 is still running like a champ. Outside of my C64 and my Vic20 its hands down my favorite classic computer. My favorite games for the good ol' Amiga are:

1. Pirates!
2. The Chaos Engine
3. Turrican
4. Cannon Fodder
5. Populous
6. Mega lo Mania
7. Powermonger
8. Alien Breed
9. Paradroid 90
10. Lemmings & Eye of the Beholder are tied for tenth place

Great topic for a truly great machine!!!

[AdamAnt316]

I've owned two Amigas thus far, an original 1000, and a 2000. In addition, I once borrowed an Amiga 3000 while in high school, and also got to play around with an Amiga 1200 (both of which had a genlock, a device which apparently took years to work with PCs). Really cool machines which were way ahead of their time. As a celebration, here is a sample of music from a demo I found on my A1000 several years back:

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

[wizardofwor1975]

Personally, I have never owned one.

Are you in the market for an Amiga? And if so which model are you looking for?

[Nz17]

Are you in the market for an Amiga? And if so which model are you looking for?

Sadly no. Right now I'm so poor I couldn't afford S&H on a floppy disk.

[wizardofwor1975]

Sadly no. Right now I'm so poor I couldn't afford S&H on a floppy disk.

I hear ya. I looked on Ebay yesterday just for shits and giggles and was totally shocked by the limited number of Amiga 500s for sale. It appears that the good ol' Amiga these days is in pretty short supply. If my memory serves me correctly the Amiga 500 was Commodore's all time best selling Amiga model. I really hope the Amiga doesn't end up becoming a niche collector's item but with the limited supply these days it may have already happened. However, I'm sure great deals on Amiga computers can still be found outside of Ebay and Amazon by a persistent collector. I really hope your finances pick up so you can take the plunge and get an Amiga. Personally I'd go with the Amiga 500. I absolutely love mine but hell you could hardly go wrong with any of the other Amiga models as well its just my personal preference. Probably because I grew up with the Amiga 500. Anyway, great topic.

[AdamAnt316]

There might still be some Amigas on the surplus market. My Amiga 2000 (which I got a couple of years ago) was formerly used for graphics at a TV station of some sort, given that it had a genlock card installed, and Scala software on the HD card (remember those?). Granted, most of them have probably been replaced by PCs at this point, but there might still be a few floating around which were used at public access TV stations or whatnot.

[wizardofwor1975]

There might still be some Amigas on the surplus market. My Amiga 2000 (which I got a couple of years ago) was formerly used for graphics at a TV station of some sort, given that it had a genlock card installed, and Scala software on the HD card (remember those?). Granted, most of them have probably been replaced by PCs at this point, but there might still be a few floating around which were used at public access TV stations or whatnot.

Congrats on picking up your Amiga 2000 from a TV station. Great find! I never knew TV stations used the Amiga for graphics. Can't say it really surprises me though. The good ol' Amiga is such a versatile machine. I wonder if the collectors market for the Amiga is a lot larger in Europe? Most of the games I see on Ebay for the Amiga in addition to being really pricey are from Europe. I wouldn't mind picking up another Amiga myself maybe an A1200 this time.