TCD magazine finds

[TCD]

Thank you for the link I'll check it tomorrow.

[Etze]

I guess it’s old knowledge, but it still fits in this thread. Found in the first issue of the American Amiga World Magazine.

[dreadnought]

I usually steer clear of these kinda remakes but this looks really good. EGA graphics can be amazing when done right.

If only the Monkey Island crew and others had the balls to do the same...

[Bruce Abbott]

Originally Posted by TCD

I found this in ASM 9/1992 (in stores late August 1992):

"Get the newest technology: Amiga CDTV!"

About two months before the A1200. The CDTV is 18 months old by that time.

CDROM was the newest technology at the time. Very few PCs had one and they weren't cheap. Most didn't have a sound card either. A Creative Sound Blaster Pro (two 8 bit channels) + 1x CDROM package cost £349.

Edit: Or how about you trade in your A500 for it? Just 999 DM (~£360) extra and the future is yours!

In the UK they had a slightly different deal:-

Amiga Format Sept 1992


The condition of that A500 implies that it didn't have to be in working condition. So you could get a CDTV complete with matching keyboard, mouse, and external floppy drive for £399.99, only £50 more than a 'multimedia' upgrade for a PC that had already cost you well over £1000.

If you already had a working A500, and wanted a CDROM drive (plus possible SCSI and 2MB RAM expansion) the A570 was a slightly better deal at £349. However you didn't get the cool hi-fi styling with remote, or the extra floppy drive.

Of course we all knew Commodore was dumping the CDTV to make way for the new AGA machines, so if you purchased a CDTV you knew what you were getting. I just wish I had the prescience to realize what the CDTV would eventually be worth, and kept the one I had instead of selling it off cheap. They now sell for over £1000 on eBay.

[TCD]

From ASM 11/1992:


Bargon Attack conversion note about the 'old standard' machines Amiga and Atari ST. Mentions that it is 'more than questionable' that all new games will be converted too.

[TCD]

ASM 3/1993 about Winter CES 1992 in Las Vegas:

In the US only PC and consoles are left.

[Megalomaniac]

Incidentally, I'm not sure Amiga Bargon Attack was ever released in the UK, although it's in English ingame, no UK mags seem to have reviewed it and HoL doesn't have an English-language manual.

I don't think we have figures for how many A1200s sold in the USA, or exactly how well Amiga games were selling there in 1993, but I'd say this is broadly true (aside from the video-editing niches of the A3000 and A4000). Interplay's brief attempts at doing hard-drive-only Amiga games aside, Dune II in mid-1993 was pretty much the last big US-coded Amiga game (King's Quest VI and the later Microprose stuff was all coded for Amiga (and ST in some cases) in Europe, mainly the UK)

[TCD]

Originally Posted by Megalomaniac

(King's Quest VI and the later Microprose stuff was all coded for Amiga (and ST in some cases) in Europe, mainly the UK)

Yep, there was even an announcement in the same magazine a few issues before that Sierra outsourced 16-bit conversions to Europe because they were more 'specialised'.

[TCD]

Wing Commander for Amiga review in ASM 4/1993:

This is an exception, but they gave a rating for the game with and without using an accelerator (Turbokarte).

[TCD]

In ASM 6/1993 (in shops late April/early May 1993) I found this ad:

"Commodore Amiga 600 - The new generation" No ad for the A1200 so far...

[alexh]

Originally Posted by Bruce Abbott

I just wish I had the prescience to realize what the CDTV would eventually be worth, and kept the one I had instead of selling it off cheap. They now sell for over £1000 on eBay.

It depends what peripherals it has. I suspect there are lots more CDTVs than there are peripherals (black mouse, keyboard, floppy drive etc)

I bought my CDTV main unit from Amibay for £180 in March 2020 (ok so that was 3 years ago but prices cannot have gone up that much?). But all the little bits I didn't get (Keyboard, black Mouse, Floppy drive etc.) all add up. I paid £10 for the controller, £70 for the keyboard (yes that's crazy I know), £30 for the mouse, £90 for the FDD etc.

[dreadnought]

According to this article (in Polish) about Falcon's history, Commodore placed this ad in Atari User magazine around the time Falcon's was officially released (but due to reasons it was impossible to buy the actual machine). Seems like a brutal trolling exercise from C= Also, interesting why they didn't mention A1200 (also shortage?).

The article says it was in the beginning of 1993 but I looked at some Atari User issues from this period and couldn't find it.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by TCD

Yep, there was even an announcement in the same magazine a few issues before that Sierra outsourced 16-bit conversions to Europe because they were more 'specialised'.

Here's the LucasArts version saying that they themselves won't port any more games to the Amiga, but would be open to sell licenses:


(Having listened to quite a few talks and interviews with ex-Lucasfilm/Arts people recently it seems obvious that Jack's bank manager spirit changed the company's development culture quite drastically)

[TCD]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

Seems like a brutal trolling exercise from C=

Yep, Commodore UK had a... 'specific' sense of humor. Full page advertisements for the A600 in early 1993 no matter where don't seem to me as very 'clever' though

[TCD]

Found in ASM 8/1993:

"Goodbye Amiga, or?"
Rough summary: While it's maybe normal that US companies don't show Amiga games/versions, even the European companies have not much to show for.

[blackcornflake]

Bold choice to use the smallest photo of an A600 known to man in a print ad.

[Etze]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

According to this article (in Polish) about Falcon's history, Commodore placed this ad in Atari User magazine around the time Falcon's was officially released (but due to reasons it was impossible to buy the actual machine). Seems like a brutal trolling exercise from C= Also, interesting why they didn't mention A1200 (also shortage?).

The article says it was in the beginning of 1993 but I looked at some Atari User issues from this period and couldn't find it.

Somehow it was also very much a whitewash: the remaining Atari users were waiting for the "miracle machine" with at least 68030/16 and DSP and Commodore was trying to poach them with 1985 technology. I don't know, but if this ad is real (and it’s totally possible), I think it was a waste of money. Not that Commodore used to show how to handle money seriously…

[TCD]

Originally Posted by Etze

I don't know, but if this ad is real (and it’s totally possible), I think it was a waste of money.

Looks like the one that dreadnought posted comes from a Nostalgia Nerd article: https://www.nostalgianerd.com/amiga-story-part-2/ (quite a bit down)
There is another scan (sadly only the thumbnail 'survived') that shows it in its whole two page 'glory': https://www.southwestamiga.org.uk/links/
Would be great to find the magazine it was in.

[arcanist]

You know the computer you've always dreamt about? Well, stop dreaming! You're getting the A600 instead.

[dreadnought]

Mine is actually from this one. Sorry, forgot to insert the link in the last post.

I'm pretty sure the ad is real, it's just the context is interesting. If it was really placed in Atari User (as this article says) then the "Well, stop dreaming" jibe is most likely aimed at Falcon. If it's from some other mag not sure what sense would it make though...

EDIT: I see @arcanist nailed it with the true meaning