Successor to the CD32 in the console market

[spudisgood]

I would love there to be an alternative to the Sony/Microsoft bore-fest that dominates todays consoles (even Nintendo aren't worth mentioning anymore)

I would love Sega to come back into the market, the Dreamcast was a fantastic machine, and should have stayed in production for several more years IMO.

The Amiga?
Well depends really. We can dream of a console sure, but in reality, a new Amiga machine comes along once every few years, is generally under-powered and ridiculously expensive compared to the equivalent PC's and Macs available. The Amiga was popular because it offered bang for the buck. The situation has completely turned on its head in 2015. Id love Amiga to come back as a low-cost machine, but it seems to be borderline impossible for the hardware companies to achieve this?

For the sake of the thread and fun(?) though, I would suggest that the new Amiga console would run a cut-down version of OS4, cost £199.99 with a bundle of 2 or three games, USB control ports, wi-fi compatibility for online gaming & access to the AmiStore for games, an optical disk drive for software and Blu-ray compatible, HDMI output 1080p, and a programming language built into the system where users can program their own software for it easily and upload it to the Amistore or Aminet.

It would be called the A-BOX

:-P

Kind regards,
Spud.

[eXeler0]

A company with a shitload of cash could enter and compete with M $ and Sony, but thats about it.
So... basically... Apple.. ;-)
If they wanted to, they could because they sit on ridiculous amounts of cash.
Google maybe? Facebook?

As for the old classical brands.. forget it..
Even this...
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1043605
...failed miserably @ kickstarter.
Porting Amiga OS to Raspberry Pi (and bundle those two together - possibly as a retro game console) would probably the most interesting thing the Amiga community could do that would have any kind of impact at a larger scale these days.

[Amigajay]

There is zero chance of a smaller company competing per say against the PC and consoles nowdays, BUT there is scope for a reto style machine in the style of the Amiga having its own small market share.

Every machine that comes out is compared against the big 3 platforms, but most of them arent going for that market, there are more gaming markets than ever out there, its divided more than it has ever been, what with the computer market PC and Mac, even thats divided on PC with Steam, GOG etc, Steam Box trying to make inroads somewhere, mobile with Android, IOS and ahem Windows, then there's retro platforms that come off that like Ouya, nVidia Shield, Amazon TV, Apple TV, countless chinese handhelds, and linux based machines.

I believe there is room for a new Amiga, of course it won't sell millions, 100K would be a nice install base for devs if the software was easy to port stuff across to begin.
It's just we need a decent company to sell this thing, viral campaigns, advertising and to release one at a sub £400 price point, with the basic Steambox type specs, and a few good Amiga I.P exclusives remakes to launch with it, i believe its doable.

[Samurai_Crow]

Originally Posted by rare_j

Has there ever been a computer that was cut down into a 'console' and been a success? I don't imagine how it could be, the console versions of the computer games ('shovelware') would surely always suffer.

The XBox is a cut down PC....

[s2325]

and Dreamcast had Windows CE

[Samurai_Crow]

Originally Posted by s2325

and Dreamcast had Windows CE

Only on some games. Dreamcast supported hardware banging as well.

[eXeler0]

Originally Posted by Samurai_Crow

The XBox is a cut down PC....

Technology-wise, yea.. but not actually a particular model turned into a console like the previous examples mentioned.

These days of course, it makes sense to go the generic PC route like Sony finally did with PS4. Can you blame them? All the good dev tools required for AAA titles are on X86 and of course, it's less of a pain for devs to release titles across platforms if they are similar enough.
I mean, back in the day, an Arcade port on different systems was often an entirely different game. The team that did the MegaDrive port had absolutely nothing to do with the team that did the Atari ST port etc.. and so on..
Now, Sony and M$ will be able to release the next generation with full backward compatibility from day one without emulation and other trickery. (And if Nintendo want to remain relevant in AAA devs eyes, maybe they'll choose X86 / ATI GPU (AMD APU) for the rumoured "NX".)
(However, somehow Nintendo always manage to surprise with curious design choices, so who knows..)

[Amiga1992]

Originally Posted by rare_j

Has there ever been a computer that was cut down into a 'console' and been a success?

Fujitsu FM-Towns Marty.
Actual first 32 bit console yo, not the CD32
But not a success it seems. Bah! You're right

[Amigajay]

Originally Posted by Akira

Fujitsu FM-Towns Marty.
Actual first 32 bit console yo, not the CD32
But not a success it seems. Bah! You're right

Thats a questionable one, what with the Marty CPU having a 16bit external data bus, had it had the more expensive DX chip then it would have been 32-bit.

[rare_j]

Originally Posted by Samurai_Crow

The XBox is a cut down PC....

Yes, quite right, although MS did lose money hand over fist making a success of it.
The new Xbone and ps4 are also cut down pc's so it comes full circle.
I hope Nintendo stays with exotic hardware. There's something very dull about a console that's just an x86 PC with the corners cut off.

[eXeler0]

Originally Posted by rare_j

Yes, quite right, although MS did lose money hand over fist making a success of it.
The new Xbone and ps4 are also cut down pc's so it comes full circle.
I hope Nintendo stays with exotic hardware. There's something very dull about a console that's just an x86 PC with the corners cut off.

Read my previous post.. it makes a lot of sense to use x86 + established GPU architecture. But it doesnt mean it has too look or behave like a windows pc. The fact that WinPCs, Macs, Linux computers, Steam boxes, XboxOne, PS4 all use x86 + "standardised" GPU proves that point...
There is still room for innovation. Would you have thought a Nintendo Wii would have been less boring if it had a x86 APU?

[jbenam]

Originally Posted by eXeler0

Porting Amiga OS to Raspberry Pi (and bundle those two together - possibly as a retro game console) would probably the most interesting thing the Amiga community could do that would have any kind of impact at a larger scale these days.

That's what I've been asking for for years If only the Hyperion guys would stop thinking of the meager cash that can be done from selling a few thousand £30 Amiga OS 4.1 FE CDs and would think of the best interest of the entire community and open-source AOS4.1, we could have AOS running on ARM in no-time, considering how many Amiga enthusiasts are out there which would help with the porting.

[Samurai_Crow]

Hyperion has a contact with A. Inc. to develop on PPC and PPC only. They need a new one to develop on anything else. Also, AROS runs mostly on the RasPi already and nobody helps.

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by eXeler0

(However, somehow Nintendo always manage to surprise with curious design choices, so who knows..)

And, Nintendo have generally managed to keep pretty much perfect backwards compatibility to the previous generation for a long time now...

Main consoles (PPC): Gamecube->Wii and Wii-> WiiU
Handhelds (Z80 & ARM): Gameboy->Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Advance->DS and DS->3DS

It would be nice if the other platforms eventually took this route, but of course they'd have to standardise on an architecture for that to happen. Maybe this generation is the start of that happening...

[jbenam]

Originally Posted by Samurai_Crow

Hyperion has a contact with A. Inc. to develop on PPC and PPC only. They need a new one to develop on anything else. Also, AROS runs mostly on the RasPi already and nobody helps.

I suppose it has something to do with the name. AROS just doesn't have the same nostalgic feel to it and most people don't feel any attachment to it, that's why the scarce interest.

Anyway, I forgot that Amiga Inc. still exists. What a shame. I wonder where they're getting the money to stay in business?

[eXeler0]

Originally Posted by jbenam

Anyway, I forgot that Amiga Inc. still exists. What a shame. I wonder where they're getting the money to stay in business?

Thats easy, they dont have a business, so no expenses. ;-)