Amstrad console????

Fred the Fop · 09 January 2004, 16:51

Yes, seems there was an Amstrad console in the early 90's.
Obvious;ly it sold poorly.

http://www.cpcoxygen.net/

Anyone have one? or seen one? How many games were produced for it?
I assume the Good CPC dat includes them, with the denotation "cart" as Burning Rubber.

Matfink · 09 January 2004, 17:06

i remember this...it was called the G4000 or something wasn't it? C+VG covered it, but i don't think it lasted long enough to accrue many titles...

tin · 09 January 2004, 17:07

aiii I've got one - didn't think they were that rare!

Got burnin rubber, switchblade (which is very good), klax and possibly something else for it.

Was very expensive, errr, about £0.

Game zone did a sticker once with "my other console's a gx4000" on it. very funny!

tin · 09 January 2004, 17:09

found this

Amiga1992 · 09 January 2004, 17:33

The GX400 was a very fine machine, though it was released late. I wish I had one. Any sellers?

tin · 09 January 2004, 17:40

loads on ebay m8!

fiath · 09 January 2004, 17:44

I got one too. It is basically a cartidge-based CPC machine with an added "FX" chip.

tin · 09 January 2004, 18:32

what does the FX chip do?

fiath · 09 January 2004, 22:08

"CPC Plus" range

Basically: extended colour palette, hardware sprites, smooth hardware scrolling, DMA controlled sound

In detail (from http://www.cpcoxygen.net/magazine/04/18/18b.html)

o 16 Hardware Sprites at 16 x 16 pixels, made up of 16 colours from a palette of 4096. Impressive when you take into consideration that each sprite palette is independent of the screen mode and can be magnified to double or quadruple size.

o Smooth hardware scrolling both horizontally and vertically. The original CPC only had limited vertical scroll.

KombatSanta · 10 January 2004, 10:39

Quote:

Originally posted by tin
found this

Were there any other games than those listed on that link?

Antiriad · 10 January 2004, 15:24

Ah yes, the GX4000. An ill thought out idea by Alan Sugar that one. Released far too late in 1990. And yes that sadly is the total amount of games made for it. Still, by comparison it was a better machine than the G64, although even that was more successful than this was.

Luvely hw specs tho....i often imagine what it would have been like if the CPC had all or at least some of the Plus capabilities from the outset...

andyr · 11 January 2004, 02:10

I used to hate using a joystick on my Amiga for platform games and having to push up to jump so I wired one of the GX400 pads so that button 2 was linked to the 'up' of the D-pad.

I whooped Superfrog using that joypad! It had a very similar feel to the 8 bit nintendo joypad but had rounded edges and was surprisingly good in use.

The actual GX400 was a total flop (mine was given to me after it turned up at a jumble sale) - No games except the built in game Burning Rubber (average).

I still love my CPC though! The one machine Amstrad actually got right.

Amiga1992 · 12 January 2004, 19:26

Quote:

Originally posted by andyr
No games except the built in game Burning Rubber (average).

???????

Just look at the list above! most games are extremely rare, except the one you mention which was bundled in with the console.

It's really a fine machine, which IMO could kick the C64's ass seriously.

tin · 12 January 2004, 20:20

even more ??????????

burnin rubber weren't built in!! it came on a cart with the machine..

It was built in on the computers that came out the same time as the gx4000 though.... (I think)

Amiga1992 · 12 January 2004, 22:49

I didn't say BUILT IN, I said BUNDLED IN. It came in a cartridge with the console. It was not either bulit in in the 464+ or the 6128+

I forgot to say, the + series were C64 kicking in every aspect except sound, since they had the same shitty AY8192 soundchip

manicx · 12 January 2004, 22:59

Akira is right. CPC+ was an excellent machine except the really crap sound. On the other hand, SID was far too good...

Antiriad · 13 January 2004, 13:44

Yes its a pity they didnt bundle a SID chip on the CPC Plus series too. Would have really made it complete, AY for the old stuff, SID for the potentially new.

Then again, two CPU's is one thing - but can you have two different Sound Chips on one machine? Is there a precedent for this?

fiath · 13 January 2004, 13:53

Sure, you would just need to place at a different address space. The only issue would be multiplexing the sounds, but that is not too hard to do in hardware AFAIK.

Amiga1992 · 13 January 2004, 19:20

Sure, that is no problem. But a SID in a CPC would have been always a no-no, since it was s proprietary Commodore chip. That's why you haven't seen it in anything but Commodore machines

what I would have loved, is having a SID (or dual SIDs) in teh amiga, adding a synth chip to Paula's digital processing. That would have been HEAVEN.

tin · 13 January 2004, 19:40

Quote:

Originally posted by Akira
I didn't say BUILT IN, I said BUNDLED IN. It came in a cartridge with the console. It was not either bulit in in the 464+ or the 6128+

woah woah!!!!! eeeeezzeeeeeeee now!!!!

I didn't say you said it, but the quote you made did!!!!

relax man, chill!

09 January 2004, 16:51	#1
Fred the Fop flaming faggot Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Versailles Age: 55 Posts: 2,808	Amstrad console???? Yes, seems there was an Amstrad console in the early 90's. Obvious;ly it sold poorly. http://www.cpcoxygen.net/ Anyone have one? or seen one? How many games were produced for it? I assume the Good CPC dat includes them, with the denotation "cart" as Burning Rubber.

09 January 2004, 17:09	#4
tin Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: chester Posts: 415	aha!!! found this

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09 January 2004, 17:06	#2
Matfink Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Whitstable, UK Age: 45 Posts: 39	i remember this...it was called the G4000 or something wasn't it? C+VG covered it, but i don't think it lasted long enough to accrue many titles...

09 January 2004, 17:07	#3
tin Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: chester Posts: 415	aiii I've got one - didn't think they were that rare! Got burnin rubber, switchblade (which is very good), klax and possibly something else for it. Was very expensive, errr, about £0. Game zone did a sticker once with "my other console's a gx4000" on it. very funny!

09 January 2004, 17:33	#5
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,644	The GX400 was a very fine machine, though it was released late. I wish I had one. Any sellers?

09 January 2004, 17:40	#6
tin Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: chester Posts: 415	loads on ebay m8!

09 January 2004, 17:44	#7
fiath Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: South East / UK Age: 46 Posts: 1,930	I got one too. It is basically a cartidge-based CPC machine with an added "FX" chip.

09 January 2004, 18:32	#8
tin Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: chester Posts: 415	what does the FX chip do?

09 January 2004, 22:08	#9
fiath Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: South East / UK Age: 46 Posts: 1,930	"CPC Plus" range Basically: extended colour palette, hardware sprites, smooth hardware scrolling, DMA controlled sound In detail (from http://www.cpcoxygen.net/magazine/04/18/18b.html) o 16 Hardware Sprites at 16 x 16 pixels, made up of 16 colours from a palette of 4096. Impressive when you take into consideration that each sprite palette is independent of the screen mode and can be magnified to double or quadruple size. o Smooth hardware scrolling both horizontally and vertically. The original CPC only had limited vertical scroll.

10 January 2004, 15:24	#11
Antiriad The Sacred Armour Of Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sussex, UK Age: 44 Posts: 1,141	Ah yes, the GX4000. An ill thought out idea by Alan Sugar that one. Released far too late in 1990. And yes that sadly is the total amount of games made for it. Still, by comparison it was a better machine than the G64, although even that was more successful than this was. Luvely hw specs tho....i often imagine what it would have been like if the CPC had all or at least some of the Plus capabilities from the outset...

11 January 2004, 02:10	#12
andyr Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 97	I used to hate using a joystick on my Amiga for platform games and having to push up to jump so I wired one of the GX400 pads so that button 2 was linked to the 'up' of the D-pad. I whooped Superfrog using that joypad! It had a very similar feel to the 8 bit nintendo joypad but had rounded edges and was surprisingly good in use. The actual GX400 was a total flop (mine was given to me after it turned up at a jumble sale) - No games except the built in game Burning Rubber (average). I still love my CPC though! The one machine Amstrad actually got right.

12 January 2004, 20:20	#14
tin Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: chester Posts: 415	even more ?????????? burnin rubber weren't built in!! it came on a cart with the machine.. It was built in on the computers that came out the same time as the gx4000 though.... (I think)

12 January 2004, 22:49	#15
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,644	I didn't say BUILT IN, I said BUNDLED IN. It came in a cartridge with the console. It was not either bulit in in the 464+ or the 6128+ I forgot to say, the + series were C64 kicking in every aspect except sound, since they had the same shitty AY8192 soundchip

12 January 2004, 22:59	#16
manicx Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Athens, Greece Posts: 991	Akira is right. CPC+ was an excellent machine except the really crap sound. On the other hand, SID was far too good...

13 January 2004, 13:44	#17
Antiriad The Sacred Armour Of Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sussex, UK Age: 44 Posts: 1,141	Yes its a pity they didnt bundle a SID chip on the CPC Plus series too. Would have really made it complete, AY for the old stuff, SID for the potentially new. Then again, two CPU's is one thing - but can you have two different Sound Chips on one machine? Is there a precedent for this?

13 January 2004, 13:53	#18
fiath Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: South East / UK Age: 46 Posts: 1,930	Sure, you would just need to place at a different address space. The only issue would be multiplexing the sounds, but that is not too hard to do in hardware AFAIK.

13 January 2004, 19:20	#19
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,644	Sure, that is no problem. But a SID in a CPC would have been always a no-no, since it was s proprietary Commodore chip. That's why you haven't seen it in anything but Commodore machines what I would have loved, is having a SID (or dual SIDs) in teh amiga, adding a synth chip to Paula's digital processing. That would have been HEAVEN.

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