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Amiga CD32: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Amiga CD32
The Amiga CD32 was the final hardware product ever developed by Commodore International, a company that would file for bankruptcy just eight months after its launch. Announced on the 16th of July 1993 at the Science Museum in London, the console was marketed as the world's first 32-bit games console, a title that carried immense weight for a company in financial freefall. Despite the dire state of Commodore's finances, the company bet its future on this machine, hoping it would turn the tide against competitors like the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation. The console was essentially a keyboard-less Amiga 1200 personal computer, stripped of its input/output ports and equipped with a CD-ROM drive instead of floppy drives. It featured a modified Advanced Graphics Architecture chipset designed to improve graphical performance, yet it was hamstrung by a lack of dedicated fast memory for its CPU. The system was released in Europe, Australia, Canada, and Brazil in September 1993, but the United States launch was derailed by a federal injunction preventing Commodore from importing goods due to unpaid patent royalties. By the time the company declared bankruptcy in April 1994, the CD32 had already been discontinued, leaving behind a legacy of unfinished potential and a console that never truly got its chance to shine.
A Race Against Time
Commodore announced the Amiga CD32, codenamed Spellbound, with great fanfare, yet the race to market was already lost before the first unit was sold. The FM Towns Marty, a console released exclusively in Japan, beat the CD32 to market by seven months, though the CD32 boasted a 32-bit data bus while the Marty used a 16-bit bus. The CD32's Motorola 68EC020 processor ran at 14 megahertz in NTSC regions and 14 megahertz in PAL regions, but the system shipped with only 2MB of RAM shared between the chipset and the CPU, creating a bottleneck that limited its performance. In the Christmas period following its launch, the CD32 accounted for 38% of all CD-ROM drive sales in Britain, exceeding sales of the Sega Mega-CD, but this success was short-lived. Approximately 25,000 units were sold in Germany, and around 100,000 units were sold in Europe, but these numbers were insufficient to save the company. The console was withdrawn from sale after only a short time as Commodore filed for bankruptcy, leaving many consumers with a system that was already obsolete before it could fully establish itself.
The Software Shortfall
The majority of CD32 game software were ports of existing Amiga 1200 or Amiga 500 titles, and many did not take advantage of CD capabilities like CD music or full-motion video. The launch bundle included two games: Diggers, a new game from Millennium Interactive, and Oscar from Flair Software, but a later pack included the one-on-one fighting game Dangerous Streets, which was met with derision by the press. Amiga Power rated Dangerous Streets just 3%, and many reviewers were surprised that Commodore would choose to show off the abilities of its machine with a poor game. The CD32 was capable of running most of the releases for the Amiga CDTV multimedia device, but differences in CPU speed and Kickstart version prevented some of the earlier CDTV releases from running. Most of the games released for the CD32 were simply ports of games that were already available for Amiga computers, and the system did not take full advantage of the CD-ROM drive's capabilities. The console's hidden boot menu allowed users to boot in either NTSC or PAL mode, but most games did not advertise what video mode they were developed for, leading to compatibility issues.
When was the Amiga CD32 announced and by which company?
Commodore International announced the Amiga CD32 on the 16th of July 1993 at the Science Museum in London. This console was the final hardware product ever developed by Commodore International before the company filed for bankruptcy eight months later.
Why was the Amiga CD32 never officially sold in the United States?
A federal injunction prevented Commodore from importing goods into the United States due to unpaid patent royalties to Texas Instruments. The company declared bankruptcy in April 1994 before the console could launch officially in the American market.
What processor and memory specifications did the Amiga CD32 have?
The Amiga CD32 featured a Motorola 68EC020 processor running at 14 megahertz in both NTSC and PAL regions. The system shipped with only 2MB of RAM shared between the chipset and the CPU, creating a performance bottleneck.
Which console beat the Amiga CD32 to market and when was the Amiga CD32 released?
The FM Towns Marty beat the Amiga CD32 to market by seven months as it was released exclusively in Japan. The Amiga CD32 was released in Europe, Australia, Canada, and Brazil in September 1993.
How can the Amiga CD32 be upgraded to function like an Amiga 1200?
Users can turn the Amiga CD32 into a de facto Amiga 1200 by adding third-party packages such as the ProModule or Paravision SX-1. These devices add 2.5-inch IDE, keyboard connectors, and 8MB or 64MB of Fastmem to the system.
Commodore's MPEG decompression module for the CD32 provides support for playing Video CD and CD+G releases, attaching to the rear of the console and augmenting it with an MPEG decoder chipset from C-Cube together with 4MB of video RAM. The unit, demonstrated at the 1994 CeBIT show, was priced at around £200. The CD32 can be enhanced using devices such as the ProModule, Paravision SX-1, DCE SX-32, and Terrible Fire's TF328, TF330, and TF360, which add 2.5-inch IDE, keyboard connector, and 8MB/64MB of Fastmem. These devices extend the capabilities of the Amiga CD32, allowing it to utilize hardware such as an external 3.5-inch floppy disk drive, hard disk, and IBM PC keyboard. An Amiga CD32 can be turned into a de facto Amiga 1200 via the addition of third-party packages, but Commodore itself made no hardware available for that purpose. The only currently known surviving prototype of the CD1200 drive resides at the Retro Computer Museum in Leicester. The CD32 is compatible with most controllers designed for the Atari joystick port from the 1980s and 1990s, as well as Amiga mice and paddles, but the system's hardware limitations meant that it could not compete with the more powerful consoles that were about to hit the market.
The Hidden Boot Menu
If the system is turned on without a CD, a splash screen with scrolling colors will appear and a tune will play. After this tune ends, the user can press the blue button on the game pad to enter a language selection menu. The user can also press the red button to access a menu where they can view the contents of the internal Flash ROM. Unlike most game consoles, this menu does not allow the user to delete items. Instead, the system will automatically overwrite the oldest entries when the memory runs out. The menu does, however, allow the user to lock files to prevent overwriting. The CD32 has a hidden boot menu that can be accessed by plugging an Amiga mouse into port 2 and holding both buttons down while turning the system on. Most of the options in this menu are not useful on a CD32, but from this menu the user can choose to boot in either NTSC or PAL mode. This is important, as there are some games that will not work if the system is in the wrong mode, and most games don't advertise what video mode they were developed for. Despite the naming, the menu really only allows a choice of 50Hz or 60Hz video output; a PAL system booted in NTSC mode will still output a video signal using PAL color encoding, which will usually result in a black-and-white picture when connected to an NTSC television.
Unconventional Deployments
In 1993, 109 CD32 units were installed to run the interactive exhibits at the London Transport Museum, Covent Garden. They provided information, animations, pictures, sound, and text available in several languages, and a London Underground simulator. The systems were produced by the Odiham, Hampshire-based company Index Information, using their CD32x interface units. In 1995, an Italian company named CD Express used the CD32 as a basis for an arcade machine called CUBO CD32. Inside these machines, stock CD32s were hooked up to an external circuit board which essentially acted as a converter to route all the input and output into a standard JAMMA connector for use in an arcade cabinet. The software was provided on CD-ROM. Nine games are known to exist, all of which are original games created by CD Express. In the mid to late 1990s, some vehicle registries in Canada used CD32 systems for interactive multimedia testing for drivers license applications. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, slot machine manufacturer StarGames used a stripped down CD32 motherboard in many of its slot machines. Machines confirmed to be operating on CD32 hardware are Hawaiian Delight, Leprechaun Luck, and Mister Magic. From 1994 to 1997, Wall Street Institute used CD32 systems at its learning centers, featuring software with voice tone recognition and interactive activities very focused on listening.
The American Tragedy
Commodore had built up CD32 inventory in its Philippine manufacturing facility for the United States launch, but, being unable to sell the consoles, they remained in the Philippines until the debts owed to the owners of the facility were settled. A federal judge ordered an injunction against Commodore preventing it from importing anything into the United States due to unpaid patent royalties to Texas Instruments. Commodore declared bankruptcy shortly afterward, and the CD32 was never officially sold in the United States. However, imported models came over the border from Canada, and many stores in the United States, primarily mail-order stores, imported units for domestic sale. During the long bankruptcy proceedings, Texas Instruments also provided some hardware components and software for the American market, including production of the MPEG Video Module, which was not officially released by Commodore International. The console was never officially sold in the United States, but imported models came over the border from Canada, and many stores in the United States, primarily mail-order stores, imported units for domestic sale. The system's failure to launch in the United States was a significant blow to Commodore, as the American market was crucial for the company's survival.
Legacy and Rediscovery
Computer Gaming World magazine in January 1994 stated that in spite of Commodore's earlier efforts to disguise the fact, the Amiga is a great gaming platform, but wondered if the company could successfully market the console in the US. Several magazines were launched that were dedicated to the CD32, in particular Paragon Publishing released Amiga CD32 Gamer, which lasted 21 issues until February 1996. The CD32's legacy has been preserved by enthusiasts and collectors, with projects like Project CD32 and amiga.resource.cx maintaining databases of hardware and software. The system's unique features, such as its hidden boot menu and its ability to be converted into an Amiga 1200, have made it a favorite among retro computing enthusiasts. The CD32's hardware limitations and software shortcomings have not diminished its appeal, as it remains a symbol of Commodore's final attempt to dominate the gaming market. The system's unconventional deployments, from arcade machines to slot machines, have added to its mystique, making it a fascinating subject for historians and collectors alike. The CD32's story is one of missed opportunities, technical ingenuity, and a company that fell before it could fully realize its potential.