Amiga A500 mini console

[Jonny_]

This looks brilliant!

Any other sad 80s/90s throwbacks inordinately excited about this thing?

https://retrogames.biz/thea500-mini

It will run A500/A600/A1200 software and games, and comes with 25 of them pre loaded. You can load more ROMs on via USB stick.

I had an A1200 in the 90s, wasted countless hours playing Zool, Worms, Cannon Fodder, James Pond, Lotus Turbo Challenge...

I have of course now got a pre-order in ready for the release date at the end of March. March/April will be a good time, Drive to Survive season 4, then the new F1 season, then this...

[craigjm]

How do you pre order the website doesn’t say or not that I can see on my phone

[Jonny_]

craigjm said:

How do you pre order the website doesn’t say or not that I can see on my phone

I did it on Amazon, but a quick Google suggests you can also pre order on Game, Smyths, Argos etc.

[Ultuous]

I love the way they make a selling point of it coming with the original mouse design ‐ probably one of the first things those of us sad enough to want this replaced with an upgrade back in the day!

[Lucas Ayde]

Ultuous said:

I love the way they make a selling point of it coming with the original mouse design ? probably one of the first things those of us sad enough to want this replaced with an upgrade back in the day!

Yeah, I couldn't wait to get a better third party mouse for my Amiga but these days it's considered quite desirable for the retro experience.

I'll be using a Mister FPGA for my Amiga retro experiences but this is quite a nice looking little bit of kit. Note that nowhere on the pacakaging does it say 'Amiga' as there are all sorts of legal arguments over who actually owns the Amiga rights.

[mw88]

Were they really that colour, or does it come pre "yellowed"

I've got an Amiga Commodore A1200 up in the loft with a million floppy disks..

Shame I can't find the power supply Had a Hard Drive mod poking out the back, not even sure if it would work without that drive

[FourWheelDrift]

They made a C64 mini, then released a full size C64. They might do the same with the Amiga.

[AlexC1981]

I like how they have made the pad the same style and layout as the Amiga CD-32 pad, but appear to have improved upon it. I wonder if it will be adapted or modified by the community for use with a real Amiga or CD-32. The original pads weren't very good.

FourWheelDrift said:

They made a C64 mini, then released a full size C64. They might do the same with the Amiga.

They could do it in the layout of the 600 or 1200. The 500 is quite bulky.

Edited by AlexC1981 on Sunday 19th December 16:55

[2 GKC]

Don’t regret many things, but flogging my 500 in my teens and upgrading to a 1200 is one of them. Had so many brilliant games that wouldn’t run on the new one.

Sold the 1200 earlier this year with the original Zoom pack and boxes, instructions, receipt. Never really used it

[Jonny_]

fesuvious said:

Will it run a joystick?

According to the manufacturers' Facebook page, yes:



By "our existing joysticks" I would assume they mean this:

https://retrogames.biz/thec64-joystick

[FourWheelDrift]

Jonny_ said:

According to the manufacturers' Facebook page, yes:



By "our existing joysticks" I would assume they mean this:

https://retrogames.biz/thec64-joystick

Any USB joystick going by this - "THEC64 Micro Switch Joystick is a USB controller that is also compatible with PC, Mac and Linux computers."

[anonymous-user]

As cool as I think this is, I don't really understand why you would spend £120 on one when you could run WinUAE on your PC for free? The A500 mini is just running an emulator, it is not a direct copy of the hardware or running a FPGA core.

If you really want a little box under your TV you would be much better of getting a Raspberry Pie, setting up RetroPie and then emulating any system you like.

I understand that I am probably not the target audience for this and it is for people who want a bit of nostalgia but don't know about emulators and Raspberry Pie. But it is a bit too expensive to just be an impulse purchase.

[Zad]

Given it mentions a virtual keyboard, I imagine the case will be like the C64 Mini - just a plastic moulding without actual switches, and an ARM processor inside. I suspect most of these will be attracting dust and on Ebay in no time.

And yes, you can download preconfigured (micro) SD card images for free.

[LunarOne]

I don't see the point really. I have 2x A500s, one A4000/030 and WinUAE on my PC. All working perfectly!

Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge - The Original and the Best!

[FourWheelDrift]

LunarOne said:

I don't see the point really. I have 2x A500s, one A4000/030 and WinUAE on my PC. All working perfectly!

The C64 has been a good seller so there must be a point, perhaps those who no longer have the originals but want to get some easy nostalgia, or want something more reliable with modern TV connections. Or not wanting to clean up a leaked battery in the Amiga which has corroded the board after years being stored.

[Don Veloci]

£120? If that is the projected cost it's a wee bit rich for the nostalgic toy novelty for me.

But will keep a look out. Might be tempted as something to chuck under the upstairs TV for the odd nostalgic cravings.

[8bit]

Hmm, I could fancy this, some of my favourite games in there - Another World, Arcade Pool, California Games, F-16 Combat Pilot, Speedball 2, Stunt Car Racer, The Sentinel. Watching with interest.

[Yuxi]

fesuvious said:

Will it run a joystick?

I've still got a Zipstick in the loft

[FourWheelDrift]

Full review from Retro Recipes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h552-eR0cGA

It makes me want to get one.

[Deep Thought]

I've the full size Commodore 64 that they did.

Wouldt definitely buy a full size Amiga if they brought one out, not so fussed on the Minis.