I want an Amiga gaming system!

[aardvark]

Atari software and Amiga software are incompatible, so to run Atari software you'll need an Atari machine. A500s are more compact, but A2000s are a better machine for expandability.  They're both the same generation so they will generally run the same software.  Rom versions are important, too as some software will only run on 1.2 or 1.3 roms.  2.04 roms are better and the latest is 3.1 roms which will run the latest OS version 3.9 (providing you have an accelerator)  The accelerators are easier to fit into an A2000, but some are available for the A500 as well.

These machines will _not_ run AGA games.  It is possible to get graphics cards for the A2/3/4000 models to run VGA resolution games, most of which also require a fast accelerator.  AGA games will only work on A1200 and A4000 machines.  Degrader software is available to give backwards compatibility for games.  Amigas have always been amazingly expandable (with the exception of A600s and CDTVs) with A1200s towerized running PPC processors and A2000s running 68060 processors.

Don't know if you're in Europe or North America or elsewhere, but certain models are more common in one area than another. Me I like my A3000T with Cyberstorm PPC and 060 processor with a Cybervision graphics card.  Still won't run AGA software though  :-(
Overall, if I were you I'd be tempted to go for the A1200 with a 3.1 rom and at least an 030 processor if you're looking to the best of Amiga's past and an A4000 or A3000 if you're looking to upgrade to Amiga's future.  Hang around Amiga Org and you'll get an idea where we're heading. 8-)

[Acill]

I'd say if you want a great Amiga to go for tha A500 as well for games. Its what most all the game makers had in mind in the glory days of the Amiga nad made the games for. Sure the FEW AGA games that are good wont work on it, but thats what UAE is for. Most of the AGA games had an ECS version as well. I've never had AGA. I've used a A1000 and then upgraded to an A3000 when they came out. Look on ebay and get a nice used A500. Your going to need a monitor as well unless you can find aTV adapter for it.

[xeron]

[color=CC0000]!! LISTEN TO LEIRBAG !![/color]

Don't get an A500. The PERFECT classic gaming setup is an A1200 with 030, fastram and HD, with WHDLoad.

WHDLoad fixes problems that would otherwise prevent games running on the 1200. It allows you to install the games to the hard disk for instant loading, and you can quit them without rebooting.

There are over 1000 WHDLoad installers.

Check out this option before you buy an A500, because floppy disks are really sloooooooooooow.

The WHDLoad homepage.

[itix]

Don't get an A500. The PERFECT classic gaming setup is an A1200 with 030, fastram and HD, with WHDLoad.

But... Where is the beef? Waiting is part of gaming experience :-) And really loading times were not that bad.

And problem with A1200+HD setup is that HD should be max 4GB. Unless you have an OS upgrade which costs even more
money... Some Amiga games like Wing Commander and Bullfrog's games benefit from A1200 but A500 would be my choice still.

[xeron]

@itix

Well, i think you're crazy :-) My 1200 has Superfrog, Project X SE, Stunt Car Racer, Speedball II, Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge 2, Alien Breed 2, Pinball Fantasies, Slam Tilt, Addams Family, Robocod, Gravity Force 2, Spacial Hyperdrive, Super Stardust, Xtreme Racing, and loads more all installed on the HD, available at the double click of a mouse.

I wouldn't change that for disk swapping on an A500 for anything ;-)

[redrumloa]

I have 4 more good tested new C= refurbished A500s for $150 each including free shipping to the us lower 48 states. After those 4 are gone, I don't know if I will be able to secure more stock, probably not.

HERE

BTW- Personally I'd have to agree that for old school games, an Amiga 500 with KS1.3 rom is by far your best bet and bt waaaay far the most compatible. An A1200 would be o-k, but AGA and KS2.0+ will helplessly break many games. This can't always be fixed by degraders, as helpful as they are you just can't beat a real A500 with KS1.3.

[xeron]

redrumloa wrote:
bet and bt waaaay far the most compatible. An A1200 would be o-k, but AGA and KS2.0+ will helplessly break many games. This can't always be fixed by degraders, as helpful as they are you just can't beat a real A500 with KS1.3.

WHDLoad is not just a degrader; the faulty code of the original game is patched with better code. There are 1511 installers on WHDLoad.de, and the vast majority work on expanded A1200s, even when the original disk versions are hopelessly broken on 1200s.

[stefcep]

My 2 cents worth:

Advantages of A500: lots of older games will work.

Advantages of a1200: faster, easier and cheaper to get hard drive, which means that lots of games can be installed on a 4 gig hard drive, prettier graphics, many a500 games can work if you use WHDload,. Hard disk installability is something you will not go without once you have experienced it.

Go for A1200..

[redrumloa]

WHDLoad is not just a degrader; the faulty code of the original game is patched with better code. There are 1511 installers on WHDLoad.de, and the vast majority work on expanded A1200s, even when the original disk versions are hopelessly broken on 1200s.

WHDload is an excelent program and it's support is growing, but it is still spotty. I can go through my personal collection of original games and still 80% of them are not supported. There is also the fact that it wasn't uncommon for their to be mutliple revisions of the same game, with only one of them working with WHDload. Even of the ones that are supported and supposedly work, many of them still did not work on my old A3k/060 system.

[xeron]

Hmmm.... maybe I've just been really lucky then... There are a couple that don't work on my 060 systems that do on my 030 machines, which is why I recommended an 030 card, but apart from that i've had little or no problem.

Of course, in the original article, it sounded like he's prepared to pay some cash to get the ultimate, so why not get both an A1200+030+HD, and an A500 for anything that won't install on the 1200

[leirbag28]

mugenakuma:

 Well as I said you would be better off with a 1200, Lionheart (great game!)  runs crappy on a 500 it runs much smoother on a 1200, too many glitches on the 500 with it. Maybe get some ram maybe 2 megs.

Anyway if you ecide on the A500, here are games to get wich are the best looking 16 bit games for the Amiag 500:

Ruff N Tumble   (looks like 256 colors!)
Elf Mania       (LOOKS LIKE 256 COLORS!)
LionHeart    (Looks like 256 colors!)
SuperFrog
ProjectX
Ruffian
Pinball Fantasies (Better than the SNES version)
Hired Guns
Zool 2

Other good games:
Shadow of The Beast III
Hybris
Battle Squadron
Outfall (used to be shareware)
ShufflePuck Cafe
Chaos Engine (Better than SNES Soldiers Of Fortune)
Another World (AKA: Out of This World better than SNES)
FlashBack (better than the SNES version)
Gods   (better than the SNES version)
Apprentice  (By Raibow Arts)
Turrican (Rainbow Arts)
Turrican II

SNES = Super Nintendo

[DanDude]

Wow.  LOL  And I thought I was bad with big fonts.  :-D

[ptek]

The AMIGA is vastly superior to the Atari ... It's able do show has a lot more colours on the screen, it has some special custom chips for graphics and sound (the "equivalent" of the PC graphics cards) that made a BIG difference between the competition.

I think there was some of the Atari games better than the AMIGA versions : about 2% of the Atari games  :-D  

If you get an A1200, you'll get best operative system  I ever saw (it also crashes, but at least you dont' need to re-install it every 3 months )

The Atari op. system was a piece of s....

Believe me, go for an AMIGA.

If you want a machine only AND really only for games, maybe the A500.

If you get a A1200, you'll get a faster machine and capable of serous work (just add it a hard drive and some more RAM and off you go)

Another important question is : how will you get the game disks ? From the Internet there are legal sites like backtoroots, but how will you tranfer them from a PC (with Internet connection) to your AMIGA without a hard disk ?

Maybe it's better to get a A1200 + hard disk ...

[x56h34]

You need to be insane if you don't like WHDLoad. It makes any expanded Amiga run any supported game (unless it's a non-AGA unit trying to run an AGA game). And oh yes, everything worthwhile playing is supported. Even if some games don't work they will just after some minor settings (read the manual).

Now as for getting an A500 with 1.3rom, you guys are failing to mention that he's bound to run into PAL/NTSC differences, especially if he opts for an NTSC A500 unit as it is the least compatible with majority of games out there. He will have a hard time tracking down NTSC ports of the games he wants, and when he tries PAL versions he'll notice the timing problems with GFX and sound. If he's from a PAL country, he's fine then.

My suggestion:

A1200 w/3.1rom, OS3.9, 2GB or more HD, 030 accelerator with SCSI and CDrom + Zip drive connected to it, and of course and Amiga monitor in order to be PAL/NTSC independent..

Perfect for gaming and backup.

[redrumloa]

You need to be insane if you don't like WHDLoad. It makes any expanded Amiga run any supported game (unless it's a non-AGA unit trying to run an AGA game).

Who says they don't like WHDLoad? I only stated that it is wrong to claim it magically makes every single game work, it doesn't. It supports a specific list of games.

[x56h34]

A specific list of games? More like almost all released games. I am sure there are titles missing, but everything worthwhile playing is supported.