CD32 opinions wanted

[fishy_fiz]

I've owned 3 or 4 with the SX-1.
YOu can't add ram and you can't accelerate them.
The door hinge will break.
The power supply is crap.

Huh? You can add RAM to the sx-1. Not to the cd32 itself, but you follow mention of sx-1 with "you cant add ram and you cant accelerate them". Additionally you can accelerate them with a few different add ons, and even just adding some fast ram to sx-1 will give you a nice little boost.

[TakeShad]

CD32 with SX-32 Pro 8 MB fast gives 2.39 mips which makes it 2.5 times faster. But I really find it ironic that the add-on has this written on its board:



That's why Commodore failed with CD32 - it was supposed to be a console but it ended as cut-down Amiga that Amiga fans expanded so that it would be an Amiga computer again. But, of course, every hardware has its charms so I understand the love for CD32 that comes from some people.

[illy5603]

I am a CD32 collector in the USA and am on my second go around with the CD32.

Way back in 1995 or so I purchased an NSTC unit from a vendor named "Bigg Wolf" in New York. We chatted on the phone several times and it was generally cool having such a rare item in a country that was not supposed to have them. The reality was that the games either didn't play correctly when in NTSC or I would have to grab the mouse from my 3000, boot in PAL and play on my 1084 which was not an option at the time so I sold it.

Fast forward to this year and I own a PAL CD32, a PAL compatible TV set and about 30 CD32 games, many of which are unopened.

The games are, sadly, mostly crap... But that only makes me want them more sometimes. There are a few good ones, Frontier, Pinball Fantasies, Cannon Fodder.
 
At Amiwest this year I may be doing a "public lab" with an NTSC and PAL CD32 units to see which games will play on what systems and in which modes. I still run into people that claim they have played NTSC CD32's on NTSC TV sets and everything played fine and I just don't think it is possible.
 
Bottom line, unless you have some sort of twisted soft spot for the CD32 like I do, you would be better served with an A1200 or WinUAE.

[TakeShad]

The games are, sadly, mostly crap... But that only makes me want them more sometimes.

I get that feeling about some console craps at times and to be honest, I find it sick and I rather fight that feeling.

[x56h34]

I am a CD32 collector in the USA and am on my second go around with the CD32.

Way back in 1995 or so I purchased an NSTC unit from a vendor named "Bigg Wolf" in New York. We chatted on the phone several times and it was generally cool having such a rare item in a country that was not supposed to have them. The reality was that the games either didn't play correctly when in NTSC or I would have to grab the mouse from my 3000, boot in PAL and play on my 1084 which was not an option at the time so I sold it.

Fast forward to this year and I own a PAL CD32, a PAL compatible TV set and about 30 CD32 games, many of which are unopened.

The games are, sadly, mostly crap... But that only makes me want them more sometimes. There are a few good ones, Frontier, Pinball Fantasies, Cannon Fodder.
 
At Amiwest this year I may be doing a "public lab" with an NTSC and PAL CD32 units to see which games will play on what systems and in which modes. I still run into people that claim they have played NTSC CD32's on NTSC TV sets and everything played fine and I just don't think it is possible.
 
Bottom line, unless you have some sort of twisted soft spot for the CD32 like I do, you would be better served with an A1200 or WinUAE.

From my personal experience (NTSC CD32, PAL CD32, Multi-system TV, CD32 games):

Some games (very few) run 100% properly on an NTSC CD32 console (might have built-in pal and ntsc detectable modes and they switch to the appropriate mode, depending of the territory)

Some games run...well, run, only...with glitches, etc., with an NTSC CD32 (these games are of course PAL coded only) however depending of your tolerance level, you might consider this running properly or just running in theory. :-)

Most games are PAL only, and require PAL mode to run as intended.

Some games will not run even in PAL mode on an NTSC CD32 (mouse, boot mode, swtich to PAL). I suspect that memory is so scarce with these games, that even after switching to PAL, it just doesn't cut it. That, or it's a deeper issue of PAL compatibility (requires a hardware forced hack vs software hack).

Again from my experience only, I suspect that some NTSC CD32 units have inferior CD drive mechanisms to their PAL counterparts (bad tolerance towards CD-Rs).

My 2 cents. :-)

[marcfrick2112]

Well, I'm a game console collector and an Amiga-nut, so the CD32 was a no-brainer for me.... :insane:

I really like the CD32.... it needed more killer games. I have old Amiga mags showing 'works-in-progress' just as the CD32 would soon be a bad memory (to many people)..... {sigh} I wonder what games we might have seen if the CD32 lasted 2 more years......

I'd also recommend:
Robocod: James Pond 2
Operation Star5ish: James Pond 3
Simon the Sorceror 2
Exile

Also, I wonder if the CD32 was the first console to be localised... The other day, I forgot that I had my CD32 set to French, and Defender of the Crown 2 loaded as 'Defenseur de la Coronne 2'

[rockape]

Hi,

I may have posted this link before, but it's a good one.

Please see http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/amiga/cd32/index.html

"Frequently Asked Questions about the Amiga CD32 - includes how to expand the CD32 to a computer and how to use the CD32 as an external CD-ROM drive for other computers. keywords => <

This FAQ about Amiga CD32 was compiled and written by Stuart Tomlinson with numerous contributions by others.

This is the FAQ for comp.sys.amiga.cd32 and rec.games.video.cd32. It's posted on the first weekend of each month. A lot of it is based upon the earlier FAQ by Edward D. Berger - thanks go to him for doing all the hard work. Another equally sized hand of thanks must go to Dan Cannon, who was the maintainer before I. Who has done the rest of this FAQ so far.

It's split into two parts. The first part holds the contents and the more general stuff. The second part holds the more technical stuff.

This document is freely distributable, but it's compilation copyright. No changes should be made to it and it can't be sold for profit or used as part of a commercial document without the author's permission. So there. If you're reading this on a CD-ROM collection then it could be out of date.

Some sections have wiring diagrams or details of how to connect non- CD32 specific peripherals to your CD32. These are taken from postings from Usenet or Email and the only guarantee is that it worked for the authors. There is a very good chance you could fry both your CD32 and the peripheral by accident. If you're not knowledgable in electronics, have somebody who is double check everything before turning the power on or buy a ready made adaptor instead."

Regards, Michael

aka rockape

[DyLucke]

Under my oppinion CD32 was not a bad system, not at all, but not as good as it could have been either.

It's true it's plastics are not made off the best quality, the CD trap door is quite weak,
and the original pad has strong problems with the d-pad durability.

However, talking about the overall, CD32 came out on the very early CD-Rom era, when CD drives on PeeCees were x2 or x4, and the most of the new CD consoles featured a x1 or x2 speed  CD-Rom.

CD32 had to deal with SEGA-CD, CD-i, Turbo-Duo, and the 3DO. The ONLY console that was able to beat CD32 on performance terms was 3DO, but it's price was really prohibitive. CD32 was faster than any other console CD system, and could play FMV's adding the FMV module (what was expensive, but still far from a 3DO), had more memory, and had more expansion capabilities than other consoles.

CD32 was fair on overall terms, it's failure attends more to the low quality of the CD32 ports (usually AGA or even ECS ports with CD-audio), the fact Commodore was never able to launch the CD32 on the US market, (it became bankrupt after building thousands of machines for the US, that were seized by the philippine government), and of course, the launch of the PSX, and Saturn that outperformed all the previous systems.

In other words, is a worth system to own? Yes, no doubt about it, there are some good games, and very nice compilation discs, it's been becoming a more and more rare system to find, and, it doesn't take much space around.

Of course if C= had added a 030 to the stock CD32, or even to the A1200, or even more, Akiko to the A1200, history could have been very different... But that's another story.

[desiv]

and could play FMV's adding the FMV module (what was expensive, but still far from a 3DO)

Especially when you consider that the 3DO couldn't play FMVs (VCDs) unless you bought IT'S FMV module, which would have made it even more outrageously expensive!

(And I love my 3DO..  Didn't buy it back then tho.. )

desiv

[28steryan]

I like the machine, the official controller is crap though, get the Competion Pro by Honey Bee, I've had my 2 for well over 10 years, and they are as good as new, game loading times are pretty quick depending on the game I have an SX32 with 8MB so it's probably quicker on mine, I also have a CF Card fitted internally to the SX32 with most of the games on that, there for not much loading at all. see pic' below for the decent joypads/set-up.
 
[/IMG]

[agami]

I love my CD32.
I remember how mesmerised I was when I first saw one in a Commodore friendly computer shop running the Microcosm intro. I didn't buy one when they first came out because I'd rather spend the money on A1200 upgrades.

Earlier this decade I ran into a gaming computer/console collector. He had a veritable museum. He only had one CD32 but was prepared to contact me if and when he came across another. Several months later he called me as he had a line on a CD32, still in its original packaging, almost every CD32 title released and several CDTV titles, and an SX-1 expansion.

I picked it up the next day. I ran the SX-1 add-on for a while but I soon abandoned it, it's so ungainly, plus I have an A1200 for retro computing. There are many quick and dirty AGA title ports but some of them are lots of fun and have that little extra something. I love Superfrog.

I even have a few editions of EDGE magazine that lists the CD32 amongst the gaming systems covered.

How many people you think ever used it as a CD player?

[the_leander]

CD32, like an A1200, only its easier to fit into a front room

Seriously nice machine, expanded or otherwise. Not the quickest but grossly underrated by those who can't look beyond its dark plastic shell. By far the most consistently enjoyable experience I had using Amiga was with a CD32.

YMMV.