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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga community support ideas => Topic started by: Spektro on February 23, 2019, 05:46:19 AM

Title: A1222 game console poll
Post by: Spektro on February 23, 2019, 05:46:19 AM
There has been many PowerPC powered game consoles, some very popular and others not so much: Pippin, M2, GameCube, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, and Wii U. Should AmigaOne A1222 be released as a game console? Would it have a chance? What do you think?
Title: Re: A1222 game console poll
Post by: TribbleSmasher on February 23, 2019, 10:07:29 AM
I think it's a great idea. And noone really has to create the whole thing; only a nice case and a barebones OS/Devkit, which has to come from Hyperion, i believe. ;)
Title: Re: A1222 game console poll
Post by: AmigaEd on February 23, 2019, 02:13:28 PM
I've never been heavily into gaming so maybe I'm not really qualified to particpate, but I did and chose "maybe".

Is the A1222 hardware even available? Also, at "less than € 400" just for the a1222 this would be a costly console.

How do you attract developers to this?
Title: Re: A1222 game console poll
Post by: BozzerBigD on February 23, 2019, 08:21:26 PM
The AmigaOne computers are custom designed computers and are not suited for game console uses. Heck the on board audio STILL hasn't got a driver for AmigaOS! It is likely that none of the drivers are optimised yet. Software has to be optimised for the Tabor needing more work than getting it running on a X1000 / X5000 or Sam machine. If it resembles any console it would be the PS3, requiring much nuturing and optimisation effort over the standard XBox 360 ports. The difference is that the Tabor CPU is NOT an exotic overpowered CPU it is an exotic slow (but cheap) CPU without a standard FPU. Price and timing has dictated the CPU choice whereas the PS3 had the Cell CPU specifically designed and fabbed for it (debatable returns on that investment however). I personally think the Cell is great and that the choice was redeemed by the work of Naughty Dog and The Last of Us in particular. However, exotic CPUs should not as a rule be used for game consoles. The SNES and PS3 are examples of successes despite exotic CPUs but they are the exception. The Amiga would not have been a success without the 68k line and a standard three core variant of the Cell PPE served the XBox 360 fine for the majority of its life cycle.
Title: Re: A1222 game console poll
Post by: TribbleSmasher on February 23, 2019, 11:14:02 PM
What is to loose if you could purchase a case and a SSD with a custom OS bootloader simply for e.g. internet downloadable games?
Nobody would suggest it will become a competitor for the actual lineup of consoles.
Title: Re: A1222 game console poll
Post by: Spektro on February 24, 2019, 06:25:15 AM
A1222 is not superior game hardware, as BozzerBigD noted. However, games are more than technical demos showing off the hardware capabilities.

In my opinion, to gain a foothold in the game console markets, the A1222 console should be affordable, the game development kit must be really good (containing easy to use prototyping, optimising, and debugging tools, various game engines and game creation systems for the beginners) and it must exist for Linux, macOS or Windows too, a set of quality game ports should be bundled with the console, and you have to lure independent game developers to create games for the platform. You also need a game store where you can download free games and buy new ones for the console.

I think it's critical that the game developers come from outside the Amiga community and that they are provided excellent development tools. Otherwise there won't be enough quality games to sell and the console effort will fail.
Title: Re: A1222 game console poll
Post by: AdvancedFollower on February 26, 2019, 04:18:20 PM
PPC was abandoned in favor of ARM and x86 for the current gen of consoles.
However what matters most for a console aren't the technical specifications, but a good library of exclusive and ported games. I don't see how A-EON could attract world class game developers when they can't even find someone to write proper NIC drivers.

Let them get the A1222 out in finished form on the native OS it was designed for (and has been "beta tested" on for the past 4 years)  before we make plans for them to take over the world...
Title: Re: A1222 game console poll
Post by: 10MARC on March 07, 2019, 11:12:07 PM
A brand new and incompatible game console will crash and burn as they all do. It needs backwards compatibility and future potential.
Title: Re: A1222 game console poll
Post by: TribbleSmasher on March 08, 2019, 06:19:35 PM
I don't see a statement regarding rivalry with existing game consoles. If it is designed for the Amigans 'masses', i'll be fine. :)
Title: Re: A1222 game console poll
Post by: klx300r on March 08, 2019, 08:47:50 PM
why not I still love my XBox360 & WiiU