~~3The new CD32 console and the Future of the Amiga


 So here it is at last. The new Amiga console as predicted by just about
everybody on the Amiga scene has arrived. OK, so it looks like a child's
plastic toy that will undoubtably fall apart the moment you pick it up, but
under the bonnet is a slightly less toy-like Amiga A1200. For the same
price as Commodore's "A500 for the 90's" you can now have the latest in CD
gaming technology. Already the software houses are killing themselves to
release new CD based entertainment products which could leave that noisy
hedgehog for dead.

 After the disaster that was CDTV (an opinion that isn't just mine), how
can a slightly more powerful version possibly succeed. Well firstly,
there's the price. The only real competition at the moment is the Sega Mega
CD, but to use that you need a Mega Drive. Thus the Amiga console is
significantly cheaper. Plus, the Mega CD is Dead On Arrival so far as raw
power goes. The Amiga is faster, has more colours, higher screen
resolution, more memory and yet it costs less. Added to this is the vitally
important point that you can turn a CD32 into a A1200 with CD-ROM using a
"docking station" which, despite being quite expensive, will entice parents
who can now buy their children the console they've been moaning for and
then introduce them to real, creative computing later, say next Christmas.
You like playing games, Joe? Well, why not try programming them yourself
with AMOS PROFESSIONAL. Or maybe write some music on MED or PROTRACKER. You
want to draw something, use D-PAINT IV AGA. While you're at it, you can use
your CD-ROM drive to access a vast amount of information all presented in a
way that would make a text book crumble to dust. Try doing any of that on a
Sega or a Nintendo.

 How Commodore have managed to produce such a wonderful sounding machine,
the console to beat all consoles that doesn't have to stay just a console,
probably doesn't interest Joe Public. What he wants to know is if it's
worth the money - which it has to be for the power and flexibility it
offers.

 The problem is going to be selling the thing. Sega may have the inferior
machine but they do have the kind of power that can post bills all over
London, fill entire commercial breaks with Pirate TV adverts and get kids
all over the country interested in nothing but hedgehogs on speed. The only
fruit that Commodore have managed to squeeze from their rusty old PR
department was a pathetic advert for the A600 featuring the poor man's
(make that extremely poverty stricken down and out's) Terminator and a
spotty little geek playing a sad computer game that would look less out of
place on a Super NES. Why would people want to buy an A600 to play outdated
platform games for £400, Commodore? Add to that the fact that the A600
looked like a portable typewriter and was very quickly superseded by the
vastly superior A1200 and we can all see just how good Commodore are at
informing the public about their latest product.

 So if they can get their PR right and they can convince people that the
Mega CD is a waste of money, they really want a CD32, the future for the
Amiga can only be bright. If they can also make sure that this time the
software arrives on time and is of a decent quality (unlike most stuff for
the CDTV), and if they can show the public what it can do with stands in
computer stores that let customers play the games in the shop (like Sega
and  Nintendo have all over the country), they might just pull this one
off. Let's face it, if they don't, Commodore are in serious trouble.

 Alright, so CD32's not going to stamp out the Amiga's competition from the
PC and the consoles overnight, but it can only make people more aware of
just what a wonderfully creative and financially viable tool the Amiga is.
It plays a mean game of Superfrog too.