Amiga Computing - Commodore Is Awesome

FEATURE
that's conservative. Sadly, I can't envisage
the day when Microsoft publishes
Amiga-specific epos." He linishes: "The
Amiga is a wonderful hobbyist machine.
To pretend it's anything more will be its
downfall."
Apart from the hardware not being on
the shelves for a year, the Amiga has
also faced other problems. Piracy is
cited as one factors that has led to the
situation. One way around this would be
to increase the amount of development
on CD format. As Dyson puts it: 'Any
company that is developing for the
Amiga but isn't doing CD32 stuff is out
of its mind. Because CD piracy is still
(relatively) uncommon, Amiga CD software
sells in larger amounts than the
CD32's marketshare would suggest.
More Amiga owners are getting CD-
ROM drives and if companies will
release enhanced CD software, I'm con-
vinced they will see that effort rewarded
with sales.
"Personally, with faster loading times,
less disk swaps and no need to take up
hard drive space with full installs, I'd
rather see all software issued on CD
only."
ENHANCING
However, the CD32 in its current form
is another bone of contention. Most
games available for the CD32 have
been port-overs from the Amiga with little
or no enhancements, and the general
feeling seems to be that the machine
needs vastly enhancing and CD-specific
titles need to be developed - especially
with the imminent arrival of the Sony
Playstation. Jolly backs this up: 'We
think that the CD32 in its present design
will have a hard time if it goes back into
production - unless Escom intend to
focus it on a different market, i.e, a
set-top box. They must produce an
upgraded CD32, re-styled and renamed
would be a good move, complete with a
tight development schedule,"
What software developers would actually
like to see on the Amiga itself is
wide and varied, but most seem to be in
agreement that they'd like to see
increased specs. Warrender replies: "I
would like to see high-capacity hard drives,
built-in CD-ROM. cross platform
compatibility, a new high resolution
monitor to coincide with a higher standard
video output. a portable version,
Team 1 7 a re stiff de ve loping tor the Amiga
because the y a ro a ll hug. Amiga fa ns
a nil neto hardi
1BIE 501P5 for a gear, and
tafter
a gear out of the
hmaret,
and with the Saturn
eand
flanstation looming,
rbtom
are gang to haup to do
n something realg 5optlal to
hsuited
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Amiga Computing
cIeTORER 1995
Super Shidrna rks prove d tha t
quailty title s will still se ll we ll
We take a look at what the software
companies have in store now that
Escom have revealed their plans,
Vulcan: "Our policy is to continue to
develop for the Amiga regardless
of Escom's plans. We sincerely
believe there is a strong user base out
there." in development: *The Mini
Series'.
Grandslam: "Our policy on the development
for the Amiga has only been
strengthened with the Escom news
We have always been an active supporter
of the Commodore range since
the early machines, and will continue
to develop titles as long as Amiga
users are still out there to buy them."
In development: Baseiumpers CD32,
International Test Series Cricket,
Gamer Gold, Ruffian, 7th Sword of
Mendor
Virgin Interactive: "We had an important
meeting with Escom recently, discussing
our luture Amiga development
plans. Escom have certainly assured
and a newly designed Amiga mouser
Binary Emotions' Andy Jolly adds to
this: -
I'd 32-bit Witter, fast 3D chip for polygons
land i ktexture
mapping. 68030 25MHz
e base processor. sound improvement.
tand
multi-player facilities.'
o Another possibility that some would
shave
liked to have seen is the new
eAmiga
put together as a complete pack-
e age, much like how the PC is sold
2Tunnah
states: "The Amiga would bene-
Mfit
from 6Mb of RAM as standard, with
b an accelerator, CD-ROM and a large
Phard
drive accompanied with a monitor.
aThis
would provide the end user with a
sstate-of-the-art
machine which could run
tthe
most sophisticated software."
R As with all new machines. in-house
Adevelopment
is very important, and
M
.
n
Vulcan Softwa re ha ve ma de the de cision to
distribute the ir own products through ma ll orde r
In the pipeline
us of a future for the Amiga. so a
priate projects at VIE will continue."
development: Sensible Golf. CD
titles and Renegade's Z.
Binary Emotions: "Our plans ha
always involved the Amiga sim
because it's such an easy platform
develop for, so Escom's buyout h
enhanced matters." in developm
Minskies Furr Balls, Neme
Syndrome. Spens Legacy 2
Team 17: "Escom's plans haven't
Ily affected Team 17's attitude to
Amiga yet. They haven't approac
us directly, we have had to appr
them. This was always a problem
Commodore, who really liad qui
shoddy attitude towards develop
We are still developing for the Arm
mainly because we owe much ol
success to the machine and beca
many people here are huge Am
tans rather than it being a panicu
profitable market at present." In de
opment: Speris Legacy. Final Ov
Alien Breed 3D, Worms
unless Escom have some sottw
teams in-house then it could be
damaging for the future of the Am
Jolly stresses this: "You simply ca
rely on third-party development, m
in the 130s it was possible but in t
days of intense competition you ha
be crazy not to release exclus
in-house titles.'
Taking all these points into acco
Escom have a tough job on their
and only time will tell if the Amiga
be born again. What is for sure, Me
is that no-one wants to see the A
go. and for a machine that has bee
the market for a year there's s
faithful following. And as Vulcan's
Tunnah summarises: 'They (A
users) are loyal people and des
only the best."