Chapter 2.2

Commodore Amiga (1985)

History

In his famous book Primitive Culture, anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor spends a great deal of time talking about fetishes. To classify something as a fetish, Tylor says we need an “explicit statement that a spirit is considered as embodied in it, or acting through it, or communicating by it, or at least that the people it belongs to habitually think it does.” Furthermore, “The object is treated as having personal consciousness and power, is talked with, worshipped, prayed to, sacrificed to, petted, or ill-treated with reference to its past or future behavior to its votaries.” Undoubtedly, there are many former Amiga owners reading this chapter who, with the possible exception of praying, can attest to engaging in all of these behaviors at some time or another with their beloved home computer!

Indeed, at the time of its release in 1985 and for many years afterward, the Amiga seemed almost mystical—an impression reinforced by the eccentric design decisions of its hardware and software teams, who left us with the famous “Guru Meditation Errors” and microchips named after their girlfriends (the word “amiga” itself, of course, is Spanish for “girlfriend”). Perhaps it is fitting that Andy Warhol, the avant-garde artist best known for such controversial pop art masterpieces as Campbell’s Soup Cans and Eight Elvises, was a well-known fan of the system. Sadly, despite all its promise, the Amiga received little more than its 15 minutes of fame before fading from the mainstream. Today it is a rare treat even to see it mentioned in all but the best computer history books.

As told by Jeremy Reimer in a series of in-depth articles on the history of Amiga for the website Ars Technica, the tale of the Amiga begins essentially with one man: Jay Miner (1932–1994), an Atari engineer who had already distinguished himself by designing chips for the Atari VCS (see Chapter 1.3). Miner was not content, however, building “mere” game consoles. Instead, he wanted to make his mark on the nascent home computer industry, which at that time was dominated by the trinity of the Apple II, Commodore PET, and TRS-80. In 1979, he designed the Atari 400 (see Chapter 1.4), the first home computer to offer sprites and custom coprocessors for handling video, collision, sound, and so on. Unfortunately for Miner, Atari was afraid that its home computer line would cut into its lucrative profits on its consoles, so they advertised their utility as “serious” machines instead of showing off awesome Atari computer games like Star Raiders. It was, frankly, a stupid decision that hurt Atari computer sales and left the company vulnerable to competition from their vicious rival Commodore, whose ads for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 were much more gamer-friendly. Miner was also fed up with the management style of Ray Kassar, the uptight businessman who took over Atari after the unhappy departure of founder Nolan Bushnell.

Miner was ready to jump ship, and when his friend Larry Kaplan called to invite him to join a startup called Hi-Toro, he didn’t need much convincing. Kaplan, an Activision employee, had been selected by a group of investors (dentists and an oil baron) to start up a games company. Miner agreed to assume the role of chief engineer, but only if they’d let him work with the brand new 68000 CPU from Motorola. Miner recognized the 68000’s potential, but its high price seemed hard to justify considering the success of the much cheaper 6502, whose variations had proven itself in everything from the Atari 2600 to the Commodore 64. The investors wanted Miner to design a game console, which he claimed to be doing, all the while secretly ensuring that his unit could easily be expanded into a full computer.

Fortunately for Miner (and unfortunately for his former company), the “Crash Christmas” of 1983 and ensuing collapse of the console market caused the investors to reverse their position. Now they wanted a computer instead of a console, and Miner was ready and happy to oblige.

In a twist of events, Hi-Toro was bought out by Commodore in 1984. Commodore’s president, the brash but often brilliant Jack Tramiel, had recently left the company he founded and picked up the reins at his former rival, Atari. Tramiel hadn’t left Commodore happily, and a morass of litigation over intellectual property stymied both companies. In the end, Commodore ended up with exclusive rights to Miner’s chipset, but the slowdown gave Tramiel and Atari enough time to rush their Atari 520ST into production in June of 1985. The Amiga appeared only a month later, but its higher price ($1295 without a monitor compared to the ST’s $1000 with color monitor) didn’t do it any favors. Commodore also suffered production problems, giving Atari even more of a lead in the race. Naturally, the rivalry between the two companies extended into the fan communities, who are still exchanging vitriol on online forums nearly three decades later.

The Amiga platform would never seriously compete with the IBM PC platform, especially in business, education, and industrial markets. Amiga owners tended to be gamers or desktop video enthusiasts. The Atari ST and later Atari computers were also of most interest to gamers, though some musicians, including the noted synthesizer group Tangerine Dream, preferred the ST for its integrated MIDI capabilities.¹ Lack of built-in MIDI notwithstanding, the Amiga did offer great sound technology for the time. At a time when many computers were limited to a crummy internal speaker, Amiga users enjoyed four channels of 8-bit stereo goodness.

On a more positive note, the Amiga’s game library is immense, covering every conceivable genre. Furthermore, several games originating on the Amiga were groundbreaking, highly innovative titles that continue to delight gamers. Several of the earliest games developed for the system, including Bill Williams’ Mind Walker, Cinemaware’s Defender of the Crown, and Damon Slye’s Arctic Fox (all 1986), were all instant classics.

Mind Walker, a one-man production by Bill Williams, was actually a series of mini-games set in a patient’s brain. The game’s Freudian overtones, bizarre gameplay, and haunting music created a surreal, unsettling, and unique gaming experience.

Defender of the Crown, designed by Kellyn Beck and illustrated by Jim Sachs, was an action/strategy hybrid whose graphics of medieval castles and beautiful maidens awed gamers, setting a new standard for graphical realism. Cinemaware went on to create several more classics for the system, always striving to incorporate movie-like elements into the action. For instance, King of Chicago (1987), which allowed gamers to become Pinky, an up-and-coming gangster striving to make his mark, took its cue from popular film noir. Wings (1990), as another example, was a variation on the flight simulator with a story and atmosphere lifted from World War I movies.

Finally, Arctic Fox, developed by Dynamix, was a 3D tank simulation in the tradition of Atari’s Battlezone (1980), although with greatly enhanced graphics and more complex gameplay. Like many modern first-person shooters, the player could see the avatar’s hands, though this time controlling the tank rather than holding a gun. There were also several superb arcade conversions available by 1987, including Electronic Arts’s Marble Madness and Taito’s Arkanoid.

One of the best known of the Amiga game developers was DMA Design, a British company known for its highly polished graphics and music. One of their most popular games was Lemmings, a combination strategy and action game released in 1991 to instant critical acclaim. Lemmings players must lead tribes of the oblivious creatures to their destination using only the mouse to rapidly issue commands to individuals. The game’s cartoon-inspired graphics and humor was later ported to a variety of platforms. According to Mike Dailly, one of the game’s programmers, Lemmings started off as a simple humorous animation of little walking men walking into a chomping mouth. Russell Kay saw the animation and thought it could be made into a game, and started using the term “lemmings” to refer to the little guys in the animation. Published by Psygnosis, Lemmings would soon become one of the must-have games for the system.²

Psygnosis also released one of the most revered of all the Amiga’s many platform games: Shadow of the Beast (1989). Shadow of the Beast made exquisite use of the Amiga’s ability to handle complex parallax scrolling, which simulates depth by having different background layers move at speeds relative to the player’s character. Psygnosis released two sequels to Beast, the second of which ended as a pack-in with some Amiga 600 bundles. Other notable Psygnosis titles are the challenging scrolling shooter games Blood Money (1989) and Agony (1992), and Hired Guns (1993), a type of science-fiction role-playing game. Hired Guns, a variation on the formula established by FTL Games’ Dungeon Master (1987), allowed players to control four autonomous adventurers, each with his or her own window and first-person perspective. Up to four players could play the game simultaneously.

Four of the last “classic” (non-AGA) games originating on the Amiga platform were Cannon Fodder, The Settlers, Worms, and Pinball Dreams. Cannon Fodder, released in 1993 by Sensible Software, was a strategy/action hybrid with loads of dark humor and vague political overtones. Featuring a scathing Rasta-themed soundtrack and a great deal of cartoonish violence, the game managed to arouse quite a bit of indignation in various parts of the world. Germany even banned sales of the game to minors. The Settlers, released in 1993 by a German developer named Blue Byte, was an early real-time strategy game. The Settlers’ catchy music, vividly detailed animations, and addictive gameplay helped make it one of the most popular games for the system. Worms, developed by Team 17 in 1994, remains one of the most popular of the “artillery” style games in which players take turns aiming and firing projectiles at each other. Team 17’s key innovation was to introduce a wonderfully zany, cartoon-like theme to the characters and their weapons. Stuffed with allusions to Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Worms infused the artillery genre with wit and charm. Pinball Dreams, released in 1992 by Digital Illusions CE, expanded on the computer pinball concept by offering tables that were larger than the screen, which scrolled rapidly up and down with the ball. These games were celebrated for their lush graphics and catchy melodies and spawned several sequels into the Amiga’s next-generation, AGA era.

Of course, there was no shortage of ports and conversions for the Amiga. Sierra On-Line, ICOM Simulations, LucasArts, and Magnetic Scrolls offered high-quality graphical adventure games. Bullfrog Productions offered the “god game,” Populous (1989), and the real-time strategy actionfest, Syndicate (1993). SSI offered versions of many of its classic strategy and role-playing games. Rainbow Arts’ Turrican series (begun in 1990) provided one of the most compelling and recognizable of the Amiga’s platform shooting games. Sports games were provided by the likes of Sensible Software (Sensible Soccer, 1992), Accolade (Hardball!, 1987), and Cinemaware (TV Sports: Football, 1988).

In short, the Amiga has an outstanding library of games, many of which are still avidly played, in one form or another, to this day. Furthermore, it was the proving ground of many new and highly innovative games. Indeed, perhaps the only computer platform that can truly be said to have eclipsed it in terms of depth and technical prowess is the modern PC.

Technical Specifications

The machine that would eventually become the Amiga 1000 was in many ways far ahead of its time—a fact that ended up having more negative consequences than positive. Perhaps its greatest and most innovative feature was multitasking, which even allowed multiple windows at different resolutions to display simultaneously. It was a feat of engineering genius that was sadly lost on most consumers. Another neat trick was the HAM (hold-and-modify) mode, which allowed all 4096 of the Amiga’s colors to display at once through a bit of clever hacking. The rarely-used mode was probably used more for showing photo-realistic porn images than anything else, but it was a genuine marvel compared to the bulk of its competition, which had to make do with 16 or fewer colors. The sound capabilities of the Paula chip let the Amiga play four channels of sound, two on the left and two on the right. Musicians leapt at the chance to make excellent music to leverage the technology, mostly in a tidy format called MODs. Finally, after the introduction of Deluxe Paint by Electronic Arts in 1985, would-be artists could join Andy Warhol in creating fantastic graphics for the Amiga and other game systems, sharing them across platforms with the IFF format (which would be the industry standard for several years and is still included in many popular graphical editing programs).

Probably the greatest and most fantastic feature that someone would have noticed back then, however, was the graphical user interface, called Workbench. While windows, icons, and mice had been a usable concept since the 1970s, it had taken the industry a long time to rid themselves of boring and intimidating command-line interfaces like those found in CP/M and MS-DOS. Although Atari and Apple offered their own takes on the GUI, the Amiga’s multitasking capability was a trump card.

The operating system was not quite ready when the Amiga 1000 was released, so Commodore included a “writable control store” of memory. When booting the machine, users inserted a disk called Kickstart, which contained the data read into this store and then locked down. This solution, while perhaps a bit cumbersome, allowed the company to painlessly release updates early on. The 1000 shipped with 256KB of RAM, but Miner’s design included a convenient slot for a 256KB memory expansion cartridge. Since there was no hard drive, software was loaded from the internal 880KB 3.5-inch floppy drive, with the option for a second external drive. All Amiga computers came standard with two Atari-style joystick ports, which doubled as mouse ports. Conveniently, the keyboard could be stored in the “garage” under the system.

Later Models

The 1000 was the first Amiga, but it was quickly surpassed by later machines. The bestselling Amiga was the “low end” Amiga 500, released in 1987. The 500 retailed for only $600 without a monitor, a price that gave it a decisive edge over the 1000 and allowed a much larger user base to form around the platform (Commodore sold a minimum of 1 million units worldwide in 1991 alone, the best year for the 500). Despite its cheaper price, the 500 wasn’t a step down in terms of power. It was based on the same processor as the 1000, shared all of its graphics and sound capabilities, and came with 512KB of RAM, which was easily (and typically) expanded to 1MB (with battery backup clock) via a trapdoor underneath the unit. By the time the 500 was released, the core operating system was much more stable and was included on a built-in ROM rather than a Kickstart disk. The 500 included a built-in 3.5-inch floppy drive as well as a keyboard, making it more compact than the 1000. A plethora of expansions were soon available for the 500, which helped keep the system viable well into the 1990s.

Commodore also released the Amiga 2000 in 1987, a high-end computer that retailed for $1500. The 2000 was expandable to 8MB of RAM and had an optional hard drive. In general, the 2000 was larger and had far better internal expansion options. While its gaming capabilities were remarkable, the 2000 is best known for video editing, particularly when equipped with NewTek’s Video Toaster, which was first released in 1990. The Video Toaster essentially turned an Amiga 2000 into a professional-quality video editing solution, complete with a 3D modeling, rendering, and animation program called Lightwave. For a total of $5000, a Toaster-equipped 2000 could do the work of a $100,000 professional setup, including green screening, titling, and even 3D rendering.

In 1990, Commodore released the 3000, another high-end machine. Like Atari’s TT030 (1990) and Falcon (1992), it was based on Motorola’s 32-bit 68030 processor, which was more than twice as powerful as the 68000. It came standard with 2MB of RAM (expandable to 18) and a built-in hard drive, and featured a graphic chipset called ECS, for Enhanced ChipSet. The ECS allowed for more chip RAM and three new four-color modes at 640 × 480, 1280 × 200, and 1280 × 256 resolution. It also included a built-in “flicker fixer” that stabilized these high resolution modes on compatible monitors.

Unfortunately for Amiga fans, Commodore was slow to respond to the challenge and opportunity represented by CD-ROM technology. Instead of releasing a new Amiga computer with an internal CD-ROM drive, they unsuccessfully experimented with set-top boxes. In March 1991, Commodore released a $1000 set-top box called the Commodore Dynamic Total Vision, or, simply, CDTV. The CDTV contained most of the Amiga 500’s internals but was based around a CD-ROM drive and billed as a “media appliance” rather than a computer. Designed to blend with media components, it was all black, with buttons to control the unit on the front. The only other control device was a remote control that doubled as a gamepad. However, users could purchase a separate keyboard, mouse, and floppy drive and turn it into a full-blown Amiga 500-compatible unit. Unfortunately, the system failed to catch on. In fact, many Amiga 500 users were willing to wait instead for the external CD-ROM drive that would let them play games intended for the CDTV. All told, there were a little over 100 titles released worldwide for the system, all between 1990 and 1996.

In March 1992, Commodore inexplicably released the diminutive Amiga 600, another budget machine similar to the Amiga 500, although without the numeric keypad. It also featured the ECS graphics modes of the 3000 and came standard with 1MB of RAM. A hard-drive was optional. Manufactured in the United Kingdom, the 600 never achieved much success in the United States, where it was overshadowed by the next-generation AGA-based Amiga 1200 and Amiga 4000, released in October of the same year. It seems that Commodore was attempting the same low end/high end approach that had enjoyed so much success with the 500 and 2000. Unfortunately, by this time the IBM PC’s graphics capabilities had long since caught up with and surpassed those of the Amiga, and the boost provided by AGA technology, which increased the color palette from 4096 colors to 16.8 million, with up to 256 on-screen at once (262,144 colors for the new HAM mode), was simply too little and too late to save the dying platform, particularly since few other enhancements were implemented. In 1993, Commodore tried its luck with an ill-fated game console called the Amiga CD32, which was based off of technology in the 1200 and able to run most of the CDTV’s library. The CD32 proved a dismal failure, and never saw wide release in the United States due to a patent dispute.

The End of the Amiga Line

In May of 1994, Commodore filed for bankruptcy after posting a $357 million loss in 1993. A common sentiment among Amiga fans (then and now) is that the platform was bungled or even “betrayed” by Commodore’s executives. A particular source of ire is the lack of effective advertising campaigns for the system. While an outsider might think that blaming a product’s failure in the marketplace on faulty advertising is a bit naïve, consider that one of the Amiga’s greatest assets—the option to add full IBM PC compatibility—was seldom even mentioned in advertisements. At a time when even a crude IBM compatible would have cost twice if not three times as much as an Amiga, the marketing team apparently didn’t find this optional feature, along with other add-ons that could emulate a Commodore 64 or Apple Macintosh, worth bringing up.

The Amiga, particularly the 500, enjoyed a healthy advantage over competitors; it offered superior technology over the Atari ST and was a fraction of the cost of the Macintosh or high-end IBM compatible. Most importantly (for gamers, at least), the Amiga had the best games of any other computer of the era until VGA and sound cards became a standard in the PC compatible world.

If Commodore had simply been able to market the systems better and standardized on hard drives, CD-ROMs, and enhanced visuals in a more consistent and timely manner, the company could have possibly remained a competitive option, much like the niche Apple was able to survive in with the Macintosh. As it was, even Commodore’s more robust success in Europe couldn’t keep the company financially viable in the face of overwhelming support for and standardization on PC compatibles. Both the Commodore and Amiga brands live on independently today as the intellectual properties of other companies, leveraged for a variety of product types, some related to the original technologies, some not. In short, the Amiga’s death was inglorious and disappointing for everyone involved.

The Amiga Community Then and Now

During its heyday in the mid- to late 1980s, the Amiga fan could enjoy a rich community of likeminded fans, many of whom congregated on dial-up Bulletin Board Systems and local computer clubs. Magazines such as Amazing Computing and Amiga World provided in-depth articles on hardware, gaming, productivity, development, and do-it-yourself projects. The Portal Online System, one of the oldest internet service providers (shut down in 1996), hosted the “AmigaZone” hub for all manner of Amiga users. Much like the “Mac addicts” of today, Amiga enthusiasts tended to have an almost evangelical spirit for their chosen platform, even though it would never seriously threaten the dominant computer or gaming platforms of the era.

Although a great many public domain and shareware products were available for the Amiga, there was also a huge distribution network for pirated “wares.” Although all computer platforms have suffered from piracy, the Amiga had it especially bad, since there were relatively few retail outlets where users could legitimately purchase software. The Amiga’s relatively low adoption rate made the rampant piracy all the more damaging to software developers. An informal poll of 166 Amiga fans on the site Amiga.org revealed that 68.07 percent had more than 15 pirated games. While there were certainly other factors at play in the demise of the Amiga, it’s difficult to deny that piracy played a role.

One sector where the Amiga flourished was desktop video editing. NewTek’s Video Toaster coupled with an Amiga 2000 was a terrifically powerful package, able to deliver commercial-quality video effects for a fraction of the cost of conventional equipment. One particular point of pride for Amiga users is the Babylon 5 television series and the movie Jurassic Park, which used the technology for spectacular special effects. Even late into the 1990s, there were still plenty of professionals still using their Video Toasters to produce cost-effective television commercials.

Modern Amiga fans are still quite active online, and can now enjoy easy access to their fellow enthusiasts in Europe and beyond. Indeed, the Amiga remained viable in the United Kingdom and Germany long after support dried up in the United States. Some of the most popular sites are the English Amiga Board (http://eab.abime.net), Amiga.org, and Lemon Amiga (http://lemonamiga.com). In addition to bustling discussion forums, these sites also contain links to software downloads, guides, and marketplaces selling vintage or modern hardware.

One of the most vibrant Amiga communities around today is focused on demos, or short audiovisual pieces designed to showcase the artists’ technical prowess and the latent capabilities of a platform. This “demoscene” regularly has competitions around the world, though mostly in Europe. The RSI Megademo and “Hardwired” by Crionics & The Silents are considered exemplars of the broader demoscene movement.³

Collecting Amiga Systems

There are still plenty of viable Amiga systems, software, and peripherals available on online auction sites and specialty stores. Getting a vintage Amiga system up and running might be intimidating for novices, however. There are many different versions of the operating system, for instance, and games that work fine with one might not load at all in another. Furthermore, some games require a specific chipset (OCS, ECS, or AGA), PAL or NTSC video, a certain RAM configuration, or in rare cases even a hardware “dongle” for copy protection purposes.

For broadest coverage, an Amiga 500 with 1 MB of RAM and version 1.3 of the operating system will run the lion’s share of the Amiga game library and is still a cost-effective solution. A 2000 is also a good choice and is easier to expand. An Amiga 600 is another option, though the 2.x versions of the operating system are incompatible with certain games. For these systems, a Commodore 1084S stereo monitor is a great choice for display. For later, AGA games, you’ll probably want an Amiga 1200, which is still much cheaper than the Amiga 4000. If money is no object, the Amiga 4000T, offering a tower case and up to a 68060 processor, certainly has appeal. Perhaps the most obscure Amigas are the CDTV and CD32, both based on CD-ROM technology. The first Amiga, the 1000, is an attractive collector’s item despite its limited compatibility with later software. Opening and flipping the 1000’s case reveals signatures of the design team (and even the paw print of Miner’s dog, Mitchy)!

One bit of software that makes running a wider range of software on Amiga 600s and 1200s (as well as 4000) is WHDLoad, which improves compatibility and allows games to run from a modern compact flash device instead of a hard drive. It’s this combination, along with a large amount of expansion memory, that can allow the Amiga 1200 to run nearly all software for the platform, including all of the titles for the CDTV and CD32, making it the ideal, if somewhat pricey option for someone who doesn’t want to bother with emulation.

Emulating the Amiga

The go-to solution for Amiga emulation is Cloanto’s Amiga Forever package, available in various editions: Value, Plus, and Premium. Cloanto’s package sports an attractive and easy-to-use interface for loading and configuring games, greatly simplifying the process even for experienced Amiga users. The product is regularly updated and comes pre-installed with up to 100 games and demos.

A free option, suggested only for experienced Amiga users, is WinUAE for Windows and MaxUAE for Mac OS X. UAE is a powerful emulation program with support for just about any Amiga configuration you can think of, including CDTV and CD32.

Amiga games downloaded from the internet are typically in ADF format, short for “Amiga disk format.” The site Back to the Roots (www.back2roots.org) is the most extensive and active repository of Amiga software.

¹  However, the Atari ST’s sound chip, the Yamaha YM2149 offered only a three voice squarewave plus one voice white noise generator, whereas the Amiga’s Paula, a custom chip, offered four voices split between two stereo channels. The YM2149 was also used in the Intellivision, Vectrex, and ZX Spectrum 128, among others.

²  See Mike Dailly, “The Complete History of Lemmings,” www.javalemmings.com/DMA/Lem_1.htm.

³  Recordings of these demos are available on YouTube, though part of the fun is running them on a real Amiga computer.