In the latter half of the
previous decade, several videogame manufacturers hit upon gamer nostalgia to
produce some beloved blasts from the past. Nintendo released the NES Classic in
2016 and the SNES Classic a year later, featuring built-in playable game
libraries using hardware emulation. Sony also got into the act with the PlayStation
Classic in 2018, alongside Sega with the Genesis Mini in 2019. Other computer
consoles have been revived in “mini” editions like the now-defunct Commodore,
courtesy of UK-based Retro Games Ltd. After their release of THEC64 (2019) and
THEC64 Mini (2018) emulating Commodore 64 games, they are now introducing a
mini version of the Commodore Amiga 500.
IGN tells us that Retro Games has announced the A500 Mini, a licensed
micro-console emulator for the Amiga 500, the home computer released in 1987
that was capable of playing videogames. Planned to release next year, the A500
Mini packs no less than 25 well-known 16-bit game titles that released for the
original Amiga 500 throughout its production life. But that is not all; the
Mini is also capable of emulating the AGA graphics of its successor computer
the Amiga 1200, and thus includes game titles released for that model.
Among the sample game titles that
can be played on the A500 Mini are computer classics like “Battle Chess” and “Worms:
The Director’s Cut,” plus “ATR: All Terrain Racing,” “Kick Off 2,” “Simon the
Sorcerer,” “Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension” and more. Furthermore, similar to
THEC64 Retro Games enables A500 Mini owners to load more Amiga game ports to
the console via USB, something the micro-consoles released by Nintendo, Sega
and Sony lacked (beyond alternate market-based variants). Players can select
their choice game on a virtual carousel, choose between 50Hz or 60Hz screen
refresh rates, add an optional CRT filter, and other display options.
Like Retro Games’ THEC64, the
A500 Mini main unit is shaped like the actual Amiga 500 keyboard, but scaled
down and with decorative keys. It comes with a real Amiga 2-button mouse and a
controller based on the Amiga CD32, Commodore’s last attempt to create a true
videogame console in 1993 before going bankrupt the following year. Extra plugin
ports will also enable gamers to use a real computer keyboard. Retro Games will
release the A500 Mini in 2022, priced at $139.99 in the US and £119.99
in the UK.
Image courtesy of The Verge
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