@Nameless

Quote:

$25-$40 retro system, ideally using an ASIC, perhaps with a cheap ARM, bundled with tons of old games/software, with the original OS -- perhaps with a version of AROS, would sell. Perhaps it wouldn't be a gigantic success, but it'd sell much better than anything else in Amigaland post Commodore.

A FPGA based S-AGA system with 68k around 200 Mips would my bet for a retro nerd system.
It would be ideal for running classic software. And I think it would be significant faster than a ARM system which would have to emulate the 68K and the chipset.

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@BigGun

A problem there is price, unless you mean an ASIC instead of the FPGA. Although again the issue is price, as it takes decent money to make the ASIC to begin with.

But if I was playing the multimillionaire game, and wanted to revive the Amiga:

A general gaming device with ASIC, as you describe, for around $35 or so. It would be similar to that old C-64 in a joystick type of deal. Could be sold as a kit, raspberry pi style, or as a joystick/cheap handheld. Include tons of games, as well as a memory card slot for additional games.

A slightly more expensive model, paired with an ARM chip perhaps, to allow an 'AROS' mode. More for collectors and people here... could then do some semi-modern stuff with it too, like at least browse on the net.

If they sold well enough, encourage homebrew development and indie devs to create games for the systems. If there was enough funding, then port AOS or MorphOS to ARM, release a second system as the new upgrade. Pair with more games, and modern games (what there is of them).

Anyway, that's what I would do, if I was rich. All of this $3K PPC system stuff is sort of a waste of time in my opinion, at least as far as reviving any semblance of new software development.

@BigGun

I would be very happy to see a AAA+ system which is fully backward compatible with the current range of Amiga classics - able to run the games, utilities etc as is.

What a newer updated (and much faster) FPGA system will allow, is essentially the continuation of the "classic" range with all the bells and whistles that we missed after Commodore's demise.

But more than this. Whilst the heart and soul of the FPGA board would essentially house the spirit of Amiga in soft cores - the platform should maybe be flexible enough to allow it to be marketed as a general retro platform for enthusiasts.

It would be great if it had a dual purpose. It would be a very powerful "classic", with the additions of 3D accelerated graphics, 060+ speeds and 16-bit audio (multi-channel); but also fast enough to play retro games from other platforms (if legally permissible).

Idea is that my FPGA enhanced classic Amiga not only allows me to play all the old classic Amiga games, run Workbench and use/enjoy productivity software; but it would allow me, at boot; to play retro titles from other platforms that could run on the system.

Maybe it would be great to have a launcher at boot - user can select whether to boot into AmigaOS, or "quickplay" into other retro titles that are not linked specifically to AmigaOS etc.

So essentially it is a retro system, with an AmigaOS base system that can be used like any fully fledged Amiga Classic machine - but super charged.

Q!

"i am home"

Last edited by QuBe on 22-Jul-2014 at 06:50 AM.
Last edited by QuBe on 22-Jul-2014 at 06:49 AM.

@QuBe

my personal "vision" was to have a common platform by Aros 68k + Roms that covers a whole range of platforms, from real classic hardware up to new FPGA based hardware and emulated platforms. The developer could develope and test it on one platform and it would run (without changes) on a lot of different platforms. It seems that we are now slowly getting one step further. A community owned free platform that cannot be called "Amiga" because of legal reasons but it would have the spirit. I think there are real opportunities ahead if we do it right. We will not overrun the market or become mainstream and direct competition to Windows but we have at least a chance to become a visible niche again. I am much more optimistic today than I was 1 or 2 years ago. If people say there is no progress and only look at AmigaOS than it is a too narrowed view.

@Syperhawk

Nope. The AONE500 is my first Amiga ever :)

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Proud user of AmigaOS 4.1 on an AmigaONE 500. This is the first Amiga I've ever had so I don't know all the ins and outs of AmigaOS yet, so I'm sorry if I'm asking noob questions and stuff.

@NutsAboutAmiga

Thanks, I'll save the list and will take at least some of them in my monthly developer donations for this month :)

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Proud user of AmigaOS 4.1 on an AmigaONE 500. This is the first Amiga I've ever had so I don't know all the ins and outs of AmigaOS yet, so I'm sorry if I'm asking noob questions and stuff.

@Overflow

It's true. It will amount to something. When the Humble Indie Bundle started, they started selling games for whatever price you wanted to pay. Win, OSX and Linux were supported. After each bundle, Linux got the least amount of buyers because of the low marketshare. But on the other hand, Linux users payed a lot more per person than Win and OSX users thus upping them in the average payment chart.

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Proud user of AmigaOS 4.1 on an AmigaONE 500. This is the first Amiga I've ever had so I don't know all the ins and outs of AmigaOS yet, so I'm sorry if I'm asking noob questions and stuff.

@Nameless

Quote:

A slightly more expensive model, paired with an ARM chip perhaps, to allow an 'AROS' mode. More for collectors and people here... could then do some semi-modern stuff with it too, like at least browse on the net.

Why would you need and ARM CPU in order to run AROS on a board that already has a 68k/Compatible CPU?

@eliyahu


It's not dead it's on life support. Just waiting for the plug to finally be pulled.

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@Rob

Quote:

Why would you need and ARM CPU in order to run AROS on a board that already has a 68k/Compatible CPU?

Because 68k is in the MIPS area and even the slowest ARM is in the Gflops area? Also h264 Decoding is nice to have.

Last edited by phoenixkonsole on 22-Jul-2014 at 12:27 PM.

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@terminills

welcome back, by the way.

-- eliyahu

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@eliyahu


Just stopping by with my eraser.

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@BigGun

Quote:

A FPGA based S-AGA system with 68k around 200 Mips would my bet for a retro nerd system. It would be ideal for running classic software. And I think it would be significant faster than a ARM system which would have to emulate the 68K and the chipset.

Agree on this.

We have some fragmentary information on what would have been the future Amiga chipset, such AAA, Hombre, and so on...
Sure an Amiga with these capabilities would have been awesome.

The FPGA gives the chance to follow in some way these original plans and, even better, go further in more interesting fashion.

SAGA is interesting. I've always thought about how it could have been a modern chipset (in the Amiga way), in comparison with other modern systems

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retired

I have a question here, and please don't go ape shit over it. What difference does it make on what non-X86 chipset we use for the OS? Shouldn't the main focus be on what the software is capable of doing, especially nowadays when almost every CPU is plenty fast? Just curious on the reasoning for one specific type of CPU over another.

Ed

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8GB CF With tons of Classics

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Raspberry PI 400 - PiMiga 1.5
"That which doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger" - Someone important, but I forgot who

@edponpon

I think one small part of it is the mobile world in which we now live, and how that can dictate processor.

#6

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@edponpon

the nice about FPGA is that you develop on it. That is a clear difference to standard hardware and has some "geek" factor. If it is only about running software on fast hardware why using Amiga at all?

Last edited by OlafS25 on 22-Jul-2014 at 03:19 PM.

@edponpon

Quote:

What difference does it make on what non-X86 chipset we use for the OS?

It makes a big difference when you pay >600€ for the CPU alone.

_________________
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Owner of various Commodore and a SAM440ep\OS4.1FE
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@Nibunnoichi

Well, I agree on that part for sure, because the price you listed is outrageous. I could have sworn that many of the ARM CPUs and various other non-x86 CPUs were supposed to be way cheaper, availvable in mass quantities and would work on rather inexpensive boards. This is why I mentioned what I did. Get a standard, widely available non-x86 CPU, Motherboard, GPU, etc, that doesn't cost a huge amount of money, have the already good OS work to the max on it and then we have a good complete package. I know, sounds easier than done, but I'm pretty sure this is what most of you would also like; a low priced but good Amiga.

Ed

Last edited by edponpon on 22-Jul-2014 at 03:37 PM.

_________________
Amiga 1200 - ACA 1233 68030 128MB Ram
8GB CF With tons of Classics

AmigaOne X5000

Raspberry PI 400 - PiMiga 1.5
"That which doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger" - Someone important, but I forgot who

@Nibunnoichi

Quote:

It makes a big difference when you pay >600€ for the CPU alone.

Cost of CPU is not the most expensive factor - small scale manufacturing of dedicated board is.

Eg. APM86491 SoC (1 GHz, SATA2, USB3.0, 2x PCIe x1, Gbit LAN) is for 45 USD in small batches (50+)
APM86692 (dual core 1.2 GHz) for 110 USD
Freescale P2041 (4 cores 1.5 GHz) 250 USD etc.

@BigGun

Quote:

I assume a real low priced system might have a slim chance to get a good a base of retro nerds. What do you think?

Agreed. Cancelled 5121e based netbook for OS4 targeted similar customers - for 200-300 USD it would sell really well.