@amigang

Quote:

amigang wrote: System is Delayed to December 4th.

Do you remember:

Quote:

Well I think they have not much now, the competitors in the "Amiga Retro Market" will have time to react ...

https://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic_id=45668&forum=8&viewmode=flat&order=0#881733

Last edited by OneTimer1 on 07-May-2026 at 10:22 AM.

@matthey

Quote:

I doubt RGL is talking about AmigaOS development.

Thinking around what this thing is likely to be doing with the OS. Assuming it is an Arm port of Workbench 3.1, I can only assume that they are getting the OS to boot off a Rom like the Atari ST Gem/TOS Environment and then allow the user to get content onto a USB thumb drive to use with it? I guess that is the dangerous part for RGL because they obviously want to lock it all down but keep up the charade that it's an Amiga! I am sure they are probably tying themselves in knots with what to include and how to allow customisation of sorts without allowing users to circumvent the underlying files on the Roms themselves! What do you think?

_________________
"Art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art."
John Lasseter, Co-Founder of Pixar Animation Studios

@BigD

Quote:

Assuming it is an Arm port of Workbench 3.1

??!

_________________
B5D6A1D019D5D45BCC56F4782AC220D8B3E2A6CC

@kolla

Ok, Cloanto Workbench 3.1 running on an emulation extraction layer/Amiberry on Arm chips. Better?

_________________
"Art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art."
John Lasseter, Co-Founder of Pixar Animation Studios

BigD Quote:

Thinking around what this thing is likely to be doing with the OS. Assuming it is an Arm port of Workbench 3.1, I can only assume that they are getting the OS to boot off a Rom like the Atari ST Gem/TOS Environment and then allow the user to get content onto a USB thumb drive to use with it? I guess that is the dangerous part for RGL because they obviously want to lock it all down but keep up the charade that it's an Amiga! I am sure they are probably tying themselves in knots with what to include and how to allow customisation of sorts without allowing users to circumvent the underlying files on the Roms themselves! What do you think?

The big question is what has changed from THEA500 Mini to THEA1200.

1. built in keyboard!
o if not USB keyboard, a Linux OS driver may be necessary
o some games access keys before keymaps installed in AmigaOS
o best compatibility likely from emulator configuration changes
2. AmigaOS/Workbench can can now be visible?
o supported by emulators and possible before with THEA500 Mini but avoided
o may be required for some games like Settlers II (requires: AmigaOS 3.1, AHI, 600MiB storage)
o a large shared AmigaOS environment that can be booted into by default is more Amiga like
o THEA500 Mini game launching software may need an update
3. ARM SoC and hardware has changed?
o ARM SoCs are not as standard as SoC like 68k Amiga systems
o recompiling, reconfiguring and retesting of the Linux OS may be required
4. better side load compatibility and more formats supported like .iso?
o storage formats likely dependent on emulator support not OS support
5. Ethernet support?
o depends on emulator and ARM/Linux support
o bsdsocket.library emulation does not require AmigaOS TCP/IP stack or Ethernet driver

Did I miss anything?

I expect most OS changes would be for ARM/Linux rather than 68k/AmigaOS and that the AmigaOS would be the least changed software from THEA500 Mini to THEA1200. It is similar to the A600GS where most of the development is on the ARM/Linux side which includes the emulator. Developed 68k Amiga software can end up requiring ARM/Linux and developed ARM/Linux software does not work on other non-standard ARM/Linux hardware. Proprietary non-standard ARM/Linux hardware locks out the competition instead of standard 68k Amiga hardware and AmigaOS development moving the Amiga forward. THEA1200 is only for "retro" Amiga support even though it supports some newer I/O and games like Settlers II. It is easier to keep a virtual Amiga system small, contained and cheap instead of letting it expand into a more powerful, modern and expensive system.

Last edited by matthey on 09-May-2026 at 11:43 AM.

Mike Battilana and the A1200 revival: a key moment at ZZAP! Live 2026
https://www.generationamiga.com/2026/05/17/mike-battilana-and-the-a1200-revival-a-key-moment-at-zzap-live-2026/



New article highlighting THEA1200 but not much new news reported for the ZZAP! Live 2026 show in the UK. Mike Battilana, Christian "Perifractic" Simpson, Rob Hubbard and Matt Gray were noted guests.

@matthey

The first point of order is that Perifractic was not in attendance but a very loud American representative more than made up for it! I gave both RGL and C= International a wide berth as no Amiga news or THEA1200 prototype/CPU details were forthcoming. Michael was a gent though.

Last edited by BigD on 19-May-2026 at 01:36 PM.

_________________
"Art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art."
John Lasseter, Co-Founder of Pixar Animation Studios

BigD Quote:

The first point of order is that Perifractic was not in attendance but a very loud American representative more than made up for it! I gave both RGL and C= International a wide berth as no Amiga news or THEA1200 prototype/CPU details were forthcoming. Michael was a gent though.

The Generation Amiga article was missing some information and accuracy but the pic was worth a thousand words. I posted a link to a video from the show in another thread.

ZZAP! Live! 2026 - Commodore C64 - Amiga Retro Gaming Event - Conventry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTPWg9BKP0k

THEA1200 25 games list was released with the announcement of the delay and someone made a video about it including the games.

THE A1200 Full Size Amiga - Gameplay Of All 25 Pre-Installed Games!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O3k2v9Z2GA Quote:

00:51 Alien Breed Tower Assault 01: 37 Beneath A Steel Sky 02:45 Defender Of The Crown 03:45 Defender Of The Crown II 05:01 It Came From The Desert 06:00 It Came From The Desert II 06:47 The King Of Chicago 07:47 Lords Of The Rising Sun 08:44 Lure Of The Temptress 09:38 Mercenary 10:33 Reshoot Proxima 3 11:52 Rocket Ranger 12:51 Ruff N Tumble 13:39 SDI 14:30 Settlers II 15:30 Slam Tilt 16:16 Sinbad 17:14 Turrican 18:30 Turrican II 19:33 Turrican 3 20:36 TV Sports Baseball 21:22 TV Sports Basketball 22:07 TV Sports Boxing 22:54 TV Sports Football 23:30 Wings

The AmigaKit A1200 NG was available at the ZZAP! show and beating the delayed RGL A1200 NG to market earlier will likely reduce momentum for THEA1200. They are different products with THEA1200 being more gaming focused with less features and more of the value in the included games but the full size appeal is more likely to appeal to existing Amiga users who already own many of the games and more highly value features, expandability, performance, etc. The competition is tightening while costs are increasing leading me to believe there is a small chance THEA1200 could even be cancelled. While THEA1200 is not a mini, its lack of features makes it closer to a mini than many other options in a full size A1200 case. The Modern Vintage Gamer mentioned THEA1200 with minis in his recent video about their declining competitiveness.

The Death of Mini Consoles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNz0pExtADY

RGL approached Jeri Ellsworth about developing an Amiga ASIC like she did for the C64DTV which could have made their Amiga products more competitive. They may not have asked for a modern enough Amiga though. Jeri had almost finished a 68000 and OCS/ECS ASIC years earlier which would not be competitive today.

The Amiga on a Chip Project - Too bad it was canceled
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uaDzF99a80

The baseline to be competitive in the Amiga market today is 68030@50MHz/68040@25MHz level CPU performance with AGA/RTG support and many value added features while a higher spec and features are needed to gain market share. THEA1200 is barely enough to compete even though the price is at the lower end of the competition. RGL may need to step up their game. They had the right idea when approaching Jeri but needed to push the Amiga forward more. Maybe it is not their job to modernize the 68k Amiga and create a sustainable Amiga market but the Mini market is dying and they should consider more competitive and sustainable options. RGL is a microbusiness but they have been highly successful at teaming up with larger businesses for marketing and distribution. Perhaps more will be possible with Amiga Corp regaining control of the Amiga IP and reducing uncertainty. It will be interesting how the whole Amiga, Commodore, Atari, RGL retro gaming future plays out but I believe there will be more relaunched faithful retro compatible hardware that can also compete with RPi hardware, perhaps with some cost reduced MiSTer features and influence like the NeoGeo AES+ as an A1200 Ultimate.

Last edited by matthey on 20-May-2026 at 02:10 PM.
Last edited by matthey on 19-May-2026 at 03:21 PM.

@matthey

Its shame all the Amiga camps cant come together to make one great Amiga product.

I mean we have new Commodore that I think get the community and the little details.

We have Retro Games ltd who know how to get a product on to the high street and coverage outside of the Amiga world. (an achievement that should'nt be overlooked)

We have great classic Software titles updated by A-EON / Amigakit (OctaMED 8, Final Writer 7.2, PPaint 7.4) and is developing cool feature for Amibench, like a modern web browser, amistore etc

We have Vampire/Apollo team who developed a great FPGA machine.

And we have AmigaOs3.3 devs still making nice new core features and bug fixs for classic Amiga and devs who work on distros like Amikit XE who make 400+ addon work and adding Ai now to the OS, Aros devs working on 64bit support and Dual core support etc.

Just image if all the camps got together and worked on one machine, one OS.


I'm sure there be fights of what it would be and what would power it, what feature it should and shouldnt have, but still it just a shame, to know if that team of devs and hardware guys got together, I'm pretty sure we have one amazing product. Too bad it never going to happen. :(

_________________
AmigaNG, YouTube, LeaveReality Studio

@amigang

Quote:

amigang wrote: Its shame all the Amiga camps cant come together to make one great Amiga product.

The answer is hidden in your sentence:

ALL != ONE

Last edited by OneTimer1 on 20-May-2026 at 12:40 PM.

amigang Quote:

Its shame all the Amiga camps cant come together to make one great Amiga product. I mean we have new Commodore that I think get the community and the little details.

The new Commodore did not get it right to begin with as they tried to sell "Commodore" PCs with Commodore OS Vision. After pushback and to their credit, they started listening to customers and the desire for more faithful hardware with features. It appears Christian was able to leverage ex-Commodore experience and connections for successful production of the C64 Ultimate. He also has more modern social media marketing although he is over the top sometimes. I believe his "Commodore" licensing/branding strategy for practically all who pay is cringe and the C64 has limited upgrade options and appeal today which is the same problem the original Commodore had before buying the Amiga. It is funny that the new Commodore may need the Amiga like the old one but do they have enough to offer. Recombining the Commodore and Amiga IPs would likely have synergies but Amiga customers are not as fond of Commodore as 8-bit Commodore customers were and some, like me, would prefer "Amiga" branding without "Commodore" branding. Commodore Amiga branding likely would encourage some 8-bit Commodore fans to upgrade to the Amiga as many did not back in the day, most likely due to the higher price of the Amiga and lack of C64 compatibility. Also, would the new Commodore bring more salaries or financing?

amigang Quote:

We have Retro Games ltd who know how to get a product on to the high street and coverage outside of the Amiga world. (an achievement that should'nt be overlooked)

RGL are nostalgia marketing pros with game licensing expertise. Their partnership with Plaion, formerly Koch Media and part of the Embracer Group powerhouse in video games, allows them to reach large markets despite their microbusiness size. The relationship between Plaion Replai, the retro gaming division of Plaion, and RGL is interesting as they collaborated to produce THEC64 Mini Black Edition and THE SPECTRUM Collector's Edition while Plaion Replai produced the Atari 2600+ Pac-Man Edition and is producing the SNK NEOGEO AES+ without RGL. Where RGL may have sold Plaion Replai old hardware designs, it looks like Plaion Replai may be becoming more of a competitor to RGL. With bigger players producing more faithful retro hardware and a declining Mini market using cheap emulation, RGL may have trouble remaining small and independent. I have the impression that Darren Melbourne is the most valuable employee and it may be easier to lure him away than acquire RGL. Amiga Corp with the recovered Amiga IP should consider talking to Plaion Replai about better hardware for the 68k Amiga market as they have deeper pockets than RGL as exhibited by their funding of the NeoGeo AES+ hardware and more such hardware is likely if the NeoGeo AES+ is as successful as the hype. A MiSTer/MiniMig FPGA to ASIC conversion for the Amiga likely would not be enough and I am not so sure Plaion Replai would want to fund the 68k Amiga to approach its much higher potential.

amigang Quote:

We have great classic Software titles updated by A-EON / Amigakit (OctaMED 8, Final Writer 7.2, PPaint 7.4) and is developing cool feature for Amibench, like a modern web browser, amistore etc

Some of the A-EonKit software development is wasted with ARM Linux developed web browser and reimplementing the wheel with the Enhancer software instead of using their other supposed partner's Hyperion 68k AmigaOS. Hyperion and A-Eon's AmigaOS licensing and legal mess likely has something to do with it too. A-Eon seems to barely have a pulse lately and their support for the 68k Amiga has long been lacking. Trevor had a chance to open source the old Warp3D and was supposed to release the ASDG software he was given but all he seems to care about is rare bastard hardware for his collection. Maybe there is a small chance he would help finance 68k Amiga hardware for the masses but I will not hold my breath. Amiga Corp would be best to take the AmigaStore.com, AmigaShop.com and AmigaKit.com domain names now that Hyperion has ceded the "Amiga" trademark to Amiga Corp. Amiga IP squatters need to be dealt with to reduce uncertainty for Amiga investment. The 68k AmigaOS should be practically free and at least partially open source to encourage it as a standard and to compete with free OSs. I am not so sure Hyperion can be kept alive with or without 68k AmigaOS sales and I doubt anyone would want to buy them without the AmigaOS. The original game license and porting business could be valuable if the Amiga market greatly expanded.

amigang Quote:

We have Vampire/Apollo team who developed a great FPGA machine.

I loved the Natami project with open collaboration, open development and developer input. Thomas and Jens wanted to make the SAGA and the N68050 open source but guess who stopped them? Guess who makes the decisions for the projects Thomas and Jens started? The Vamp/Apollo project feels oppressive and cult like. I suspect Thomas and Jens did not believe a 68k Amiga revival was possible after the Natami project was taken down so let Gunnar play with their creations. There likely are significant improvements for SAGA and the AC68080 but Gunnar may have more of a claim to them and he is not reasonable. Notice that nobody has licensed either as Gunnar gets suspicious of anyone stealing his precious. As an Apollo team member, I tried to bring in the Fido 68k/CPU32 ASIC chief architect Dave Alsup at InnovASIC to evaluate it and help prepare for an ASIC but Gunnar ignored me after acting initially excited that someone was interested. I would contact Thomas or Jens if seriously interested in Natami related IP or developers but I would be worried about Gunnar sabotaging efforts.

amigang Quote:

And we have AmigaOs3.3 devs still making nice new core features and bug fixs for classic Amiga and devs who work on distros like Amikit XE who make 400+ addon work and adding Ai now to the OS, Aros devs working on 64bit support and Dual core support etc.

Again, lots of overlap of development. Free the AmigaOS from Hyperion and contributions could be to the AmigaOS. AROS may still be useful for porting the AmigaOS to other ISAs but ports are unlikely to go anywhere without a major redesign of AROS. The 64-bit support is fine but SMP, memory protection and security is not.

amigang Quote:

Just image if all the camps got together and worked on one machine, one OS. I'm sure there be fights of what it would be and what would power it, what feature it should and shouldnt have, but still it just a shame, to know if that team of devs and hardware guys got together, I'm pretty sure we have one amazing product. Too bad it never going to happen. :(

I have no expectation that everyone would work together nor that it is necessary. We just need the right ones to work together starting with the ones that hold the Amiga IP. There are multiple options of existing 68k CPU, chipset and 3D GPU cores available. There is existing 68k software including a large library of retro games. There are existing hardware and software developers. There are existing FPGAs and development tools. The original Amiga developers had a similar need to integrate, boost performance and cost reduce the hardware but did not have all these resources.

Last edited by matthey on 21-May-2026 at 02:12 PM.
Last edited by matthey on 21-May-2026 at 05:42 AM.

@matthey

Quote:

matthey wrote: The new Commodore did not get it right to begin with as they tried to sell "Commodore" PCs with Commodore OS Vision.

What are you talking about?

@matthey

Strangely enough, I view this as the best timeline possible. Commodore snatched the Amiga from Atari and allowed the full vision of the A1000 to materialise and reach the market (despite a poor reception and confusing marketing). C='s vertical integration allowed efficient cost reduction to produce the A500. Hombre; an incompatible successor to the Amiga died with Commodore. The Amiga limped on maintaining its 68k compatibility and die hard user base. Mass market appeal returned with the THEA500 Mini. Scorpion Engine brought many wannabe coders into new game project! Cloanto bought Amiga Inc now Corp and calmed things with Hyperion. That's as good as it could be considering the shortcomings of Commodore and the lack of leadership when they and Phase5 went bankrupt!

Last edited by BigD on 21-May-2026 at 02:21 PM.

_________________
"Art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art."
John Lasseter, Co-Founder of Pixar Animation Studios

@matthey

The Amiga branding text on THEA1200 would be the icing on the cake if they choose to do it!

Last edited by BigD on 21-May-2026 at 07:39 AM.

_________________
"Art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art."
John Lasseter, Co-Founder of Pixar Animation Studios

@BigD
THEA500 Mini I still think was a little bit of a miss opportunity of a product, Retro Game ltd clearly forgot it was a HOME COMPUTER and made it like all the mini console, a game focus system.

My big problem with this is, this was the first device to remind the audience out side of the Amiga world of the platform Amiga. It reinforced the image of what I get when I ask people if they remember or know the Amiga, the few and fewer people that do, just remember it as a gaming system.

Its dam annoying, when the Amiga was so much more.

I just wish the Mini had one serious app or a few Demoscene stuff to show off what an Amiga could do, but nope.

I feel there making the same mistake again with the THE A1200, ok it got Workbench, but again no serious apps, no demoscene, nothing from the Amiga scene.

Hell even The Spectrum came with a special edition of CRASH that had the old memories of the past and a little intro to the device and scene. It would of been nice if they had done something like that for the Amiga systems.

_________________
AmigaNG, YouTube, LeaveReality Studio

@amigang

It's not out yet. I used my Mini for playtesting the new Worms DC custom maps and I have even done some Blitz Basic 2 coding on it! AMiNIMiga is easily soft loaded onto the device to use Workbench. It IS useful. Do I care if the ex-A500 owner single-floppy X-Copy brigade don't know you can do that? Not really! Plus they would still not have used it that way just as most of them didn't the first time in the UK at least! It would have been good to get Deluxe Paint installed from the get go but EA were a greedy corporate liability even before the recent leveraged by out!

Last edited by BigD on 21-May-2026 at 02:39 PM.
Last edited by BigD on 21-May-2026 at 02:24 PM.

_________________
"Art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art."
John Lasseter, Co-Founder of Pixar Animation Studios

BigD Quote:

Strangely enough, I view this as the best timeline possible. Commodore snatched the Amiga from Atari and allowed the full vision of the A1000 to materialise and reach the market (despite a poor reception and confusing marketing). C='s vertical integration allowed efficient cost reduction to produce the A500. Hombre; an incompatible successor to the Amiga died with Commodore. The Amiga limped on maintaining its 68k compatibility and die hard user base. Mass market appeal returned with the THEA500 Mini. Scorpion Engine brought many wannabe coders into new game project! Cloanto bought Amiga Inc now Corp and calmed things with Hyperion. That's as good as it could be considering the shortcomings of Commodore and the lack of leadership when they and Phase5 went bankrupt!

Commodore likely saved the Amiga from a worse fate as an Atari game machine, brought the Amiga to market and cost reduced it into the A500 to become the new C64. Part of the C64's sales volume success was minimal system changes which is why it is still a record holder.

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/72695-most-computer-sales Quote:

The best-selling desktop computer of all time is the Commodore 64, which was manufactured by Commodore International (USA) between August 1982 and April 1994. The exact number of C64s sold is unclear – Commodore founder Jack Tramiel estimated between 22 and 30 million units, Commodore's official estimate was 17 million units while a credible modern estimate puts the figure at around 12.5 million units. The C64 is still the most popular single model of desktop computer, even with the most conservative numbers.

Standard systems are still important but there is a reason why the C64 still holds the record for a single model of desktop/PC sales. RPi 3 models sold were ~23 million back when total RPi sales were ~61 million, where they have grown to likely over 70 million today, but they are spread over RPi 3B, 3B+ and 3A+ models. A C64 replacement "model" was Commodore's vision for the Amiga that was developed to be flexible and upgradeable and they planned to replace it instead of enhance it. Jay Miner's vision was to continue to enhance and integrate it but they did not listen until it was too late. The AA+ chipset and single chip 68k ASIC SoC with the enhancements, performance, integration and cost reduction the Amiga needed never made it to market. Jay Miner's vision is still needed today and has a similar destination as Commodore realized too late.

BigD Quote:

The Amiga branding text on THEA1200 would be the icing on the cake if they choose to do it!

I hope the Amiga brand is not used until the hardware inside is deserving of it. Icing does not make a cake good if the cake inside tastes bad.

BigD Quote:

It's not out yet. I used my Mini for playtesting the new Worms DC custom maps and I have even done some Blitz Basic 2 coding on it! AMiNIMiga is easily soft loaded onto the device to use Workbench. It IS useful. Do I care if the ex-A500 owner single-floppy X-Copy brigade don't know you can do that? Not really! Plus they would still not have used it that way just as most of them didn't the first time in the UK at least! It would have been good to get Deluxe Paint installed from the get go but EA were a greedy corporate liability even before the recent leveraged by out!

The criticism of THEA500 Mini and THEA1200 by amigang is valid. It is understandable that THEA500 Mini was very gaming focused and many people did just play games on the difficult to expand A500 but it could have been cheaper. More is expected of THEA1200 because it is full size, the A1200 was more expandable than the A500 and the price is higher. Since the AmigaOS is visible, maybe THEA1200 will include some free productivity software at least. Amiga Forever comes with the old free version of PPaint, AmigaAMP, AWeb, TurboText, etc. Even a minimal selection of good but free productivity software would make THEA1200 much more usable out of the box. RGL customers likely expect THEA1200 to be a significant upgrade over THEA500 Mini but there is a limit how good cheap ARM hardware using emulation can be and missing A1200 hardware features will be criticized more than missing A500 features on THEA500 Mini. A lower price lowers expectations and THEA1200 is planned to not be too much higher price than THEA500 Mini at introduction but there is more competition now.

Last edited by matthey on 21-May-2026 at 07:12 PM.

@matthey

Quote:

The criticism of THEA500 Mini and THEA1200 by amigang is valid. It is understandable that THEA500 Mini was very gaming focused and many people did just play games on the difficult to expand A500 but it could have been cheaper....

THEA500 Mini can and does do more than the label says, ditto the CD32 and the C= A500 itself! Don't forget the Amiga was going to be released as a games console before the North America Video Game Crash! Hi-Toro then pivoted and revealed its true DNA as a home multimedia computer! The same with THEA500 Mini! It apes the C= UK Cartoon Classics games bundle to get the thing into your living room and then if you wan to dabble with Blitz Basic or Deluxe Paint then you can by soft modding it with AMiNIMiga! Easy!

By comparison the expectations for THEA1200 are sky high and it can only underwhelm. I assume that the Arm based SoC is a minor upgrade on THEA500 Mini's otherwise they would have been crowing about it!

_________________
"Art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art."
John Lasseter, Co-Founder of Pixar Animation Studios

BigD Quote:

THEA500 Mini can and does do more than the label says, ditto the CD32 and the C= A500 itself! Don't forget the Amiga was going to be released as a games console before the North America Video Game Crash! Hi-Toro then pivoted and revealed its true DNA as a home multimedia computer! The same with THEA500 Mini! It apes the C= UK Cartoon Classics games bundle to get the thing into your living room and then if you wan to dabble with Blitz Basic or Deluxe Paint then you can by soft modding it with AMiNIMiga! Easy!

Jay Miner liked that the Amiga could be a computer or video game system, now often called consoles. The CD32 expandability, upgradeability and openness were unusual for a console and Commodore got it right although it was already mostly innate. These were not enough to make the CD32 the success it should have been. Better value was needed too. The CD32 would have had more than double the performance with a 68EC030&AA+@28MHz and features like chunky could have been a game changer. Expandability, upgradeability and openness can not save a too little, too late or too little and too late product. The CD32 still had a moderately successful launch but it needed to be amazing with swifter sales for investors to continue financing Commodore. The same AA+ chipset was designed to operate at 57MHz which would have quadrupled the performance but may have needed the 68k CPU and chipset integrated together. This only would have competed better against hardware that had more gaming specialized chipsets but it was more scalable. Today, you may see a 68030 level of performance from THEA500 Mini as good based on the Amiga history. However, if scaling performance to modern RPi value, the hardware should have performance and price closer to that of a RPi 3, with an in-order CPU like the 68060. AI says the following when comparing a 386, which is similar performance but it knows better than the 68030, to other processors.

Google AI performance comparison of CPU performance
RPi 3 vs 386: 100 to 1000 times better CPU performance (likely compares 4xCortex-A53 vs 1x386)

in-order P5 Pentium vs 386: 10 to 20 times better CPU performance (roughly 68060 vs 68030)
in-order Intel Atom vs 386: 100 to 200 times better CPU performance (1xAtom vs 1x386)
Pentium III vs 386: 100 to 300 times better CPU performance (1xPentium III vs 1x386)
Ryzen 7 vs 386: 10,000 to 20,000 times better CPU performance

This is just the CPU performance left on the table. The chipset could be many times better performance as well. Vamp4 hardware has ~160 times the "Chip speed vs A600" in a video I watched and with only a FPGA chipset. At the same time as these performance boosts, a mass produced ASIC 68k SoC could provide a cost reduction. The CD32 had enough value with its features and low price to attract some customers including for embedded use. No current Amiga hardware has value anywhere close to competitive outside of the Amiga market but 68k Amiga hardware should be cheaper to produce than most RPi hardware and the small footprint of the AmigaOS vs Linux should allow a further cost savings.

BigD Quote:

By comparison the expectations for THEA1200 are sky high and it can only underwhelm. I assume that the Arm based SoC is a minor upgrade on THEA500 Mini's otherwise they would have been crowing about it!

I expect the ARM SoC will still use in-order ARM cores because of the lower price and passive cooling. It may have small upgrades like a Cortex-A53 to Cortex-A55 and higher performance memory which should provide a small boost. However, I believe a modernized 68060 would outperform these cores for native code and of course the 68060+ would trounce these in-order ARM cores using emulation for 68k code. THEA500 Mini is like a small appetizer and THEA1200 a larger appetizer but there will be a lot of hungry people if there is no main course.

Last edited by matthey on 22-May-2026 at 11:59 AM.
Last edited by matthey on 22-May-2026 at 04:18 AM.
Last edited by matthey on 22-May-2026 at 12:48 AM.

dutiful PADDING

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