Amiga CD32
The 32-bit CD console Commodore launched just before it fell.
The Amiga CD32, from September 1993, is an A1200 in console form, with a double-speed CD drive and the Akiko chip. It sold too few to save Commodore, which went bankrupt in April 1994.
The first 32-bit CD console in Europe
Commodore presented the CD32 as the first 32-bit CD console, ahead of the 3DO, the Sega Saturn and the PlayStation. It reached European shops in September 1993, at £299 in the UK, and for a few months it sold better than expected.
It was not enough to save the company. Commodore went bankrupt on 29 April 1994, and many CD32s went unsold.
Inside
It is essentially an A1200: 68EC020 at 14 MHz, AGA chipset and 2 MB of Chip RAM, with Kickstart 3.1 and its own ROM. The CD drive is double-speed and there is 1 KB of non-volatile memory for saving games.
The new chip is Akiko, which controls the CD drive and does "chunky" to "planar" image conversion in hardware. The Amiga's chips store the image in bitplanes, whereas Doom-style 3D games prefer one byte per pixel; Akiko did that conversion for them.
An expansion port took the FMV module, for watching MPEG-1 Video CDs, and third-party expansions such as the SX-1 and SX32, which added a keyboard, drive and ports, and turned it into a complete Amiga.
Trivia
- 10 REM
The CD32 was never officially sold in the USA: Commodore lost a patent case to Cadtrak and was barred from importing it there.
- 20 REM
The original controller, crescent-shaped and with seven buttons, is one of the most criticised of its era.
- 30 REM
Many CD32 games are A1200 versions with a CD audio soundtrack.
- 40 REM
Like the A1200, it suffers from leaking SMD capacitors.
Try it
An Amiga running right here in your browser: press Switch on, wait for it to boot and explore the desktop with the mouse. It's the same kind of machine we have on the bench, only emulated.
It runs AROS, a free operating system compatible with AmigaOS: Commodore's original Kickstart ROMs are still under copyright and can't be distributed.
Emulation by vAmigaWeb (GPL-3.0).
AROS · vAmigaWeb
The family: Commodore Amiga
- 1985 Amiga 1000
- 1987 Amiga 500
- 1987 Amiga 2000
- 1990 Amiga 3000
- 1991 Amiga CDTV
- 1991 Amiga 500 Plus
- 1992 Amiga 600
- 1992 Amiga 1200
- 1992 Amiga 4000
- 1993 Amiga CD32
Compared with the other models
| Model | Year | Processor | Memory | Video | Sound | System |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amiga 1000 | 1985 | 68000 · 7,16 MHz | 256 KB | OCS | Paula · 4 × 8 bit | Kickstart 1.0–1.3 (disco) |
| Amiga 500 | 1987 | 68000 · 7,09 MHz | 512 KB | OCS / ECS | Paula · 4 × 8 bit | Kickstart 1.2 / 1.3 |
| Amiga 2000 | 1987 | 68000 · 7,09 MHz | 1 MB | OCS / ECS | Paula · 4 × 8 bit | Kickstart 1.2 / 1.3 |
| Amiga 3000 | 1990 | 68030 · 16 / 25 MHz | 2 MB | ECS | Paula · 4 × 8 bit | Kickstart 2.0 |
| Amiga CDTV | 1991 | 68000 · 7,09 MHz | 1 MB | OCS / ECS | Paula · 4 × 8 bit | Kickstart 1.3 + CDTV |
| Amiga 500 Plus | 1991 | 68000 · 7,09 MHz | 1 MB | ECS | Paula · 4 × 8 bit | Kickstart 2.04 |
| Amiga 600 | 1992 | 68000 · 7,09 MHz | 1 MB | ECS | Paula · 4 × 8 bit | Kickstart 2.05 |
| Amiga 1200 | 1992 | 68EC020 · 14 MHz | 2 MB | AGA | Paula · 4 × 8 bit | Kickstart 3.0 / 3.1 |
| Amiga 4000 | 1992 | 68040 · 25 MHz | 6 MB | AGA | Paula · 4 × 8 bit | Kickstart 3.0 / 3.1 |
| ▶ Amiga CD32 | 1993 | 68EC020 · 14 MHz | 2 MB | AGA + Akiko | Paula · 4 × 8 bit + CD | Kickstart 3.1 + CD32 |
Let me know when one arrives: Amiga CD32
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