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Wizkid

Wizkid

:This article is about the computer game. For the stereotypical character, see whiz kid. Wizkid is a computer game for the Amiga and Atari ST computers, developed by Sensible Software and released by Ocean Software in 1992. Wizkid is officially the sequel to the earlier game Wizball, developed and released by the same companies. Although the story in Wizkid continues directly from Wizball, the actual games are only superficially related to each other. The story starts after the Wiz and his cat Nifta had restored colours to their world. They were both married (to different spouses, apparently) and had children: the Wiz had a son, Wizkid, and Nifta had eight kittens. All was peaceful and happy until the evil mouse wizard Zark came and kidnapped the Wiz, Nifta, and all the kittens, imprisoning them in different parts of the world. It is Wizkid's job to save them. Wizkid is a comically humorous arcade adventure game taking place over nine levels. Each level has a different style, with a different background picture and music. The levels are: #Sunset Wizoward, a normal rural landscape. #Ahoy Wiz Maties, a sunken sailing ship under water. #Mount Wizimanjaro, a volcano. #Elementree my dear Wizkid, a giant tree. #The Ghost of Wizkid Past, a graveyard. #Wizkid and the Wizball Mystery, a shoot 'em up game similar to the bonus sequence in Wizball. #Wizkid goes to the Circus, a circus. #Wizkid meets Dog Girl, a woman who barks like a dog. #Jailhouse Wiz, a giant turtle with a jail on its back. In each level, the player plays the disembodied head of Wizkid, which can fly around the screen in all four directions. The object is to knock various objects on top of enemies, killing them. When all enemies are killed, play proceeds to the next screen, and after all screens have been completed, proceeds to the next level. In the action parts of the game, two bonus objects are on offer - a nose which allows Wiz to juggle blocks, and teeth allowing him to grip them (they can even be taken to different screens - taking a large block onto a screen with only small blocks can be advantageous). The teeth are temporary, but failing to complete a level sees you lose either item. A bonus 'Crossword 2091' screen is sometimes activated by failing to complete a level, in which the player is presented with a grid and a sequence of words, which must be arranged so as to interlock into a crossword-style arrangement. Completion of this, which involves a fair amount of trial and error, adds $500 to the bank balance. The adventure aspect of the game comes into play when Wizkid manages to collect a whole sequence of bonus musical notes. This allows him to re-embody his head and interact with the background landscape. Items can be bought with money, and must be used throughout the game to collect enough kittens to reach Zark's Castle before Zark can get back. There is one more mystery task to be completed in order to win the game. Wizkid uses the famous "level warping" system originally introduced in Super Mario Bros. in reverse. Playing only the arcade part only takes the player to levels 1, 4, 7 and 9. Hidden routes in the adventure part are required to access the other levels, and thus obtain enough kittens to complete the game. Level 3 must be completed in 'head mode', and it features some of the harder screens. Category:Amiga games Category:Atari ST games

Whiz kid

:This article is about the stereotypical character. For the computer game, see Wizkid. The whiz kid is a stock character who is notably intelligent, but typically lacking in physical strength. In movies, comic strips and other visual mediums, they usually wear glasses and are typically dressed in a fashion that is slightly overdressed or different in style than the rest of the cast. The whiz kid is usually attached to books, the Internet, and other sources of information and often talks with big words in order to show off. The whiz kid usually serves as a sidekick to the hero and sometimes to the story as comic relief. Male whiz kids are often referred to as "geeks" or "nerds" by other characters, while their female counterparts are typically called "know-it-alls."

Examples


- Barry Ween (The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius)
- Commander Keen (series of computer games)
- Connie Souphanousinphone (King of the Hill)
- Daniel Jackson1 (Stargate and Stargate SG-1)
- Dexter (Dexter’s Laboratory)
- Doogie Howser, M.D. (TV series of the same title)
- Edd (Ed, Edd, and Eddy)
- Encyclopedia Brown (book series of the same title)
- Jason Fox (FoxTrot)
- Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)
- Honker Muddlefoot (Darkwing Duck)
- Jimmy Neutron (Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius)
- Leslie Clark (The ClueFinders)
- Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons)
- Martin Prince (The Simpsons)
- Max Fisher (Rushmore)
- Miles Prower (Sonic the Hedgehog)
- Patty Pryor (American Dreams)
- Penny (Inspector Gadget)
- Sammy Dullard (Rocket Power)
- Stewie Griffin (Family Guy)
- Aaron Rosman (University of Illinois)
- Wesley Crusher (Star Trek) Wade Load (Kim Possible) Izzy Izumi(Digimon)

Notes

#Although Daniel Jackson is an adult, he often takes to amazing events with an almost childlike sense of awe. He also fulfills several of the stereotypes relating to whiz kids, such as wearing glasses and being nerdy (the latter is especially true of him in the Stargate film.) #Commander Keen's only resemblance to a whiz kid is his intelligence. Category: Stock characters

Computer game

:This article is about computer and video games. For the magazine see Computer and Video Games (magazine). Technically, a computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players may interact with in order to achieve a goal (or set of goals). A video game is a computer game where a video display is the primary feedback device. Since nearly all computer games use some sort of visual display, these terms are usually considered interchangeable, and are frequently used as umbrella terms for interactive game software. The phrase interactive entertainment is the formal reference to computer and video games. To avoid ambiguity, this game software is referred to as "computer and video games" throughout this article. However, in common usage, "computer game" refers more specifically to games played on a personal computer, while "video game" (or "videogame") actually refers to both, and "[console name] game" refers specifically to games played on a particular console.
- For specific information regarding "computer games", see personal computer game.
- For specific information regarding "console games", see console game. console game) is held every year in Los Angeles. New projects are shown every year.]]

History

The first primitive computer and video games were developed in the 1950s and 1960s and ran on platforms such as oscilloscopes, university mainframes and EDSAC computers. Arcade games were developed in the 1970s and led to the so-called "Golden Age of Arcade Games". One of the most well-known of these games is Pong. The 1970s also saw the release of the first home video game consoles. The late 1970s to early 1980s brought about the improvement of home consoles and the release of the Atari 2600, Intellivision and Colecovision. The video game crash of 1983, however, produced a dark age in the market that was not filled until the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) reached North America in 1985. The last two decades of game history have been marked by separate markets for games on video game consoles, home computers and handhelds. See the article on Console wars for additional information on that facet of game history.

The future of console gaming

The end of 2005 and first and second quarters of 2006 will see the next generation of console gaming in the form of continuing advances in processor technology, graphics technology, design innovation, and even platform specific gaming community infrastructure. Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft are all participating in this coming year's "technology race". The second generation Microsoft offering, the Xbox 360, will be powered by a multi-core CPU, the PlayStation 3 will be powered by Cell processor technology, and the Nintendo Revolution will allow the gamer to interact with the game via a wireless motion sensing controller, although full technical specifications are yet to be revealed.

Gameplay

Main article: Gameplay In computer and video gaming, gameplay (sometimes called "Game mechanics") is a general term that describes player interaction with a game. It includes direct interaction, such as controls and interface, but also design aspects of the game, such as levels. Although the use of this term is often disputed, as it is considered too vague for the range of concepts it describes, it is currently the most commonly used and accepted term for this purpose when describing video games.

Genres

Main article: Computer and video game genres Games, like most other forms of media, may be categorized into genres based on gameplay, atmosphere, and various other factors. Any individual gamer is likely to favor some types of gameplay over others, these are refered to as video game genres. The most common genres in use today include platformers, adventure, role-playing games (RPGs), first person shooters (FPS), third person shooter (sometimes called shoot 'em ups), sports, racing, fighting (sometimes called beat 'em ups), action (although this term is abused), puzzle, simulation, and real time strategy (RTS), to name a few. It is rare that a game will fall purely into one genre, most games are a combination of two or more genres (e.g action/RPG). Although most genres have 2D counterparts, they are for the most part considered entirely different genres because of the differences in the way 2D and 3D games are played (e.g. Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 64). The increase in the popularity of online gaming has also resulted in new sub-genres being formed, such as the massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

Gaming platforms

massively multiplayer online role-playing game Today there are many different devices that games may be played on. Personal computers, consoles, handheld systems, and arcade machines are all common. There is an extremely thin line between games played on the computer and those on the console, which is a standardized computer with little or no setup. Many games intended for computer are now just as prevalent on consoles, both of which have many of the same titles. This is due to the fact that video game consoles have drastically increased in computing power and capabilities over the last few years to the point that they can handle games that were formerly only playable with comparatively higher-end computers. During the last generation of gaming, most major computer game releases have coincided with the release of console versions, and titles initially developed for a single platform are often ported to others if they prove to be successful.

Personal Computer

Main article: Personal Computer Games Personal computer games are commonly referred to as "computer games" or "PC games". They are played on the personal computer with standard computer interface devices such as the keyboard and mouse, or additional peripherals, such as joysticks. Video feedback is received by the user through the computer screen, sound through speakers or headphones. Computer games are often more powerful than console games because of early market releases of their external architecture and graphics cards. The most popular genres of Computer games are First-Person Shooters, Real-Time Strategy, Simulations, and MMOGs, given the long-standing nature of Internet access and online play. First Person Shooters benefit highly from using the keyboard and mouse to give very fine control over player movement that is still not matched on the consoles. Today, most PC games require the Windows operating system to be installed on the computer. There is, however, a continuing movement to get the most popular games to run under the Mac and Linux operating systems. According to the Entertainment Software Association, console games have outsold computer games roughly four units to one in 2003 and 2004 [http://theesa.com/facts/sales_genre_data.php]. For more information, see sales. One possible explanation for the declining sales of personal computer games in relation to that of consoles can be found within the PC itself: a computer must meet certain minimum requirements (listed on retail box of the title) such as CPU speed, memory, video card memory, hard drive space, operating system, Internet connection speed (for online games) and other criteria. Without the proper hardware, the game may perform poorly or not run at all.

Internet

Main article: Internet gaming Online Games are those which either require or benefit from a connection to the Internet to play. Online gaming began with PC games, but has over time expanded to include most moder consoles. It is now a key feature of modern games, with the inclusion of Internet connectivity in consoles such as the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and in mobile/cellular phones. Online games need to allow several people to play at the same time, so not all genres are suitable; the most popular genres include MMORPG's, FPS's, racing/driving games, strategy games, and sports titles. The Internet is also host to thousands of small Flash and Java games, named after the programming language in which they are written. These games generally do not share the same magnitude of development costs, depth, or seriousness of PC and console games, and are generally quick to complete by comparison. Some of these games, such as Runescape, however, have expanded far beyond this, and can often be considered on the same level as "mainstream" PC games.

Console

Main article: Console games Console games are played video game console, a specialized computer specifically designed to play games of a certain format. The player usually interacts with the game through a controller, and video and sound are typically delivered to the player via a television, although most modern consoles support additional outputs, such as surround sound setups. Consoles themselves branched off from personal computers around two decades ago, a fact which is still evident not only in the name, but also in many of the peripherals available for many consoles, like the keyboard and mouse peripherals released for the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Sega Dreamcast.

Handheld

Main article: Handheld video games Handheld games are played on handheld game consoles, such as the Nintendo Gameboy, Nintendo DS, and Sony PSP. Handheld consoles act as their own controllers, which the player uses to interact with the game, as well as having in-built display and audio output devices. Because they are designed to be played on the go, they are usually small enough to fit into an average pocket (the virtual boy is an exception to this), but due to their small size, haldheld consoles have reduced processing power compared to larger consoles, meaning that games are shorter, and until the release of the DS, were limited to 2D.

Mobile Phone

Main article: Mobile/Cellular Phone Games Most mobile phones now have games built into them, and others are available for download, or can be bought for a small amount of money. These games are more restricted than traditional handheld games, and usually play more like arcade games.

Arcade

Main article: Arcade Games Arcade games, traditionally, are "coin-operated games", played on a standalone device originally leased to commercial entertainment venues. These are programmed, equipped, and decorated for a specific game, consisting of a video display, a set of controls, and the coin slot. Controls are similar to those available for many consoles (albeit usually as peripherals) and range from the classic joystick and buttons, to light guns, to pads on the ground that sense pressure. Arcade games that are no longer profitable to lease can be purchased by private individuals, many of whom then explore the game dynamics by altering the programs. This term has now expanded to include any game that has more direct action, with fewer long term objectives and, for the most part, shorter in-game levels.

Popularity

:What rock and roll was to the youth of the Sixties, gaming is to the youth of today. — Killol Bhuta, brand manager, Ford Motor Company [http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=107487] The popularity of computer and video games, as a whole, has been increasing steadily ever since the 1984-1987 dropoff caused by the video game crash of 1983, and the popularity appears to be continuing to increase. The average age of the video game player is now 29 [http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=8540&filter=myturn], belying the myth that video games are largely a diversion for teenagers.

Sales

teenager) with a large selection of games for several major consoles]] The four largest markets for computer and video games are the United States, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom. Other significant markets include Spain, Germany, South Korea, France, and Italy. China is not considered a significant market, most likely because an estimated 95% of video games sold in the country are pirated. [http://slate.msn.com/id/2116629/] Sales of different types of games vary widely between these markets due to local preferences. Japanese consumers avoid computer games and instead buy video games, with a strong preference for games created in Japan, that run on Japanese consoles. In South Korea, computer games are preferred, especially MMORPG games and real-time strategy games; there are over 20,000 PC bang Internet cafes where computer games can be played for an hourly charge. The NPD Group tracks computer and video game sales in the United States. It reported that as of 2004:
- Console and portable software sales: $6.2 billion, up 8% from 2003 [http://gameinfowire.com/news.asp?nid=5650]
- Console and portable hardware and accessory sales: $3.7 billion, down 35% from 2003 [http://gameinfowire.com/news.asp?nid=5650]
- PC game sales: $1.1 billion, down 2% from 2003 [http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/28/news_6117438.html] These figures are sales in dollars, not units; unit shipments for each category were higher than the dollar sales numbers indicate, as more software and hardware was sold at reduced prices compared to 2003. Retail PC game sales have been declining slightly each year since about 1998, but this fact should be taken with a grain of salt: the retail sales numbers from NPD do not include sales from online downloads, nor subscription revenue for games like MMORPGs. There is a commonly repeated, mistaken belief that video game sales now exceed the revenues of the movie industry. This is untrue; in the United States, video game sales have exceeded the movies' total box office revenue each year since about 1996, but the movie studios trounce the video game publishers when the movies' "ancillary revenue" is counted, meaning sales of DVDs, sales to foreign distributors, and sales to cable TV, satellite TV, and broadcast television networks. The game and film industries are also becoming increasingly intertwined, with companies like Sony having significant stakes in both. A large number of summer blockbuster films spawn a companion game, often launching at the same time in order to share the marketing costs.

Computer and video games in the broader culture

Computer games are huge business worldwide. Take for example South Korea. Developers there boast MMORPGs such as Lineage and Ragnarok Online with millions of subscribers and a third of the world's MMOG revenue. StarCraft gosu (expert players) are celebrities in a game that some have called the country's national sport. The success of computer and online gaming there is usually credited to South Korea's push for broadband Internet connections in the home and earlier bans on Japanese products (these restrictions were removed by the late 1990s). Numerous websites and publications devoted solely to games have been created, including Official Xbox Magazine, Nintendo Power, Official Playstation Magazine, GamePro, GameSpot, GameSpy, IGN and GameFAQs. Video gaming now ingrained in popular culture in the United States. Many T-shirts are available that directly reference video games, such as one with a picture of an NES controller with the text 'Know Your Roots.' Also, video games have also become a major part in cross marketing platforms, such as in Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh, where a child can watch the television show, buy the trading cards, and play the various video games available. Video game properties have had mixed success when migrating to the movies. One of the first films based on a video game property was The Wizard, which some criticized as a 90-minute ad for Super Mario Brothers 3. In the mid-90s, films for Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter, Wing Commander and Mortal Kombat were released. Reviews have generally been poor. Despite the ultimately poor performance of these movies, many studios still want to turn big games into movies, hoping that the popularity of the game will help the movie. However, after the initial bunch, many projects materialized that were never finished, but the success of films like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider has led to more films materializing. Doom, a game which film makers were trying to cross over since the mid '90s, finally hit theatres 12 years after its initial release. John Woo is also producing a movie on the popular Nintendo game Metroid. There is still debate in the movie industry on whether video games can consistently be turned into good, profitable movies. Films like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which has received mixed responses from audiences, with some saying it is a great movie, and others saying it is a very bad movie with excellent computer-generated imagery, but ultimately flopped in the box office, and Uwe Boll's House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark, which both ended up being horrible flops both in fan reactions and box office success and both ending up on the IMDB's bottom 100 movies, do not, in turn, give much confidence in whether these movies will be handled seriously. The recently released Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children may change some people's minds though, even though it's a straight to DVD affair. On the other hand, video games get much more success when adapted into cartoons/animes. Some notables examples of major success includes the various Mario Bros. cartoons, Sonic SatAM, Captain N: The Game Master and Earthworm Jim while Sonic Underground, the American Mega Man cartoon and 4Kids' dubs (although this isn't limited to their video game-based dubs) are cited as being poor. Sometime, they even "help" more obscure/Japan-only games pick up popularity in America although rarely; To Heart would be the best example of such thing. Movies have had far more success moving the other direction, onto video games. Most summer blockbuster films now have a simultaneous video game release; some of the most lucrative video games of recent times are based on movies, such as Electronic Arts' and Stormfront Studios' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and the series of EA LotR games that followed it, and Activision's two Spider-Man movie games. Even though movies have had more success in game conversion, not all movie games are popular amongst the gaming community. Some publishers believe that the success of the movie will help the game sell, and so may not have as lengthy a development schedule as needed to make a compelling game. Some examples of this are the Catwoman and King Arthur movie games. Also, video games have found themselves on MTV2, in a popular show called Video Mod, where characters from popular video games perform songs from hit artists, such as characters from The Sims 2 performing the song "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains Of Wayne. On the Internet, gaming has also become a popular subject of many webcomics. Currently there are two varieties. The first one is the sprite comic, such as 8 Bit Theatre, in which the artist uses sprites from the earlier Final Fantasy games to tell stories. Sometimes these are original stories, but are often parodies of the game in which the sprite came from. The other is a more traditional comic strip, containing original art, like Penny Arcade. Here, the storylines or jokes revolve around current events in video gaming. The success of Penny Arcade has attracted many people in the industry, including Ubisoft. Other parodies have come in the form of amateur videos, such as those of Mega 64. In Germany, the TV channel NBC Europe broadcasts a show called GIGA, which turned more and more into a video and computer game show. In the show, new games are presented and reviewed. Lately, the show featured the esports scene a lot, by introducing professional players to the audience and broadcasting live competition matches. Online shows are fast becoming the place to view live action gaming broadcasts such as gamespot's 'On the Spot'

Development

Main article: Game development Video games are made by developers, who used to do this as individuals in the 80's (Bedroom Coders) , but now are almost always a large team consisting of designers, graphic designers and other artists, programmers, sound designers, musicians, and other technicians. Video games are developing fast in all areas, but the problem is of price and how developers intend to keep the price where it is while incorporating better technology, that inevitably costs more. Most video game console development teams number anywhere from 20 to 50 people, with some teams exceeding 100. The average team size as well as the average development time of a game have grown along with the size of the industry and the technology involved in creating games. This has led to regular occurrences of missed deadlines and unfinished products; Duke Nukem Forever is the quintessential example of these problems. See also: video game industry practices. Visit http://magicalgames.suddenlaunch3.com/index.cgi for forums about videogames.

Game modifications

Main article: Mod (computer gaming) Games running on a PC are often designed with end-user modifications in mind, and this consequently allows modern computer games to be modified by gamers without much difficulty. These mods can add an extra dimension of replayability and interest. The Internet provides an inexpensive medium to promote and distribute mods, and they have become an increasingly important factor in the commercial success of some games. Developers such as id, Valve, and Epic provide extensive tools and documentation to assist mod makers, allowing for the kind of success seen by popular mods such as Counter-Strike. Popular mods are sometimes bought by the developers of the game. This is the case of Valve's Half-life. They bought a number of popular mods including Counter-strike and Day of defeat. After the release of Half-life 2 Valve developed these mods for the sequel and sold them through their digital distribution software Steam through the internet. Recently, computer games have also been used as a digital art medium. See artistic computer game modification.

Naming

Gamers use several umbrella terms for console, PC, arcade, handheld, and similar games since they do not agree on the best name. For many, either "computer game" or "video game" describes these games as a whole. Other commonly used terms include, "entertainment software," "interactive entertainment media," "electronic interactive entertainment," "electronic game," "software game," and "videogame" (as one word). Computer and video games may be considered a subset of interactive media, which includes virtual reality, flight and engineering simulation, multimedia and the World Wide Web.

See also


- Computer and video game articles by topic
- Computer and video game articles by category

References


- Lieu, Tina (August 1997). [http://www.cjmag.co.jp/magazine/issues/1997/aug97/0897pcgames.html "Where have all the PC games gone?"]. Computing Japan.
- Costikyan, Greg (1994) [http://www.costik.com/nowords.html "I Have No Words & I Must Design"]
- Crawford, Chris (1982) [http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/peabody/game-book/Coverpage.html "The Art of Computer Game Design"] Category:Games ko:컴퓨터 게임 ja:コンピューターゲーム nb:Dataspill simple:Video game th:Category:เกมคอมพิวเตอร์และวิดีโอเกม

Amiga

:This article is about the family of home computers. For other uses, see Amiga (disambiguation). Amiga (disambiguation) The Amiga is a family of home/personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation as an advanced game console. Development on the Amiga began in 1982, Jay Miner being the principle hardware designer. Commodore International introduced the machine to the market in 1985, after having bought Amiga Corp. The machine was ahead of its time, sporting a custom chipset with advanced graphics and sound capabilities, and a sophisticated multitasking operating system, now known as AmigaOS. Providing a significant upgrade from 8-bit computers such as the Commodore 64, the Amiga quickly grew in popularity among computer enthusiasts, especially in Europe. It also found a prominent role in the video production business.

History

Amiga Corporation

The Amiga's chipset was designed by a small company called Amiga Corporation during the end of the first home video game boom. Wary of industrial espionage, the chipset was codenamed Lorraine during development. Amiga Corp. funded the development of the Lorraine by manufacturing joysticks while seeking investors. The chipset was to be used in a video game machine, but following the video game crash of 1983, the Lorraine was repurposed to be a personal computer. Before Amiga Corp. could bring the machine to market, the company encountered financial difficulties and was sold to Commodore in August 1984.

Commodore

The first Amiga computer, simply called the Amiga, was released in 1985 by Commodore, who marketed it both as their intended successor to the Commodore 64 and as their competitor against the Atari ST. It was later renamed the Amiga 1000 (or A1000 for short). Revolutionary for its time, it could display 4,096 colors and produce 4 channels of 8-bit digital audio. It is also notable for having the first preemptive multitasking operating system with a color GUI, allowing users to perform multiple tasks at the same time. GUI In 1987, Commodore released two new Amiga models, the A500 and the A2000. These were marketed as low-end and high-end machines, respectively. The former became the most popular Amiga computer of the decade and served primarily as a games machine, while the latter was marketed as a more serious workstation for graphic purposes, due to the presence of a SCSI controller option, a Genlock slot and a video I/O connector. In 1990, the A3000 was introduced as the successor to both the A1000 and A2000, with an extended chipset (ECS) and the second release of its operating system, which would eventually be called AmigaOS. In the same year, Commodore released three new low-end machines: the CDTV, aimed to move the platform to the living room; the A500+, with the same enhancements as the A3000; and the A600, basically an A500+ in a smaller box with an IDE controller for hard disks. All of these were commercial failures, mainly due to poor marketing. Mass-market Amigas were then considerably cheaper than PCs and Macs at the time. This factor helped to boost sales in the more price-conscious European markets, but it also led to Commodore being viewed in U.S. markets as a producer of cheap "game machines". This perception was furthered by the fact that most Commodore retail outlets were toy stores, and marketing campaigns were woefully mismatched with the status-conscious American public. Overall, the Amiga was very successful in Europe, but it sold less than a million units in the U.S.. In 1992, Commodore released their last Amiga computer models, the A1200 and the A4000: Each featured the new AGA chipset and the third release of AmigaOS. In 1993, menaced by console giants Sega and Nintendo, Commodore marketed the CD32 in a desperate attempt to save their business. The CD32 was one of the earliest CD-based consoles and was also the world's first 32-bit game machine, with specifications similar to the A1200. A1200]

Bankruptcy

In 1994, Commodore filed for bankruptcy and its assets were purchased by Escom, a German PC manufacturer, who in turn went bankrupt in 1997. The Amiga brand was then sold to another PC manufacturer, Gateway 2000, which had announced grand plans for it. However, in 2000, Gateway dropped the Amiga brand. This is rumored to be due to pressure by Microsoft; however, the real reason for the sale is unknown.

Amiga, Inc.

The current owner of the trademark, Amiga, Inc., has licensed the rights to make hardware using the Amiga brand to a U.K. computer vendor, [http://www.eyetech.co.uk Eyetech Group, Ltd], which was founded by some former UK employees of Commodore International. They are currently selling the AmigaOne via an international dealer network. The AmigaOne is a PowerPC computer designed to run the last remnants of AmigaOS, which was itself licensed to a Belgian-German company, [http://www.hyperion-entertainment.biz Hyperion Entertainment]. Only a very few Amiga clones were ever produced, as both Commodore and subsequent owners of the trademark refused to license the Amiga technology to third-party manufacturers. Today, Amigas running AmigaOS version 3.9 and earlier are now considered "Classic" Amigas, as opposed to the new Amiga Inc./Eyetech/Hyperion models. Due to its popularity as a gaming platform, many people incorrectly refer to the Amiga as a games console (even though it is a fully-featured computer). However, there are many "Classic" Amigas still in use around the world. A popular use for the classic Amiga is as an automated readerboard for local community-access TV stations.

Technical features

For its time, the Amiga was quite an advanced computer for the home market. It provided impressive sound and graphics for games, and it was also popular in business environments until around the mid-1990s, aiding users in video editing and 3D graphics. The very first model, the Amiga 1000, had a 7.16MHz CPU, designed to work directly with NTSC video. The CPU clock frequency was precisely double the 3.58MHz color carrier frequency. The A1000 had a built-in composite video output, which allowed the computer to be hooked up directly to a TV or VCR. However, the output signal was considered too "hot" (strong) by many to be useful for anything other than home use (however, this could be remedied by running the A1000's composite output through a video processing amplifier, or "proc amp", to bring the video levels down to a suitable amount). The Original Amiga chipset, or OCS, was more advanced than other architectures of its time: it had dedicated chips for real-time video effects, allowing users to easily work with genlocks to overlay graphics atop live video. The Amiga's unique overscan feature, the ability to run at custom, user-defined resolutions, allowed it to draw images past the visible borders of a television screen, allowing seamless fly-ins and scrolling from off-frame. Today, many TV stations and broadcast corporations are still using A3000s and A4000s for their real-time video effects. Many programs were also written for creating "fansubs" of foreign films and Japanese animation. Another unique feature provided by the Amiga was the ability to change display resolutions on the fly — the computer could display different scan lines at different resolutions, allowing for multiple screens of information at different resolutions that could overlap one another without interfering with each other. The chipset also included a blitter, which could copy and manipulate large amounts of graphics data at once (making the Amiga well-suited to arcade action games), and accelerated line-drawing and area-filling functions, which helped advance the popularity of real-time 3D graphics and games.

Operating systems

3D graphics The operating system, AmigaOS, was also quite sophisticated for its time, combining an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) like that of the Apple Macintosh together with an elegant Command Line Interface (CLI) which then eventually evolved into a very powerful Shell. This gives the user of Amiga some of the flexibility of UNIX while retaining a simplicity that made maintenance rather easy. While its operating system was the only preemptive multitasking platform with an efficient message-passing kernel in the consumer marketplace for several years with an efficient memory management, robustness left something to be desired, mainly due to the absence of protected memory, resulting in the famous "Guru Meditation" errors. The Amiga operating system was resurrected in 2000 as AmigaOS 4, which currently runs only on AmigaOne computers and on A1200s and A4000s with a PowerPC accelerator card. Other, still maintained operating systems are available for the classic Amiga platform, including Linux, NetBSD, and OpenBSD. Commodore Amiga Unix (based on AT&T System V Rel. 4) was available only for the A2500 and A3000.

MS-DOS on Amiga via Sidecar or Bridgeboard

MS-DOS compatibility was a major issue during the early years of the Amiga's lifespan in order to promote the machine as a serious business machine. In order to run the MS-DOS operating system, Commodore released the 'Sidecar' for Amiga 1000, basically a 8086 board in a closed case that connected to the side of the Amiga. Clever programming (a library named Janus, after the two-faced Roman god of doorways) made it possible to run PC software in an Amiga window without use of emulation. At the introduction of the Sidecar the crowd was stunned to see the MS-DOS version of Microsoft Flight Simulator running at full speed in an Amiga window on the Workbench. Later the Sidecar was implemented on a expansion card named 'Bridgeboard' for Amiga 2000+ models. Bridgeboard cards appeared up to 486 processor variants. The Bridgeboard card and the Janus library made use PC expansion cards and harddisk/floppydisk drives possible. The bridgeboard card was manufactured by Commodore, later third party cards also appeared for the A500/1200 expansion slot such as the KCS Powerboard. Eventually, full-software emulators, such as PC-Task allowed Amigas to run MS-DOS programs, including Microsoft Windows, without additional hardware, at the costs of speed and compatibility.

Mac OS on Amiga

Also introduced for the Amiga was the Emplant expansion card, which allowed the Amiga to emulate an Apple Macintosh and run the Macintosh Operating System. It required an Apple Macintosh ROM image, which had to be obtained from a Macintosh. In 1988 an Apple Mac emulator called A-Max was released for the Amiga 500. It needed Mac ROMs to function, and could read Mac disks when used with a Mac floppy drive (Amiga floppy drives are unable to read Mac disks. Unlike Amiga disks Mac floppy disks spin at variable speeds, much like CD ROM drives). It wasn't a particularly elegant solution, but it did provide an affordable Mac experience. Over time full-software emulation was available in programs like Shapeshifter, but you still had to get a ROM image.

Third party software

Amiga was originally supported by such prestigious software titles as WordPerfect, Deluxe Paint, and Lattice C. Video Toaster, one of the first all-in-one graphics and video editing packages, began on the Amiga. The Amiga made 3D raytracing graphics available for the masses with Sculpt 3D (before the Amiga, raytracing was only available for dedicated graphic workstations). Some titles were later ported to Microsoft Windows and continue to thrive there, like the rendering software Maxon Cinema 4D, LightWave, which was originally part of Video Toaster, in addition to Video Toaster itself. Even Microsoft produced software for use on the Amiga. AmigaBASIC, an advanced BASIC software development environment, complete with an Interactive Development Environment (IDE), was written by Microsoft under contract. Microsoft never supported the Amiga. Much shareware and free software was written for the Amiga and could be obtained via the Fred Fish disk series or from the Aminet software archive.

Models and variants

Marketed Amiga models

Unreleased models

Due to management turmoil, some viable Amiga models under development were canceled prior to release:
- A3000+: Prototyped in 1991, it used the AGA chipset and had an AT&T DSP3210 chip, high-fidelity audio, telephone line interface, and 2.5Mbit/s RS-485 network port.
- A1000+: Intermediate in price and features between the A1200 and A3000+, it would have been a detached keyboard system with expansion slots (two Zorro slots, video slot, CPU slot). (Dave Haynie, Usenet Message-ID: <40c78969.243987715@news.jersey.net>).

Unreleased models (after Commodore)

A number of new Amiga models were announced after the end of the Commodore model era. However, very few of them were ever produced beyond simple prototypes (if they even got that far). Some models that were never produced include:
- The Amiga [http://www.blachford.info/computer/walker/walker.html Walker]: Announced early 1996, this was supposed to be a new, compact multi-media computer compatible with the classic Amiga. Its case design was very weird: The metallic grey case, about the size of a games console, was curved at the rear. Jokes were made comparing the shape to that of a vacuum cleaner. There were more-or-less working prototypes of the Walker but it was never released into the mass market.
- The [http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/abox.html A\box], [http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/prebox.html pre\box] and [http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/amirage.html AMIRAGE K2]: These were PowerPC based machines announced by the German company Phase 5. The A\box, announced in 1996, was to feature a new custom graphics chipset named Caipirinha, and a new Amiga compatible operating system. This was replaced in 1998 by the announcement of the pre\box, which was to feature four PowerPC processors, and was to run AmigaOS 3.1. Finally, in 1999 the AMIRAGE K2 was announced, based on the QNX operating system.
- The [http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/quiky.html Amiga 40x0L] models: QuikPak announced a range of machines while they were planning to purchase rights to the Amiga during late 1996 / early 1997. These were models with either a 68030, 68040 or 68060 processor, and included portable "luggable" versions. Some models were planned to be fitted with NewTek's Video Toaster Flyer. QuikPak were a manufacturer for the Amiga 4000T.
- The [http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/power5000.html A5000] and [http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/dce.html A6000]: These were new models announced by Power Computing in 1997. They featured a 68030 or 68040 for the A5000, and a 68060 for the A6000.
- The [http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/boxer.html BoXeR]: Designed by Mick Tinker at Access Innovations, and announced in 1997, the BoXeR was to be a new motherboard based on a Motorola 68040 or 68060 processor. Amongst other improvements over the Commodore motherboards of the time, it incorporated the ageing AGA chipset into one chip. Sadly it never got far beyond the advanced protoyping stage. Mick was also responsible for the Access, which was basically an Amiga 1200 that was re-jigged to fit into a full length 5.25" drive bay.
- iWin Amigas: iWin was a German company that announced in 1999 that it was designing new computers that were compatible with both classic Amigas and IBM PCs. The only source of information about these computers was iWin's own website, which contained some technical circuit diagrams about them. Upon closer inspection, the circuit diagrams were revealed to be completely unrealistic.
After a few months, the supposed "iWin Amigas" vanished without a trace, without ever being publicly presented or released into the mass market. The general consensus of the Amiga community is that iWin never had done any real design, but were simply trying to pull a hoax on the eagerly-awaiting Amiga fans.

Trivia


- After Commodore went bust, a team of engineers and programmers created an unofficial system capable of running Amiga software as an upgrade route for Amiga fans. This resulted in the Pegasos PowerPC computers, and the MorphOS operating system.
- The name amiga is the Spanish and Portuguese word for 'female friend', from the Latin amica.
- The Amiga still has a very strong user community, particularly outside the United States.
- The Amiga community made a significant contribution to a computer subculture known as the Demo Scene. The Demo Scene was more or less a phenomenon inherited from Commodore 64 times.
- Much operating system advocacy surrounds the technology implemented in the Amiga, to the point that many Amiga users are accused of zealotry (look for "Amiga Persecution Complex" in the Jargon File).
- Amiga has two Three-finger salutes, one for warm reset (CTRL plus the two "Amiga" keys) and the other for reboot (CTRL plus the two "Alt" keys). The latter method was introduced with AmigaOS 4.0.
- When an Amiga crashes, it displays a flashing red box with a mysterious Guru Meditation number. The number is actually the 68000 exception number, and the address (in hexadecimal) at which it occurred.
- During the Commodore era, machines with 'thousands' model numbering were marketed as 'quality' machines for business use, while the other machines (A500, A500+, A600, A1200) were 'consumer' machines.
- The three most popular low-end models of the Amiga - the 500, 600 and 1200 - each had the name of a B-52's song written on their motherboard. The most widely cited reason for this is the designers having been fans of the band. The motherboard of the 500 says "Rock Lobster", that of the 600 says "June Bug" and that of the 1200 says "Channel Z". No other models have song names on their motherboards.
- The Amiga 600 was originally supposed to be the Amiga 300, a very low-cost "introductory" model, but in an attempt to cut costs plans from CBM management changed at the last minute, and it was instead marketed as the successor to the 500 and the 500+. The motherboard of the Amiga 600 still says "Amiga 300".
- A common misconception is that before Amiga was sold to Commodore, Atari was in the running for purchasing the small, Los Gatos-based company. The misconception further states that after Atari lost the acquisition, it developed the Atari ST to compete with the (then) "Commodore" Amiga.
The truth is that it was Warner's Atari Inc. that had made a deal with Amiga back in 1983 (which can be seen [http://www.atarimuseum.com/articles/mickey.html here]) and not Tramiel's Atari Corp. (which developed the ST). The agreement basically gave Atari Inc. access to the Amiga hardware for their own computer system codenamed "Mickey".
As part of the agreement, Atari would sell "Mickey" (formally the Atari 1850XLD) as a video game system with no keyboard for 1 year. After that, Atari could then sell a keyboard add-on and sell full blown versions of "Mickey" to the public. Work was started but Atari ran in to the well known financial troubles and Warner wound up breaking up and selling off the parts of Atari Inc.
The consumer division (which included consoles and computers) was sold to former Commodore founder Jack Tramiel. Jack had left Commodore in January 1984 and after taking a short vacation decided to return to the business with his own next generation low cost computer system. So he formed Tramiel Technology, Ltd. (TTL) with some former Commodore employees and designed what would become known as the ST series of computers. In late May 1984 he purchased Atari Consumer for their manufacturing capabilities and distribution network, which he'd need to manufacture and sell his new computer.
The takeover was completed on July 2nd, and the truth of the matter is that the ST was 90% finished by the time this occurred. The operating system being the only major work needed to be finished. Jack and his people had no idea about the Amiga agreement at the time. When they took over Atari Consumer and formed Atari Corp., all projects were put on hold until they could evaluate them. In the meantime, more engineering and management left Commodore to join up at Jack's new Atari Corp.
Within the span of a few weeks, several major occurrences happened.
# In late July, Commodore filed suit against Jack for stealing trade secrets because of this influx of former Commodore employees. # Commodore bought Amiga. # During the project evaluations, the Tramiel's discovered Atari Inc.'s previous agreement with Amiga and used it to launch a countersuit against Commodore via Amiga on August 13th.
All suits were eventually dropped and/or settled out of court.
- Steve Jobs was shown the original prototype for the first Amiga (Amiga 1000) before it had been purchased by Commodore, and said there was "too much hardware". He was working on Macintosh at the time.
- Two of the designers of the original Amiga, RJ Mical and Dave Needle, would later go on to design the Atari Lynx, giving it a framebuffer based display with a blitter very similar to that in the Amiga. The two would also go on to work on the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer.
- When Great Valley Products first released their 68030 accelerator board for the Amiga 2000, it ran Apple's MacOS faster than any real Mac. Apple soon caught up, though.

See also


- AmigaOS
- Amiga demos
- Amiga games
- Unix Amiga Emulator
- SCA virus
- Gateway 2000
- List of arcade games ports to Amiga

References


- John J. Anderson, "Amiga Lorraine: finally, the 'next generation Atari'?" Creative Computing, April 1984 [http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n4/150_Amiga_Lorraine_finally_.php]
- Dave Haynie. "The Amiga A3000+ System Specification". 1991 DevCon Release. July 17, 1991. [http://haynie.amigaworld.de/research/a3000p/docs/a3000p.pdf]

External links

News and discussions


- [http://www.amiga.org/ Amiga.org]
- [http://www.amigaworld.net/ Amigaworld.net] - Official support forum for the AmigaOne.
- [http://www.ann.lu/ ANN]
- [http://obligement.free.fr/ Obligement] - magazine about AmigaOS and MorphOS.
- [http://www.lemonamiga.com/ Lemon Amiga] - A friendly Amiga community mostly focusing on games.
- [http://www.abime.net/ Abime.net] - Amiga addicts sanctuary, an Amiga community.
- [http://www.the-amiga-zone.com/ The Amiga Zone] - Amiga emulation and discussion forum.

Software


- [http://os.amigaworld.de/index.php?lang=en AmigaOS] - Unofficial AmigaOS Support Homepage
- [http://www.aminet.net/ Aminet] - Public domain and freely available software for AmigaOS.
- [http://www.os4depot.net/ OS4Depot] - Unofficial repository for AmigaOS 4.x software.
- [http://amiga.sourceforge.net/ Amiga.sf] - Your source to Amiga ports.

Links directory


- [http://amp.dascene.net/links.php A big Amiga web directory]

Link pages


- [http://www.amigarealm.com/ Amiga Realm] - Amiga Internet Directory Service and Archive Resource.
- [http://amiga1200.deviantart.com/ Amiga Links List] - A 'Best of' List of Useful Amiga Links

History


- [http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/ Amiga History Guide]
- [http://haynie.amigaworld.de/ The Dave Haynie Archives]
- [http://braeburn.ath.cx/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 The History of the Amiga]
- [http://www.amiga.org/modules/xoopsfaq/index.php?cat_id=4#q16 Amiga.org] links
- [http://amiga.emugaming.com/amigahistory.html EMU Gaming] — Amiga history by era
- [http://amigacam.net.tc Classic magazine articles to read.]

Other


- [http://os4.hyperion-entertainment.biz AmigaOS 4.0] - Official OS4 site from Hyperion Entertainment.
- [http://amp.dascene.net Amiga Music Preservation] - All about the Amiga Audio/Module/Protracker/Mods/Modules scene.
- [http://www.amigawiki.com Amiga Wiki]
- [http://www.blazemonger.com/BM/ BLAZEMONGER] - Amiga humor.
- [http://www.pouet.net Pouet] - A demoscene portal.
- [http://ada.planet-d.net Amiga Demoscene Archive] - Demoscene portal entirely dedicated to Amiga.
- [http://www.amiga-hardware.com/ The Big Book of Amiga Hardware]
- [http://www.softpres.org/ The Software Preservation Society] - Dedicated to the preservation of classic software for the Amiga and other platforms.
- [http://amiga.resource.cx/ The Amiga Hardware Database] - Collection of Amiga hardware expansions and the Amiga models.
- [http://www.jamesalanpatterson.com/amiga.html Jim's Amiga Commercial Page!] - Watch original Amiga commercials.
- [http://hol.abime.net/ Hall Of Light] - The database of Amiga games.
- [http://powerup.amigaworld.de/index.php?lang=en PowerUP] - Unofficial PowerUP Support Homepage.
- [http://grex.amigaworld.de/index.php?lang=en G-Rex PCI] - Unofficial G-Rex PCI Support Homepage. Category:Home computers Category:Personal computers
- Amiga Category:CBM hardware ja:Amiga

Atari ST

The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. It was released by Atari in 1985. The "ST" allegedly stood for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 32-bit internals with 16-bit external buses. Another theory is that ST really stood for "Sam Tramiel", Jack Tramiel's eldest son.

Overview

The Atari ST was a notable home computer, based on the Motorola 68000 CPU, with 512KB of RAM or more, and 3.5" floppy disks as storage. It was similar to other contemporary machines which used the Motorola 68000, the Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga. Although the Macintosh was the first widely available computer with a graphical user interface (GUI), it was however limited to a monochromatic display. The Atari ST was notable, being the first computer with a fully bit-mapped color GUI. It had an innovative single-chip graphics subsystem (designed by Shiraz Shivji) which shared the full amount of system memory, in alternating clock cycles, with the processor, similar to the earlier BBC Micro and the Unified Memory systems that have become common today. It was also the first home computer with integral MIDI support. The ST was primarily a competitor to the Commodore Amiga systems. This platform rivalry was often reflected by the owners and was most prominent in the Demo Scene. Where the Amiga had custom hardware which gave it the edge in the games and videowork market, the ST was generally cheaper and slightly faster at basic operation. Thanks to its built-in MIDI ports it enjoyed success as a music sequencer and controller of musical instruments among amateurs and professionals alike, being used in concert by bands such as Tangerine Dream. In some markets, particularly Germany, the machine gained a strong foothold as a small business machine for CAD and Desktop publishing work. The ST was later superseded by the Atari TT and Falcon computers, and ST technology was used in the creation of the Atari Jaguar video game console. Since Atari pulled out of the computer market there has been a market for powerful TOS-based machines (clones). Like most "retro" computers the Atari enjoys support in the emulator scene.

Origins

Atari had created two released machines in the form of the Atari 2600 console (also known as VCS) and the various Atari 8-bit based home computers. Both of these lines were created around the 6502 CPU and included a number of additional chips assisting this rather basic, but cost-effective CPU in providing graphics and sound. In fact the 8-bit machines had originally intended to be the replacement for the 2600, but they were later reengineered as home computers. As Atari grew and the management was shuffled by Warner (their parent company), the creators of the 2600 and 8-bit machines eventually got fed up and left. A group of them led by Jay Miner formed a small think tank called Amiga in 1982 and set about creating the third generation machine, this time based on the much more powerful 68000 CPU. During this time, the home computer market started to slow down, and the video game market underwent the great video game crash of 1983. Warner management decided to "get out" and started looking to sell Atari outright. Meanwhile many of the same effects were in the process of decimating Commodore International. An argument involving Commodore's chairman and largest shareholder Irving Gould, and Jack Tramiel ensued over development of a new 68000 system, resulting in Tramiel's immediate departure from Commodore in January of 1984. Tramiel immediately formed a holding company, Tramiel Technology, and brought in a number of ex-Commodore staff to continue his project to develop a new, high-performance home computer. While this team, led by Shiraz Shivji, worked on the design, Tramiel discovered that Warner Communications wanted to sell Atari Corp. Tramiel purchased Atari Corp, mainly for the overseas manufacturing and dealer network. The design team considered "one-upping" the Macintosh by using a full 32-bit chip, namely the NS32032, but in talks, National Semiconductor couldn't supply the numbers, or price, the project needed. In retrospect this proved to be lucky, a prototype built on the NS32032 proved to be slower than the 16-bit 68000. The basic hardware design quickly "gelled" into a form that was almost identical to the ST that eventually shipped. The design used off-the-shelf parts where possible. Disk drive support was provided by the WD1772, a standard Western Digital chip, and sound from a Yamaha YM2149, a clone of the common but fairly basic General Instruments AY-3-8910. Serial, MIDI, and other I/O functions were provided by standard Motorola chips. The custom chips included a memory controller, the simple "Shifter" graphics chip, a DMA controller, and the "GLUE" interrupt handler. At about the same time, Amiga were desperate for a buyer or investor, and the "Warner owned" Atari had paid Amiga for development work (see: [http://www.atarimuseum.com/articles/mickey.html "TOP SECRET: Confidential Atari-Amiga Agreement"]). In return Atari was to get one-year exclusive use of the design. Atari was also working on a "high-end" 68000 based machine at the time, so it is not clear what their intentions for the Amiga design were. By May Tramiel had secured his funding, bought the remains of Atari from Warner for a very low price, and set about re-creating his empire. One of his first acts was to fire practically all of Atari's highly respected engineering staff, and cancel almost all ongoing development. The Amiga crew was upset, and soon entered discussions with Commodore that led to them purchasing Amiga, and quickly cancelling Atari's license. Tramiel was furious, and the resulting court case lasted for years. Finally, it settled out of court, the details of which remain secret. Work thus continued with the design started at Tramiel Technology. With the basic design complete, the team started looking at solutions for the operating system. Soon after the buyout Microsoft approached Tramiel with the suggestion that they port Windows to the platform, but the delivery date was out about two years, far too long for their needs. Another possibility was Digital Research, who were working on a new GUI-based system then known as Crystal, soon to become GEM. A final possibility was to write a new system in-house, but this was eventually rejected due to risk. DR seemed generally uninterested in porting the system themselves, so a team from Atari was sent to their Monterey headquarters to do it themselves. They were given the latest versions of the Intel 8086 code from their DR counterparts, and would port it to the 68000 as quickly as possible. A version, running on top of CP/M-68K, was available just in time for the January 1985 CES, where the ST was introduced. CESCP/M-68K was essentially a direct port of CP/M's original, and very old, operating system. By 'modern' standards of 1985, it was rather outdated both in terms of command structure, and that it didn't support hierarchical file systems. DR was also in the process of building a new DOS-like operating system specifically for GEM, GEMDOS, and there was some discussion of whether or not a port of GEMDOS could be complete in time for product delivery in June. The decision was eventually taken to port it, resulting in a GEM/GEMDOS system Atari referred to as TOS. This was beneficial to the system, as it allowed the ST to read and write standard IBM PC disks. The design shipped in June 1985 as the 520ST. The machine had gone from concept to store shelves in a little under a year. Atari had originally intended to release versions with 128 KB and 256 KB of RAM as the 130ST and 260ST respectively, but the rapidly falling prices of RAM at the time led them to cancel these versions and it was released with 512K only. In 1986 the 1040STF (also written STF) shipped with 1MB of RAM and featured an integral PSU and double sided floppy-disk drive. However, the ST remained generally the same internally over the majority of its several-year lifespan. The choice of model numbers was inherited from the model-numbers of the XE series of the Atari 8-bit family of computers.

Description

The 520ST was an all-in-one unit, similar to earlier home computers like the Commodore 64. However, by this time the market demanded a "full sized" keyboard, including cursor keys and a numeric keypad. For this reason the 520ST was fairly "boxy", generally oversized for a machine that one had to move around to adjust the keyboard position. Adding to this problem was the number of large cables needed to connect to the peripherals. This problem was addressed to some degree in the follow-on models which included a built-in floppy disk. Following most machines of the era, and thus differing greatly from earlier Atari designs, the ST used a large number of one-off ports mounted on the rear of the machine. In addition to power and monitor connections, the ST included an RS-232 serial port, a Centronics printer connection, two Atari-standard joystick/mouse ports, an ACSI (not SCSI) hard drive connector, the floppy disk connector, a cartridge port and the two MIDI ports. The case followed the Tramiel-Atari design of the era, being basically wedge shaped, with a series of grilles cut into the rear for airflow. The original 520ST design used a external floppy drive, the 1040ST-style case featured a built-in floppy drive. The Power supply for the early 520ST was a large external brick while the 1040ST's was inside the machine. In addition the majority of the machines had keyboards with a very soft tactile feedback, not as good as those on the IBM PC. The design was much improved with the Mega ST series which included a detached high-quality keyboard and stronger case, but this apparently cost too much to produce and the design was not used widely. Atari initially used single-sided disk drives that could store up to 360KB. Later drives were double-sided versions that stored 720KB. Due to the early sales of so many of the single-sided drives, almost all software would ship on two single-sided disks instead of a single double-sided one, in fear of cutting off all the other owners. Another problem was that the Atari double-sided drive could read IBM formatted disks, but IBM PCs could not read Atari disks. This was a formatting issue that was later resolved by third-party software formatters and TOS upgrades. Additionally they had originally intended to include GEM's GDOS hardware abstraction layer, which allowed programs to draw (display, print, etc.) graphics to any supported device with no changes. This allowed developers to write a program for display to the screen, and get high quality printing "for free". However GDOS was not ready at the time the ST started shipping, and while Atari promised to include it as soon as possible, they never did. This left printing support up to the developers, who had to create their own engines for every possible printer. Similarly the custom "BLiTTER" was to be included to speed the performance of graphics operations on the screen, but this was isolated to their "upscale" machines when it was eventually released years later. As a result, the power of GEM was largely lost on the ST platform, even when GDOS and BLiTTER eventually shipped, it was ignored by developers because it was on so few machines. On the plus side the ST was less expensive than most machines, including Macintosh Plus, and tended to be faster than most (external link: [http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/3015/16bit.html price comparison]). Largely as a result of the price/performance factor, the ST would go on to be a fairly big seller, notably in markets where the foreign exchange rates amplified prices. For this reason the ST was most popular in Europe, especially in Germany. Also, the very crisp, 640 by 400 pixels picture of its black & white monitor made it popular for small-office applications. In fact, an Atari ST and reasonable terminal emulation software was much cheaper than a Digital VT220 terminal, which was normally needed by offices with central computers.

The super STs

For about the first four years, nothing much had changed in the capabilities of the ST platform, except for new machines being released with greater RAM. In late 1989, Atari released the STE (also written STE) — a version of the ST with some improved hardware. Among the new features were 4096 colours to choose from instead of 512, a new digital sound-chip that could play stereo samples in hardware (the Yamaha YM2149 could only be coaxed into playing samples by means of software) and a BLiTTER. Two analogue joystick-ports were added (two normal joysticks could be plugged into each port with an adaptor). Despite all of this, it still ran at 8MHz. The STE models initially had serious operating systems conflicts resulting in many applications and games written for the ST line being unusable (sometimes, this could be solved by expanding the RAM). To make matters worse, the built in floppy disk drives could not read as many tracks on a floppy disk as the built in floppy disk drives on older models. While this was not a problem for most users, some games used the extra tracks as a crude form of copy protection (and as a means of cramming more data on the disk). Furthermore, having a joystick plugged in would sometimes cause strange behaviour with a few applications (such as First Word Plus). Very little use was made of the extra features of the STE: STE-enhanced and STE-only software was rare. Look in external links for Atari STE fanpage, there you will find what software uses special Atari STE features. Atari went on to release the Mega STE (an STE in a grey TT case that ran at 16MHz). At some time during the early '90s, the development of the ST line forked. On one branch was the high-end workstation-oriented TT, and on the other was the entertainment-oriented Falcon — both of which were supposed to be ST compatible, but not compatible with each other. By then, the ATARI ST platform was dying and neither of these two machines took off. Medusa Computer Systems manufactured some 3rd-party Atari Falcon/TT-compatible machines that used 68040 and 68060 processors.

Future of the platform

Despite the lack of a hardware supplier and commercial software vendors, there is a small active community dedicated to keeping the ST platform alive. There have been advancements in the operating system, software emulators (for Windows, Mac & Linux), and some hardware developments. There are accelerator cards, such as the CT-60, which is an 68060 based accelerator card for the Falcon, and there is the Atari Coldfire Project, which aims at developing an Atari-clone based on the Coldfire processor.

Software

The ST was the first home computer with built-in MIDI ports, and there was plenty of MIDI-related software for use professionally in music studios, or by amateur enthusiasts. The popular Windows/Macintosh application Cubase originated on the Atari ST. Music tracker software was popular on the ST, such as the TCB Tracker. An innovative music composition program that combined the sample playing abilities of a tracker with conventional music notation (which was usually only found in MIDI software) was called Quartet. Also popular on the ST was professional Desktop publishing software, such as Calamus; and office tools such as word processors and spreadsheets. There were many software development tools available for the Atari ST: 68000 assemblers, Pascal and C compilers, and novelty tools such as SEUCK. The ST came bundled with a disk that contained amongst other things ST BASIC, the first BASIC for the ST. However, due to its poor quality, it was eventually replaced by other BASICs, such as GFA BASIC and STOS. The ST was one of the leading platforms for computer games from 1987 to 1991, inclusive. Notable individuals who developed games on the ST include Peter Molyneux, Jeff Minter, Jeremy San, James Hutchby, Dimitri Koveos and David Braben. The first real-time 3D role-playing computer game, Dungeon Master, was first developed and released on the ST. In the early 1990s the software houses gradually stopped producing ST versions of their games. See List of Atari ST games and :Category:Atari ST games. Utility software was available to drive hardware add-ons such as video digitisers. Office Productivity and graphics software was also bundled with the ST (HyperPaint II by Dimitri Koveos, HyperDraw by David Farmborough and several others commissioned by Bob Katz, later of Electronic Arts). There was a thriving output of public domain and shareware software which was distributed by public domain software libraries.

Screenshots

More screenshots can be found on the Atari ST Games page.

Technical specifications

ST/STF/STM/STFM

As originally released in the 520 ST:
- CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 8MHz
- RAM: 512KB
- Display modes: 320×200 (16 colour), 640×200 (4 colour), 640×400 (mono), palette of 512 colours
- Sound: Yamaha YM2149 3-voice soundchip
- Drive: Single-sided 3½" floppy disk drive
- Ports: TV out (on FM models), MIDI in/out, RS-232, printer, monitor (RGB and mono), extra disk drive port, DMA port (ACSI port) for hard disks, joystick and mouse ports
- Operating System: TOS 1.0 (Tramiel Operating System) with the Graphical Environment Manager (GEM) GUI Very early machines included the OS on a floppy disk, but this was quickly replaced with ROM versions of TOS 1.0 instead. The later models also used an upgraded version of TOS - 1.02 (also known as TOS 1.2). Another early addition (after about 6 months) was an RF Modulator that allowed the machine to be hooked to a colour TV when run in its low resolution mode. These models were known as the 520STM (or 520STM). Later F and FM models of the 520 had a built in double-sided disk drive instead of a single sided one.

STE

As originally released in the 520 STE:
- All of the features of the 520ST
- Drive: Double-sided 3½" floppy disk drive
- Built in RF Modulator
- Extended palette of 4096 available colours to chose from
- BLiTTER chip
- Hardware-support for horizontal and vertical fine scrolling
- Sound: Additional National LMC 1992 sound chip with 2-channel stereo 8-bit PCM sound.
- Memory: 30-pin SIMM memory slots to upgrade to 4Mb
- Ability to synchronise the video-timings with an external device so that a video Genlock device can be used without having to make any modifications to computer's hardware
- Additional ports: Stereo RCA jacks and two analogue joystick ports (with support for analogue devices such as paddles and light pens. Two normal digital joysticks could be plugged into each analogue port with an adaptor).
- TOS 1.06 (also known as TOS 1.6) on ROM. Later STE models had TOS 1.62 that fixed some bugs in TOS 1.6.

Models

A number of machines were released in the ST family. Here they are, in rough chronological order after the original 520 ST:
- 520 ST+ - Name for early 520 STs with 1 MB of RAM, but without floppy disk
- 260 ST - European name for the 520 ST with 512 KB. Used after the release of the 520 ST+ to differentiate the cheaper 512 KB models from the 1 MB models
- 520 STM - a 520 ST with a built-in modulator for TV output
- 520 STFM - a 520 STM with a newly redesigned motherboard in a larger case with a built-in floppy disk drive
- 1040 STF - a 520 STFM with 1 MB of RAM and a built-in double-sided floppy disk, but without modulator
- 1040 STFM - a 520 STFM with 1 MB of RAM and a built-in double-sided floppy disk
- Mega ST (MEGA2, MEGA4) - 1040 with 2 or 4MB of RAM, respectively, in a much improved "pizza box" case with a detached keyboard. These models included the BLiTTER chip, but the OS ROM was not upgraded and the extra GEM functionality needed to be booted from disk.
- 520 STE and 1040 STE - a 520 STFM/1040 STFM with enhanced sound, the BLiTTER chip, and a 4096 color palette, in the older 1040 style all-in-one case
- Mega STE - same hardware as 1040 STE except for a faster 16 MHz processor, in the TT case
- STacy - A portable (but definitely not laptop) version of the ST. Originally designed to operate on 12 standard C cell flashlight batteries for portability, when Atari finally realized how quickly the machine would use up a set of batteries (the batteries were not rechargeable), they simply glued the lid of the battery compartment shut.
- ST Book (later version portable ST)

Other models


- Atari TT030 — new machine based on the Motorola 68030 processor running at 32 Mhz, in yet another new case design with a detached keyboard.
- Atari Falcon 030 — another 68030 based machine like the TT, but in the 1040 style case (yet again) with further upgrades to the graphics and sound, a Motorola 56000 DSP, multitasking OS (on disk) and a LocalTalk port for networking.
- Medusa 040, Medusa 060, Hades 040, Hades 060 — 3rd-party Falcon/TT compatible machines manufactured by Medusa Computer Systems.
- Atari ABAQ, or Atari Transputer Workstation — A standalone machine containing ST hardware and up to 17 transputers capable of massively parallel operations for tasks such as ray tracing. There were also some unreleased prototypes: [http://www.atari-explorer.com/protos-falcon040.html Falcon 040] (external link) (based on a Motorola 68040, new case and slots), and STylus (palmtop).

See also


- List of Atari ST games
- Atari ST demos — The demoscene on the Atari ST.

External links


- [http://atari-ste.anvil-soft.com Atari STE fanpage]

History


- [http://www.atarimagazines.com/startv3n1/threeyearsofst.html "3 Years With the ST" article]

General


- http://www.atarilegend.com
- http://www.atari-forum.com
- http://www.atarihq.com
- http://www.atari.org
- http://www.atari-history.com
- http://www.atarihistory.de
- http://www.atari.st

The machines


- [http://yescrew.real-atarian.net/eng/atari.htm Atari Gallery] – Descriptions of the various ST models; courtesy of [http://yescrew.real-atarian.net YesCREW]

Free Emulators


- http://steem.atari.org
- http://saint.atari.org
- http://stonx.sourceforge.net
- http://hatari.sourceforge.net (there are also commercial emulators)

Software


- http://www.umich.edu/~archive/atari/ — The Atari section of the University of Michigan software archives.
- [http://users.pandora.be/tos4ever/utsi.htm Ultimate TOS Software Index]

3rd-party manufacturers


- [http://www.kingx.com/kingx/medusa/thes.html Medusa Computer Systems] — Manufacturers of the Medusa 040, Medusa 060, Hades 040, Hades 060.

Lists of links


- [http://www.doitarchive.de/link.htm Atari Web Links] Category:Home computers Category:Personal computers

Sensible Software

Sensible Software was a highly regarded software house in the nineties from the United Kingdom that released several games, amongst those the popular Sensible Soccer series and Cannon Fodder. The "trademark" of the Sensible Software's games were the pin-like characters, used in Sensible Soccer, Cannon Fodder (although slightly different), and Sensible Golf.

Background

Formed in 1986 by Jon "Jops" Hare and Chris Yates, who worked at LT Software in the mid '80s, Sensible Software released games initially for the ZX Spectrum and the Commodore 64, clinching market praise with Wizball, and releasing Microprose Soccer, their first venture in football games. In the early '90s the company swapped those for the more powerful Amiga and Atari ST, where games such as Mega Lo Mania, Sensible Soccer, and Cannon Fodder became classics, and with the rise of the 16-bit home console market, most of these games were later ported for these platforms. However, while Sensible had a strong reputation in the early '90s, things took a turn for the worse as the Amiga market diminished. Sensible Golf, a simple golf video game (not a simulation) did not perform well in the market and received poor reviews. Lately, Sensible Software has only released games in the Sensible Soccer series, and as computers gained cheap 3D rendering abilities and titles such as Actua Soccer and FIFA turned to 2.5D and 3D, the market for the series quickly shrunk to a small niche. Sensible Software almost went bankrupt, and are now a subsidiary company of Codemasters.

Softography

Twister, Mother of Charlotte (ZX Spectrum)
Parallax (Commodore 64)
Galaxibirds (Commodore 64)
Wizball (Commodore 64/ZX Spectrum)
S.E.U.C.K. (Commodore 64/Commodore Amiga)
Oh No (Commodore 64)
Microprose Soccer (Commodore 64/ZX Spectrum)
International 3D Tennis (Commodore 64/ZX Spectrum/Commodore Amiga/Atari ST)
Insects in Space (Commodore 64)
Mega Lo Mania (Commodore Amiga/Atari ST)
Sensible Soccer (Commodore Amiga/Atari ST)
Wizkid (Commodore Amiga/Atari ST)
Sensible Soccer 1.1 (Commodore Amiga/Atari ST)
Sensible Soccer International Edition (Commodore Amiga/Atari ST)
Sensible Soccer 92/93 (Commodore Amiga/Atari ST)
Cannon Fodder (Commodore Amiga/Atari ST/Acorn Archimedes)
Sensible Soccer (Megadrive/SNES)
Cannon Fodder 2 (Commodore Amiga)
SWOS (Commodore Amiga/Atari ST)
SWOS 95/96 (Commodore Amiga/Atari ST)
SWOS Euro '96 (Commodore Amiga/Atari ST)
SWOS 96/97 (Commodore Amiga/Atari ST)
Sensible Golf (Commodore Amiga)
SWOS (MS-DOS)
SWOS 96/97 (MS-DOS)
Cannon Fodder (MS-DOS)
Cannon Fodder 2 (MS-DOS)
Sensible Golf (MS-DOS)
Sensible Soccer 98 (Windows 9x)
Sensi 98 Euro Club Edition (Windows 9x)
Sensi 98 Euro Club Edition (PlayStation)
Cannon Fodder (Game Boy Color)
SimBrick (Commodore Amiga)
Sensible Train Spotting (Commodore Amiga)
Unsensible Soccer (Commodore Amiga)

External links


- [http://www.purplesensi.co.uk Purple Sensi]

- [http://www.codemasters.com Codemasters site] Category:Defunct computer and video game companies

Ocean Software

and is recognized by many people.]] Ocean Software (or Ocean Software Ltd. and sometimes Ocean of America, Inc. but generally only referred to as Ocean) was one of the biggest European video game developers ever. The company was founded by David Ward and Jon Woods in Manchester. Ocean manufactured dozens of games for a variety of systems such as the ZX Spectrum, the Amiga, the Commodore 64, PC and different video game consoles such as the NES and