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[[Image:Amiga Logo.jpg|right|]]

'''Amiga''' is a range of [[home computer|home]]/[[personal computer]]s primarily using the [[Motorola]] [[68000]] processor family, whose development started in [[1982]], initially as a game machine. The original Amiga hardware was designed by [[Jay Miner]]; his machine was ahead of its time when it appeared in [[1985]], having a [[Original Amiga chipset|custom chipset]] with advanced graphics and sound features and a sophisticated multitasking [[operating system]], now known as [[AmigaOS]]. The Amiga eventually became popular among computer enthusiasts, especially in Europe, as they upgraded from 8-bit computers such as the [[Commodore 64]]. It also found a business role in video production.
The [[Amiga]] was an important platform for [[computer game]]s in the late [[1980s]] and early [[1990s]]. It was the first [[home computer]] to gain major success as a games machine due to its [[Graphics|graphic]] and [[sound]] subsystems, which were widely considered to be far ahead of their time. A game made for the Amiga platform generally had much better sound and graphics than the same game running on a [[IBM PC]].

==History==

The first Amiga computer, simply called the Amiga, was released in [[1985]] by [[Commodore International|Commodore]], who marketed it both as their intended successor to the [[Commodore 64]] and as their competitor against the [[Atari ST]] range. It was later renamed the Amiga 1000 (or [[A1000]] for short).

[[Image:Amiga500 system.jpg|thumb|350px|An Amiga 500 computer system, with 1084S RGB monitor and A1010 floppy disk drive.]]

In [[1987]] Commodore released two new Amiga models, the [[A500]] and the [[A2000]] as low-end and high-end machines, respectively. The former became the most popular Amiga computer of that decade and was mostly known 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 an I/O video connector.

In [[1990]] the [[A3000]] was introduced in the market as the successor of both [[A1000]] and [[A2000]], with an [[Extended chip set|extended chipset]] (ECS), and the second release of its operating system, to be known eventually as the [[AmigaOS]].

In the same year, Commodore released three new low-end machines: the [[CDTV]], aimed to move the platform to the living room; the [[A500plus|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 them were a commercial failure, mainly due to poor marketing by [[Commodore International|Commodore]].

Mass-market Amigas were then considerably cheaper than PCs or Macs of their time. This boosted sales in the more price-conscious European markets, but led to Commodore being viewed in the United States as a producer of cheap and nasty "game machines". This conception was furthered by the fact that most [[Commodore International|Commodore]] retail outlets were toy stores, and marketing campaigns which were woefully mismatched with the status-conscious American public. This explains why Amiga was very successful in [[Europe]], but not in the [[United States|US]] market, with less than a million sold.

In [[1992]] Commodore released their last Amiga computer models, the [[A1200]] and the [[A4000]]: both of them featured the new [[Advanced Graphics Architecture|AGA]] chipset and the third release of [[AmigaOS]].

In [[1993]], in a desperate attempt to save their business, menaced by console giants as [[Sega]] and [[Nintendo]], Commodore marketed the [[CD32]], one of the earliest compact disc based consoles, with specs similar to the [[A1200]].

[[Image:Amiga-Computer.jpg|thumb|left|250px|An Amiga A500 computer, photographed in [[1988]]]]

In [[1994]] Commodore filed for liquidation and its assets were bought by Escom, a German PC manufacturer, which in turn filed for liquidation during [[1997]]. The Amiga brand was then sold to another PC manufacturer, [[Gateway 2000]], which had grand plans for it, but they eventually sold it in [[2000]] before actually realizing their plans. There are rumors that this sale was conducted because of ongoing force by [[Microsoft]]; however, this is unproven.

The current owner of the trademark, Amiga Inc., has licensed the rights to make hardware using the Amiga brand to an U.K. computer vendor, [http://www.eyetech.co.uk Eyetech Group, Ltd] founded by some former employees of the UK branch of [[Commodore International]]. They are currently selling the [[AmigaOne]] via an international dealer network. The AmigaOne is a [[PowerPC]] computer suited to run the last remnant of the platform, the [[AmigaOS]], that was in turn licensed to a Belgian-German company, [http://www.hyperion-entertainment.biz Hyperion Entertainment].

During these years, a very limited number of [[Clone (computer science)|clone]]s (Amiga-compatible computers) were produced, as both Commodore and subsequent owners of the trademark strongly refused to have Amigas produced under license.

Amigas running any operating system up to version 3.9 are being considered "Classic" Amigas today, contrary to the new Amiga Inc./Eyetech/Hyperion models.

Many "Classic" Amigas are still in use today to produce commercials or local cable TV shows.

==Technical features==

The Amiga had some of the most impressive sound and graphics available for the home user. Indeed, it was also used for commercial entertainment production till the mid 1990s, aiding users in the Video editing and 3D fields.

The very first model, the Amiga 1000, was designed with a 7.16MHz CPU so it could easily work with [[NTSC]] video. The CPU clock frequency was precisely double the 3.58MHz color carrier frequency. Continuing its video focus, the 1000 had a composite video output, which allowed it 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.

The [[Original Amiga chipset]], or OCS, was more advanced than other architectures of its time: it had dedicated chips for graphic effects based on the monitor's beam position and the use of [[genlock]]s was very easy; even today many broadcast corporations still use [[A3000]]s and [[A4000]]s for their real-time video effects. Many programs for making [[fansub]]s were written for the Amiga.

One unique feature the Amiga had was the ability to change the monitor resolution ''on the fly'', within a scan line or two. This allowed multiple overlapping screens of different resolutions that could be pulled down or up in front of each other, completely without interfering with each other, controlled at the hardware level. The chipset included a [[blitter]], which could not only copy and manipulate large area of graphics, making the Amiga well suited to arcade action games, but it also included line drawing and area-filling hardware, which helped advance the popularity of real-time [[3D]] games.

== Amiga 500 ==

From its launch in 1987, marketed as a games machine, the Amiga A500 was an amazing success for Commodore International, reviving the ailing sales of its hardware. It was equipped with a 7.14MHz Motorola 68000 processor.
At the time, it was the only domestically-priced machine capable of displaying up to 4,096 colours on a display simultaneously, and was also capable of managing a 8-bit 4-track audio output at up to 28.8KHz.
The '''A500''', also known as the '''Amiga 500''', was the first "low-end" [[Commodore International|Commodore]] [[Amiga]] [[16-bit]] [[multimedia]] home/[[personal computer]] model. It was released in [[1987]], at the same time as the high-end [[A2000]], and competed directly against the [[Atari ST|Atari 520ST]].

=== Technical specifications ===

* [[Motorola 68000]] (32-bit [[CISC]] microprocessor with 16 registers lacking [[Memory management unit|MMU]] for memory protection and virtual memory)
* Default operating system [[AmigaOS]] 1.2 or 1.3 (having 32-bit [[pre-emptive multitasking]] [[microkernel]]) depending on the revision
* 512 [[kilobyte|KB]] of [[Chip RAM]] by default (sound buffers, graphics buffers and software existed in the same memory space)
**upper limit of 16 [[megabyte|MB]] of memory due to MC68000 limitations (24-bit external [[address bus]])
* [[Original Amiga chipset|OCS]]/[[Extended chip set|ECS]] chipset
*50 [[hertz|Hz]] [[PAL]] and 60 Hz [[NTSC]] [[television|TV]] output by default versions available; 50/60Hz mode switchable by software in later revisions
*software-switchable low-pass audio filter (power [[LED]] shows filter status, darker when off)
*[[IRQ]] sharing (like the PCI bus)
*IRQ system had 7 priority levels of [[interrupt]]s
**No limit on number of interrupts available
**Resources handled by Autoconfig, very similar to ACPI, resources were not numbered or labelled, just given as amounts and addresses
*No specific [[input/output|I/O]] ports, instead using memory mapped I/O space separately for each hardware device (thanks to [[Jay Miner]])

== Games History ==
From the Amiga's introduction in late [[1985]], through to the early 1990s, Amiga games were developed in parallel with the [[Atari ST]] as both machines utilized the [[Motorola]] [[Motorola 68000|68000]] [[Central processing unit|CPU]]. The Atari ST was, by default the industry's primary focus for 16-bit games development because it initially had a larger user base than the Amiga. Additionally, the ST became the default platform because developers found it easier develop software for. This was due in part to the ST's minimalist hardware design.

A major proportion of games developed from 1985 to 1988 were written specifically for ST, then [[ported|converted]] to the Amiga. As a result, many Amiga games of this period were, in most cases, identical to the ST version. The only differences were apparent in audio effects and in-game music. This was an unfortunate development for the Amiga, because only its audio subsystem was demonstrating the Amiga's [[Original Amiga chipset|custom chipset]], while its graphical subsystems remained untapped.

Amiga games popularized [[Tracker|tracker-based]] music, particularly the [[MOD (file format)|MOD]] file format, which has enjoyed continuing popularity in the [[Demoscene]] community, which was influenced significantly by the Amiga and its plethora of games with upbeat, electronic music soundtracks. Music was considered a big part of the game experience in most Amiga games.

The ST continued to be the dominant machine until the introduction of the [[Amiga 500]] in early 1987. Although the A500s chipset was more or less identical to its predecessor, the [[Amiga 1000]], it was cheaper, making it the first "mass-market" Amiga. With the success of the A500, the games industry gradually shifted its focus to the Amiga. By 1988, an increasing number of games were developed specifically for the Amiga. At its zenith in the early 1990s, the Amiga continued to be the platform of choice of many games development companies. At that time virtually every game destined for the PC was first released on the Amiga to test the waters due to cheaper development costs.

The Amiga gaming scene was responsible for the rapid growth of small gaming companies including [[Electronic Arts]] who were contracted by [[Commodore International]] to produce the Amiga's standard graphics format [[Interchange File Format|IFF]], and Electronic Arts' ''[[Deluxe Paint]]'' was included as standard with many Amigas thus giving them early access allowing them to gain a major foothold.

== Important Amiga games ==

=== Early games ===

*''[[Mind Walker]]'' -- Commodore -- ([[1986]])
*''[[Arctic Fox (computer game)|Arctic Fox]]'' -- [[Electronic Arts]] -- ([[1986]])
*''[[Marble Madness]]'' -- [[Electronic Arts]] -- ([[1986]], arcade conversion)
*''[[Archon (computer game)|Archon]]'' -- [[Electronic Arts]] -- ([[1986]])
*''[[Defender of the Crown]]'' -- [[Cinemaware]] -- ([[1986]])
*''[[Faery Tale Adventure]]'' -- [[Microillusions]] -- ([[1986]])
*''[[The Pawn]]'' -- [[Magnetic Scrolls]] -- ([[1987]])
*''[[Maniac Mansion]]'' -- [[Lucasfilm]] -- ([[1987]])
*''[[Silent Service]]'' -- [[Microprose]] -- ([[1987]])
*''[[Starglider]]'' -- [[Rainbird]] -- ([[1987]])
*''[[Arkanoid]]'' -- [[Discovery]] -- ([[1987]], arcade conversion)

=== Popular games ===

*''[[Datastorm]]'' -- [[Visionary Design Technologies]]
*''[[Zool]]'' -- [[Gremlin_Interactive|Gremlin]]
*''[[Prince of Persia]]'' -- [[Broderbund]]
*''[[Utopia (computer game)|Utopia]]'' -- [[Gremlin_Interactive|Gremlin]]
*''[[Cannon Fodder]]'' -- [[Sensible Software]]
*''[[Mega_Lo_Mania]]'' -- [[Sensible Software]] -- ([[1991]])
*''[[Sensible Soccer]]'' -- [[Sensible Software]]
*''[[Kick Off 2]]'' -- [[Anco]]
*''[[Shadow of the Beast]]'' -- [[Psygnosis]]
*''[[Speedball (game)|Speedball]]'' -- [[Melbourne House]]
*''[[North and South (computer game)|North and South]]'' -- [[Infogrames]]
*''[[Lotus (computer games)|Lotus Turbo Challenge]]'' -- [[Gremlin_Interactive|Gremlin]]
*''[[It Came From The Desert]]'' -- [[Cinemaware]]
*''[[Xenon_(computer game)|Xenon]]'' -- [[Melbourne House]]
*''[[James Pond]]'' -- [[Microillusions]]
*''[[Bubble Bobble]]'' -- [[Firebird_%28software_label%29|Firebird]] (arcade conversion)
*''[[New Zealand Story]]'' -- [[Ocean_Software|Ocean]] -- ([[1989]], arcade conversion)
*''[[The Settlers]]'' -- [[Broderbund]]
*''[[Turrican]]'' -- [[Rainbow Arts]]
*''[[Wings_%28video_game%29|Wings]]'' -- [[Cinemaware]]
*''[[Superfrog]]'' -- [[Team 17]]
*''[[Pang]]'' -- [[Ocean_Software|Ocean]] -- ([[1990]], arcade conversion)
*''[[Super Cars]]'' -- [[Gremlin_Interactive|Gremlin]]
*''[[The Chaos Engine]]'' -- [[Renegade]]
*''[[Battle Squadron]]'' -- [[Imageworks]]
*''[[Worms_(game)|Worms]]'' -- [[Ocean_Software|Ocean]]
*''[[Pinball Dreams]]'' -- [[21st Century Entertainment]]
*''[[Moonstone]]'' -- [[Mindscape]]
*''[[Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders]]'' -- [[Lucasarts]]
*''[[Stunt Car Racer]]'' -- [[Microillusions]]
*''[[Rick Dangerous]]'' -- [[Firebird_%28software_label%29|Firebird]]
*''[[Another World]]'' -- [[Delphine Software]]

=== Historically significant games ===

*''[[Starglider 2]]'' -- [[Argonaut Software]] -- ([[1988]])
*''[[Shadow of the Beast]]'' -- [[Psygnosis]] -- ([[1989]])
*''[[Dungeon Master (computer game)|Dungeon Master]]'' -- [[FTL Games]] -- ([[1989]])
*''[[Elite (computer game)|Elite]]'' -- [[Firebird (software label)|Firebird]] -- ([[1989]])
*''[[Populous]]'' -- [[Electronic Arts]] -- ([[1989]])
*''[[SimCity]]'' -- [[Infogrames]] -- ([[1990]])
*''[[Lemmings (computer game)|Lemmings]]'' -- [[Psygnosis]] -- ([[1991]])
*''[[Monkey Island]]'' -- [[Lucas Arts]] -- ([[1991]])
*''[[Civilization video game|Civilization]]'' -- [[Microprose]] -- ([[1992]])
*''[[Syndicate computer games|Syndicate]]'' -- [[Electronic Arts]] -- ([[1993]])
*''[[Hired Guns]]'' -- [[Psygnosis]] -- ([[1993]])
*''[[Dune 2]]'' -- [[Virgin]] -- ([[1993]])
*''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' -- [[Virgin]] -- ([[1994]], arcade conversion)
*''[[X-COM: UFO Defense|UFO]]'' -- [[Microprose]] -- ([[1994]])
*''[[Theme Park (game)|Theme Park]]'' -- [[Electronic Arts]] -- ([[1994]])
*''[[Kick Off]]'' -- [[Anco]]

== Amiga game developers ==

Many famous game developers first established themselves on the Amiga, although some such as [[David Braben]] has already established reputations from the 8-bit computer games. Famous Amiga game developers include:

*[[Jez San]] (''[[Starglider]]'')
*[[Dave Jones]] (''[[Lemmings]]'')
*[[David Braben]] (''[[Elite (computer game)|Elite series]]'', ''[[Virus]]'')
*[[Sid Meier]] (''[[Civilization video game|Civilization]]'', ''[[Railroad Tycoon]]'', ''[[Sid Meier's Pirates!|Pirates]]'')
*[[Jeff Minter]] (''[[Llamatron]]'', ''[[Grid Runner]]'', ''[[Revenge of the Mutant Camels]]'')
*[[Peter Molyneux]] (''[[Populous]]'')
*[[Will Wright]] (''[[SimCity]]'')
*[[Dino Dini]] (''[[Kick Off]]'')

==External links==

=== Amiga Games ===
*[http://www.angusm.demon.co.uk/AGDB/AGDB.html Amiga Games Database]
*[http://eager.back2roots.org EAGER] Amiga game database containing links to all legal downloads, review info, game music, etc.
*[http://exotica.fix.no ExoticA!] Amiga game music archive (listen to LHA-file with a Deliplayer program for Windows)
*[http://www.lemonamiga.com Lemon Amiga] An interactive Amiga game database containing reviews, comments and ratings.
*[http://obligement.free.fr/articles/listejeuxamiga.php Liste Des Jeux Amiga] The biggest list of Amiga games available on internet.
*[http://hol.abime.net The Hall Of Light (HOL) database of Amiga games]
*[http://eab.abime.net The English Amiga Board (EAB)]
*[http://www.caps-project.org C.A.P.S. - The Classic Amiga Preservation Society]
*[http://amiga1200.deviantart.com/ Amiga Links List] A 'Best of' List of Amiga Gaming 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://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/aminet/change.html Aminet] — List of Aminet Mirror-Sites for public domain and freely available software for AmigaOS 3.x and 4.x
*[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://amiga.emugaming.com/ 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]

===Other===
*[http://obligement.free.fr/articles/listejeuxamiga.php Liste des jeux Amiga] - List off all Amiga games
*[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.caps-project.org/ The Classic Amiga Preservation Society] — dedicated to the preservation of classic Amiga software.
*[http://amiga.resource.cx/ The Amiga Hardware Database] — Collection of Amiga hardware expansions and the Amiga models
*[http://hol.abime.net/ Hall Of Light] — The database of Amiga games.

[[Category:Hardware_%26_Emulators]]

Amiga - Revision history

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