Main menu

The Ninjaw's Amiga CD32 Page



PRESENTATION


Here come the cd32, this is a CDROM game console that was the first 32bits... so it was called Amiga CD32. Why amiga? easy, this console is... an Amiga 1200, with a poor 3D chipset, a cdrom drive, an updated rom. the joypad came with the console BUT the amiga 1200 could already use it!... and not the A500, as Amiga first have only 1 button on joystick, and then, noticed you could have 2 using a Sega Megadrive pad, and 4 with modified Sega pads, and finally 7 using the official CD32 pad... So, some amiga-only games are using 2 buttons! (Turrican2), and some, even, can use modified Sega pads!! (Hired guns), but these modified pads aren't compatible with official CD32.
The CD32 can be expanded to become a kind of Amiga 1200... using the ProModule for example... But the A1200 couldn't be upgraded easily to become a CD32... So, before than CDrom drives became usuals on Amiga, users connected their CD32 via the special serial port, to use it as a 2X cdrom drive on their amiga. Today, with the upgraded amigas, CDrom is usual, and there are very good emulators to launch CD32 games (Try the one included in the Idefix package). Yes, CD32 Games need an emulator on amiga because, first, as PeeCee, the system is not made to boot on CDs, secondly, now, users all have an accelerator card, and so another processor and ram, and you need to emulate the 3D chipset and non-volatile memory. The CD32 is hard to emulate on other computers with UAE... that doesn't really work.
Another very famous addition to the CD32 was the FMV module that allows to play Video CDs!!! This was the first DVD! recent VCD Titles are still available now! And now that DVD is here, and most of them are VCD compatible, and that you can rip DVD to degrade them into VCD (Mpg2 => Mpg1) using PCs or anyway you can create easily with every CD burner VideoCDs and so burn anything from the web, this option not very known in europe became very interresting.
The Playstation2 invented nothing!
Here come the boot intro anim of the console, lots of colors are changing in background, and the CD logo turn with the real CD. When the CD is finally accepted the background dissapears and the turning CD goes to left.
Pretty ugly, anyway... too much colors
As Amiga 1200 and his Workbench 3.0, the CD32 can  be configured with your native language, of course, on amiga, you don't do that in the same way.
Only a few games use different languages.
Playstation invented nothing...
Playstation invented nothing, of course, there is a CD player, as Dreamcast... this one is particulary great, usefull and beautiful. The animated light beam move in real time! And all commands are printed on your native joypad, so you can use the cd32 as a CDplayer without screen! It has even an headphone plug with volume, and standard Hi-Fi plugs! And!... CD32 does recognize CD+Graphics and CD+Midi special formats!... Some pretty rare format that was showing 16 cols graphics or sending midi infos while playing cd. You can burn CD+G today with one of the 2 or 3 CDR burners compatible and one tool. There also is a PC player.
CD32 have a great non-volatile memory fonction to save scores and games. You can lock the game saves you really want to keep, they are locked as default. But be careful, if there isn't enough memory available, the game won't save!
Better than Playstation, did I say that Playstation came out after CD32?