Amiga CD32
Encyclopedia
The Amiga CD32, styled "CD32" (code-named "Spellbound"), was the first 32-bit
CD-ROM
based video game console
released in western Europe
, Australia
, Canada
and Brazil
. It was first announced at the Science Museum
in London
, United Kingdom
on 16 July 1993, and was released in September of the same year. The CD32 is based on Commodore
's Advanced Graphics Architecture
chipset, and is of similar specification to the Amiga 1200
computer. Using 3rd-party devices, it is possible to upgrade the CD32 with keyboard
, floppy drive, hard drive and mouse, turning it into a personal computer
. A hardware MPEG decompression module for playing Video CD
was also available. The CD32 managed to secure over 38% of the CD-ROM market in the UK
.
and was planned for release in the United States
. However, a deadline was reached for Commodore to pay a patent royalty to Cad Track for their use of their XOR patent. A federal judge ordered an injunction against Commodore preventing them from importing anything into the United States. Commodore had built up CD32 inventory in their Philippine
manufacturing facility for the United States launch, but, being unable to sell the consoles, they remained in the Philippines until the debts owed to the owners of the facility were settled. Commodore declared bankruptcy
shortly afterwards, and the CD32 was never officially sold in the United States. However, imported models did come over the border from Canada, and many stores in the United States (primarily mail-order stores) imported units for domestic sale. During the long bankruptcy proceedings, Commodore UK also provided some hardware components and software for the American market, including production of the MPEG Video Module that was not officially released by Commodore International.
On its release, the CD32 was marketed by Commodore as 'the world's first 32-bit CD games console'. Although it was indeed the first such machine released in Europe and North America, the FM Towns Marty
, a console released exclusively in Japan
, beat it to market by seven months. However, the CD32's 68EC020 processor had a 32-bit data bus both internally and externally, while the 386SX in the FM Towns Marty has a 16-bit data bus externally.
Ultimately, Commodore was not able to meet demand for new units because of component supply problems. Sales of the CD32 in Europe
were not enough to save Commodore, and the bankruptcy of Commodore International in April 1994 caused the CD32 to be discontinued only months after its debut. During the brief Amiga CD32 presence in the market, approximately 100,000 units of it were sold in Europe alone.
ProModule, Paravision SX-1 and DCE SX-32 (which optionally includes 68030
CPU
).
Those devices extend the capability of Amiga CD32, allowing it to utilize hardware such as an external 3.5" floppy disk drive, hard disk
and IBM PC keyboard
. An Amiga CD32 can be turned into a de facto Amiga 1200 via the addition of third-party packages. The SX-1 appears to have been designed around Commodore's mechanical specs and not the actual production units – it did not fit very well and requires an internal 'modification' to fit properly. Consequently, the SX-1 can be jarred loose if the console is not handled gently. The upgraded SX-32 expansion pack (which included a 68030 25 MHz processor) solves these problems.
Not wishing to repeat its earlier mistake of offering a way to turn a CD32 into an enhanced A1200 as it did with the A500-based CDTV, Commodore itself made no hardware available for that purpose. One of its last hardware designs, however, was an external CD-ROM
drive for the A1200 that featured the CD32's Akiko chip, thus turning any A1200 into a CD32-compatible system.
In addition to its own special controllers, the Amiga CD32 is also compatible with most 9-pin D-Sub controllers from the 80s and 90s, including the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis controllers, SEGA Master System
controllers, and all Amiga
/C64
joystick
s as well as Amiga mice
and paddles.
CD
s created for the CD32 conform to ISO 9660
level2, mode1; although the Rock Ridge
and Joliet extensions are not compatible.
At launch, the CD32 was bundled with two games, Diggers
, a new game from Millennium Interactive
, and Oscar
from Flair Software. A later pack included the one-on-one fighting game Dangerous Streets
, a move by Commodore that was met with derision by the press. Many reviewers had given Dangerous Streets terrible scores (Amiga Power
rating it just 3%) and were surprised that with a slew of powerful rival consoles about to hit the market, Commodore would choose to show off the abilities of its machine with a poor game.
The CD32 was capable of running most of the titles developed for the Amiga CDTV
multimedia device (differences in CPU speed and Kickstart version prevented some of the earlier CDTV titles from running). Many of the games released for the CD32 were simply ports
of games that were already available for Amiga computers. One benefit of this is that, when appropriate, many games retain the ability to use an Amiga mouse (in port 2) or Amiga keyboard (plugged into the AUX port).
Like all later Amiga computers, the CD32 has a hidden boot menu that can be accessed by plugging an Amiga mouse into port 2 and holding both buttons down while turning the system on. Most of the options in this menu are not useful on a CD32, but from this menu you can choose to boot in either NTSC
or PAL
mode. This is important, as there are some games that will refuse to work if the system is in the wrong mode, since most games don't advertise what video mode they were developed for. It should also be pointed out that despite the naming, the menu really only allows a choice of 60 Hz or 50 Hz video output; a PAL system booted in NTSC mode will still output a video signal using PAL color encoding, which will usually result in a black-and-white picture when connected to an NTSC television.
While the console was fairly successful during its lifespan and managed to be the best-selling CD format console in 1993, it was not able to sustain its growth, with Commodore filing for Chapter 11 just a year after its release after not being able to secure additional CD32 shipments for the holiday season. It was speculated that the holiday season could have kept Commodore afloat for another six months. Another problem was the lack of original games, which had also plagued the CDTV
before it.
The CD32 arrived at a time when new, technically demanding genres such as the first person shooter were becoming popular. The console was not capable of handling some or all of these new types of genres (the hardware is far less powerful than Atari Jaguar or 3DO), games developers saw more profit in shovelware
— taking an older game and either adding an FMV
intro or even (in some cases) just directly transferring the floppy game onto CD. A few pieces of original software did appear and some were well received but by and large the CD32 found itself with a software library mainly containing titles that were up to five years old and which much of the machine's target audience already owned. Given that, along with the fact that 'hot' games like Doom and Virtua Fighter were planned for release on the CD32's competitors, many observers blamed shovelware for the machine's relative failure.
However, a large fan base carried over from the success of other Amiga computers, and several notable titles, such as Microcosm
, Liberation: Captive 2
, Simon the Sorcerer
, Super Stardust
and Zool 2
prevented the console from sliding into total obscurity.
. They provided information, animations, pictures, sound and text available in several languages, as well as a London Underground simulator. The systems were produced by the Odiham
, Hampshire
-based company Index Information, utilising their CD32x interface units.
In 1995, an Italian company named CD Express used the CD32 as a basis for an arcade machine called "CUBO CD32". Inside these machines, stock CD32s were hooked up to an external circuit board which essentially acted as a converter to route all the input and output into a standard JAMMA connector for use in an arcade cabinet. The software was provided on CD-ROM. Nine games are known to exist, all of which are original games created by CD Express.
In the mid to late 1990s, some vehicle registries in Canada utilized CD32 systems for interactive multimedia testing for drivers license applications.
In the late 1990s to early 2000s, slot machine manufacturer StarGames utilized a stripped down CD32 motherboard in many of their slot machines. Machines confirmed to be operating on CD32 hardware are Hawaiian Delight, Leprechaun Luck, and Mister Magic.
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
based video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
released in western Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. It was first announced at the Science Museum
Science Museum (London)
The Science Museum is one of the three major museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is part of the National Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is a major London tourist attraction....
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on 16 July 1993, and was released in September of the same year. The CD32 is based on Commodore
Commodore International
Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...
's Advanced Graphics Architecture
Advanced Graphics Architecture
Advanced Graphics Architecture is the third generation Amiga graphic chip set, first used in the Amiga 4000 in 1992. AGA was codenamed the Pandora chipset by Commodore International internally....
chipset, and is of similar specification to the Amiga 1200
Amiga 1200
The Amiga 1200, or A1200 , was Commodore International's third-generation Amiga computer, aimed at the home market...
computer. Using 3rd-party devices, it is possible to upgrade the CD32 with keyboard
Computer keyboard
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
, floppy drive, hard drive and mouse, turning it into a personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. A hardware MPEG decompression module for playing Video CD
Video CD
Before the advent of DVD and Blu-ray, the Video CD became the first format for distributing films on standard 120 mm optical discs. The format is a standard digital format for storing video on a Compact Disc...
was also available. The CD32 managed to secure over 38% of the CD-ROM market in the UK
.
Release
The CD32 was released in CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and was planned for release in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. However, a deadline was reached for Commodore to pay a patent royalty to Cad Track for their use of their XOR patent. A federal judge ordered an injunction against Commodore preventing them from importing anything into the United States. Commodore had built up CD32 inventory in their Philippine
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
manufacturing facility for the United States launch, but, being unable to sell the consoles, they remained in the Philippines until the debts owed to the owners of the facility were settled. Commodore declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
shortly afterwards, and the CD32 was never officially sold in the United States. However, imported models did come over the border from Canada, and many stores in the United States (primarily mail-order stores) imported units for domestic sale. During the long bankruptcy proceedings, Commodore UK also provided some hardware components and software for the American market, including production of the MPEG Video Module that was not officially released by Commodore International.
On its release, the CD32 was marketed by Commodore as 'the world's first 32-bit CD games console'. Although it was indeed the first such machine released in Europe and North America, the FM Towns Marty
FM Towns Marty
The FM Towns Marty was a fifth-generation video game console released in 1993 by Fujitsu, exclusively for the Japanese market. It was the first 32-bit home video game system, and came complete with a built in CD-ROM drive and disk drive. It was based on the earlier FM Towns computer system Fujitsu...
, a console released exclusively in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, beat it to market by seven months. However, the CD32's 68EC020 processor had a 32-bit data bus both internally and externally, while the 386SX in the FM Towns Marty has a 16-bit data bus externally.
Ultimately, Commodore was not able to meet demand for new units because of component supply problems. Sales of the CD32 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
were not enough to save Commodore, and the bankruptcy of Commodore International in April 1994 caused the CD32 to be discontinued only months after its debut. During the brief Amiga CD32 presence in the market, approximately 100,000 units of it were sold in Europe alone.
Specifications
| Attribute | Specification | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor Central processing unit The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in... |
Motorola 68EC020 at 14.32 MHz (NTSC NTSC NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as... ) or 14.18 MHz (PAL PAL PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system... ) |
|
| RAM | 2 MB Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000... Amiga Chip RAM |
|
| ROM Read-only memory Read-only memory is a class of storage medium used in computers and other electronic devices. Data stored in ROM cannot be modified, or can be modified only slowly or with difficulty, so it is mainly used to distribute firmware .In its strictest sense, ROM refers only... |
1 MB Kickstart Kickstart (Amiga) Kickstart is a commonly used term for the bootstrap firmware of the Amiga computers developed by Commodore.Most Amiga models were shipped with the Kickstart firmware stored on ROM chips... ROM with CD32 firmware 1 kB Kilobyte The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information... non-volatile flash memory Flash memory Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data... for game saves |
|
| Chipset | Advanced Graphics Architecture Advanced Graphics Architecture Advanced Graphics Architecture is the third generation Amiga graphic chip set, first used in the Amiga 4000 in 1992. AGA was codenamed the Pandora chipset by Commodore International internally.... (AGA) Additional Akiko Akiko (Amiga) Akiko is a custom chip used in the Amiga CD32 games console and forms part of the AGA chipset used in that system. Akiko is responsible for implementing system glue logic, some of the control logic for the CD32's CD-ROM controller, and controlling the serial port .Additionally, the Akiko chip is... chip (CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... controller and performs chunky to planar graphics conversion) |
|
| Video | 24-bit color palette (16.8 Million colors) Up to 256 on-screen colors in indexed mode 262,144 on-screen colors in HAM-8 Hold-and-Modify Hold-And-Modify, usually abbreviated as HAM, is a display mode of the Commodore Amiga computer. It uses a highly unusual technique to express the color of pixels, allowing many more colors to appear on screen than would otherwise be possible.... mode Resolutions from:
|
|
| Audio | 4 × 8-bit PCM channels (2 stereo Stereophonic sound The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective... channels) 28 kHz maximum DMA Direct memory access Direct memory access is a feature of modern computers that allows certain hardware subsystems within the computer to access system memory independently of the central processing unit .... sampling rate Sampling rate The sampling rate, sample rate, or sampling frequency defines the number of samples per unit of time taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal. For time-domain signals, the unit for sampling rate is hertz , sometimes noted as Sa/s... |
|
| Removable storage | Double-speed (300 kB/s) CD-ROM CD-ROM A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.... drive (proprietary MKE Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. , formerly known as , is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics corporation headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Japan. Its main business is in electronics manufacturing.... controller) |
|
| Input/Output ports | S-Video S-Video Separate Video, more commonly known as S-Video and Y/C, is often referred to by JVC as both an S-VHS connector and as Super Video. It is an analog video transmission scheme, in which video information is encoded on two channels: luma and chroma... out (4-pin mini-DIN Mini-DIN connector The mini-DIN connectors are a family of multi-pin electrical connectors used in a variety of applications. Mini-DIN is similar to the larger, older DIN connector... ) Composite video out (RCA RCA connector An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals... ) RF RF connector A coaxial RF connector is an electrical connector designed to work at radio frequencies in the multi-megahertz range.RF connectors are typically used with coaxial cables and are designed to maintain the shielding that the coaxial design offers. Better models also minimize the change in transmission... audio/video out (RCA) Audio out (2 × RCA RCA connector An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals... and 3.5 mm stereo jack TRS connector A TRS connector is a common family of connector typically used for analog signals including audio. It is cylindrical in shape, typically with three contacts, although sometimes with two or four . It is also called an audio jack, phone jack, phone plug, and jack plug... ) Keyboard (6-pin mini-DIN Mini-DIN connector The mini-DIN connectors are a family of multi-pin electrical connectors used in a variety of applications. Mini-DIN is similar to the larger, older DIN connector... ) 2 × Mouse/Gamepad ports (DE9) RS-232 RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 is the traditional name for a series of standards for serial binary single-ended data and control signals connecting between a DTE and a DCE . It is commonly used in computer serial ports... serial Serial port In computing, a serial port is a serial communication physical interface through which information transfers in or out one bit at a time... AUX port (6-pin mini-DIN Mini-DIN connector The mini-DIN connectors are a family of multi-pin electrical connectors used in a variety of applications. Mini-DIN is similar to the larger, older DIN connector... ) |
|
| Expansion slots | 182-pin expansion socket for official MPEG Full motion video Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format... decoder cartridge or third party devices such as the SX-1 and SX32 expansion packs |
|
| Operating system Operating system An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system... |
AmigaOS 3.1 (Kickstart 3.1 and CD32 firmware) |
Accessories and third party devices
The CD32 can be enhanced using these devices:ProModule, Paravision SX-1 and DCE SX-32 (which optionally includes 68030
Motorola 68030
The Motorola 68030 is a 32-bit microprocessor in Motorola's 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with general Motorola naming, this CPU is often referred to as the 030 .The 68030 features on-chip...
CPU
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
).
Those devices extend the capability of Amiga CD32, allowing it to utilize hardware such as an external 3.5" floppy disk drive, hard disk
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
and IBM PC keyboard
IBM PC keyboard
The keyboards for IBM PC compatible computers are standardized. However, during the 3-plus decades of PC architecture being constantly updated, multiple types of keyboard layout variations have been developed....
. An Amiga CD32 can be turned into a de facto Amiga 1200 via the addition of third-party packages. The SX-1 appears to have been designed around Commodore's mechanical specs and not the actual production units – it did not fit very well and requires an internal 'modification' to fit properly. Consequently, the SX-1 can be jarred loose if the console is not handled gently. The upgraded SX-32 expansion pack (which included a 68030 25 MHz processor) solves these problems.
Not wishing to repeat its earlier mistake of offering a way to turn a CD32 into an enhanced A1200 as it did with the A500-based CDTV, Commodore itself made no hardware available for that purpose. One of its last hardware designs, however, was an external CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
drive for the A1200 that featured the CD32's Akiko chip, thus turning any A1200 into a CD32-compatible system.
In addition to its own special controllers, the Amiga CD32 is also compatible with most 9-pin D-Sub controllers from the 80s and 90s, including the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis controllers, SEGA Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
controllers, and all Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
/C64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
s as well as Amiga mice
Mouse (computing)
In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
and paddles.
CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s created for the CD32 conform to ISO 9660
ISO 9660
ISO 9660, also referred to as CDFS by some hardware and software providers, is a file system standard published by the International Organization for Standardization for optical disc media....
level2, mode1; although the Rock Ridge
Rock Ridge
The Rock Ridge Interchange Protocol is an extension to the ISO 9660 volume format, commonly used on CDROM and DVD media, which adds POSIX file system semantics...
and Joliet extensions are not compatible.
Software
If the system is turned on without a CD, a splash screen with scrolling colours will appear and a tune will play. After this tune ends, the user can press the blue button on the game pad to enter a language selection menu. The user can also press the red button to access a menu where they can view the contents of the internal Flash ROM. Unlike most game consoles, this menu does not allow the user to delete items. Instead, the system will automatically overwrite the oldest entries when memory runs out. The menu allows the user to "lock" files to prevent overwriting.At launch, the CD32 was bundled with two games, Diggers
Diggers (computer game)
Diggers is a puzzle video game for the Amiga CD32 in which the player takes control of a mining team excavating a planet for precious minerals. It was later released for the Amiga 1200 and DOS. Diggers was bundled with the CD32 at launch, along with a 2D platformer entitled Oscar on the same CD...
, a new game from Millennium Interactive
Millennium Interactive
Millennium Interactive was a Cambridge-based computer games developer responsible for titles such as Rome: Pathway to Power, The Adventures of Robin Hood, James Pond, Defcon 5, Deadline and most notably, Creatures. Another notable title is Strike II, a 3-D air combat science fiction game.In July...
, and Oscar
Oscar (game)
Oscar is a platform game that was released on Amiga 1200, CD32, DOS and SNES in 1993, and was developed and published by Flair Software. The CD32 version was bundled with the CD32 console on the same disc as the puzzle game Diggers....
from Flair Software. A later pack included the one-on-one fighting game Dangerous Streets
Dangerous Streets
Dangerous Streets is a video game for Commodore's Amiga CD32 game console in 1994. It was developed by Micromania and licenced by Flair. The game was universally derided with Amiga Power giving it a rating of 3%, describing it as the worst game for the CD32 and one of the worst games ever.-External...
, a move by Commodore that was met with derision by the press. Many reviewers had given Dangerous Streets terrible scores (Amiga Power
Amiga Power
Amiga Power was a monthly magazine about Amiga computer games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996....
rating it just 3%) and were surprised that with a slew of powerful rival consoles about to hit the market, Commodore would choose to show off the abilities of its machine with a poor game.
The CD32 was capable of running most of the titles developed for the Amiga CDTV
CDTV
The CDTV was a multimedia platform developed by Commodore International and launched in 1991. On a technological level it was essentially a Commodore Amiga 500 home computer in a Hi-Fi style case with a single-speed CD-ROM drive. Commodore marketed the machine as an all-in-one home multimedia...
multimedia device (differences in CPU speed and Kickstart version prevented some of the earlier CDTV titles from running). Many of the games released for the CD32 were simply ports
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
of games that were already available for Amiga computers. One benefit of this is that, when appropriate, many games retain the ability to use an Amiga mouse (in port 2) or Amiga keyboard (plugged into the AUX port).
Like all later Amiga computers, the CD32 has a hidden boot menu that can be accessed by plugging an Amiga mouse into port 2 and holding both buttons down while turning the system on. Most of the options in this menu are not useful on a CD32, but from this menu you can choose to boot in either NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
or PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
mode. This is important, as there are some games that will refuse to work if the system is in the wrong mode, since most games don't advertise what video mode they were developed for. It should also be pointed out that despite the naming, the menu really only allows a choice of 60 Hz or 50 Hz video output; a PAL system booted in NTSC mode will still output a video signal using PAL color encoding, which will usually result in a black-and-white picture when connected to an NTSC television.
While the console was fairly successful during its lifespan and managed to be the best-selling CD format console in 1993, it was not able to sustain its growth, with Commodore filing for Chapter 11 just a year after its release after not being able to secure additional CD32 shipments for the holiday season. It was speculated that the holiday season could have kept Commodore afloat for another six months. Another problem was the lack of original games, which had also plagued the CDTV
CDTV
The CDTV was a multimedia platform developed by Commodore International and launched in 1991. On a technological level it was essentially a Commodore Amiga 500 home computer in a Hi-Fi style case with a single-speed CD-ROM drive. Commodore marketed the machine as an all-in-one home multimedia...
before it.
The CD32 arrived at a time when new, technically demanding genres such as the first person shooter were becoming popular. The console was not capable of handling some or all of these new types of genres (the hardware is far less powerful than Atari Jaguar or 3DO), games developers saw more profit in shovelware
Shovelware
Shovelware is a derogatory computer jargon term that refers to software noted more for the quantity of what is included than for the quality or usefulness...
— taking an older game and either adding an FMV
Full motion video
Full motion video based games are video games that rely upon pre-recorded TV-quality movie or animation rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models to display action in the game. In the early 1990s a diverse set of games utilized this format...
intro or even (in some cases) just directly transferring the floppy game onto CD. A few pieces of original software did appear and some were well received but by and large the CD32 found itself with a software library mainly containing titles that were up to five years old and which much of the machine's target audience already owned. Given that, along with the fact that 'hot' games like Doom and Virtua Fighter were planned for release on the CD32's competitors, many observers blamed shovelware for the machine's relative failure.
However, a large fan base carried over from the success of other Amiga computers, and several notable titles, such as Microcosm
Microcosm (video game)
Microcosm is a shoot 'em up computer game developed and published by Psygnosis in . It was released for the Sega Mega-CD and Amiga CD32 game consoles, as well as MS-DOS. Microcosm featured realistic FMV animation, with the graphics being rendered on Silicon Graphics workstations...
, Liberation: Captive 2
Liberation: Captive 2
Liberation: Captive 2 is an Amiga game that was written by Byte Engineers and published by Mindscape in 1994. It is the sequel to Captive....
, Simon the Sorcerer
Simon the Sorcerer series
Simon the Sorcerer is a series of point-and-click adventure games created by Adventure Soft. The series follows the adventures of an unwilling hero of the same name and has a strong fantasy setting similar to Sierra's King's Quest and Westwood's Kyrandia series...
, Super Stardust
Super Stardust
Super Stardust is a game developed by Bloodhouse and published for the Amiga and Amiga CD32 platforms by Team 17 in 1995. The CD32 version featured CDDA soundtracks composed by Nicklas Renqvist and Niko Nyman . The game was ported to PC under the name Super Stardust '96. Super Stardust is a sequel...
and Zool 2
Zool 2
Zool 2 is a sequel to the video game Zool: Ninja of the Nth Dimension, developed and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1993. In 2000 the game was re-released as part of The Best of Gremlin compilation.- Story :...
prevented the console from sliding into total obscurity.
Uses of the CD32
In 1993, 109 CD32s were installed to run the interactive exhibits at the London Transport Museum, Covent GardenCovent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
. They provided information, animations, pictures, sound and text available in several languages, as well as a London Underground simulator. The systems were produced by the Odiham
Odiham
Odiham is a historic village and large civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England. It is twinned with Sourdeval in the Manche Department of France. The current population is 4,406. The parish contains an acreage of 7,354 acres with 50 acres of land covered with water. The nearest...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
-based company Index Information, utilising their CD32x interface units.
In 1995, an Italian company named CD Express used the CD32 as a basis for an arcade machine called "CUBO CD32". Inside these machines, stock CD32s were hooked up to an external circuit board which essentially acted as a converter to route all the input and output into a standard JAMMA connector for use in an arcade cabinet. The software was provided on CD-ROM. Nine games are known to exist, all of which are original games created by CD Express.
In the mid to late 1990s, some vehicle registries in Canada utilized CD32 systems for interactive multimedia testing for drivers license applications.
In the late 1990s to early 2000s, slot machine manufacturer StarGames utilized a stripped down CD32 motherboard in many of their slot machines. Machines confirmed to be operating on CD32 hardware are Hawaiian Delight, Leprechaun Luck, and Mister Magic.