Introduction
Rather than building custom silicon or using expensive hardware Emulation has been a growing popular way of easily achieving computer/console software/games running on hardware it was not originally intended for. Most of the popular mini system of famous past console (like the min Nes, Min Mega Drive) have been achieved on small ARM based computers, now that the power and cost of these chips have fallen dramatically largely due to mobile phone sector.
Using mobile hardware has allowed boards such as the Raspberry Pi to be developed for sub £30 and is more than capable of running computer software from the 80s, this includes the Amiga. Amiga has not been a stranger to the emulation scene, the befits of an Amiga emulated however is that it can be both act like a home console and home computer and I do feel this is being a currently missed opportunity for Amiga in the retro market.
The A500 Mini is a project just like this and I cover this on its own hardware page https://amigang.com/amigamini-thea500/
This page will look at the other efforts that have been made with both software and hardware pre-setup so that end user can get there Amiga fix pretty much out of the box.
A600GS
Amigakit a UK long established Amiga store and partner in A-EON, are developing their own custom emulation system.
- ARM processor (unknown at the moment)
- HDMI Port
- Ethernet
- USB Ports
- Powered by USB-C
- Custom Aros Rom
Two different system will be available
A600GS
- 2Gb System Memory
- 64Gb Storage
A600GS +
- 4Gb System Memory
- 128Gb Storage
- 2x 9 Pin D-Sub connection for Classic 9 Pin Amiga Joysticks/mouse
The system will allow internet access and have updates provided from AmiSphere an online service ran by Amigakit. The system dosent seem to have an official deal with Clonato/Amiga inc and so will be powered by a modified Aros Rom and a OS named Amibench v46. It will come with some well known Amiga software by A-EON, PPaint, OctaMED, and Directory Opus4 by GP Software.
https://www.a600gs.com/ - Official Site
http://wiki.amiga.org/index.php/A600GS - A600GS Wiki
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgqALCrVuiY& - A600GS video at Amiwest
https://amigaworld.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=44957&forum=8 - Discuss on AmigaWorld.net
Armiga
Production model: CubieBoard 2 + Floppy controller + Amiga Emulation
- ARM® Cortex™-A7 Dual-Core
- ARM® Mali400MP2, Complies with OpenGL ES 2.0/1.1
- 1GB DDR3 @960M
- 4GB internal NAND flash, up to 64GB on uSD slot, up to 2T on 2.5 SATA disk
- 5VDC input 2A or USB otg input
- 10/100 ethernet
- Two USB 2.0 HOST, one USB 2.0 OTG
- Floppy Controller
- Amiga A500 OCS 1mb Emulation (full speed)
- Amiga A1200 AGA 2mb Emulation (99% speed)
- £150
A nice small system which actually does feature some custom hardware to get a floppy disk drive compatible with the board and allows you the user to directly put your old Amiga floppy disks in to load them up just like an Amiga would.
IndieGoGo console
- Raspberry Pi3 (some system shipped with Odroid C1 or Odroid XU4)
- DVD-RW drive allows CD-Based content, AmigaCD32, Playstation and PC games
- front SD-Card reader
- attractive mini-itx case
- 3D-Printed I/O-shield and ARM-Cpu board holder
- USB-Joypad
- 2x Front- USB
- Aeros ( Aros / Linux based OS )
- 299 euros
A DVD/CD physical media focus system that emulates a lot of systems, the person behind the project is also the developer behind Aros Aeros and so that OS is a key component of the system, and of course Amiga emulation is another key feature of the system.
Amiga X (AmuX)
- likly Arm based
- Joystick Ports
- USB
- HDMI
- MicroSD
- AmuX OS
A inspired A1200 case system that was design again to emulate all the major Amiga systems, with a custom OS called AmuX OS (to me looks like a custom EmulationStation / Retro Pi setup) the project has been put on hold due to legal issues.
https://www.newamiga.com
https://www.iamretro.gr/forum/threads/amiga-x-emubee.9223/