Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Commodore Amiga

Cliff Notes – Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Commodore Amiga

• The 40th anniversary of the Commodore Amiga was marked by a successful event at the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge, featuring talks from industry veterans and a vibrant community turnout.
• David Pleasance, former Commodore UK managing director, highlighted the thriving Amiga community, which he claims is larger than ever, showcasing the enduring legacy of the platform.
• The event celebrated the contributions of key figures in the gaming industry, including creators from Sensible Software and Revolution Software, reaffirming the Amiga’s impact on gaming culture.

Games Inbox: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Commodore Amiga

Has it really been 40 years? Floppy disks, loading time and boxed graphics, the Commodore Amiga turns 40.

The Thursday letters page asks whether the PS6 will see Sony making more exclusive games, as one reader hopes for a new Uncharted game.

Many happy returns
Just wanted to shout out the 40th anniversary of the Commodore Amiga. The Centre for Computing History in Cambridge put on an event at the weekend which was brilliant. There was a talk from David Pleasance, former Commodore UK managing director, who shed light on some of the (mis-)management goings on between Europe and the US in the 90s, and a panel featuring composer Andrew Barnabas.

Sensible Software legends Jon Hare and Stoo Cambridge, Worms creator Andy Davidson, and Revolution Software co-founder Tony Warriner were also there.

I have only kept one eye on the Amiga scene since having my A1200 in the 90s, but it really is incredible just what a thriving community it is. David Pleasance said it’s bigger than it’s ever been. This was borne out by attendance at the event, which was very busy.

Overall, it’s great to see these communities alive and kicking and that the era of the bedroom coders and demo parties isn’t quite dead yet. Thank you Centre for Computing History.
Owen Pile

Uncharted future
I’ve recently been playing the Uncharted collection of the first three games. Even though they are now regarded as old games, they really have been a pleasure to revisit.

Expert, exclusive gaming analysis

I’m maybe forlornly hoping that Naughty Dog will allow Nathan Drake to don his underarm holster for another action-packed adventure. Here’s hoping.
Gaz69

GC: Naughty Dog are very unlikely to have anything to do with the series again but it’s inevitable that Sony will have someone else take over. In fact, it’s surprising it hasn’t happened already, with recent rumours only pointing at a remake. If they’re doing a second movie though that must surely increase the chances of an entirely new game.

Double Kong
RE: Onibee. Donkey Kong Bananza couldn’t be done on previous generation Switch at all. Physics involved would be causing CPU meltdown in the original console. And, similarly, Cyberpunk 2077 just wouldn’t be even a slight possibility either. It brought PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to their knees, not least because of their lack of SSD.

I’m sure we can expect more out the Switch 2 as people get more familiar with its hardware, but this isn’t a case of cross generation gaming with Double Kong.
Kiran

GC: Nintendo has said the game was originally designed for the Switch 1. Although what it became probably couldn’t run on Switch 1 it would’ve retained some of those original limitations, like the horrible dithering effect we hate so much.

Etrian legacy
As big fans of Etrian Odyssey I wonder if you guys have seen/heard about Shujinkou? Very similar vibes yet it also attempts to teach players Japanese as well.

At first, I assumed, as it had this language gimmick, it wouldn’t be a good game but reviews seem to be quite favourable, any thoughts?
Liam

GC: We have not heard of it before, but it looks very interesting. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. We see there’s a Switch version due this autumn, so we’ll try and review it then. Do remind us nearer the time, in case we forget.

Too little, too late
I dug out my old PlayStation 3 to play a few older games and have been playing Resistance 3. I remember the first two being average but 3 feels like a HD version of Half-Life, with inventive guns and great set-pieces. I’m not that far in but I’m really enjoying going through this again.

I’d love to see a Resistance 4 but Sony don’t seem to make games anymore.
Simon

GC: Resistance 3 was by far the best of the three. Insomniac did apparently have some interest in making a fourth, but unfortunately their Marvel games are too successful now.

No problem
Would it be possible for companies to offer a pressed disc instead of just stopping the servers hosting said game? Obviously, it wouldn’t work for online games but any single-player games about to end its digital life cycle. Ask for a fee and send out a disc but only a pressing fee or something as the consumer already paid for the game.

This would save games from becoming extinct if they’re of a certain age and satisfy the people that like to keep their games.
Bobwallett

GC: Single-player games don’t tend to have any servers to turn off, unless there’s a specific title you’re thinking of?

A hot summer
I’m enjoying My Friendly Neighborhood, as it’s just been added to Game Pass but has also released on PlayStation 4 and 5, having released on PC two years ago now.

It’s a Resident Evil style game with a novel setting. A once popular but now forgotten children’s Saturday morning puppet show has suddenly started transmitting again and you’re sent to shut it down.

Being a Resident Evil style game, the main pitfall is not knowing where to go or find items and using up all your ammo and health finding out.

So, I’ve adopted my usual tactic for these games of saving before a section, using up all my stuff to find a good route then reloading the save for a much smoother second run. Although the normal mode seems pretty generous with those things so far, so maybe no need to go into Resi mode.

But with this, Wheel World, Grounded 2 early access, and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers also on Game Pass this week, along with Donkey Kong Bananza on Switch and the System Shock 2 Remaster, it’s a good month for games in my book.
Simundo

Sensible decision
I think Donkey Kong Bananza would have been the better launch title on the Switch 2. It can be played as a single-player game. Mario Kart World is a racing game which is best enjoyed when racing with others. What do you think? Which would you have preferred as the launch title?
Henry

GC: There was only a month between them, so it hardly seems to matter. But Mario Kart is by far the biggest franchise and will inevitably sell more copies – and consoles – than any other game that’s likely to appear on the Switch 2.

PlayStation questions
I completely agree with the Reader’s Feature arguing that the PlayStation 6 should be less powerful than the current generation but, let’s face it, that’s never going to happen. No one’s doing anything about the higher cost of making games and nobody has ever gone backwards in a generation, not even Nintendo (the Wii was still a little more powerful than the GameCube).

Sony is going to make the PlayStation 6 more powerful than the current gen and they’re going to market it and push it exactly the same way they always have, with absolutely no acknowledgement of how much has changed. That’s my prediction anyway. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but I don’t think so when it comes to the power question.

No one wants it to be less powerful. It’d be great if it was a huge step forward in graphics but how is anybody going to have the time and money to make games for that kind of console? Unless you want everything to take 10 years or to be AI slop there just isn’t another option.

The only thing we can hope for at this point is that Sony reverses its approach this gen and starts putting out multiple games again. I’d want to see a whole bunch of interesting, high quality single-player games at launch or otherwise I just don’t think I’ll bite.

If the PlayStation 6 ends up being super powerful, very expensive, and with very few exclusives – most of which are live service games – I think PlayStation may be over for me.
Taylor Moon

Inbox also-rans
I wish video games would make it more obvious when they’re saving. I get that it’s supposed to be more immersive but I really miss the reassurance of a manual save in a lot of games.
Blink

I see Ubisoft are trying to blame the failure of Star Wars Outlaws on Star Wars not being popular anymore. I guess that explains why Battlefront 2 has suddenly become so big on Steam, after everyone came off the Andor buzz from Disney+.
Draven