Koch Distribution The A500 Mini (Electronic Games) USB

I have always been a massive fan of the Amiga although I never actually owned one as I was more into consoles. My cousin did own an A1200 though, and I used to spend many hours on it and had a lot of fun. Many games - specifically the Bitmap Brothers games such as Speedball 2, Magic Pockets and, of course, The Chaos Engine, hold a special place in my heart. Sure, I did have the SNES version of Chaos Engine, and as close as it was to the Amiga version, it did lack a certain groove. I have an Evercade handheld and VS, and of course couldn't wait to get my hands on the Bitmap Brothers collection, hoping that we would see Amiga ports of Speedball 2 and Chaos Engine, but alas that wasn't to be. As someone who has a lot of fondness for the Amiga but never owned one I was delighted when Retro Games announced the A500 mini - finally we would be able to play proper Amiga versions of classic games on our TV's in a mini form factor! I know, I know, we have had Amiga emulators for years on PC and Raspberry Pi, and technically the A500 mini is just another emulation box, but the difference being that the A500 mini offers officially licenced Amiga games, rather than ROMs of dubious legality. Unfortunately, as with the C64 mini and maxi, it doesn't carry the Commodore or Amiga branding, but the software is licenced from CLoanTo, which means that the A500 mini is as close to an official Amiga product as were likely to get - and the bundled 25 games are all fully licenced. Out of the box the A500 mini itself is stunning - there's so much detail. It's clear that the makers of this product have a lot of love for the Amiga. The mini is solid, with a little bit of weight behind it, and although the keyboard is non-functioning it looks like it could actually work (incidentally, the device does support USB keyboards), but of course it doesn't. The LED lights for power and disk drive are fully functioning and can even be set to mimic a real Amiga behaviour which is a nice touch (the red LED will turn itself off when playing a game, and come back on when going back to the home screen, and the green disk drive LED flashes to mimic loading a game when loading games from a USB stick). The cables (USB and HDMI) are the same beige colour as the A500 itself, which is also nice. Also accompanying the mini is a replica of the original Amiga tank mouse. It's slightly smaller than the original and of course uses a laser rather than a ball, but it feels nice in the hand and is very responsive in the games I've use it on. If this isn't your preference it can also be swapped out for any USB mouse. Additionally there is the A500 gamepad - this is a slightly tweaked version of the CD32 gamepad. At first glance I was very sceptical of the gamepad. I know some people have stated that Amiga games are best controlled with a joystick and not a controller, but as a console person first and foremost, I had no problem with a gamepad being included. My only problem was the decision to imitate the CD32 pad, which was not the most comfortable controller to begin with. The controller itself feels really well built, the buttons have a good amount of travel and the shoulder buttons have a nice click when pressed. The only issue I had is with the D-pad, which, although responsive, made finding diagonals is games like Chaos Engine a bit of a challenge. However, the more I used it, the more I have come to like it. Sure, I would prefer the D-pad to be round, like the CD32 controller, but I can't fault its function overall, and it is also possible to plug in other controllers - some people have even got PS3 and PS4 controllers working, and I also believe controllers from 8Bitdo also work, although I haven't tried this myself. I did attempt to try my Evercade VS controller on the A500 mini but this wouldn't work at all unfortunately. I'm not going to spend too much time focusing on the games, as these are very subjective and everyone has their own favourites - I will, however, say that although Amiga games were designed with a joystick in mind Retro Games have done a sterling job in translating these over to the gamepad, and most are as responsive as they have ever been! One final thing to note before I wrap up, and probably one of the biggest draws for a lot of people, is the ability to add your own games on USB stick via WHDLoad and indeed to get you started, Retro Games even offer a free bonus game available to download from their website (an enhanced version of Citadel), along with the WHDLoad package, which will be required when adding your own games. This, I think, is fantastic, and sets the A500 mini apart from other mini consoles such as the SNES and Mega Drive. In practice I've found that it is simple to add games via WHDLoad and, provided you have downloaded the WHDLoad package from Retro Games, they are recognised and most play perfectly well. There may be some issues with games playing too fast, or sound problems, but when a USB stick is inserted it is possible to enable an extra set of "expert" settings so you an adjust the amount of RAM used, enable copper and blitter timings and enable CPU JIT (Just in Time), which can fix the majority of issues. It's not perfect, and not every game will run right away, but for the most part I have found that with a bit of tinkering it is possible to run the vast majority of games just fine, and it's even possible to map the gamepad buttons or use a joystick for each individual game. If you fancy a bit more tinkering, it's also possible to get Workbench and ADF games working via AmiBerry - check out Crazy Burger on YouTube if this is your thing. I know this was a long winded review and now we're finally at the end. To summarise then; I am a fan of mini consoles, I own the NES, SNES, Mega Drive, PlayStation, C64 and Neo-Geo - I love them for their convenience, and the A500 mini is right up there. Its emulation is top class, and the versatility to add additional games, and peripherals such as USB hubs and keyboards makes it feel more like a fully fledged Amiga. Of course if, like me, you're just more interested in just playing Amiga games on your TV without the faff then this can also accommodate. The machine isn't perfect by any means. The gamepad takes some getting used to, there's no way to remap the controls of the built-in games, and the way WHDLoad is handled is a bit clunky and I know some people are disappointed with ADF not being supported out of the box. However, most of these can be fixed with a firmware update, and indeed Retro Games have already stated that they will be looking to add ADF support via a firmware update at some point, and maybe other features will be added. Given the support that Retro Games provided for the C64 mini and maxi machines I think that we will see the A500 mini's feature set grow as time goes on. Is the A500 mini perfect? Not at all, but is it a lot of fun? Absolutely. For me it's the ideal way to enjoy all those Amiga classics I played back in the day and scratches that nostalgia itch. I highly recommend it for any fan of the Amiga, and retro gaming in general.

I already have original Amigas and in the modern age, there are a lot of extra solutions to getting them working and loading software. Sometimes this involves nice simple solutions inside the case and sometimes a lot more faff. The A500 mini is brilliant. Connects via HDMI, not SCART or Amiga RGB and works lovely with a modern telly. Some of the games on it wouldn't be ones I'd play, but there are enough classics like the incredible Chaos Engine and Worms: The Directors Cut to keep me busy for ages and show off the best of the 80s 16bit scene to today's youngsters. Some people seem to have questioned the shape of the controller, being based on the CD32. I think the controllers are just fine and whilst they might not be as ergonomic as modern console controllers, they were clearly a compromise to keep the style retro looking. Older players might prefer a joystick but I can't stand using those so I bought a second one at the same time and also use these pads on The C64 instead of the sticks. Not tried them on the PC yet. I've added all the WHDLoad games too (google how to do that if you don't know) so this is my main Amiga for games now. The keyboard is non-working but the buttons would have been ridiculously small if they had made them functional and it would have pushed the price up. A USB keyboard can be used when needed and there are plenty of USB ports. Original looking tank mouse was a nice touch. I wanted one of these as soon as I heard about them and eventually gave in when they were on offer for under £100. I can see at the time of writing - April 2024 - that they are currently discounted to £85. You'll read some nitpicking over the games included and the pad design but for me it's a cracking bundle for a decent price. Writing this has made me want to go and play it now!

I can't fault the system for its plug and play ease, its great. The caveat to this is that to get the most out of it, you need a few extras that aren't made clear in here, on the website or in the manual. The keyboard on the system is a decorative sculpt, its non-functional, but you can plug in your own USB keyboard. I used an old HP one I had lying around. Extras that you might want to consider. 1. The system doesn't come with a power supply. You need a 5 volt power supply (a tablet or phone charger suffices) the manual calls for 1Amp, but you really need about 2 Amps plus. I am using a 5Volt 2.4Amp, otherwise the system struggles to power a usb stick, game pad, and mouse/keyboard 2. You can play your own games, but to do this, you need a USB memory stick, (32Gb or less seems to work best, bigger ones seem to have a hard time being recognised by the system) formatted in FAT32, then you need WHDLoad package from the Amigamini website (but its easy to do; "you've been gamed" on youtube has some easy to follow tutorials if you get stuck) 3. There are only 3 USB ports on the system. You must have the gamepad plugged in, because it is used to navigate the menu system. If you want to play your own games then you need a memory stick plugged in. That leaves you with one port for the mouse or keyboard. If you want both it means getting a USB externally powered hub. You can hotswap the keyboard with the game pad, but that's a lot of messing around. 4 and 5. A USB keyboard and a USB 2 button joystick if you want to play your own games instead of just the 25 included. In summary, great system, but you might want to buy 1. a 5 volt 2.4 amp power supply (Necessity) 2. a 16-32 GB USB memory stick (for your own games) 3. USB externally powered hub (i.e. UGreen) 4. USB Keyboard 5. USB 2 button joystick EDIT** looks like only the official joystick works properly , BUT we've discovered that if you plug in an xbox controller or a dualshock, the analogue stock will work as a joystick in game (analogue stick doesn't work in menu, use the Dpad)

On retrouve vraiment les sensations d'époque. La manette et la souris sont de qualité, dommage que le clavier soit factice.

Super ładnie piękne i działa

Der A500 mini ist sicherlich nicht für jeden etwas. Für mich persönlich, der einfach ein nostalgisches Spielchen nach Feierabend machen möchte, und keine Lust hat sich durch die Menüwirren eines WinUAE`s oder sonstigen Emulators zu kämpfen (alles gehabt), virtuelle Laufwerke zu bestücken usw. usw. ist der A500 mini perfekt. Ich habe auch genug Lebenszeit vor dem schnurrenden Laufwerk meines Amiga 500 verbracht-brauch ich nicht mehr. Die kurzen ladezeiten laden viel eher zu einem wirklich schnellen Spielchen ein. In dem Zuge finde ich auch die .lha Unterstützung super ! Ehrlich gesagt wüsste ich bei meiner Schreibtischsituation auch nicht wohin mit einem Amiga in Originalgröße (so sehr ich den Kasten auch liebe!), denn anders als in meiner Jugend, wo lediglich im Zweifel die Schulbücher meiner "Freundin" Platz machen mussten, wäre jetzt mit einem Laptop nebst Dockingstation, Unterlagen, Soundsystem etc. kein Platz mehr dafür. Der A500 mini passt noch gut hin macht optisch richtig was her. Die TankMouse finde ich gut umgesetzt-einen halben Stern würde ich abziehen, da die linke taste etwas komisch quitscht... Die 25 Spiele ? Für mich persönlich nur der "Serviervorschlag auf der Nudelpackung" - mal ehrlich ! Einen alten USB Stick (und 16GB reichen für alle 10.000 erschienenen Amiga-Spiele) in FAT32 formatiert, den Loader von RetroGames aufgespielt und los gehts`s - im Zweifel hilft eine große Videoplattform weiter. Also sollte man sich nicht soooooo auf die vorinstalllierten Games fokussieren. Eine optische Anbindung mit entsprechenden Covern zum einbinden ins Karussell würde ich mir allerdings noch in einem Update wünschen... Es gibt ganz klar inkompatibilitäten (!) aber einige meiner Favoriten wie Cannon Fodder, MegaloMania, Silkworm, Indiana Jones, Shadow of the Beast laufen jedenfalls problemlos und haben nichts an Witz und Charme eingebüßt. Auch grafisch sieht das ganze mit den Filteroptionen sehr gut aus. Puristen und richtige old-schooler, die sich gerne noch im AmigaDOS verlieren und mit Deluxe Paint arbeiten wollen ist der A500 mini -zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt- definitiv nichts, wobei es sicherlich in Zukunft auch hier einige findige Workarounds geben wird. Für mich eine großartige Feierabend Retro-Spielmaschine, die man gern auf dem Schreibtisch stehen hat und mit der ich in Zukunft viele nostalgische Stunden haben werde-sicherlich kein Schnäppchen, aber mir war er es Wert. Compliment to RetroGames. Wenn Ihr euch einen holt - viel Spaß damit keep Retro.

AVISO: este tema me entusiasma, así que esta reseña será un tochazo. El TL;DR es que se trata de una buena compra y todas las características anunciadas funcionan bien, además de que puedes cargar tus propios programas y utilizar mandos, teclados y ratones de terceros. Llamada THEA500 Mini para sortear el espinoso tema de los derechos de Commodore y de AmigaOS, esta mini consola es una recreación del legendario ordenador de 16 bits Commodore Amiga A500, el modelo más vendido de toda la serie de ordenadores Amiga. Tras este producto se encuentran Retro Games, responsables también de THEC64 , THEC64 Mini y THEVIC20 ; y Cloanto, actuales propietarios de la propiedad intelectual de Commodore Amiga hasta 1993 y autores de la suite de emulación Amiga Forever, por lo que el producto está respaldado por gente que sabe lo que hace. El hardware interno de la consola es el esperado en estas mini: un modesto procesador AllWinner H6 con 512 MB de RAM, para un rendimiento similar al de una Raspberry Pi 3B+, suficiente para emular todos los títulos del catálogo original de Amiga y sus variantes. La carcasa reproduce con mucha calidad la original, aunque por supuesto el teclado y la disquetera. Dispone de 3 puertos USB para conectar dispositivos, incluyendo memorias USB y hubs (recomendable), HDMI y un puerto USB-C de alimentación. Soporta teclados, ratones y mandos de terceros – se pueden reasignar los controles sin dificultad dentro de la interfaz. Requiere un adaptador de corriente USB de 5 V y 1 A, que no está incluido. Tiene pequeños toques que denotan verdadero afecto por la máquina original, como que en la placa base haya grabado un nombre clave tomado de una canción de los The B-52’s, como los Amiga originales (esta es «Cosmic Thing») o que los LED imiten el funcionamiento original. Complementan los accesorios un ratón USB tipo tanque con sensor óptico y un pad al estilo de los de CD32, muy logrados ambos, más el cable USB-C a USB de alimentación y un HDMI; todo ello en el adecuado color beige noventero. Solo incluye guía rápida, pero el manual completo (de muy recomendada lectura) está en la web, eso sí, en inglés. También tienes disponibles los manuales de cada juego. La traducción al español de la interfaz es nefasta, seguramente hecha automática sin revisar. La selección de juegos incluida me parece posiblemente la mejor incluida en cualquiera de las consolas mini que han salido al mercado y creo que bastante representativa de lo que era jugar en un Amiga. Al estar enfocada únicamente a videojuegos, se ha omitido el resto del espectacular –pero muy obsoleto– catálogo de software de Amiga. Las versiones incluidas son, en su mayoría, las mejoradas para el chipset AGA, aunque no es el original del A500, que es un ordenador OCS. Hay mucha presencia de juegos de Team17, de The Bitmap Brothers y de Electronic Arts, echándose de menos a MicroProse, Psygnosis y a Sensible Software, que escribieron algunos de los mejores juegos de la plataforma. Se nota que donde hay problema de licencias se ha escogido un título alternativo, como «ATR» por «Micro Machines», «Arcade Pool» en lugar de «Jimmy White’s Snooker» o «Qwak» en vez de «Bubble Bobble». Prácticamente todos los títulos son entretenidos, destacando «Another World», «Battle Chess», «Speedball 2» y «Worms». La presentación de la interfaz del emulador (Amiberry) es lo más sencilla posible, con un carrusel que muestra los juegos preinstalados y no hay un retraso de entrada apreciable, ni afortunadamente juegos mal emulados, que ya ha pasado en otras minis. Se pueden ajustar las opciones de pantalla y reescalado como en todas las demás consolas Mini y los puertos en los que está conectado el ratón y el mando para configurar los juegos. Con el botón Menu del mando se lanza un teclado virtual, útil para introducir nombres o trucos y el botón Home regresa a la interfaz principal: lo pulsarás accidentalmente unas cuantas veces hasta que asumas que no es un botón «Start» Lo bueno de esta máquina es que tienes la ventaja de que, si no te gusta el catálogo, lo puedes ampliar. El software del THEA500 permite cargar prácticamente cualquier título, de cualquier generación de Amiga, a través de una memoria USB siempre que esté en formato compatible con WHDLoad en forma de ficheros LHA. Hay que darle formato a la memoria USB en FAT32 y descargar un fichero de la web oficial, que también proporciona un juego extra, la versión mejorada del FPS «Citadel» de Virtual Design. Aquí es donde puedes necesitar trastear con las opciones del emulador, lo que requiere activar el modo experto en la configuración. En muchos programas es necesario ajustar el modo del Blitter (coprocesador gráfico del Amiga), activar o desactivar el JIT de la CPU (la CPU parece emular la del Amiga 1200) y activar o desactivar Copper. Si te dedicas a cargar tus propios programas, es muy recomendable un teclado: la mayoría de juegos de Amiga necesitan uno aunque luego soporten joysticks o gamepads. Puedes conectar un hub y tener ahí teclados y ratones. Para opciones avanzadas de emulación, cada programa que cargues genera un fichero .UAE de texto con opciones de configuración que puedes editar desde un ordenador. Si necesitas versiones adicionales de Kickstart, puedes añadirlas en el fichero boot-data.zip del USB, aunque lo más inmediato es cargar juegos de CD32, que no requieren configuración para el gamepad. Y en cuanto a mandos, los de Xbox 360 y PS4 funcionan correctamente por cable, con la asignación de botones en el mismo lugar que el incluido. Retro Games ha tenido buen inicio con el soporte de este aparatito: días después del lanzamiento, actualizaron la base de datos WHDLoad incluida inicialmente a una versión más moderna, junto con el binario del programa, y prometen soporte para imágenes de disco ADF en un futuro. Por sí mismo, este Amiga semioficial merece la pena lo suficiente como para recomendar su compra a los entusiastas, pero Retro Games ha ido un paso más allá y, al permitir cargar programas propios, es toda una recomendación para descubrir o rememorar la plataforma Amiga, con mando y ratón, o el clon del Competition que también venden. Por supuesto, hay más formas (legales) de emular un Amiga, pero esta ofrece una experiencia muy sencilla.

TheA500 mini , ma dove vai se l'Amiga non ce l'hai? (Veramente era la pubblicità dell'Atari... :-) ), ma bando alle ciance, come va questo Mini Amiga ? Benissimo.. l'emulazione è molto fedele all'originale ...(potrei aprire un museo di retrocomputer), Nella confezione c'è tutto, tranne (l'accessorio più importante) l'alimentatore da 5v 1A (per farlo funzionare dovrete usarne 1 che già possedete oppure comprarne 1 nuovo, potevano anche mettercelo dato che costava 2 euro, in più.. ) ... A parte questa, "svista" , la tastiera del mini amiga non funziona, anche perché sarebbe stata molto scomoda, troppo piccolina per essere anche funzionale, vi basterà usare una tastiera qualsiasi USB esterna (ricordatevi che THEA500 mini è un "case" stampato in 3d), la plastica è abbastanza rigida ed i colori del case sono fedeli (potevano aggiungere un lettore interno di Microsd nella porta del floppy disk, finta di plastica, ma tuttosommato va bene lo stesso, avrebbe simulato l'ingresso del floppy, ed una microsd (max) da 32gb sarebbe stata più ergonomica di una pendrive usb (max) da 32Gb, ma queste sono solo mie considerazioni da "vero nerd nostalgico" ). Torniamo a noi: Appena lo accendete collegandolo alla tv di casa (ma anche ad un monitor) tramite porta HDMI vi domanderà a che frequenza lavorare 50hz o 60hz (meglio 60hz), vi da la possibilità di testare entrambe le frequenze (giusto per evitare il "black screen" di frequenza fuori portata del TV) e vi chiede conferma prima di salvare l'impostazione (bene che sia così, alcune (vecchie, ma non troppo) TV non supportano i 60hz, userete i 50hz in questo caso, ed in quale lingua preferite il menu..(compreso l'italiano). Una volta acceso THEA500 mini, dicevo , avrete davanti un menu già pronto per giocare, coi 25 giochi inclusi, selezionabili, a scorrimento orizzontale... Dopo il primo avvio vi consiglio di spegnerlo (subito) dal menu trovate l'opzione per lo spegnimento... Suggerimento e spiegazione: Andate sul sito del produttore col vostro pc (leggete le istruzioni in italiano nel mini manualino e digitate il link riportato) e andate subito sulla voce "support" (o) a scaricare il nuovo firmware, che ne migliora il funzionamento, ed aggiunge qualche funzionalità, (il firmware è 1 solo file) da memorizzare su una pendrive usb (massimo da 32GB) , non create nessuna cartella, il file del firmware va nella "root" (il percorso principale) della vostra pendrive (va formattata in fat32, per funzionare) ... a questo punto collegare solo la pendrive ed il gamepad all'amiga500 mini (mi raccomando senza mouse, lo dicono anche le istruzioni..)...ed accendetelo, andate nel menu delle impostazioni e alla voce aggiornamento firmware (l'amiga 500mini vi elenchera' già il file di aggiornamento , selezionarlo ed aggiornate il firmware, 2 minuti circa, poi l'amiga si riavviera')...spegnetelo nuovamente (25 giochi sono un po' pochini).. Vorrete ben espanderli ?! Prima di caricare nuovi giochi aggiuntivi, che troverete con Google dal vostro pc , con estensione ".lha" sulla vostra pendrive (mica serviva solo per il nuovo firmware), andate nuovamente sul sito del produttore e sempre sotto la voce "support" (o) ... troverete 1 file .zip da scaricare WHDLoad ... Il WHDLoad(er) per chi non lo sapesse è un programma che serve all'emulatore del vostro THEAmiga500 Mini a caricare i giochi in modo molto piu' veloce rispetto al "vecchio" formato ".adf" (amiga disk file). Inoltre il WHDLoad è in grado di caricare i giochi "multidisco" sempre in formato .LHA... Per cui vi consiglio di scaricarlo aprendolobpoi con winrar o 7zip o winzip e copiare la cartella THEA500 sulla vostra pendrive precedente (se avete ancora il file del firmware potete anche cestinarlo)... Una volta memorizzata la cartella THEA500 che contiene il WHDLoader con le sue sottocartelle ed i file (non dovete più fare nulla). O meglio, quasi nulla, adesso dovete procurarvi i nuovi giochi in formato LHA..da Google... Una volta che avrete qualche 《gioco》.lha vi consiglio di creare sulla pendrive una cartella "games"...in cui andarci a copiare i giochi. Nb: sulla pendrive avrete quindi 2 cartelle (nella root) , la prima "THEA500" (contiene tutti i file del WHDLoader) la seconda "games". Se inizierete ad avere più di 250 giochi sotto la cartella "games" andate a creare varie sottocartelle chiamandole (A,B,C...Z).. Nelle quali suddividere i vari giochi in ordine alfabetico (il limite fisico dell'emulatore contenuto nel vostro THEA500 mini non sarà in grado di elencarvi oltre 250 giochi per cartella...).. Per questo suddividendo i giochi per cartella con lettera alfabetica iniziale avrete così spostato tutti i giochi che iniziano per A sotto la cartella "games\A" (massimo 250 giochi).. tutti i giochi che iniziano per B sotto la cartella "games\B" (massimo 250 giochi). E così via per tutte le varie lettere dell'alfabeto... Nb2: se la cartella "games\S" Dovesse contenere più di 250 giochi nessun problema...create subito una cartella game\S2 nella quale spostare (dalla cartella di origine "games\S", che ne aveva troppi ) gli eccedenti giochi.. verso la nuova cartella "games\S2". Facendo così quindi avrete la possibilità di aggirare il limite fisico dei 250 giochi per cartella... Una volta copiato tutto, staccate dal pc la pendrive, ricollegatala al THEA500 mini, collegate mouse e joystick ecc...e accendetelo.. Stavolta comparirà tra i giochi anche l'icona della pendrive usb e selezionandola potrete sfogliarla (ad esempio games/A...se volete giocare ai giochi che cominciano per A)...una volta selezionato il titolo del gioco che vi aggrada ricordatevi di confermare il suo caricamento col tasto "home" del joystick (io subito pensavo che il tasto A del joypad bastasse per caricare un gioco aggiuntivo ...invece dovete premere "home" del joypad in dotazione)... Buon divertimento...a tutti !