Adam Koralik's 5th gen recap

I don't know if any of you watch Adam's videos, but he's doing a recap on the 5th gen consoles, starting with the CD32. Normally, I like the guy but he seems to really be going a bit overboard with his "theories". I don't believe the CD32 would have been a success if it came out in America and I don't buy that the Jag "sacrificed its life" for 3D gaming to become a thing. I liked his 6th gen videos, but I don't know what he's smoking before filming these. See what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgHQAjlblbw recap of whole generation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKgkZ3jjxbE recap of CD32

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBu6ngED0nA recap of 3DO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi91S_GgLlY recap of Jag/CD

He'll be uploading the Saturn, PSX, and N64 as the week goes on

The patent that sunk the Amiga (all Amigas, not just the CD32) was the XOR patent - this piece of crap patent said that if you used the XOR bit operation to alter data in memory counting on another XOR to restore the memory, you violated their patent. Yeah, that was actually a "valid" patent and very strongly enforced. Every computer sold in the US had to have a license.

As to how well it would have done... it wasn't a strong system. Arguably, it was the weakest of the gen. Even the 32X was more powerful. It had a 14MHz 68020 (about one tenth the power of one SH2 in the 32X, and about one third the power of the ARM chip in the 3DO), and a chipset geared towards 256 color 2D graphics. The sound was okay, but getting long in the tooth. It couldn't compete against any of the other consoles of that generation. His speculation that it could have competed against the PS1 was laughable. I think the main reason CBM even released this is they had the thought that since this was a GAME CONSOLE, they wouldn't be required to have a license for the XOR patent to sell in the US - they felt it was only for personal computers. Since they couldn't afford the patent to sell the A1200 in the US, they tried for something they thought bypassed the patent. Obviously, the patent holders felt differently and got a judge to issue a ban, and that was all for CBM.

If the XOR patent hadn't killed it then that awful controller would have. ugh

what a handsome young man

wonder what meds he's on

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Originally Posted by old man

If the XOR patent hadn't killed it then that awful controller would have. ugh

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It looks funky, but it's actually pretty good. I think it's one of the few things he got right. Of course, I got a Competition Pro pad to replace it since that was BETTER, but the stock controller was fine for many folks.

Finally, someone explains WHY the Amiga CD32 was restricted from sale in the USA. What a dumb patent indeed. Really though, it's not like it was a tragedy, the CD32 didn't have too many fans back then, or now.

The Jaguar didn't sacrifice anything for 3D, it died because Atari was incompetent. Polygonal 3D was going to happen whether anyone wanted it or not. Sadly, everyone wanted 3D. Anyone who didn't ended up getting dragged into the propoganda imposed by magazines and arcade releases. It's easy to forget today, but back then, 3D really was a huge deal. Nobody back then knew about games today, all they had to look at was the emerging 3D arcade releases like Virtua Racing and the ridiculous hype propped up by console manufacturers advertised in magazines. Such games were amazingly futuristic and were far more mind blowing than anything 2D at the time. 3D games of that time only look bad because we all live in 2014, not 1994. Either that or you were a bigger fan of 2D from the arcades and didn't fancy polygons. That doesn't mean nobody else did, 3D was a huge driving force in new hardware and software through the 90s.

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Originally Posted by Guntz

The Jaguar didn't sacrifice anything for 3D, it died because Atari was incompetent. Polygonal 3D was going to happen whether anyone wanted it or not. Sadly, everyone wanted 3D. Anyone who didn't ended up getting dragged into the propoganda imposed by magazines and arcade releases. It's easy to forget today, but back then, 3D really was a huge deal.

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I commented on the CD32 video that it would never have been a success because of it's lack of any 3D ablility. He replied all pissy and said no one knew 3D was going to be the next thing in 1993, since no consoles did it. I pointed out 3D arcade games like Daytona, Ridge Racer, VF, and VR and how people would see those and expect consoles to do the same. He replied "those games were all late 1993 at best, after the CD32". Explain the 3DO that came out shortly after that had dedicated 3D hardware.....

I then brought up that Japanese developers would have ignored the CD32 no matter how much of a following he thinks it could have had. He chose not to comment on that.

You should really think about what you say before you say it. I'm not sure how much of the rest of this I'll watch.

Not only was the CD32 already dated at launch when it came to 3D, but in 2D also. It was released around the same time as the Jaguar and 3DO, and tech-wise, it got crushed by them.
Even then, i still kinda like the CD32...maybe because it costed me 100 dollars in 2004, and not 400 dollars back in 1993, hehe.

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Originally Posted by zetastrike

I commented on the CD32 video that it would never have been a success because of it's lack of any 3D ablility. He replied all pissy and said no one knew 3D was going to be the next thing in 1993, since no consoles did it. I pointed out 3D arcade games like Daytona, Ridge Racer, VF, and VR and how people would see those and expect consoles to do the same. He replied "those games were all late 1993 at best, after the CD32". Explain the 3DO that came out shortly after that had dedicated 3D hardware.....

I then brought up that Japanese developers would have ignored the CD32 no matter how much of a following he thinks it could have had. He chose not to comment on that.

You should really think about what you say before you say it. I'm not sure how much of the rest of this I'll watch.

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Do you mean me or him? Magazines were a huge deal in a world where there wasn't even an E3 or much of an internet yet. There was CES but most people I know paid more attention to magazines. Even by late 93, you can see more magazines reciting "the writing is on the wall" for where the industry was headed, and that was 3D. Earlier there was a lot of hype for full motion video and the latest 2D arcade games, but the 3D bandwagon was pretty quick. Even if CD32 was released in the US and had some months before the 3D hype train hit, the console's lackluster 2D capabilities and lack of games would have made it a slow seller. The CD32 would have been another Jaguar.

I remember the CD32's launch window in Canada. It had no advertising, Commodore was in bad shape, and it wasn't widely available (at least EB had it; maybe they did in the US, too, as an "import". I don't know). On the West coast, the credit union Vancity had them for loan but that was for banking purposes, not games. I was hoping it would survive well enough to get some good Amiga games we missed out on but that never really happened.

I often complain about people numbering console generations and will continue to do so. The CD32 doesn't neatly fit at all. It's a console-ized version of a computer line from the '80s but was released years later.

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Originally Posted by Chilly Willy

The patent that sunk the Amiga (all Amigas, not just the CD32) was the XOR patent - this piece of crap patent said that if you used the XOR bit operation to alter data in memory counting on another XOR to restore the memory, you violated their patent. Yeah, that was actually a "valid" patent and very strongly enforced. Every computer sold in the US had to have a license.

As to how well it would have done... it wasn't a strong system. Arguably, it was the weakest of the gen. Even the 32X was more powerful. It had a 14MHz 68020 (about one tenth the power of one SH2 in the 32X, and about one third the power of the ARM chip in the 3DO), and a chipset geared towards 256 color 2D graphics. The sound was okay, but getting long in the tooth. It couldn't compete against any of the other consoles of that generation. His speculation that it could have competed against the PS1 was laughable. I think the main reason CBM even released this is they had the thought that since this was a GAME CONSOLE, they wouldn't be required to have a license for the XOR patent to sell in the US - they felt it was only for personal computers. Since they couldn't afford the patent to sell the A1200 in the US, they tried for something they thought bypassed the patent. Obviously, the patent holders felt differently and got a judge to issue a ban, and that was all for CBM.

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But it looks like theres some significant drawbacks though, like the 32X doesn't have a true color(16.7M) palette or MBs of RAM.

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Originally Posted by Guntz

Do you mean me or him? Magazines were a huge deal in a world where there wasn't even an E3 or much of an internet yet. There was CES but most people I know paid more attention to magazines. Even by late 93, you can see more magazines reciting "the writing is on the wall" for where the industry was headed, and that was 3D. Earlier there was a lot of hype for full motion video and the latest 2D arcade games, but the 3D bandwagon was pretty quick. Even if CD32 was released in the US and had some months before the 3D hype train hit, the console's lackluster 2D capabilities and lack of games would have made it a slow seller. The CD32 would have been another Jaguar.

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I meant him, not you. You're absolutely right. He proposed a pretty far fetched idea and got all defensive when I picked a few obvious holes in it.

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Originally Posted by azonicrider

But it looks like theres some significant drawbacks though, like the 32X doesn't have a true color(16.7M) palette or MBs of RAM.

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The palette was fine - very little ever used 24-bit color until the late 90's. Even most games on the N64 are 16-bit color. The lack of ram was the HUGE problem. Everything else of the time had at least 2MB of ram, including the CD32. I know SEGA was trying to keep the costs as low as possible, but it really should have had at least 1MB of ram. Having 1MB of ram would have made CD32X games much easier and likely. As it is, all existing CD32X games simply treat the 32X as a video card - they're just SEGA CD games with better graphics.

I always felt that something like the CD32 could have had a chance if had released between the MD, and the SNES. If it were competing with 16-bit games, that were almost always 2D, it wouldn't have been seen as being so limited. It might have even had a niche following ala TG-16 did in the US. But, late '93? Um, no.

If the CD32 had been released with the originally proposed AAA architecture, then it might have very well have been a threat to Sega, Sony, Nintendo.

Side note, I actually played a CD32 here in Oklahoma, back in '93, or '94. I'm sure it was a Canadian model. It was at an independent, high end hobby shop. They sold other cool stuff, like high end stunt kites, as well as import game stuff. The game I played was sleepwalker. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly the 32-bit revolution I was waiting for. I walked away from it feeling very disappointed. Had I seen the system back around '90, or early '91, I might have given it more of the benefit of the doubt. (Yes, I know the Amiga 1200 came out around late '92)

I remember seeing the CDTV at an Amiga store in Dallas. I don't recall seeing the CD32 though, except for the reviews that were in VG&CE magazine.