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Shot97
Detroit, MI, USA

Posted Wed Feb 15, 2017 9:21 pm

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Sadly while moving I trashed much of my father's enormous collection of Amiga/C64/PC magazines. While I was wise enough to go through them all and tear out pages of interest, I can certainly tell you that is a collection I wish I still had. Of the few individual magazines I kept, there was an issue of the Commodore 64 magazine Ahoy! with a look at the "yet to be released Amiga". I put that in quotes simply because the article was written in July of 1985, before the release of the Amiga, but this issue of Ahoy! was released in October of 1985, after the release of the machine. I scanned these at 1200 dpi, screwed with them so they match what I see in person, and then resized/compressed for viewing here. I imagine this one is already out there somewhere, but I also imagine this is the best it's going to look.

The first page focuses on the unveiling of the Amiga, with stories you've probably heard before; Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry. It then goes into the specs of the machine, comparisons with PC/Apple hardware, and notes this sucker must be designed to go after the big boys.

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Page 2 notes the sound, built in speech, and MIDI capabilities in comparison to PC and Apple hardware. "Wow!" The kickstart being supplied via a floppy disk? "Wow, again!" The multitasking? "No wow - utterly speechless this time!"

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Page 3 has the author (Tom Benford) take a stab at the New York Times, who had implied nobody really cared based on the crowed. The author noting said Times reporter must have never attended a computer show in his life. :D A great example of how history can be destroyed both in the long term, like the internet loves to do, as well as right then and there! The New York Times, with its readership, may have forever tainted the Amiga as a machine nobody cared about based solely on the ignorance of the man covering the story.

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The rest of the article contains a fascinating list of confirmed software releases for the Amiga. It strangely ends there, no real conclusion to it all.

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Wed Feb 15, 2017 9:50 pm

It strangely ends there, no real conclusion to it all.
That is a little strange, but the might not have been given much time to actually sit down and use the thing - just take pictures and nod to litany of stats.

Don't be too hard on yourself for "purging". We've all been forced to let go of things along the way that we wish we'd kept. I moved so many times in the past 15 years - literally over a dozen times - and every time I dumped giant bags off. I remember my mom complaining that all she wanted for Christmas one year was a nice address book (she's very analog) because all of my addresses ruined her old book.

Cool mag. Man I used to love Ahoy!, Compute! and RUN.

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Wed Feb 15, 2017 9:53 pm

Like a moron, I even dumped my original CD soundtrack of Donkey Kong Country. I was looking for it a couple of months ago when it dawned on me that I was certain I had thrown it in a box to Goodwill.

Such an amazing soundtrack.

And the freaking thing sells for $100 on Ebay these days. Oh well. . . there are digital versions of it, but I do miss that CD. And my Vectrex. And two previous giant C64 collections (one which I traded for a crappy Apple II+ - one of the dumbest things I ever did as a kid). And...

Oh, I should just stop.

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Shot97
Detroit, MI, USA

Posted Wed Feb 15, 2017 10:01 pm

Oh my God... You had a Vectrex!? Yeah, that was pretty dumb to toss :p hahha! Too bad about the CD, and to Goodwill of all places! They're the fake charity! They love to take your crap, but then they sell it for profit, for them... It's not like the Salvation Army and other places, where the money is going for good. I mean I suppose they're selling stuff to people in need, but the fact that the money they make is for them has never sat well with me in comparison to other places doing the same thing. These days they're so bad... They've recognized the market for retro gaming and instruct their stores to send all that stuff to special stores to mark up and sell. Raaar!





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