Did you own an Amiga 500?

[Shaun M. Neary]

Not when you factor in the software costs - and that's even before we mention piracy. But even so, it didn't matter that much, because computers and consoles have always been different concepts, even though they shared some of the games. Back then, I didn't want a NES, Megadrive or SNES, simply because I wanted to be able to do computer things and play computer style games. And for that Amiga was an undisputed Queen, circa ~1987 - 1992, before PC finally came down in price and up in gaming capabilities. When I first saw Defender of The Crown & Lost Patrol at some computer fair in the late 80s I knew the 8-bit era is over and I just have to beg/steal/borrow to get on that crazy 16-bit train. For the ground-breaking memories from that heady period it's still my favourite micro ever. Currently have an A500 with Gotek & ACA500+. Pity they skyrocketed in price during the Covid era, especially the A1200...

For you maybe, but for a lot of the consumer market by the time 1990 rolled around, they wanted to game and that was it.
Why do you think Amstrad attempted the console market?

Also the Amiga's were skyrocking pre-Covid as well. I got my A500 in 2018 I think and the prices were starting to soar even then.

[Gryzor]

Pity they skyrocketed in price during the Covid era, especially the A1200

Damn, should I sell?

[arkive]

For you maybe, but for a lot of the consumer market by the time 1990 rolled around, they wanted to game and that was it.
Why do you think Amstrad attempted the console market?

Also the Amiga's were skyrocking pre-Covid as well. I got my A500 in 2018 I think and the prices were starting to soar even then.

I'm glad I had single handedly kept the Amiga scene alive for a few more years, and also supported that lil' thing called PC gaming. Go me! 
Gaming in 1990 was not much different than in 1977 or 2022. Some people prefer consoles, some computers, some even do it on both (crazy, I know). The 8-bit machines died because 16-bit ones appeared, and these in turn folded when the PC model steamrolled everything in the computer zone. Consoles did not have much to do with it...it's really not a big mystery.

Before Covid prices of old hardware were steadily rising, which is natural for any retro stuff, but not skyrocketing like in the last 2 years (we're talking 100-200% rise).

[Shaun M. Neary]

Oh absolutely, I won't disagree with any of that. I did my stint of PC gaming during the mid 90s myself, Doom, Duke Nukem, Quake, Worms, GTA etc. All I was saying was not all homes had the space or the money for a PC or an Amiga and having a Megadrive (and later a SNES) under the living room TV was a more affordable option for homes. Even if the cartridges were twice the price, it didn't stop the actual units from selling. I wasn't knocking the Amiga, just don't believe it was the 8bit killer by itself.


For as long as there's more and more devices to load games from SD cards for each device, the games are easily accessible, people will go back to get the older machines to mod them. Covid gave a lot of people a lot of free time and the prices flew up. I haven't actually looked at the prices (I don't really have space anymore) but I'm certainly not surprised.