[[Image:MultifaceTwo.jpg|right|thumb|200px300px|The Multiface II]]Clever name, Multiface. An interface that does many things. Also completely untrue: the Multiface wasn’t an interface like a serial interface, which let you plug new kinds of gubbins into your CPC. It just sat on the back of your CPC and did its thing. Singular.
But that was enough. Because the thing in question, for many CPC users, was a godsend. Loading games from tape is tedious: many games were available only on tape, or on disc at an extortionate price: many CPC users had disc drives. Ergo, why not think of an easy way of getting games from tape to disc?
[[Romantic Robot]] did. The Multiface took an exact copy of what was in memory at the present moment, and saved it to disc, ready for you to reload at your leisure. All you had to do was press a little red button then select ‘Save’ from the menu that appeared.
It was such a good idea that at least three five other companies had the same plan, and brought out similar-sounding devices: [[Datel]]'s [[Action Replay]], [[Evesham Micros]]' [[Disc Wizard]], [[Siren Software]]'s [[Hackit]], Hard Micro's [[Transtape]] and [[Mirage Imager]]. In one of those happy coincidences of commerce and merit, the Multiface was the best of the lot, and also the one which survived.
==Revision History==
Most CPC emulators provide equivalents of the Multiface’s two main features. Instant copies can be made with the ‘snapshots’ feature, creating files with an .SNA extension that can be easily reloaded. The toolkit, meanwhile, has been replicated with whizzy new disassemblers/monitors/what-have-you. Of course, since emulators can’t load files from tape, it’s not really the same any more.
A remake of the Multiface II has also appeared.
[[File:Multiface2-dual1.jpg|500px]] [[File:Multiface2-dual2.jpg|500px]]
==Epilogue: AA again==
Image:Multiface II advertisment.jpg|Advertisement
Image:MultifaceII AA100.jpg|Advertisement in AA 100
Image:Amstrad Action106 20.jpg|AA Issue 106 - Page 20
Image:MultifaceII_Front.jpg|Multiface II - (version with switch for making it invisible to software) - Front (eBay)
Image:MultifaceII_Back.jpg|Multiface II - (version with switch for making it invisible to software) - Back (eBay)
<gallery caption="Multiface II Layout, thanks to Jose Leandro">
File:Multiface II - Top.jpg|Multiface II - Top
File:Multiface II - Bottom.jpg|Multiface II - Bottom
File:Multiface II - Components.jpg|Multiface II - Components
File:Multiface II - Tracks.jpg|Multiface II - Tracks
File:MF2-PCB Front.png|Multiface II - PCB Front
File:MF2-PCB Back.png|Multiface II - PCB Back
==Links==
* [http://www.cpc-power.com/index.php?page=detail&num=4971 ''Multiface II'' from CPC-Power]* [http://cpcrulez.fr/hardware-interface_debug-multiface_2.htm ''Multiface II'' from CPCrulez]* [http://hardware.speccy.org/temp/Amstrad-multiface2.html ''Multiface II'' from hardware.speccy.org]* [http://hardware.speccy.org/temp/Amstrad-multiface2/Amstrad-multiface21.html ''Multiface II PALs'' from hardware.speccy.org]* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160715092459/http://www.grimware.org/doku.php/documentations/expansions/mf2/start''Multiface II'' from grimware]* http[https://cpcrulezweb.frarchive.org/hardwareweb/20090108031853/http://cpc-interface_debug-multiface_2hardware.htmcom/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=31 ''Multiface II'' from CPC-Hardware]* [http://hardwarequasar.speccycpcscene.orgnet/tempdoku.php?id=dossier:mf2 ''Multiface II'' from Quasar Net] (french, memory mapping details and programmation tutorial and examples)* [https://youtu.be/quYqrCKf3uw Multiface II: Building the Ultimate Cracking Device for the Amstrad-multiface2CPC] by [[Noel's Retro Lab]]* [https://youtu.htmlbe/DLjuUGWeJlw HACK - Tricher c'est pas bien, même avec la Multiface 2 (Romantic Robot)] by [[Amstariga]]
[[Category:Peripherals]] [[Category:Manual]] [[Category:Copy Protection]]