CD BATTLE
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¢        AMIGA CD32 VS MEGA-CD
²        =====================
½          by Snowman/Trance

³The CD32 is now out on the shelves in
all  it's  glory.  At first, when you
look  at  it, it looks just like it's
main   rival  the  Mega-CD,  bar  the
whopping  great  logo, ofcourse.  But
appearances  may  be  desceiving, all
though both machines look alike there
is a great difference.

¹Unlike  a  lot  of new machines ( inc
M-CD  ),  the  release of the CD32 is
very   speacial.    The  machine  has
treamendous  potencial.   There's not
much  you can add to a M-CD, bar such
pheripharals like `light guns'.  With
the   CD32   there   is   a  keyboard
expansion  port  and  a printer port.
This isn't where the difference ends.
There  are  many  more  factors which
prove that the two machines differ.

First  off, one of the most important
factors,  the price.  The price off a
new   M-CD  is  Four-hundred  quid  (
including Mega Drive ).  The price of
a  new  CD32 is Three-hundred quid, I
will  be  the first to admit that the
price  of  the later isn't a bargain,
but  with Commodores track record the
price  should  go  down.  Compared to
the  M-CD  it's  a hundred quid lower
but  the  comes  with a Mega Drive so
you can play cartridges.  Saying that
the M-CD will not work without a Mega
Drive.   My conclusion so far is that
the CD32 is better for price value if
¶you  want  a purely CD games machine.
You'd  be stupid if you wanted to buy
cartridges  when  you  could get CD's
for around the same price.

¾The  architecture,  well the best way
to   imagine   a   CD32   as  far  as
architecture  is to think of an A1200
with  a  CD  drive.   It  is ofcourse
32-bit.   For  all  of  you who don't
know  what  bit  stands  for ( and if
you're  thinking  of  buying  a  M-CD
you're  probably  one of these people
),   it  means  how  many  `bits'  of
information  can  be  sent at a time.
The higher the bit number, the faster
the  machine  will  run.  This is why
the old 8-bit machines where so slow.
The  M-CD is 16-bit.  Thus making the
CD32   twice  as  fast  as  the  Sega
machine.   Ha  !   16-bit isn't slow,
but 32-bit is much faster.

¹The  main processor, of the CD32 is a
68020, the same as a A1200.  The M-CD
processor  is  a 68000.  The 68000 is
in  a  A500,  A500+ and A600.  So the
main  processor  is a much better one
in  the  CD32.   The Amiga CD will be
able  to  handle  the information far
better.  The M-CDs processor speed is
12Mhz   while  the  CD32s  is  14Mhz.
Who's got the fastest processor...

All this may sound impossible but the
M-CD  has  only 64k of on-board ram (
yes  really  ),  but  the Sega system
uses  it's  custom  chips more rather
than  megs.   The  standard  Nintendo
only  has 2k !  The CD32 has a lovely
¶2 meg of memory, like the A1200, as I
keep saying.

¾The  CD  drive  speed  of  a  M-CD is
single while on our baby it's double.
Thus  making  it  much  faster,  just
aswell   really,  I  mean  all  those
hundreds  of  megs  that  need  to be
read.   You  don't want to be waiting
Vista-like hours.

¹Both   machines,  and  all  other  CD
machines  for  that  matter,  have CD
audio  support.   So you can play all
your  favourite  compact disks, saves
you buying a CD player, doesn't it.

The    first    thing    that    most
un-intelligent magazine reveiwers ask
about  a  new  machine  is  how  many
colours  has it got.  Well they would
be   pleased   with  the  CD32s  16.8
million   colour  pallet.   The  M-CD
however  has a less than admirational
512.    I   would   expect  more  for
four-hundred quid.  The M-CD can have
a  maximum  of  64 colours on screen,
while the CD32 can have 256.  I can't
really  put  a  summary on this topic
because it's so obvious which machine
has the better graffic capabilities.

¾There are, as I said earlier, lots of
expansions  for  the  CD32,  none  of
which  applly  for  a  M-CD.  Another
impressive   expansion  is  the  Full
Motion   Video   add-on.    This   is
bascically  a  great  expansion which
will  enable  you to play video films
via your CD.  Great !
¶¹Sega  aren't famous for there bargain
prices.   So  it's  hardly  suprising
that  you  have to pay fifty quid per
title.   Commodore  stated  that  the
averadge  software  price  for a CD32
will be thirty quid.  Considering the
games you will be buying will contain
maybe  hundreds  of  megs, it doesn't
seem  that  steep.   Im  sure someone
will  invent a Magicom-type expansion
though for all you pirates.

So, from reading the facts it doesn't
take  a  genious  to  work  out which
machine is the golden goose and which
is  the  dead  duck.   There wasn't a
fault  in the CD32 that the M-CD beat
it  on.   I will not be buying a CD32
having  said  all  this.  I will wait
for  a  CD  drive to come out for the
A1200  and I will be able to work and
play.  I hope that Nintendo release a
CD machine, then we can expect a real
war !

³           CD32 ½Will rule!