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Propaganda 3
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Propaganda - Issue 3 (1994-01-15)(Razor 1911).adf
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megacdvscd32.txt
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megacdvscd32.txt
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1978-01-11
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149 lines
CD BATTLE
çddf,faa,afa,aaf,faf,ffa,aff
¢ 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!