What's better, ORIGINAL Amiga or A500 mini RETRO console?

In this quick video - more like a thought - I ask whether the current wave pf mini consoles can replace the original machines we know and love.
I highlight how long it takes for me to set up my Amiga 500 and how quickly I can be playing when playing on my A500 Mini or my Raspberry Pi 400.
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[@bigd5090]

THEA500 Mini shows that we are on the cusp of the emulation machines taking the torch. The PiStorm is fighting back but it is such a hastle keeping these old machines going! If they weren't so much fun I'd have given up long ago!

[@BlueYakk]

Well... I can only speak for myself I guess and for me it's absolutely both real hardware and emulated, couldn't be without either to be honest. I have my Amiga and my C64 permanently setup and ready to go. I can load games the "good old hard way" or via SD-cards. I also built an arcade cabinet - The MonkeyCadeCab™ - where I emulate loads of systems, consoles and old-school home computers. For the quick game, or the convenience of capture some gameplay footage, to the cabinet I go! But if the wife and children are sleeping, I don't mind loading some old-school games on even on tape! It's "me time" after all! 😄 Sorry for wall of text! Tl;dr: I want, and need, both real hardware and emulated!

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Hey BlueYakk, thanks for watching. I'd love to have my Amiga permanently setup. I think you're right, it's a good mixture of both and real/emulator bring different things but end up with the same result I guess. Although there's nothing more satisfying than hearing the click and crunch of a game loading!

[@rikpeol3612]

The new, emulated alternatives to the original hardware are good and welcome. For real Amigos, however, these are at best nice additional collector's items, because if you don't want to own a real Amiga, you can also have fun with PC/Mac/Linux emulators that don't cost anything. Get a real Amiga while they still exist or are affordable!

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Hi Rik, thanks for your comment and for watching. I'm beginning to think that emulators are the way forward. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my original Amiga hardware but it's a real pain when I want to play a game (as you can see in the video). Ideally I'd have my Amiga 500 permanently setup, but space is at a premium!

[@rikpeol3612]

@@RetroGamesRediscovered Living space is an important aspect, but I'd rather stack my old Amiga hardware in the warm and dry (!) basement before playing Amiga programs in my watch... or question my real girlfriend. There is room for at least one real Amiga everywhere, if not then I would recommend collecting stamps. :-)

[@vertigoz]

How does the scroll smoothness compare between them? I feel some jitter on my pc setup, but I think it is due to the LCD screen

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Thanks for your comment. The original hardware feels much smoother and is also a better experience from a loading point of view, with inserting disc etc.

[@brostenen]

Can emulation replace? NO. Never. The quality of emulation will never be 1:1, and because of that, emulation will never replace. However, hardware recreation using FPGA are able to replace. That all said. The A500 mini comes darn close to an original Amiga. It is the same with TheC64. That is 95 percent close to the real deal. Using an DB9-to-USB joystick adaptor, and it is only the sound that I notice is a bit off. Video signal quality, actually looks way better than the original hardware. Even my SixtyClone 250466 through a RetroTink, does not look that good. But really close.

[@RetroGamesRediscovered]

Thanks for watching and yes I agree with you. While I can't comment on the TheC64 (as I don't own one) the A500 Mini is incredible at how it feels. Even down to the colours of the cables. The original hardware will always be special in my eyes

[@brostenen]

@@RetroGamesRediscovered Yup. It is really hard to recreate the exact same thing, as so much are not produced anymore. But at least we have something like the MisterFPGA to recreate most of the original feel. And when disks are no more, we have Gotek drives. 😉 There are good upscalers, scandoublers and line doublers out there as well. So we are good so far.