MiSTer FPGA Forum

Seeing the YT influencer A500 mini videos had me surprised- I didn't know it would come with a CD32 inspired controller (let alone a USB tank mouse)...

Anyone looking at this for the Amiga core? [Anyone have one/try it yet?]

A clone of one of the the worst Amiga controllers ever made doesn’t seem that appealing to me

There are lots of great joysticks/fightsticks and gamepads that work with MiSTer, which is one of its strengths — the ability to use really great controllers/sticks with every core — I don’t think there’s any real reason to use this. And who knows what it would show in lag testing.

(Sorry if I seem down on this, I just don’t understand what it would bring to any setup)

I would love that tank mouse for minimig though, in any case.

Lightwave wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 12:21 am I would love that tank mouse for minimig though, in any case.

I'd rather have the wireless --> viewtopic.php?t=4272

The CD32 like controller is OK I guess. (even the old one)

It would be better and I'd get it for my CD32 MiSTer if it was the original color and could be purchased separately.

I do like the A500 Mini from the reviews overall. Not sure I'll buy one or not.

bbond007 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 3:01 am I do like the A500 Mini from the reviews overall. Not sure I'll buy one or not.

as dan wood asked at the end of his unboxing/review.. who is the mini a500 aimed at? maybe not the retro gamer, or the retro enthusiast.. maybe just someone who casually walks into a store, sees the mini and hasn't thought about the amiga for 30 years, buys one cos they remember sensible soccer or speedball from the early 90's. I'll be sticking with the MiSTer and my memories

It's not for me but there is no denying that these things are very popular. Not just the console ones, but THEC64 too, for example. So far the Amiga one has had a pretty positive feedback, even within rather "edgy" communities such as eab.

bazza_12 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 10:44 am as dan wood asked at the end of his unboxing/review.. who is the mini a500 aimed at? maybe not the retro gamer, or the retro enthusiast.. maybe just someone who casually walks into a store, sees the mini and hasn't thought about the amiga for 30 years, buys one cos they remember sensible soccer or speedball from the early 90's. I'll be sticking with the MiSTer and my memories

I totally agree with you, To me, the market which is targeted the most is the people who do not even know that there is the FPGA or the RPI or even Winuae etc. But is more for people which will have a crush by seeing the box with the A500 in a shop (the box is well made and attractive). This remains a gadget to me a nice gadget however.
There are also people like me, who has several "Mini" & "Maxi" reproduction (Nes, SNex, Nec; C64 "Mini" & "Maxi" etc), I'll buy it to complete my collection, I'll test it just to see but will not use it after this test. It will remain a collector piece like the other minis I own.
Owning real hardware and a Mister I know that this "Mini" cannot compete with those. And it is not its aim. We're surfing on the "mini" wave, to me it is good that this 500 saw the light. Is it efficient or not, well this will be a very subjective answer. For some it is crap for others it is perfect.

I like the fact that they propose the mouse and the pad separately at a reasonable price. Ok the C32 pad is not the preferred design and has never be. But, if the A500 emulates or will emulate the CD32. what other choice that the CD32 pad with all of its buttons to stick with what Commodore proposed back in the days ?

I agree that the CD-32 game pad isn't great (a colleague borrowed mine ages ago, still has to return it).
I love how detailed the A500 mini looks, but the price is as high as the previous large devices with working keyboards.

I have a C64 Mini and a The VIC-20. With the excellent Project Carousel USB system installed, they have a few advantages over using respective MiSTer cores:

- You select games from multiple carousels, which show box art, two screenshots and a description.
- Games start instantly because they are based on save states.
- With the The VIC-20/The C64, you also have the correct keyboard layout of course. Still need to solder my working keyboard for the mini.

Project Carousel also supports running other emulators, like C16/Plus 4, Pet, Atari 8-bit and others (RetroArch). They are a bit less user-friendly though. It even supports running Amiga games, but isn't powerful enough for it.