The Nintendo Switch 2 is the closest thing to a modern day Commodore Amiga
It's been a lot of fun to see the love for the Commodore Amiga this week, which I had no idea was 40 years old. As has been pointed out, probably nobody outside of Europe either knows or cares about it now but to me it was the most important games format when I was kid. Which is to say it's what I had, and I couldn't afford a Mega Drive or SNES. Or rather I couldn't afford their games.
Amiga games were a lot cheaper (and, well, you know) and they also seemed a lot more varied. To my eyes the vast majority of console games were just platformers of one kind or another. I never even heard of Zelda or Final Fantasy until the PlayStation era and while we never got anything as good as Sonic the Hedgehog on the Amiga I can honestly say I wasn't that bothered.
On the Amiga we had all kinds of crazy things, and lots of 3D games and games made in Europe and the UK which never appeared anywhere else. But as soon as consoles took over everything was made in Japan or the US and we've never really gone back from that, even with modern indie gaming on the PC.
PlayStation and Xbox aren't interested in anything but a small number of games from a small number of publishers. Heck, the whole point of Xbox is Microsoft wanted to make American companies dominate the games industry, so I can't say I'm too upset that didn't work out.
Thinking about what the modern equivalent of the Amiga is I guess you'd have to say it's the PC, but it doesn't feel that way to me. It's too unfocused and you have to use Steam to get anything out of it, which is very American focused.
Weirdly it's the Nintendo Switch 2 which feels the closest to the Amiga to me, assuming it works out similar to the original Switch. Although the fact that it has a mouse by default already increases the comparisons, so I hope it makes good use of that.
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.
But it's really just how strange and varied all the games are, with no first person shooters or sad dad story games so far, just the crazy Mario Kart and Donkey Kong games and the promise that future games will be as weird as the Switch line-up was. Especially as Drag X Drive even looks a bit like Speedball 2.
It's not just Nintendo though but all the other, smaller Japanese developers that they encourage. Companies I'm sure probably wouldn't still be going if it wasn't for the Switch. Games are too expensive to make on PlayStation and Xbox now, for small companies, but the Switch is low-powered enough that it's still possible.
I'm not saying these sort of games aren't on the PlayStation as well, but there's not as many and they're certainly not as high profile. You'd never get Sony highlighting them in their equivalent of a Nintendo Direct.
I guess what I'm getting at is that gaming seemed a lot less corporate and more unpredictable in the Amiga days and now that I'm older I can see why things like where the games are made and how much they cost to make (and so how much risk they can afford to take) affect that. More Trending
There's no point dwelling too much on the past but it is useful to look back and see that not everything has changed for the better.
By reader Lester
The reader's features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won't need to send an email.
MORE: Star Wars Outlaws is Ubisoft's best game and you should get it now it's cheap - Reader's Feature
MORE: It is madness that Konami still hasn't made a new Castlevania - Reader's Feature
MORE: I had a Commodore Amiga as a kid and this is not the gaming future I imagined - Reader's Feature
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
3 minutes ago
- Reuters
OpenAI releases open-weight reasoning models optimized for running on laptops
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 5 (Reuters) - OpenAI said on Tuesday it has released two open-weight language models that excel in advanced reasoning and are optimized to run on laptops with performance levels similar to its smaller proprietary reasoning models. An open-weight language model's trained parameters or weights are publicly accessible, which can be used by developers to analyze and fine-tune the model for specific tasks without requiring original training data. "One of the things that is unique about open models is that people can run them locally. People can run them behind their own firewall, on their own infrastructure," OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman said in a press briefing. Open-weight language models are different from open-source models, which provide access to the complete source code, training data and methodologies. The landscape of open-weight and open-source AI models has been highly contested this year. For a time, Meta's (META.O), opens new tab Llama models were considered the best, but that changed earlier this year when China's DeepSeek released a powerful and cost-effective reasoning model, while Meta struggled to deliver Llama 4. The two new OpenAI models are the first open models OpenAI has released since GPT-2, which was released in 2019. OpenAI's larger model, gpt-oss-120b, can run on a single GPU, and the second, gpt-oss-20b, is small enough to run directly on a personal computer, the company said. OpenAI said the models have similar performance to its proprietary reasoning models called o3-mini and o4-mini, and especially excel at coding, competition math and health-related queries. The models were trained on a text-only dataset which in addition to general knowledge, focused on science, math and coding knowledge. OpenAI did not release benchmarks comparing the open-weight models to competitors' models such as the DeepSeek-R1 model. Microsoft-backed OpenAI, currently valued at $300 billion, is currently raising up to $40 billion in a new funding round led by Softbank Group (9984.T), opens new tab.
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
A new Nintendo Direct is due this week and Silksong fans want a release date
With Silksong expected to launch this year, fans are now hoping for an update at the newly announced Nintendo Switch 2 indie showcase. After the constant rumours of a July Nintendo Direct, fans finally got one last week, only to come away disappointed by its deliberate focus on third party games, and even then not necessarily the ones they were looking forward to. For the past few days, there has been unsubstantiated chatter that another Nintendo Direct would drop shortly, although still not one for first party games. Instead, the implication was that it'd be one of Nintendo's Indie World showcases. Turns out that chatter was accurate, as a new Indie World showcase is scheduled for this week, which of course means it's time for the routine fan demands for an update on Hollow Knight: Silksong. The showcase is scheduled to air this Thursday on August 7 at 2pm and won't be particularly long, clocking in at only 15 minutes. So, either only a small handful of indie games will see any focus or nothing is going to have much time in the spotlight. As for what games will make an appearance, that's anyone's guess, since Nintendo only says there will be 'new announcements and updates on indie games coming to Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch.' The eternally absent Silksong does fit that criteria and it did make a very brief reappearance at the Switch 2 showcase in April, along with a new release window of 2025. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Naturally, Silksong fans are allowing themselves to hope even though they've been burned so many times before. 'Is it time for a Silksong announcement? Probably not but I'm still hoping to see Silksong here!' writes Victory Star on X, while a more confident ProTeneb says, 'Silksong! Let's go!! This is it guys! I know it.' Fans like Dexter Schwaerzler-Plumb and Alex Humphrey don't seem as sure, posting often used artwork of Hollow Knight characters wearing a clown wig and nose, meant to represent how the fanbase feels anytime they think a Silksong update will be shown they're proven wrong. The Silksong subreddit is just as divided, split between those willing to believe the game will show up and others who have zero faith. More Trending It's worth remembering that Microsoft has secured a marketing deal with Silksong developer Team Cherry, using the game to promote its upcoming ROG Xbox Ally handheld. Microsoft said Silksong will be available 'at launch and in Game Pass' once the handheld launches during the holiday season, though Team Cherry insists the game wasn't tied to any console release and could be out as early as this autumn. Given Microsoft's eagerness to promote Silksong for Game Pass, it wouldn't be surprising if it wants to be the one to announce the release date rather than let Nintendo take the glory, even though the publisher otherwise has nothing to do with it. At the very least, Silksong is safely locked in for a 2025 launch, especially since it's slated to be playable at Gamescom this month, with Microsoft offering a demo on both PC and the ROG Xbox Ally. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: July Nintendo Direct removed three games at the last minute claim insiders MORE: The Nintendo Partner Direct left me wondering: where's the ambition? – Reader's Feature MORE: Xbox console sales are even worse than thought according to latest estimates
Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Assassin's Creed Mirage joins Xbox Game Pass' first August drop with Rain World, 9 Kings and more
Xbox Game Pass has added a new wave of games for August to the service, including a critically-acclaimed Assassin's Creed title that players are going to love The latest update to Xbox Game Pass brings the popular Assassin's Creed back home, with plenty on offer for players on its Standard tier. Despite recent game cancellations and mass layoffs, Xbox Game Pass continues to be a hit with consumers. The news of these redundancies and cancellations came shortly after the first July drop of Xbox Game Pass, which included Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4, and was quickly followed by the addition of Robocop: Rogue City in the second July announcement. It's disheartening to see dedicated team members let go for financial reasons, especially as Xbox continues to roll out new games for subscribers at no additional cost. Regardless, more games have arrived, including a recent action-adventure title that is sure to have players scrambling. Here's what you need to know about the first Xbox Game Pass August update. Introducing All Out Gaming Introducing All Out Gaming, a dedicated gaming brand providing the best gaming news, reviews, previews, interviews and more! Make sure you don't miss out on our latest high-quality videos on YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook, where we'll be posting our latest reviews, previews, interviews, and live streams! You can also subscribe to our free All Out Gaming newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories. Xbox Game Pass August drop one A recent Xbox blog post revealed several new games coming to the Xbox Game Pass service, including a critically-acclaimed Assassin's Creed title that fans will undoubtedly be eager to dive into. Here's everything coming to the service soon: Xbox Game Pass Standard Xbox Series X PC Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC It's a rather packed month, particularly with the much-anticipated arrival of Assassin's Creed Mirage, and the plethora of games making their way onto Xbox Game Pass Standard for Series X and S players is indeed a delight. Xbox Game Pass August games departing Fortunately, only a handful of games are waving goodbye in the Xbox Game Pass August wave one drop, but there's one heavyweight that will certainly leave a void. The games bidding adieu on Friday, 15th August include: Anthem (console and PC) Farming Simulator 22 (console, cloud, PC) Persona 3 Reload (console, cloud, PC) Undeniably, the exit of Persona 3 Reload is going to be a bitter pill to swallow for players, especially following its recent feature at the latest Partner Showcase Nintendo Direct. However, before it takes its final bow, subscribers will have the opportunity to purchase the game outright with an exclusive 20% discount. So, if this is a major concern for you, you've got the chance to secure it at a slightly lower price. Farewell to a true gem.
