The Amiga: Why did it fail so hard in the United States?

[Zippy Zapp]

Don't forget MYST.

I did! LOL. Of course those were usually playing on Mac's but my Babbage's was not a huge fan of Mac's at the time. They were Pro-Amiga, hmm I don't know why. haha

[eightbit]

 

 

I saw them in Toys R US, (along with the XEGS) but I was in there buying genesis games

 

otherwise I never knew anyone with one, they either had 8 bitter's or Tandy's

 

I can say that I *never* saw the Amiga at a TRU on the east coast at least. C64, C128, Vic-20 yes (I purchased all of these at TRU!) but not Amiga. The Amiga I only found at local mall computer stores such as "The Program Store" which was a computer store in Willowbrook Mall in Wayne NJ in those days. It was pretty damn expensive and not something at least my TRU would have carried. The A500 was $699 with no monitor, no trapdoor expansion, no A520 video adapter. Just the computer, psu and mouse in a box with Workbench disks and manuals. It was a hefty price but I am really glad I made the plunge. The A500 served me well over the years and made me look at all of the new consoles in a different light. Looking at a lot of those "new" games it was almost like a "already been there a done that" kind of thing.

 

And expanding on what I just said, yes the Amiga was a very capable computer but me and my friends used it for three major reasons. Games (of course), the demoscene (we wrote demos, shared demos, watched demos) and BBSing. That was the extent of what I used it for really. No "productivity" so to speak Ok...maybe notepad every now and then

[carlsson]

I thought the RF modulator was included, or perhaps that was only on later A500/A500+ package deals.

[TMR]

I thought the RF modulator was included, or perhaps that was only on later A500/A500+ package deals.

i think the A520 was always included in Europe, my A500 came with one (i got it second hand from a cousin but was at the computer show in London when he purchased it) and that's a Kickstart 1.2 machine.

[carlsson]

Though I remember visiting a grocery supermarket (not even a dedicated computer store) which had a whole crate of A520 on sale, c:a 1992-93 so those must've been available separately as well.

[JamesD]

I don't ever remember the 520 being included in the US, but we may not have ordered them that way.

[high voltage]

Though I remember visiting a grocery supermarket (not even a dedicated computer store) which had a whole crate of A520 on sale, c:a 1992-93 so those must've been available separately as well.

Yes, both, but in UK it had to be included (very few in UK owned monitors). They also had a big failure rate, so you could but the A520 on its own.

Even my German made Amiga 1200 (AMIGA Technologies GmbH) includes a A520 for the UK market.

Edited February 21, 2017 by high voltage

[carlsson]

A thread on EAB suggests that Amiga 500 bought before or in 1989 didn't include the A520. After then, they did at least in Europe. Maybe it was a lost case in the US by then?

Edited February 21, 2017 by carlsson

[high voltage]

Yep, in UK that was the moment when the Amiga 500 finally had a price drop and it included the Batman game from the forthcoming Batman film. The pack was called 'The Batman Pack', sold millions, I believe.

Before 89 the Amiga was GBP500, not exactly a home computer in the land of the Spectrum. But in 1989 that was the moment the Grinch stole Christmas (bye bye Atari ST).

 

I vaguely remember the Amiga magazines complaining about not including the A520, but Commodore took note and quickly included the TV tuner.

 

 

My local gaming shop in Bracknell once trashed a perfectly in working condition Amiga 1000, with all extras. They ask me if I wanted it.....and I said No!!!!

Edited February 21, 2017 by high voltage

[carlsson]

We're all making mistakes.

 

I also remember price cuts at one point. Up until then, the cheaper ST was attractive, though none of my friends had either until I begun gymnasium ~= college where it was Amiga or nothing.

[BillLoguidice]

 

I can say that I *never* saw the Amiga at a TRU on the east coast at least. C64, C128, Vic-20 yes (I purchased all of these at TRU!) but not Amiga. The Amiga I only found at local mall computer stores such as "The Program Store" which was a computer store in Willowbrook Mall in Wayne NJ in those days. It was pretty damn expensive and not something at least my TRU would have carried. The A500 was $699 with no monitor, no trapdoor expansion, no A520 video adapter. Just the computer, psu and mouse in a box with Workbench disks and manuals. It was a hefty price but I am really glad I made the plunge. The A500 served me well over the years and made me look at all of the new consoles in a different light. Looking at a lot of those "new" games it was almost like a "already been there a done that" kind of thing.

 

I don't remember it being at TRU in New Jersey, either. I remember the Amiga being at Electronics Boutique for a time (or was it another mall game store?) and mom and pop computer shops. It was the latter where we got our Amiga 500 at. They also had a ton of software there, particularly some of the more obscure stuff that EB didn't carry.

[BillLoguidice]

A thread on EAB suggests that Amiga 500 bought before or in 1989 didn't include the A520. After then, they did at least in Europe. Maybe it was a lost case in the US by then?

 

The Amiga 500 never included the RF adapter here in the US. Having been an owner of the A520 (I had a 10804S monitor, but wanted it to interface with other displays), at least on our US televisions, it absolutely wasn't worth the expense. Games were barely passable, but anything with text was an unmitigated disaster for obvious reasons. This was a monitor computer, plain and simple. Perhaps it worked a little better in PAL-land?

[eightbit]

Software Etc. carried the Amiga (and ST) as well. You are on the money about the obscure software at the mom and pop shops. I discovered a lot of Psygnosis and Psyclapse titles that I never knew existed at those, along with other odd stuff like "Major Motion" which was a Spy Hunter ripoff.

[+save2600]

 

The Amiga 500 never included the RF adapter here in the US.

 

Not so, it was included in at least 2 or 3 different bundles. The one I sold at Montgomery Ward BITD was the long box within a box package that not only included the A520, but the Textcraft WP, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, etc. Sold my last long-box unit with A520 to a user here at AA in fact and here's an example:

 

 

Here's the Discovery Set that included the A520:

 

 

Oh and the Toys 'R Us stores in Chicagoland sold Amiga's as well as the C= monitors. They also had Commodore Colt PC compatibles sitting on the bottom shelves in those large glass cases with Amiga on top!

[high voltage]

We're all making mistakes.

 

I also remember price cuts at one point. Up until then, the cheaper ST was attractive, though none of my friends had either until I begun gymnasium ~= college where it was Amiga or nothing.

It's all so long ago now, I remember in 1987 being a member of BaPAUG (Bournemouth and Poole Atari User Group), and we eagerly awaited the Amiga to arrive in UK (late 87/early 88?).

[carlsson]

Bill: RF was passable, but not great on PAL as well. Honestly I can't recall when I got my first RGB monitor but I used green mono on the 1802 for a while. I might've used composite video from the A520 unless my VIC-20 was connected to it.

 

But compared to no display at all (or only B&W), RF should've been an improvement.

Edited February 21, 2017 by carlsson

[zzip]

The Amiga had a marginal retail presence in the US, at least where I lived. Despite being a die-hard Commodore fan and seriously lusting after the A1000 during the run up to and after it's launch, I *never* saw an Amiga in the wild - never. Same for the Atari ST. I had one friend with an Apple IIGS, but that was it.

 

I briefly worked in a mom and pop computer sales/repair shop in 1990 - we didn't sell or service those platforms. I don't think I ever saw one come in for repair either. Everyone seemed to hang on to their 8-bit computers until replacing them with PCs or Macs in the early 90s.

 

Whereas during the 8-bit era you could buy home computers virtually everywhere - C64s in K-Mart, Atari 800XLs in Sears, Tandy CoCos in Radio Shack, etc. While I recall seeing software for the 16-bit platforms here and there, the actual hardware seemed to be virtually nonexistent.

 

That is true. I recall that Clover, a Kmart-like chain, was still carrying Atari stuff in the late 80s when none of the other discount retailers were. Apart from that EB, I think was selling it, and dedicated computer dealers.

[zzip]

Software Etc. carried the Amiga (and ST) as well. You are on the money about the obscure software at the mom and pop shops. I discovered a lot of Psygnosis and Psyclapse titles that I never knew existed at those, along with other odd stuff like "Major Motion" which was a Spy Hunter ripoff.

 

I'm surprised at how blatant of a Spy Hunter clone Major Motion was. Usually commercial knock-offs copied mechanics, but were different enough so they could claim they weren't infringing. But MM is Spy Hunter in all but name. I wonder if they ever got sued.

[Keatah]

I did! LOL. Of course those were usually playing on Mac's but my Babbage's was not a huge fan of Mac's at the time. They were Pro-Amiga, hmm I don't know why. haha

 

Probably an over-enthusiastic local manager or something. See those evangelists all the time.

[carlsson]

Perhaps the Amiga was what the station wagon seems to be today: super hot in Europe but ice cold in America?

[+save2600]

Perhaps the Amiga was what the station wagon seems to be today: super hot in Europe but ice cold in America?

Station Wagons were popular in the U.S. during the time of Amiga. My family and I had several all throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's.

 

A family friend who happened to be an Apple representative, used to drive a Volvo wagon filled to the brim with Mac gear. He used to set up a system when he'd come to visit and show us some of the capabilities. One day after getting bored with Flight Simulator, I showed him my full color 1MB Amiga 500 system. Guy never took the Amiga "seriously" for some reason (too low a price point I guess) but was floored when he finally got to play around with mine. Admitted it had great graphics, fluid animation, stereo sound, etc. I'll never forget that day.

[Keatah]

Pack-ins! That's what the wife says was a big part of my first experiences with the Amiga being so lousy.

And that may be true. I clearly recall hanging out at Compu-Shop, Data-Domain, and the TRS-80 Computer centers and I always got something free there. When I got my Apple II the guy gave me a 3rd-party book and game 2. In real baggies! We all knew games in bags were the best. That was awesome! Especially back then. Especially to a kid.

The guy in the 'Fro at Compu-Shop would always set me up with something small for every $100 or whatever we spent there. Like a free disk, or official Apple gift pen, or brass paperweight. Something.

The RadioShack guy at the Computer Center gave me a book with like 50 programs to type in and 2 cassettes to save my work. This for the Pocket Computer. He put it in a separate bag so now I had 2 bags to undo when I got home. The first being the PC-1 and its cassette interface.

I went back there some months later and they helped me debug and locate a typo I couldn't find. Awesome. I eventually bought a printer for it. And I got spare ribbon and pack of paper free.

The first go-around I had with the A1000 was in summer/fall of 1985 from Farnsworth Computers. It was a lousy experience. I was able to score Graphicraft and Textcraft, but only after I bitched and complained the computer was useless and that there was nothing available. I swear they took great pride in selling me a box of disks for like $79 so I had "something" to put these two programs on. A couple of days later I found disks much cheaper elsewhere and realized I was taken for a ride.

And when I got my Amiga 500, 512K/clock memory upgrade, and 1084s monitor from Protecto (around 1987) I got shit. Not so much as a free 5-pack of diskettes.

Both Amiga stores were hard-asses and seemed intent on maximizing profit rather than fostering goodwill and making a customer happy. And I absolutely hated Computerland for throwing me out when I got caught trying to copy a utility from Commodore. Free or not I don't know. But c'mon and give a kid a break.

Later on they were selling the Amiga with pack-ins including stuff like: Tv adapter, Deluxe Paint II, Textcraft, Tetris, EA GamePak. Things like that. The Amiga should have had little bundles like so from the getgo.

In 1992/1993 when I ordered my Gateway 2000 486 DX2/50 I was "given" a choice of real professional applications. Wow! Real professional applications. I was getting ready for the big leagues. Serious stuff. Serious Software. I picked MS-Word out of perhaps 10 other options. The smarter me of today suspects that the cost was rolled into the final total, but how it was presented was very nice. And it came with real manuals, and real install disks, no mal-ware, and it just worked when I clicked on the icon. The salesguy even gave me some local BBS numbers to call to get more things and said he'd give me a box of disks and mousepad.

 

Some weeks after getting the system I ran into a bind. I was transferring over data from the Apple II to the PC, and had this funky contention with <cr> and LineFeeds. I spent like 2 hours on the phone badgering the tech support reps at both Gateway and Microsoft. We eventually came to a solution that worked. Today I would simply write a macro, but back then I didn't really know what a macro was. Point being is they took the time to work through the problem.

So you see it just wasn't about the computer itself, but the experience surrounding it. Especially early on. Creating good vibes and all that. A lot of that responsibility fell on the retail stores.

Edited February 21, 2017 by Keatah

[Zippy Zapp]

 

Probably an over-enthusiastic local manager or something. See those evangelists all the time.

 

No it was me! I was pushing the Amiga.

 

Perhaps the Amiga was what the station wagon seems to be today: super hot in Europe but ice cold in America?

 

 

Hardly cold in America. But that is what people seem to want to believe. I lived through those years and the excitement in my area was not cold. Would Amiga World magazine and several other US publications and monthly disk magazines even have existed if the US market was completely cold? Doesn't add up.

[zzip]

Both Amiga stores were hard-asses and seemed intent on maximizing profit rather than fostering goodwill and making a customer happy. And I absolutely hated Computerland for throwing me out when I got caught trying to copy a utility from Commodore. Free or not I don't know. But c'mon and give a kid a break.

 

Can you blame them? I got thrown out of a local store just for playing video games on their video game kiosk, and watching others play-- the very thing it was put there for! I just think the sales clerk just didn't like kids congregating there for more than 10 min.

[eightbit]

I can tell you for sure that at least the early A500 boxes did NOT come with an A520 here in the USA. My first A500 (KS 1.2) was just the computer, mouse, PSU and manuals). I still have the box for it My second A500 which included KS 1.3 and the blue box with the paintbrush graphics still did not include an A520. I purchased it separately years down the road just to have a way to get the Amiga to composite (why I don't know) but both A500's I had purchased I had to purchase monitors (1084 at first, and then 1084S later) for them. I found out rather quickly I needed one after taking the A500 home to discover I only had access to mono composite video. Not a nice surprise!