With the resurgence of retro gaming hardware enabling us to play old classics on big TV's with lots of built in games such as the NES Mini, SNES Mini, Playstation 1 Classic, NEO GEO Mini,PC Engine Mini and the C64 Mini/Maxi you'd be forgiven in thinking there wasn't much else to get excited about especially with all the mini's and maxi's out there in the wild. Well Retro Games Ltd have something to shout about and in a pretty big way, as today they have announced with a price, THE A1200. As in their words "FULL-SIZE. FULL KEYBOARD. FULL NOSTALGIA".
Here's the press release and yes I think I'm going to buy this one!
The iconic 90s home computer returns reimagined for the players of today
The wait is over.
From the creators of THEA500 Mini comes THE A1200, a full-sized recreation of one of the most iconic home computers of the early 1990s, now reborn for the modern era. Developed in conjunction with PLAION REPLAI, one of the world’s premier producers of retro hardware and software, THE A1200 combines meticulous authenticity with modern innovation, offering the definitive revival of a true 90s legend.
Following the global success of THEA500 Mini, which sold over 100,000 units worldwide, Retro Games Ltd has once again captured the magic of a generation raised on floppy disks, pixel art, and late-night gaming marathons. This is THE A1200, the machine that powered a decade of imagination, now rebuilt for the 21st century.
Back to the 90s, and beyond. Plug it in, switch it on, and step straight back into the era when games were bold, colourful, and full of character.
THE A1200 comes pre-loaded with 25 legendary titles, including Beneath A Steel Sky, Lure of the Temptress, Ruff n Tumble, Defender of the Crown I & II, and the Turrican trilogy, plus many more. Every game looks and feels just as you remember, only now with HDMI output, save states, and USB sideloading for even more adventures.
The ultimate 90s setup.
Each A1200 includes a working keyboard, classic-style mouse, and gamepad - everything you need to dive right back into the golden age of 16-bit gaming. “This was the machine that made the 90s come alive for a generation of players,” said Paul Andrews, Managing Director at Retro Games Ltd. “With THE A1200, we’re celebrating that incredible moment in time - the games, the design, and the creativity that shaped a generation.”
Release details:
- Launch Date: 16th June 2026
- SRP: £149.99 / €189.99 / $189.99 / AU$299.99
- Includes: Full-size computer, Mouse, Gamepad
- Retail Listings: 10th November 2025
Links :1) Source
You're too quick with these updates Neil! haha.
ReplyDeletehah Thanks Coope! Couldn't let this one slide :D
DeleteLaunch Date: 16th June 2026
ReplyDeleteRetail Listings: 10th November 2025
- is this some kind of joke?
Most likely pre-orders 10th Nov
DeleteVideo added, they've only just put it up :)
ReplyDeletethe usual €5 Android board with a hope-to-God emulator... it's better to wait who we know, at least it will be in fpga
ReplyDeleteWait for who?
DeleteAn FPGA would make it cost about you double the price or more. Look at the price of MiniMig and vampire boards.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWho we know??
DeletePlaying Turrican with a pad should be painful, since you need to press UP to jump, and very often you must do curved jumps.
ReplyDeleteif it's like A500 mini the games are whdload so it's possible to benefit from 2nd button for jump patches for such games.
DeleteForgive my ignorance but will this allow the loading of additional downloaded files game wise?
ReplyDeleteYeah, the press release says there is ‘USB side loading for even more adventures’, so should be able to load anything you want on there.
DeleteYeah, the press release says it has ‘USB side loading for even more adventures’, so should be able to load anything you want on there.
DeleteWill this allow the running of additional downloaded game files?
ReplyDeleteSo, no mention of Cloanto this time?
ReplyDeleteThe final price is actually really good. I made my own "The A1200" recently using Raspberry Pi 5, a second hand A1200 keyboard and case from Ebay, along with a bunch of adaptors and peripherals and the end cost was a little over 150 pounds and many, many hours of setup and tinkering. Of course, we need to see the final Spec for the CPU (the Pi5 gets a whopping 22k x chip speed vs A600 on Sysinfo) but this is not a bad deal at all!
ReplyDeleteI will be buying one, Though the focus seems to be on games, I wonder if it can do all the other stuff too, I would like to pack away my old 1200 safely and just use this but I like to do other things like coding.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame, in my opinion they should have made an effort and included an FPGA, and not only that, I would also have appreciated a video output to connect it to a CRT/monitor. As it is, it seems outdated already, and I don't think it's worth the price.
ReplyDeleteI think FPGA inclusion with RGB or even normal video out along with all the peripherals offered would have doubled the price. Once you start getting closer to 400 pounds range there aren't gonna be a lot of buyers as they would prefer to get a second hand A1200.
DeleteBut I agree that the idea of a FPGA A1200 built to the exact same spec as the original A1200 (i.e. including a working floppy disk drive) that runs like an A4000 does sound interesting..
I love this.
ReplyDeleteThere's some more information here https://amigang.com/the-a1200/
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I don't see ANY difference between software emulation and hardware emulation, UAE is such a mature product that it probably will provide a better experience than any FPGA could at this point, but it's based on what I saw on videos, I never really use any FPGA emulator.
ReplyDeleteFPGA is also TOO EXPENSIVE to even be considered as an "alternative", just look at the price of the newest A6000 (V6000?) It's for just a select few, of course, I could buy one of those, but sincerely WHO's going to make ANY SOFTWARE to run on something less than a 100 people actually OWN?
This thing being a cheap solution is the ONLY reason I would even consider buying it, because I already have a very similar experience with UAE for decades...
The ONLY real solution to make Amiga a viable platform again, at least for a hundred thousand enthusiasts would be to embreace the ALWAYS overlooked AROS, develop it to the point that it's usable and THAN sell new Amigas using EXISTING cheap and powerful hardware for the masses again.
What I need to know, is what are the specs? Shurly this is more important than knowing it comes with some old games, wouldn't you agree.
ReplyDeleteI might be interested in purchasing this if I could replace the arm board with a Raspberry Pi when the Amiga bare metal emulator will be available as it will be more close to the real Amiga
ReplyDeleteReal disk drive?
ReplyDeleteFrom the video of the A1200, the diskdrive slot seems sealed. Maybe it can be modified to add a diskdrive. However, I don't think this is ideal today because the Amiga disk drives where not standard, therefore you'll have to buy a used drive or a pc drive and floppy disks are no longer being manufactured. A solution could be an SD card reader instead of the diskdrive. Hopefully Retro Games Ltd include this option with a small internal speaker for mimicking the klicking of the drive when loading games. Perfection is in the details
DeleteThey aren't made anymore.
DeleteI would buy it if they use a Bare Metal emulator for less lag, and once you switch it on it will turn on immediately with the Amiga kickstart screen and when pressing a particular button a menu for loading games will appear, nothing fancy just a few folders with games listed Amiga with fonts. I don't like the menu with music I would prefer if the emulator will be basic and faster for authenticity.
ReplyDeleteAmiga 1200 boot screen https://www.gotek-retro.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/kickstart31.jpg
I think the user friendly menu is good for casual players or if you just want to turn it on and use it as a gaming machine...
ReplyDeleteBut they promised Workbench, It will be really nice if you could boot it and it looked like a real A1200 booting...
About Lag, not an expert, but for me, UAE looks and feel EXACTLY like a real Amiga and I could not see any, but it's decades since I last played on a real Amiga so...
Anyway, I'm developing an Amiga game ATM and, sincerely, the gameplay we have is FAR ABOVE (forgety modesty) anything Amiga had back then already and going to improve.
And all I had to test it is WinUAE, but i did that in several platforms ranging from my cellphone to three anbernic devices, mini-pcs, my development computer, etc...
I'm surely going to pre-order this machine.
In simple words, the lag issue is because the emulator is installed over the Linux OS, therefore when playing a game and pressing a button or moving the joystick the command FIRST have to be processed by the emulator SECOND has to proceed by Linux and FINALY by the armboard (hardware) thus is the reason of the lag (delay to take action on the screen). The bare metal emulator has no Linux OS between the Amiga emulator and the hardware. It's the best thing after an FPGA.
ReplyDeleteI Can't What Till It Caomes Out
ReplyDeleteThis is not an A1200. Just an A1200 case and keyboard and an emulator running on a Linux system inside. An FPGA machine would be called A1200 minus floppy drive, but plus modern i/o connectors. Double price.. If it cost $380, wouldn't it be worth it to buy a brand new Amiga 1200? I think it would be really worth it!
ReplyDelete