Forget PCs and Macs - in the 1980s, there was one computer that every kid   
   wanted: the Amiga. 30 years ago, having already released the hugely successful   
   Commodore 64 earlier in the decade, Commodore made another massive step forward   
   in affordable home computing with the Amiga, giving people access to word   
   processing, music creation, video editing and, of course, gaming at price that   
   didn’t break the bank. And Sensible Soccer.   
      
   Eventually, the Amiga declined in popularity, mainly as a result of Microsoft   
   releasing Windows 95, which again changed the face of computing. But many of us   
   still fondly recall those days spent with our Amiga 500+, 1200 or 4000. We all   
   know how amazing the likes of Lemmings, Speedball 2 and Cannon Fodder were, but   
   did you know that Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins was also a fan? Or that   
   Calvin Harris made one of his most popular tunes on the Commodore Amiga?   
   They are just two of 20 interesting Amiga facts that you may not have known.   
      
   1. Who created the Amiga?   
      
   There was a bitter rivalry between Amiga and Atari ST owners, but not many of   
   them realised the Amiga was actually created by ex-Atari employees. Jay Miner   
   and Larry Kaplan formed the development company Hi-Toro, which eventually   
   became Amiga Incorporated in 1982. If the name Larry Kaplan is familiar to you,   
   he’s the chap who co-founded Activision.   
      
   2. Amiga Vs Atari ST nearly didn't happen   
      
   In fact, the Amiga vs Atari war could have ended before it even started. Back   
   in 1984, Atari had lined up a deal to buy Amiga Corp and license its technology   
   to make Atari computers. Days before the deal was done, Commodore swooped in   
   and bought Amiga, offering four times as much money. Annoyed, Atari pressed on   
   and created its own computer, the Atari ST, beginning the 16-bit home computer   
   war.   
      
   3. Amiga's weird controller   
      
   Before it made computers, Amiga created peripherals and controllers for Atari   
   consoles. Its oddest creation was the Joyboard, a flat board players stood and   
   leaned on to control games instead of a joystick. If that sounds familiar, we’   
   ve got three words for you: Wii Balance Board.   
      
   4. Amiga and the B-52s   
      
   Someone at Amiga was a fan of American new wave band The B-52s. Each computer’s   
   motherboard had the name of a B-52s song inscribed on it. The A500 was ‘Rock   
   Lobster', the A600 was ‘Junebug’, the A1200 was ‘Channel Z’ and the A590 was   
   ‘Party Mix’. This theme ended with the CD32’s motherboard, which instead read   
   ‘Spellbound' (a song by Siouxie And The Banshees).   
      
   5. Microsoft worked for Amiga   
      
   AmigaBASIC was an early programming language which was installed as part of   
   early Amiga operating systems. It was written by a little company called   
   Microsoft, years before it started making its own Windows operating system.   
      
   6. Computer of many colours   
      
   The Amiga 500 had a palette of 4096 colours to choose from but could usually   
   only display up to 32 colours on-screen at once. Compared to consoles like the   
   SNES (32,768 colours) this wasn’t too impressive. The Amiga 1200 changed this   
   with a 24-bit colour palette that allowed a ridiculous 262,144 colours on-   
   screen from a palette of 16.8 million colours.   
      
   7. Amiga going to the dogs   
      
   The inside of the A1000 case has the signatures of the design team and the paw   
   print of designer Jay Miner's dog embedded on the inside.   
      
   8. Some of your disks are infected by a VIRUS!   
      
   The first ever malware was on an Amiga. The Swiss Cracking Association created   
   a virus in 1987 that, due to mass piracy among Amiga users, eventually spread   
   to around 40% of users. All it did though was display this message every 15th   
   time you booted up: “Something wonderful has happened: Your Amiga is alive!   
   And, even better, some of your disks are infected by a VIRUS! Another   
   masterpiece of The Mega-Mighty SCA!”   
      
   9. Loyal supporters   
      
   Although Commodore went bankrupt in 1994, the Amiga community remained active   
   for years to follow. Popular magazine Amiga Format was still going right up to   
   May 2000.   
      
   10. Amiga created Disco   
      
   Being a home computer, the Amiga was capable of all sorts of tasks other than   
   playing games, including making gold-selling albums. Calvin Harris’ 2007 debut   
   album I Created Disco, which included the hit Acceptable In The 80s, was made   
   entirely in his home studio using a then 15-year-old Amiga 1200.   
      
   11. Amiga art   
      
   Prolific American artist Andy Warhol was at the Amiga 1000’s launch, where he   
   created a digital painting of Blondie singer Debbie Harry. However, it turned   
   out he also dabbled on the Amiga in his spare time. Just last year, a   
   collection of old floppy disks belonging to Warhol was discovered, containing   
   paintings he’d created on Amiga art programs.   
      
   12. Celebrity fan   
      
   What do Mary Poppins and the Amiga have in common? The answer: Dick Van Dyke.   
   Believe it or not, the veteran actor is a massive fan of 3D computer animation   
   and has appeared at tech conventions to show off the short animated films he   
   makes on his Amiga.   
      
   13. Game Freak made music on Amiga   
      
   Amigas were used to help the creation of games on other formats. For example,   
   Japanese studio Game Freak composed the music for Pokemon Gold & Silver on an   
   Amiga (before obviously converting it to a format understood by the Game Boy   
   Color).   
      
   14. Be Sensible   
      
   Amiga developer Sensible Software was best known for legendary football game   
   Sensible Soccer and war game Cannon Fodder. In Christmas 1993, they combined   
   the two to make a special game for Amiga Power magazine called Cannon Soccer.   
   This was basically a special Cannon Fodder level that took place on a football   
   pitch.   
      
   15. Amiga sponsored Chelsea   
      
   In 1987, Commodore and Chelsea Football Club agreed on a shirt sponsorship deal   
   worth £1.25 million. At the time, the deal - which saw ‘Amiga’ emblazoned on   
   the front of Chelsea’s home and away shirts - was the largest sponsorship deal   
   in UK football history.   
   16. Amiga Minecraft   
   The Amiga may be long dead but its final operating system, Amiga OS4, continues   
   to be used and developed for by die-hards. Earlier this year a developer   
   announced he was working on Amicraft, an Amiga version of Minecraft.   
      
   17. Amiga air   
      
   Want proof of the Amiga’s durability? You only need look back to last month to   
   find people still using it.. In June 2015 it was reported that all 19 public   
   schools in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area still use an Amiga 2000 to control   
   their air conditioning to this day. Replacing it all would cost them $2m so   
   they’re happy to stick with it because, nearly 30 years later, it’s still   
   reliable   
      
   18. The most delayed game ever?   
      
   Games are often subject to cancellation, but Putty Squad was binned right at   
   the very last minute. It was so late, in fact, that the game was already   
   finished and had been sent to magazines for review. Amiga Power had given it   
   91% and CU Amiga had scored it 94%, but then the game was mysteriously never   
   released. It wasn’t until 2013 - a massive 19 years later - that developer   
   System 3 finally released it on PS3, PSP and iOS.   
      
   19. The Star Trek actor who developed Amiga software   
      
   Andy Warhol and Dick Van Dkye may have been Amiga fans, but actor Wil Wheaton   
   went one step further by helping develop software for it. After finishing his   
   role as Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Wheaton went to work   
   for NewTek to help develop the Video Toaster 4000, an enhanced version of the   
   Amiga video editing software and hardware used to produce special effects for   
   the likes of Babylon 5 and seaQuest DSV.   
      
   20. The Amiga Walker   
      
   Shortly before Amiga Technologies went bankrupt, it announced the Amiga Walker,   
   an enhanced A1200 with a CD-ROM drive. It became known for its odd case shape,   
   which looked a bit like a robot dog. Ultimately though, only two prototypes   
   were released before the company went out of business.   
      
   /\llen   
      
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