Amstrad CPC: Difference between revisions

Amstrad is a British manufacturer of consumer electronics, and in the early 1980s decided to get into the home computer market. The market at that time was dominated by the [[Commodore 64]] and [[ZX Spectrum]], so Amstrad needed something that was as cheap as those, but technically better. They developed a [[Central Processing Unit|Z80]]-based system, and a two-chip [[Graphics Processing Unit]] that combined a Motorola 6845 with a custom gate array. The new graphics engine had both higher resolution and more colors than the C64 and Spectrum (though this often didn't show when Speccy games were cheaply ported to the CPC).

 

The lineup (464 and 6128) remained unchanged until 1990, when Amstrad decided to improve them to a standard closer to the [[Amiga]] and [[Atari ST]]. The new models were the 464plus, the 6128plus, and the [[GX 4000]] game console. They had a new GPU with a 4,096-color palette and hardware sprites; a less processor-intensive sound system; and support for analog joysticks and cartridges up to four megabits. They were also completely backwards compatible. But they were still based on the 8-bit Z80, so they were obsolete in an industry of 16- and 32-bit computers, and failed in the marketplace. The CPC was also more complex than the Spectrum, so it didn't have the second life in eastern Europe that the Spectrum had.

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* [[Central Processing Unit|CPU]]: Zilog Z80, 4 Mhz.

* [[Graphics Processing Unit|GPU]]: Combination of a Motorola 6845 and a custom gate array.

* Sound: General Instrument AY-3-8912.

* 464, 664, 464plus, GX4000: 64K.

* 6128, 6128plus: 128K.

* 160*200, 320*200, or 640*200 resolution.

* Original models: 27 colors. (The palette was built on a ternary GRB system, from 000<small>3</small> to 222<small>3</small>: 0 was black, 1 was dark blue, 2 was light blue, 3 (010<small>3</small>) was dark red, etc. [[wikipedia:List of 8-bit computer hardware palettes#CPC series|More info.]])

* Plus models, GX4000: 4,096 colors.

* Three channels.

* Square or noise waveforms.

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* ''750cc Grand Prix''

* ''Airwolf''

* ''World Cup Carnival''

* ''Zombi''

* ''Zynaps''

 

 

* ''[[1942]]''

* ''[[1942|1943: The Battle of Midway]]''

* ''[[Shadow of the Beast]]''

* ''[[Shinobi]]''

* ''[[Star Control]]''

* ''[[Street Fighter (video game)|Street Fighter]]''

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Videogame Systems]]