Description
Now other classic consoles are just toys! Introducing THEA500® Mini, a compact reimagining of this classic home computer. Featuring perfect emulation of not only the original A500 (OCS) and Enhanced Chip Set (ECS) of future revisions, but also the Advanced Graphics Architecture (AGA) of the A1200. Play one of the included 25 classic Amiga games, selected from a simple to use carousel, including all-time greats like Alien Breed 3D, Another World, Simon the Sorcerer and Worms. Or side-load your own games via USB stick with full WHDLoad support and an array of options to choose from. Plus save and resume your game at any time to help you finish those punishingly difficult classics. The THEA500® Mini comes with the original style 2-button mouse and newly engineered 8-button precision gamepad, allowing you to choose your control method. To compliment the on-screen keyboard, you can plug in an external standard USB PC keyboard for additional functionality.
Features & details
25 classic Amiga games included, featuring: Alien breed 3D, Another World, ATR: All terrain Racing, Battle Chess, Cadaver, Kick Off 2, Pinball Dreams, Simon the Sorcerer, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, The Chaos Engine, Worms: The Director's Cut, Zool: Ninja Of The 'nth Dimension
Emulates Amiga 500, 600 & 1200 (OCS/ECS/AGA)
Save & resume game functions
Via USB, add your own games, update the firmware, and connect your own devices (USB memory stick required (NOT supplied)). THEA500 Mini is compatible with 100's of classic Amiga games and demos, utilising WHDLoad for simplicity (games must be legally obtained/purchased from the legal owners)
50/60Hz in 720p HD via HDMI
The A500 Mini (Electronic Games) $164.26 Delivered @ Amazon UK via AU
![](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/u/69/416369-38.jpg?h=71fe3274)
Last edited 30/01/2023 - 20:37 by 1 other user
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Well I have one, and an a500 with mods.
Its a very cheap way of emulating the experience (after you do mods to support fake hard drives etc).
Its not as good as thec64 (which is a brilliant product) but its a really cheap way of playing with an amiga. Its not nessecarily better than an Amiga Emulator and doesnt feel the same as its so small and no keyboard. The mouse is ok but I found it small and hate the gamepad but thats a matter of preference.
Overall for this price if you are tempted, pick one up imo.
Do you know of anywhere in Aus that sells The C64? I can find the mini but not the larger one with functioning keyboard (which to me is half the nostalgia) :)
I think its a problem with stock everywhere I just checked a few sites including amazon - id just email retrogames in uk or contact them on facebook they should let you know australian distributors.
I bought mine via pre-order from the gamesmen, but target ebgames etc all sold it on release.
If its anything like the other retro consoles I have bought they will become scarce so I would recommend trying to get one now before they completely dry up.
NB thec64 is really very very good, I cant recommend it enough. I have a real c64 here also and IMO (and others opinions can differ) thec64 is all you need and a pretty close experience and they bloody look the same, and it feels close enough.
Cash converters
@MuddyClear: Just looked on their online site, and unless I did something wrong, nada. Also the only one I saw on ebay was someone trying to scalp it for $500 ouch
@MuddyClear: I actually was about to upvote you but then figured I shouldn't, on account of all the poor plebs who would be wasting their time checking cash converters
Just realised and thought I had better update - you can buy a The Vic20 instead, they are exactly the same and The Vic 20 has a c64 mode. Amazon has stock. Carousel I think will be different but in C64 mode you can run your own games from usb anyway!
Full Sized VIC20 with Working Keyboard
Three switchable modes - VIC 20, C64 and Games Carousel
60Hz (NTSC) & 50Hz (PAL) Display modes
Save & resume game functions
4 USB ports.Supports user supplied games via USB flash drive.Firmware upgradeable via USB flash drive (not included).64 built-in games..New micro switch joystick.
Unless you're a hardcore Amiga enthusiast, you'll be happy with the Mini. I got one at launch and really like it sitting there on my work desk. Loading games and playing them is super simple. Overall I'd recommend it.
I was on the dark side, being an Atari ST owner. I hope they bring one of those out
The right side.
I still have my A1000. I think I paid about $2K for it new…
Have you looked what they sell for now? $$$$
No, how much?
$$$$
$800-$1000 for an A1000 on its own with keyboard and mouse (depending on condition), up to $1500 complete with monitor (1080, 1081 or 1084).
They were very uncommon even back in the day.
Hmm, better dust off my Amiga 2500 with 68030 card and see if it still works!
I still have my 1000. I doubt it would switch on as it has sat in it's original box in a tin shed in the back yard the last 20 years. But it has the developers signatures embossed inside the case. Plus still have the 1080 Amiga monitor in its original box sitting in the garage. No idea if it still works either.
Look, I'll do you a favour and take it off your hands to give you more space in your tin shed. No need for thanks.
I still have an amiga and an atari ST in my collection.
I remember drooling over the amiga graphics when i had my c64 (playing the last ninja).Did you ever finish the game?
I cant remember tp be honest, id say no i remember it being tough….some bees chasing me Lol.
I did finish TLN, photocopied gamers magazine pages walkthrough. Repeated over 20 times, trying to get faster times. It ran a timer which thankfully didn't run during load spots, but was under 25 (maybe 20?) minutes in the end. Yeh, bees got me too, missing a swamp mound and sinking, being blown off a ledge by that giant fan… end screen lighting up the pentagram was a nice finish. Games were so playable, even if graphics were…what they were :)
That was hard AF. At a certain point I couldn't even work out where to go
It definitely was very challenging. I never managed to finish it.
I still remember finishing it on my C64 as a kid. It took me and my mate literally months to figure out to use the smoke bomb on the dragon to get past the first level. The rest want too hard from memory.
I have an original C64 but the colour isn’t right and it flicks to black and white, I’ve been meaning to try fix it. But it still runs my old Last Ninja disc.
My kids love playing Boulderdash on it 😄
The Last Ninja was a revelation for its time but lets be honest an absolute PITA to play. Anyone looking at it with rose tinted glasses should check out the Angry video game nerd episode on it…
but Boulder Dash was the absolute ducks nuts, played the bejayzus out of it. There was a GBA re-release of it but for whatever reason couldnt get back into it.
Better off getting a little Celeron N5105 box and run lots of emulators.
You are missing the point if that's how yousee it.
I would prefer a de10 nano with MiSTer on it.
Is the Amiga500 working close to perfectly with a 15khz CRT?
I wouldn't know to be honest. Personally I am more interested in the arcade cores.
why can't they make a full size one??? Or at least a mostly full size one. I'd buy that in a heartbeat
Because the market would be you, me and like 3 other people in Australia!
I'm one of the three!
4 here
They made a full size C64 after the mini one. They might do the same for the A500.
5 I would be there for that!
6!
More than you think. Even Amiga clubs are back up and about. New acceleration boards being made for original hardware. Magazines in the newsagents even. Check out Amiga Addict and zzap amiga.
I own an Amiga 500 already, wife would kill me.
You’d die happy
Just point out your 1 amiga and her 50 pairs of shoes.
AmIrightfellas
I have two A500s and an A1200 which I tinkered around with during covid lockdown. I also built a mister/de10 nano which does it all (and then some)
I never got an Amiga 500.
It was hard enough work convincing my parents to buy me a Commodore 64 for Christmas '86. I told them that if I got a Commodore 64, I would never ask them for any more 20 cent pieces to play the latest arcade games.
Then '87 came along and so did Double Dragon, R-Type, Out Run, After Burner, Operation Wolf etc.. I was then asking them for at least 40 cents to play those games.
I knew any chance of getting an Amiga 500 was gone, so I waited a couple of years and got a 386SX-25 with a turbo boost button when I started working.
It sucked…
/the end
Luckily given my parents occupation was in computing we had pretty much everything growing up.
c64, then a1000 and then an a500.
On the PC side we had an XT, AT, 286 laptop, 386 (IIRC thats the one i first started working on, installing a maths coprocessor), 486. And then i started doing my own builds.
Did you have a Pentium D? Intel just looked at a pile of surplus P4s then a pallet of superglue and thought…. hmmmm… I wonder….?
Nah used AMD for much of that period. I did have for a media PC with one of those boards that would run a laptop processor. That was when i first realised the weird path intel had taken with the p4. These laptop processors were based on tech from before the p4 but worked great.
If i was to continue the lineup i started above i believe i went to:
Cyrix 200+.
Then onto the slot one IIRC Celeron (with the cache, not the slow one). I think that was overclocked around 50% really really easily. 300Mhz to 450.
Then a random amd. Duron? Unlocked with a pencil.
AMD 64 x2 in there for a bit i think.
AMD Phenom 2 555be. Stuck with this for years. Cost ~$120, dual core 3.2Ghz. Many being sold as dual had no issue with the other 2 cores, they were just turned off. I turned on the disabled 2 cores, overclocked to 3.7Ghz and had very little reason to upgrade for quite a long time. By far my best value CPU buy.
Sinclair spectrum was my familys first, my Dad loves his gadgets. Hours typing in code for a Manhattan skyline graphic lol.
LOL - me too :) then began pc gaming - this story continues
R-TYPE was awesome.
I just had a Pavlov’s dog reaction to your comment and instantly started humming the theme tune.
Excellent game list!
R-Type was probably my favourite game for ages. I remember drawing the ship and various other art from the game in my school books for years. Weren’t the art in those old games awesome?
Double dragon, yep played that heaps on my family friend’s A500. I only ever had a C64.
Another World was a bit after I think but that blew my mind. I think I begged my parents to visit them so much.
Then there was Midnight Commando, Cannon Fodder, Firepower, Stunt Car Racer, (something) Beast(?)…
My fave was Super Cars II. There's a java implementation of Super Cars & Super Cars II called Supercars 3 actually.
Silkworm, SWIV & Battle Squadron were my other faves.
Stunt Car Racer was fun too.
Don't recall Midnight Commando but I do remember Midnight Resistance.
Altered Beast is what you're thinking of.
Yes, Altered Beast (hah my phone just spell corrected that to breast). And was there one called Shadow Of The Beast?
Oh actually my brain is now working, I meant Bionic Commando. But Midnight Resistance was great too!
I want one of these.
was there one called Shadow Of The Beast
Yes, with an excellent soundtrack and excellent parallax scrolling!
Paid $159 for one of these via BigW when they had a cashback and that was delivered.
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/9qr100v8?p=12You can download Roms and chuck em on a USB and load em up
This is UK source right? What about the power. Dow we need a custom adaptor or plug?
Also is the floppy on the side used or just for show?AC adapter not included….problem solved :-) The Mini is powered by USB-C.
Floppy drive and keyboard are just for show. The Mini is slightly bigger than two floppies. Check out the comparison photos:
https://amigang.com/amigamini-thea500/
Is there any way to read Amiga-format 880k floppy disks, without a genuine Amiga? I still have loads of disks from my A500 days, I'd like to see if there's anything on them that I want to keep.
A Greaseweazle is what you’re after my good man…
Thank you! That magic word unlocked all the answers!
I'm trying to work out what a game was that my friend had.
It was on Commodore Amiga (I think?)
From memory it looked like a duke nukem style platformer and may have had a human hero vs robots (or aliens?). Possibly trying to take back a base or space station/spaceship from invaders? Yes it has action but from memory it was about exploring not guns blazing. Any idea what the game might be?
wouldnt happen to be Alien Carnage from 3D Realms?
No, although that was a favorite of mine on my 486 sx :)
I don't think it was that but your guess totally fits my description. I'm not sure i remember it well enough to ever find it :/
Rick Dangerous was so much fun.
No, but just awesome does turrican look?
Spent many hours playing that as a kid. The music certainly brings back memories. Pretty amazing how much you could pack onto one floppy disk back in the day.
Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_from_the_Planet_of_the_…It was definitely traditional 2d rather than isometric
Impossible Mission?
good call
Hm obliterator.. Possible! I don't remember it being jerky but the rest seems plausible
Nostalgia…. In one word. If you didn't grow up with one you won't understand.
Also the amiga was way ahead of it's time, featuring true multitasking, etc.
…so if you watch a movie and love it you wont ever watch it again? And with the added nostalgic factor adding to it you wouldn't want to re-live some of the best times of your childhood?
I dont get that you dont get it..
I'm an Amiga fan, but I'd recommend people get a Quest 2 over this. It's not about the price of the console, but the limited hours available to use it.
And you wasted all that power making this comment, sad. I guess the problem is you're young?
Gameplay is important sometimes graphics and bloated systems don’t make everything better. Joystick too Amiga has digital joystick so controls very different to pc playing on mouse / keyboard or analogue joysticks or Xbox controllers. But main thing is like a Time Machine takes you back to childhood. Am in a Amiga retro group in Brisbane we get together share stories show off machines amazing how much development is still going on.
No one cares what PC you have.
I've got 70s relics too.
I personally love the old hardware, looking at the design, taking it apart, looking up its history, seeing if I can repair it.
What an odd comment.
"Modern computers are insanely powerful compared to" a Nintendo switch yet Nintendo still sells millions of consoles.
My kids have had great fun recently playing Bubble Bobble and Peggle. Neither obvoiusly need some super powerful gaming PC.
How can you not have realised by now graphics isnt the only factor in what makes a good game?
I tend to agree with you - they were awesome at the time. I had a Vic-20, C-128, A1000. I remember hiring a PS1 to play Jonah Lomu when I still had the A1000 & thats when I jumped to the Playstations.
A lot of us Nostalgia nerds tend to promote the top 10 games of their old console/computer of choice forgetting that the vast majority of games back then are shit by today's standards. Developers over the years have really learnt about balancing and polish to make games much better overall.
However, in that polish most big games have lost a sense of unique feeling and feel very similar. Just check out the open world games of the past 15 years and look at the recycled formulas that keep getting used again and again as an easy example. Some of those classic old games are janky but offer a unique experience that modern games often don't provide anymore.
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Oooh getting tempting now… As a passionate Amiga owner I'm a little torn. Do I go with something like this, or just continue to use UAE as an Amiga emulator. Does any enthusiasts that have purchased this have any thoughts either way?