From: simon@ivem.ucsd.edu (Simon)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Re: Amiga vs. Genesis.
Date: 10 Apr 1992 00:53:12 GMT
Organization: UCSD Microscopy and Imaging Resource
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: ivem.ucsd.edu
Originator: simon@ivem


In article <1992Apr9.103851.1276@wkuvx1.bitnet>, wingk@wkuvx1.bitnet (doc Nightmare) writes:
|> In article <Ydsw8Mi00Vok0M7EgY@andrew.cmu.edu>, Isao Takeda <it05+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
|> > 	<57030@cup.portal.com>
|> > Distribution: usa
|> > 
|> > 	Hello, 
|> > 
|> > 	I recently talked to a friend of mine.  He owns Amiga.  He started
|> > bragging about how his Amiga is superior to my Genesis in every single
|> > way.  He mentioned the inferiority of Genesis' ability to display colors
|> > on one screen (64/256).  He said that Amiga can display 4096 out of
|> > INFINITE colors.  I could not believe him, and I still cannot believe
|> > him.  He said something about RBG.  I can believe something like 512 out
|> > of 32768, but 4096 out of INFINITE colors?  Does he know what he is
|> > talking about?  Can you computer experts verify the credibility of his
|> > statement?  
|> > 
|> > 	Please note that I have not said anything about which systems is
|> > superior or anything like that.  I just wrote what happened in the past.
|> >  Human Torch, go ahead and flame me.  I know you cannot flame me.  
|> > 
|> > 	
|> > 
|> > 
|> > 	IST, a proud member of the master race --- human race.  
|> 
|>                      The Amiga can display 4096 colors normally, and with
|>   a video toaster, up to 16.8 million. I don't know about infinity.
|> 
|>       I didn't know there were an infinite number of colors.

Well, if you think of color as the spectrum, there is a finite number of
*visible* colors, but there is an infinite number of frequency bands, ie
"infinite number of colors".  You just can't see them all.
As for the Amiga's color range, you can display a MAXIMUM of 4096 colors
at once out of 4096 colors.  Most of the time, you'll probably see only
32 colors out of 4096 in low_res non-interlaced mode.  This is the resolution
most Amiga games are in.  If you viewed an Amiga game on a regular TV, it
would look almost exactly like the Genesis, especially if the Amiga games were
written in "half-bright" mode which gives you 32 more colors to use
(they're half the brightness of the first 32 colors).
As for the Amiga vs. Genesis, I personally believe the Amiga would be a much
better gaming platform since it is expandable, processor wise (though most
developers don't consider that when developing games), and also the custom
chips don't take away from the main processor for such things as the graphics
and audio.  The Genesis does most of its processing using the 68000 with
support from the Z80 for audio, but that isn't quite the same as using dedicated
custom chips for support.  In many ways, the Genesis is just like the Amiga.
But the Amiga is much more expandable (you can have hard drive games, and
even CD-ROM games, just like the Mega-CD, but unlike Mega-CD, you don't have
to wait as long since you can expand the Amiga's memory size also.)

-Simon
-- 
*   Simon Lee              *   Microscopy and Imaging Resources         *
*   simon@ivem.ucsd.edu    *   Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscopy *
*   sulee@ucsd.edu         *   UC San Diego, Dept. of Neuroscience      *
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