4 ms·

I enjoyed the stab at Atari ST far too much - apparently that grudge has lasted well over 30 years.

by progre 5y ago

bitwize 5y ago
Is it still uncool to like both? The Atari ST had objectively worse game graphics and sound, but it was better than the Amiga for things like MIDI and DTP.
- Sosh101 5y ago
  This might make you smile as an ST fan : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLjgXPDzeZo&t=19s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLjgXPDzeZo&t=19s
  - bitwize 5y ago
    So many British musicians, including two of my favorites, The KLF and Imogen Heap, were using STs in the 80s and 90s.
- progre 5y ago
  No, sure, as a kid who was very much in to techno music the Atari ST was much admired for it's MIDI capabilities. Any actual MIDI gear was very much out of the price range for my parents and for anyone I knew. We had a setup in the music room in school with an Atari ST and a digital sampler though, had lots of fun with it. My 30 year old grudge has more to with the one rich kid in my school who actually owned an Atari ST. It was slightly more expensive than the Amiga, which he loved to point out.
  - kstrauser 5y ago
    I had a $50 MIDI interface box on my Amiga. It would’ve been nice to have it built-in, but it was one of the cheaper things to add.
    - progre 5y ago
      Sure, but like I said, actual MIDI controllable gear was not cheap.
      - kstrauser 5y ago
        Right, but doesn’t that apply to using an ST, too? You didn’t get a discount on synths based on which OS you were using.
    - rasz 5y ago
      midi interface was one thing, but what really sold ST as a music computer was 640x400 72Hz 12 inch mono monitor. Sharp picture, no headache inducing interlace.
- Findecanor 5y ago
  I had both, and thought the "rivalry" was just a bit of fun ... A large portion of the games were developed for both systems simultaneously, often without the Amiga version taking advantage of the machine's better capabilities. Some games had better music on the Atari ST, but largely because of the abilities of the composers.
- sirwhinesalot 5y ago
  Honestly both the Amiga and ST were excellent computers. Judging by the A1000 I'd even say the ST was the better machine, considering the price. The reason so many people who had an Amiga are (still) salty over the ST is that lots of games were ported straight from the ST without taking any advantage of the extra power of the Amiga besides audio. While the publishers are to blame here, the ST is the easy target. Had the ST not existed, those games would have likely targeted the Amiga hardware first and foremost, and been far better as a result (proper scrolling, higher framerates, more and better colors, etc.). But again, the ST is not to blame for that. Similar thing happened to MSX and Amstrad CPC owners with ZX Spectrum ports. These days all these machines have healthy homebrew scenes that show how nice the hardware really is. I still can't believe Dread and Metro Siege are real Amiga games. And Dread has an ST port, and that's a good thing.

I enjoyed the stab at Atari ST far too much - apparently that grudge has lasted well over 30 years.

by progre 5y ago

I enjoyed the stab at Atari ST far too much - apparently that grudge has lasted well over 30 years.

Is it still uncool to like both? The Atari ST had objectively worse game graphics and sound, but it was better than the Amiga for things like MIDI and DTP.

Sosh101 5y ago
This might make you smile as an ST fan : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLjgXPDzeZo&t=19s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLjgXPDzeZo&t=19s
- bitwize 5y ago
  So many British musicians, including two of my favorites, The KLF and Imogen Heap, were using STs in the 80s and 90s.
progre 5y ago
No, sure, as a kid who was very much in to techno music the Atari ST was much admired for it's MIDI capabilities. Any actual MIDI gear was very much out of the price range for my parents and for anyone I knew. We had a setup in the music room in school with an Atari ST and a digital sampler though, had lots of fun with it. My 30 year old grudge has more to with the one rich kid in my school who actually owned an Atari ST. It was slightly more expensive than the Amiga, which he loved to point out.
- kstrauser 5y ago
  I had a $50 MIDI interface box on my Amiga. It would’ve been nice to have it built-in, but it was one of the cheaper things to add.
  - progre 5y ago
    Sure, but like I said, actual MIDI controllable gear was not cheap.
    - kstrauser 5y ago
      Right, but doesn’t that apply to using an ST, too? You didn’t get a discount on synths based on which OS you were using.
  - rasz 5y ago
    midi interface was one thing, but what really sold ST as a music computer was 640x400 72Hz 12 inch mono monitor. Sharp picture, no headache inducing interlace.
Findecanor 5y ago
I had both, and thought the "rivalry" was just a bit of fun ... A large portion of the games were developed for both systems simultaneously, often without the Amiga version taking advantage of the machine's better capabilities. Some games had better music on the Atari ST, but largely because of the abilities of the composers.
sirwhinesalot 5y ago
Honestly both the Amiga and ST were excellent computers. Judging by the A1000 I'd even say the ST was the better machine, considering the price. The reason so many people who had an Amiga are (still) salty over the ST is that lots of games were ported straight from the ST without taking any advantage of the extra power of the Amiga besides audio. While the publishers are to blame here, the ST is the easy target. Had the ST not existed, those games would have likely targeted the Amiga hardware first and foremost, and been far better as a result (proper scrolling, higher framerates, more and better colors, etc.). But again, the ST is not to blame for that. Similar thing happened to MSX and Amstrad CPC owners with ZX Spectrum ports. These days all these machines have healthy homebrew scenes that show how nice the hardware really is. I still can't believe Dread and Metro Siege are real Amiga games. And Dread has an ST port, and that's a good thing.