Amiga CD32

The Amiga CD32, styled "CD³²" and code-named "Spellbound", is the first 32-bit home video game console released in western Europe, Australia, Canada and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London, United Kingdom on July 16, 1993, and was released in September of the same year. The CD32 uses CD-ROM media, and was developed by Commodore, creator of the Commodore 64 computer. It was based on Commodore's Advanced Graphics Architecture chipset, and is of similar specification to the Amiga 1200 computer. Using third party devices, it is possible to upgrade the CD32 with keyboard, floppy drive, hard drive, RAM and mouse, turning it into the equivalent of an Amiga 1200 personal computer. A hardware MPEG decompression module for playing Video CD was released. In the Christmas period following its launch, the CD32 accounted for 38% of all CD-ROM drive sales in the UK, exceeding sales of the Mega-CD; however it was soon overshadowed by CD-ROM based games consoles from other companies, and was discontinued as Commodore went into bankruptcy.

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. Based on the Motorola 68000 family of microprocessors, the machine has a custom chipset with graphics and sound capabilities that were unprecedented for the price, and a pre-emptive multitasking operating system called AmigaOS. The Amiga provided a significant upgrade from earlier 8-bit home computers, including Commodore's own C64.

The Amiga 1000 was officially released in July 1985, but a series of production problems meant it did not become widely available until early 1986. The best selling model, the Amiga 500, was introduced in 1987 and became one of the leading home computers of the late 1980s and early 1990s with four to six million sold. The A3000, introduced in 1990, started the second generation of Amiga systems, followed by the A500+ and the A600. Finally, as the third generation, the A1200 and the A4000 were released in 1992. The platform became particularly popular for gaming and programming demos. It also found a prominent role in the desktop video, video production, and show control business, leading to affordable video editing systems such as the Video Toaster. The Amiga's native ability to simultaneously play back multiple digital sound samples made it a popular platform for early "tracker" music software. The relatively powerful processor and ability to access several megabytes of memory led to the development of several 3D rendering packages, including LightWave 3D and Aladdin 4D.

CD32

CD32 is a surface receptor protein and part of a large population of B cell co-receptors, which act to modulate signaling.

It has a low-affinity for IgG antibodies and down-regulates antibody production in the presence of IgG. This feedback loop acts to lower the production of IgG by B cells when there is a surplus in the body.

Monoclonal antibodies can distinguish between CD32A and CD32B.

References

Alien Breed

Alien Breed is the first in the Alien Breed series of science fiction shooter video games played with a top-down view, for one or two players. It was released in 1991 by Team17 for the Commodore Amiga and later in 1993 by MicroLeague for MS-DOS.

Gameplay

The game was based heavily, and unofficially, on the Alien films, specifically Aliens, and also on the 8-bit-era games Laser Squad and Paradroid (although the game bears some gameplay similarities with Gauntlet, with which it has been compared, as well an obvious comparison with Sega's Alien Syndrome). Alien Breed consists of the player or players having to find the lift down to the next level, occasionally setting the self-destruct sequence to blow up the level above them. The players collect or purchase a variety of weapons from the space station's computer terminals. In some versions of the game, these so-called Intex terminals provide additional features such as a clone of the classic computer game Pong. Credits found on the ground have to be saved for these weapons and other enhancements, each giving the players an edge over the gradually more and more powerful Alien forces. In advanced levels, players are occasionally trapped in enclosed spaces with huge "boss" aliens, reminiscent of the Alien Queen.