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System
Information: Amstrad 464 Plus
Development,
History, Games, Internals, Additional Information, Photos
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| Specifications Table |
| Manufacturer: |
Amstrad
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| Year
Released: |
1990
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Year
Discontinued: |
0000 |
| Size
& Weight: |
Unknown At This Time
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| Storage: |
ROM Cartridge or Cassette
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| CPU: |
Zilog Z80A
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Speed: |
4 Mhz
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| Additional
Processors: |
Amstrad Dedicated Graphics Chip
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| System
Memory: |
64 Kilobytes RAM
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| Graphics
Modes: |
3 Modes: 160x200, 320x200 & 620x200
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| Max
Colours: |
4096
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| Sound: |
3 Channel Stereo AY38910 Chip
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| Ports: |
Centronics Printer / Expansion / Cartridge / Power In / Game Controller
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| Power
Rating: |
5 Volts DC
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| Original
Cost |
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8 out of 10
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Retro-Zone.Org
- Retrospective Review:
While the plus series are without a doubt the most powerful 8-bit computer ever produced - they were no match for the 16-bit Atari and Amiga computers released at around the same time. The CPC Plus range was not used to anywhere near it's potential as it failed to attract enough third part support. If only Amstrad had opted for a 16-bit processor and better graphics capabilities!
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Do
I have one in my Collection?
NO  I don't have one of these yet. For some reason they are more rare than the 6128 plus. The annoying this is - I did have one many years ago! And I threw it away! Now I'm trying to make up for past mistakes.
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Additional Links:
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 Development:
The 464Plus was part of a mass release of computer and game systems by Amstrad. It was part of the new Plus line of computers, designed to take the reins from the now dated CPC series. The Plus Computers were marketed as "Home Computers" and released at the same time as the GX4000, which was Amstrad's first foray into the Gaming market. The console was a cut down version of the 464Plus with only a cartridge slot for loading software. The 464 & 6128 plus machines were designed to be cheap alternatives to the 16-bit systems of the time, but the machines were still based on the 8-bit Zilog Z80A processor which Amstrad had been using in it's machines for 6 years.
The Plus computers did have hugely upgraded graphics capabilities compared to the old CPC computers - but it was too little too late (and the fact that programmers did not make use of them didn't help either!) In a time where the Amiga and Atari ST were dominating the home computer market, and the 16-bit Nintendo & Sega machines were dominating the gaming market - the Plus range and the GX4000 never really stood a chance.
The 464 Plus had a built in tape recorder (like the CPC464) and was compatible with almost all existing CPC software intended for the CPC464. The 464 & 6128 plus machines were designed to look a lot like an Amiga / Archimedes.
As before the Amstrads came bundles with a choice of either a black & white or colour monitor. |
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History:
The 464 Plus was released along side the 6128 Plus in 1990, when the Commodore Amiga / Atari ST were already established. Although the Plus computers had some impressive features such as Hardware Sprites, Scaling, and an impressive colour palette of 4096 colours - it's slow CPU really held the machine back. Also the processor was not able to run at it's top speed due to the decision to make the Plus range compatible with the older CPC's. The Plus machines were launched along side the Amstrad GX4000 and were compatible with the same software cartridges, but the 464 Plus could also make use of Cassettes with the help of it's built in cassette drive.
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Games:
Around 40 games were originally released on cartridge (although you can still get some new homebrew titles like Street Fighter on eBay), and most of them were released by Ocean Software. Amstrad and Ocean had a close working relationship due to the success of the CPC range of computers and games and Amstrad persuaded Ocean to provide the initial launch titles for the GX4000 / Plus computers. However it soon became clear that no matter how good the programming was the machine was simply too slow to compete with the other machines on the market and virtually no other software houses were willing to risk releasing games for the system. Those that were released were simply cartridge versions of earlier released CPC games - with no added features. Considering a cartridge cost around £40 (a lot of money in 1990) the public were understandably outraged at paying so much money for a game they could easily buy on tape or disk for a few pounds. Having said all that the systems were home to some really playable cartridge based games. Pro Tennis and Burnin' Rubber standing out from the crowd.
And of course you could play all your favourite CPC games on the system too!
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Internals:
| The 464 Plus was powered by the famous Zilog Z80A processor running at 4Mhz. The processor is only 8-bit and was now outdated for this type of application. Sound was provided by the familiar AY38910 chip, the same used in the Amstrad CPC464, CPC664, CPC6128 and the Amstrad released Spectrum +2 and +3. A dedicated chip was also designed to enhance the graphical capabilities of the system - providing hardware sprites and graphics scaling - although these added features were only available to the cartridge based software. Clever programmers did manager to get around this limitation later on - but by then the Plus range was commercially dead. The 464Plus system has 64 kilobytes of user RAM and 16 kilobytes of dedicated video RAM. There were no ROM chips in the Plus computers - instead the BASIC operating system was supplied on Cartridge. |
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Additional
Information:
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Photos
| Gallery (click on a thumbnail to
enlarge) |
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References:
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