Games - Amstrad CPC

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	Games - Amstrad CPC

The Amstrad CPC was a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad during the 1980s and early 1990s. CPC stood for 'Colour Personal Computer', although it was possible to purchase a CPC with a green screen (GT65/66) as well as with the standard colour screen (CTM640). The first machine, the CPC 464 was introduced in 1984. It was designed to be a direct competitor to the Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum systems.

Outwardly, the most distinguishing features of Amstrad's offering were the matte black console case with sharp corners and narrowly rectangular form factor (the latter due to the built-in cassette tape deck (CPC 464) or floppy disk drive (CPC 664 and CPC 6128), the keyboard's distinctly coloured special keys (all the non-typewriter-standard keys), and the unique power supply hookup with one lead going from the console to the monitor (or RF modulator) and one lead going the other way. A television could be used with an optional adapter.

The Amstrad CPC sold as a "complete system"

Amstrad initially promoted the CPC as being an improvement on the competing ZX Spectrum and C64 because it was a complete system - including everything required to use the machine in one box. Compared to a C64 or a ZX Spectrum, the Amstrad CPCs shipped with their own monitor, had a built in tape recorder or floppy disk drive and even a small loudspeaker. This marketing gave a more "professional" appeal to the Amstrad CPC by marketing it in the same way as business-oriented systems, rather than gaming or home oriented ones.

As a late entrant to the European 8-bit market, the CPC range never achieved the sales volume of either the ZX Spectrum or the C64, but the advantages of a proper typewrite-style keyboard and integrated tape or floppy drive saw it obtain considerable market share in the late 80s. Despite strong competition in the UK, it became the most popular and best-selling computer in France at this time.

The CPC family

The Amstrad CPC 464, 472, 664, 6128

The original CPC was sold in the following configurations:

CPC 464 – Tape deck, 64 KB RAM, square-edged keyboard
CPC 472 – Tape deck, 72K RAM (although the extra 8K of RAM cannot be used); produced in small numbers for the Spanish market to avoid a legal ruling requiring that all computers with 64 KB or less RAM must be localized to the Spanish language, including the keyboard and screen messages.
CPC 664 – 3" Floppy disk drive, 64K RAM, bowed keyboard; short-lived model, quickly replaced by the better-specified 6128
CPC 6128 – 3" Floppy disk drive, 128K RAM (accessed using bank switching), more PC-like keyboard

External disk drives such as the DDI-1/FD-1 were available for the 464. A cassette adapter was available for the 664 and 6128. All 128K models were backward compatible with the 64K variants. A third-party hardware addon, the Multiface, allowed backup of most tape software to disk.

Most games and software targeted the 64K RAM 464 and 664 models. Only a handful of titles exclusively targeted the 128K machines.

The memory layout of the system allowed the CPCs to run CP/M 2.2 and CP/M software adapted especially for the machines was not uncommon. An Amstrad-specific variant of CP/M 3.0 (aka CP/M Plus) was developed for the 6128 and used in later years.

West Germany: Schneider CPC 464, 664 and 6128

Amstrad's German partner company Schneider produced its own models of the CPC 464, 664 and 6128. These machines had grey keys in place of the Amstrad coloured alternatives and an industry standard Centronics port in place of the expansion edge connector but were otherwise identical at the hardware level. Documentation and case labels were translated into German.

East Germany: KC compact

Like most other computers of the era, the CPC inspired a clone in the Eastern bloc, the KC compact made in East Germany using Russian and East German components.

The machine differed from a CPC visually with a different style of case, external power supply and (optional and even more scarce than the main device) external 5.25" 'Robotron' disc drive. Unlike the Amstrad models it could be used with a television screen out of the box. It ran BASIC 1.1 and a CP/M 2.6 clone, the German speaking MicroDOS. It had 64K RAM built in and an additional 64K RAM was provided with the external disc/tape drive adapter.

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