Come and peek behind the curtain for a glimpse at the future.
Show Floor
Come step behind the curtain and experience the groundbreaking demos combining color graphics, animation, and sound. Be ready to walk into the 1984 CES room, where the first Amiga prototype and demos were presented to invitation-only special guests. Feel transported back in time to this exciting period and have a special invitation to see history in the making. Along with the prototypes, a large number of rarely seen artifacts from Amiga Corp and Commodore will be on display.
In addition to the earliest days of the Amiga, we are putting together special presentations of iconic scenes from the past. In 1987, the Amiga 500 was released by Commodore and went on to sell millions of units. Many of those units ended up in kids’ bedrooms around the world. It was so common that Commodore hired Steven Spielberg to create TV advertisements based on that idea. We will recreate that scene, fully working and interactive, so that folks can remember and enjoy it.
Another scene we will present is the wildly popular NewTek Video Toaster and Flyer. You will be able to step into the mid-nineties edit room and experience the first affordable TV studio in a box.
Next, we will have a large number of Amiga Computer systems running on the show floor to explore. There will be the iconic Commodore Amiga systems, modernized classic systems with a Raspberry Pi accelerator, and other excellent add-ons. Vampires, MorphOS, AROS, and AmigaOS 4 offer a glimpse into what the Amiga and its descendants are like in 2025.
Lastly, one of our sponsors, A-Eon, along with AmigaKit, will have a live presence on the show floor, showcasing their latest products: the A1222+, A600GS, and A1200NG. Attendees may also discover other amazing Amiga-compatible products in AmigaKit’s store.
Presentations
Amiga Corp @ CES 1984
By Dale Luck, Sam Dicker, Ron Nicholson, RJ Mical, Bob Burns
Panel discussion with Amiga Corp team members who worked on the January 1984 CES Amiga closed-door showing. Sam Dicker wrote a 3D spinning ball demo for that event, but that’s where the story starts.
Amiga 3rd party developers
Led by Perry Kivolowitz and others, coming
Outside Looking In – the 3rd Party Developer View. Even before the launch of the Amiga, a vibrant and enthusiastic 3rd part developer community immediately took shape. The view of the early days from the perspective inside Commodore and Amiga has been well discussed but what about the folks who built the products we all came to love? Join us for a panel discussion led by Perry Kivolowitz (6-time Fish Disk author, including the Recoverable Ram Disk, and founder of ASDG) for a lively discussion from the outside… looking in.
Magicore Engine: No Tricks, Just an Amiga and Good Tools
By Dan Salvato
Development tools are becoming more accessible and streamlined than ever, enabling us to create incredible new experiences on classic systems that couldn’t be dreamt of back in the day. Dan Salvato shows you what happens when a professional game dev designs a game entirely around the capabilities of Amiga, and how it’s made possible not through crazy hardware tricks, but through modern development tools and workflow
What is an Amiga in 2025?
By Trevor Dickinson
It’s been 40 years since the launch of the Amiga Computer and 31 years since Commodore died. Since then, the Amiga Community has seen ups and downs but continues to march forward. Never has there been as much happening on the platform since Commodore’s death. Trevor walks through the current state of the Amiga and answers the question: What is an Amiga in 2025?
Building modern Amiga HW
By Stefan Reinauer
Discuss the experience of building fresh hardware for the classic Amiga. The team and Salih Albayrak have worked on several new products, including the Re4091, Re4091 mini, and Kick Smash. He will present the process of blending modern hardware techniques to support 35-year-old systems.
The VCF West team manages the schedule and location of these presentations and will be posted along with the show’s schedule on their website.
Evening Event
We will host an evening event on Friday night, August 1st. We plan to create two significant elements: one will honor the Commodore’s Lincoln Center release of the Amiga 1000, and the second will be an awards presentation. This event will not require a separate ticket, and food will not be served.
The show concludes at 5 PM on Friday, and the evening event will begin around 8 PM and run for approximately 2 hours.
To make the event more fun, we are asking folks to dress in formal wear, as they did back in 1985. We understand that not everyone will be able to bring a tux or gown; that is okay, all are welcome as they are.
We will ensure that attendees have sufficient time to grab dinner from the food trucks at VCF West or off-site, as well as time to change into formal wear. It should be an enjoyable evening!
The final item: voting for the evening event award night is still open, so be sure to vote before June 29th, when voting closes.
Note: The above plans are what we are working toward, and we make no guarantee that we will be able to achieve all of the outlined here.
Thank you!
AMIGA/040th organizing team