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The Amiga turns 40 this year, and while the original home computer line remains a celebrated success with nearly five million units sold worldwide, its spin-off projects were far less fortunate. Both the CDTV and the CD32 failed to capture mainstream audiences, with the CD32 in particular remembered as Commodore’s final attempt to compete with the likes of Sega’s Mega Drive/Genesis and Nintendo’s SNES.
Launched in 1993 as one of the earliest “all-in-one” CD-based home consoles, the Amiga CD32 never reached its full potential. Roughly 125,000 units were sold before Commodore declared bankruptcy in 1994, abruptly ending the system’s run. Despite its commercial failure, the CD32 has maintained a loyal following among retro gaming enthusiasts who view it as a fascinating piece of gaming history.
Now, that community is seeing a new spark of life thanks to modder Rodrigo Vertulo and his CDex32 project (formerly known as The Mini CD32). His device not only plays original CD32 discs but also supports loading Amiga titles in .adf and .lha formats via USB. Better still, the console outputs through HDMI, making it fully compatible with today’s TVs.
👉 Check out Vertulo’s announcement tweet here:
🔥 CDex32 is Coming! 🔥
Ex-TheMiniCD32, now CDex32. Plug & play: Amiga CD32 discs + .adf/.lha from USB, HDMI out.#AmigaReposts #amiga #commodore #cd32 #cdex32 pic.twitter.com/1mjBSF25iK— Rodrigo Vertulo (@rvertulo) August 16, 2025
Unlike the original hardware, the CDex32 is powered by a Raspberry Pi, emulating the performance of Commodore’s short-lived system while providing a convenient and modern plug-and-play setup. It’s a second chance for one of the industry’s most interesting failures to finally reach a broader audience.
