Editing Amiga (section)

=== Concept and early development ===
[[Jay Miner]] joined [[Atari, Inc.]] in the 1970s and led development of the [[Atari Video Computer System]]'s graphics and sound chip, the [[Television Interface Adaptor]].<ref name=p1p3>{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2007/07/a-history-of-the-amiga-part-1/3/ |title=A history of the Amiga, part 1: Genesis |website=Ars Technica |first=Jeremy |last=Reimer |date=3 July 2007 |access-date=14 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704114247/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2007/07/a-history-of-the-amiga-part-1/3/ |archive-date=4 July 2017 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> When complete, the team began developing a much more sophisticated set of chips, [[CTIA and GTIA|CTIA]], [[ANTIC]], and [[POKEY]], that formed the basis of the [[Atari 8-bit computers]].<ref name=p1p4>{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2007/07/a-history-of-the-amiga-part-1/4/ |title=A history of the Amiga, part 1: Genesis |website=Ars Technica |first=Jeremy |last=Reimer |date=3 July 2007 |access-date=14 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704114244/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2007/07/a-history-of-the-amiga-part-1/4/ |archive-date=4 July 2017 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

With the 8-bit line's launch in 1979, the team once again started looking at a next generation chipset. [[Nolan Bushnell]] had sold the company to [[WarnerMedia|Warner Communications]] in 1978, and the new management was much more interested in the existing lines than development of new products that might cut into their sales. Miner wanted to start work with the new [[Motorola 68000]], but management was only interested in another [[6502]] based system. Miner left the company, and, for a time, the industry.<ref name=p1p4/>

In 1979, [[Larry Kaplan]] left Atari and founded [[Activision]]. In 1982, Kaplan was approached by a number of investors who wanted to develop a new game platform. Kaplan hired Miner to run the hardware side of the newly formed company, "Hi-Toro". The system was code-named "Lorraine" in keeping with Miner's policy of giving systems female names, in this case the company president's wife, Lorraine Morse.<ref name="AutoP5-1" /> When Kaplan left the company late in 1982, Miner was promoted to head engineer<ref name=p1p4/> and the company relaunched as Amiga Corporation.<ref>''New York Times'', 29 August 1984, p. D1</ref>

[[File:boingball.png|thumb|The Boing Ball]]

The Amiga hardware was designed by Miner, [[RJ Mical]], and Dale Luck.<ref name=NGen39>{{cite magazine |title=Cribsheet |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=39 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=March 1998|page=22}}</ref> A [[breadboard]] prototype for testing and development was largely completed by late 1983, and shown at the January 1984 [[Consumer Electronics Show]] (CES).<ref>Wallich, Paul: [https://spectrum.ieee.org/amiga-the-computer-that-wouldnt-die Amiga: The Computer That Wouldn't Die], ''spectrum.ieee.org'' 1 March 2001. Accessed on 3 February 2020.</ref>

A further developed version of the system was demonstrated at the June 1984 CES and shown to many companies in hopes of garnering further funding, but found little interest in a market that was in the final stages of the [[video game crash of 1983]].<ref name="AutoP5-1" /><ref name="AutoP5-2" />

In March, Atari expressed a tepid interest in Lorraine for its potential use in a games console or home computer tentatively known as the {{vanchor|1850XLD}}. The talks were progressing slowly,<ref>''New York Times'', 29 August 1984, p. D16</ref> and Amiga was running out of money. A temporary arrangement in June led to a $500,000 loan from Atari to Amiga to keep the company going. The terms required the loan to be repaid at the end of the month, otherwise Amiga would forfeit the Lorraine design to Atari.<ref name=p3p3/>