Hi Andreas,
I ran into some problems installing the emulator on Vista, but it went fine
when I tried it on XP.

Yes, the Vista problems are known. Unfortunately, I haven't had the time
to investigate deeper into them. But I hope I can do a huge update for Akiko
some day. The latest version is from 2002. I hadn't even XP installed when
I did Akiko 1.6. Akiko would really need an update. I hope I'll find the time
for it.

I made a video of that in the review. What is coming
is a nice video of some games running on Akiko on XP. Do you have any
recommendations on games to show?

Beneath a steel sky is cool... or Zool1 & Zool2... they have cool intros :)

Okay, I really need to dig out those old game-disks!

Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc.
www.markvergeer.nl

In my experience the Akiko Emulator and the latest WinUAE emulator have roughly the same compatibility when you use original game disks. WinUAE ran more custom made cd's in my case. Perhaps it had something to do with my hardware/OS combination. It is hard to recommend one over the other, apart from the fact that Akiko costs a little money.

WinUAE
An easy to use basic configuration setting that allows you to tweak it a little in order to get more out of a game. Very little extra configuration is needed to get it up and running, even with joypad. Speed of emulation can be very inconsistent with cd-games. Adf based games - also the ones converted to cd - run just fine. Original disks & custom / copied disks run equally bad/fine. The ability to use various Kickstart roms and even install Workbench or another version of Amiga OS on harddrive! Use WinUAE in that mode and use HDloader to run disk games from HD or convert them for use on cd-rom and the original cd32 - provided the cd32 ram restrictions don't cause the game not to function.

Akiko
An easy to use selectable menu with a choice for 'generic cd32'-mode, and various optimized settings for specific games. It does feel a little intimidating scrolling though the game lists and having to bother with all sorts of settings, but WinUAE is in fact far more intimidating. When you use an original game disk compatibility is high and speed of execution is better than with WinUAE-sec. Although it can be inconsistent too. This is not the emulator to use for adf-based games - the ones converted to cd-rom or the custom/copied game collections will more often refuse to work on Akiko than on WinUAE. Configuration can be a hassle, installing and configuration on Vista is something to avoid - use the emulator on Windows2K or XP. The emulator is picky when it comes to Kickstart roms. Once things are up and running, with original game disks it can be a breeze to use this emulator!

(coming up: a video showing off some of the games running on Akiko on WindowsXP)

Overall conclusion:
Using Akiko on XP or 2K gives it a fairer chance to compete against WinUAE. Once configured and using original game disks it is an easy to use emulator. With non-original or even home-brew disks Akiko is very picky and fails to boot/run more often than WinUAE on my systems. Supporting an emulator author is a good thing, especially when it is one who's also doing some nice dev-work for real Amiga's too! I think it is worth the money I paid. And I am very curious after the same functionality that the cd32 games install kit offers on a real 1200!
WinUAE is more versatile and flexible. Akiko is a specialized cd32 emulator that can do a good job - provided you run the right OS and you use original game disks!

It's hard to compare as both emulators actually cater for a different audience:
Akiko 4/5
WinUAE 5/5

I hope Andreas will continue to work on Akiko, make it more Vista compatible. The name alone makes it a winner for me, so much better than WinUAE :-P

Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc.
www.markvergeer.nl

Wow, this emulator looks like it may be much more difficult to use than regular ol' uae!!!

Good job with the videos. I hope Bill is able to come through soon with something, because we may be dead in the water if none of us can get these CD32 games running at something approaching optimal.

Trying out the Emulator on Windows Vista got me in all sorts of problems, take a look at some of the video footage I made:

Although it installs in Vista, the emulator is best used on Windows XP or lower. I am going to give this emulator a shot on XP.

Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc.
www.markvergeer.nl

A test run on my systems. Well I must say to my disappointment the Akiko emulator is fairly limited in the amount of games it is able to boot in the 'demo' / shareware mode. I was greeted by the following pop-up when I tried to run one of my cd32 game-discs:

I ordered the full-version in order to write a full review on the Akiko Emulator, but I am definitely going to try out the Lemon Front End that OldSchool gamer has suggested, I am very curious if it will cater for an easy to set up Amiga CDTV/CD32 environment. WinUAE is very versatile when it comes to emulating an Amiga - I have managed to get Workbench 3.9 up and running with the special A4000 graphicscards and all - but it has not been an easy to use emulator for the not-so-technically-inclined-individuals out there. As I haven't updated my WinUAE for quite a while I am curious to see if things have changed over at WinUAE headquarters.

I just paid 15 euros through pay-pal and I am awaiting my registration code, the website states that I will definitely receive a my registration code within the next 24 hours but that it will usually only take a couple of hours to process. More on Akiko later.

Update: 4.5 hours later and I have not received my registration code yet. I guess I'll just have to be a little more patient.