I wouldn't mind playing Amiga's version of those games ....but I would buy ANY version once they would appear here...

Likely it is because I played Defender of the Crown on C64 and gfx in PC version doesn't differ..much (unlike music)

Well, judge for yourself. I've made a comparison of a screenshot from different versions of the game. I couldn't find a proper accurate screenshot from the Amiga version, but the Atari ST version should be graphically identical.

The Amstrad sure did love the red and C64 for brown :D

What is the point of releasing a Genesis game in 2014? Surely they'll also release a "Windows/Mac" version running in an emulator, right?

Ok, there is no doubt CGA version looks much worse then C64 - but EGA looks almost the same to me (with some parts of the game i.e. world map - looking much better) ....and both of them look like a crap comparing to the game released on Amiga...

Putting gfx & music aside - in my book Defender of the Crown (along with other Cinemaware titles like Rocket Ranger or It came from the desert) is a classic. Of course I would prefer to play Amiga versions of them ..but even if GOG gave me CGA versions - they would be instabuy for me.

It just hurts me that so many oldies will never be released here beacause of legal limbo and here we have clear situation & publisher wants it - still no Cinemaware games on board :-(

Well... I'm afraid lots of people here would say "No Amiga version, no sale", and Cinemaware may be aware of this. What's more, GOG may be aware of it.

Some years ago (I don't remember when exactly) GOG did a survey asking people which older gaming platforms they'd be interested in buying (emulated) games for. The response in favor of the Amiga was very positive, so GOG certainly knows there's a market there. The problem with Amiga games is that they need a license for the necessary kickstart ROM. Since several years have gone by and nothing has ever come of it, I can only assume that GOG has either decided that selling Amiga games would not be economically feasible, or has been unable to secure a deal with the rights holders to distribute the kickstart ROMs along with the games.

It's a great pity, because there was a period of several years (approximately 1987-1993) where for most computer games the Amiga version was the definitive version. To have the best version of so many games from such a long period of time unavailable to contemporary customers is a great loss.

Cinemaware used to have free downloads for most of their games on their site. They even offered different versions for a lot of them. You could get the Amiga & Dos versions of "It came from the Desert" and the Amiga, DOS, NES, C64 and Gameboy Advance versions of "Defender of the Crown" and "The Three Stooges".
Unfortunately, they removed all of these downloads when they revamped their site recently. According to some posts in the forums, they have intentions to bring them back, but I wouldn't hold my breath for that.

Well, they (GOG) could always partner with Cloanto. However, as I am not a lawyer, I do not know all the legal ramifications. Wishful thinking on my part for sure 8).

And once the'd get Amiga version for 5.99$ they would say "I'll wait for a discount" :-P

On a serious note: some would say what you wrote, but I bet many would say "Instabuy!"

Eh..I guess it all goes down to numbers, sells, $ etc. Concerning Cinemaware wants their catalog here & fact that they have contacted GOG a while ago - if those games are not here yet - not likely they will appear here at all.

And Amiga games is a lost case.


Yes, I'm aware of that. That is why they said (quote from memory) "GOG would have to walk an extra mile with our games to make them a 'selling' product".

Amiga games is not necessarily a lost cause forever. I keep thinking that since many - if not most - Amiga games just kill the operating system and bang the hardware by themselves, it should be well possible to make them work entirely without a kickstart ROM, or a light replacement allowing them to boot up.

There's also the AROS project. I'm not sure what its current status is, but it would at least be theoretically possible to produce a free replacement to the kickstart that could run at least some operating-system friendly games.

Obviously this depends a lot on how the games were built and they may still need modifications.. hiring Amiga developers with fresh experience could be a bit of a hard task today.

EDIT: It looks like WinUAE is already bundled with an AROS KS ROM that can boot at least something. Probably not a lot, but I tried it and it did successfully boot up David Braben's "Virus". It's a single load into memory of an os-killing game that uses its own custom track loader. I expect that several others like that should also work.

Why can't owners simply bundle an Amiga game with WinUAE emulator the same way GOG bundles DOS games with DOSBox? Who owns the rights to the Kickstart ROMs?

Amiga Inc., I think.
Cloanto sells them with license, as a part of their Amiga Forever emulation package.