Commodore 64 Ultimate

https://www.commodore.net

by peterkelly • 1 year ago

176 135 1 year ago

commodore.net

sgt2• 1 year ago

I want one !

nucleative• 1 year ago

In going to follow this project closely. This is looking like a case of aiming for the moon and actually getting it.

Let's see!

ghusto• 1 year ago

I get how they're using nostalgia, but it doesn't seem to be coming from a cynical place. The transformation of technology from a utility to a nuisance at best and a disease at worst, strikes a chord for me.

Computers used to be fun and yet require actual interest and effort, it's why I ended where I am. What a bait and switch.

spacemadness3• 1 year ago

It reads like Mark Fisher’s observation about capitalism absorbing all resistance. Resistance becomes the next market. So it’s doubly cynical as it’s a cash grab of sorts hoping to ride on everyone’s burnout from modern tech. I agree, it’d be better to just ride the nostalgia itself and let others come to their own conclusions about why they are nostalgic.

All that said I do miss this era of computing greatly where one could understand it inside out and that was encouraged. I loved the C64 demo scene in the 80s.

ta86452• 1 year ago

I've been watching the new CEO's videos for a few years. He seems like a genuine person who isn't cynical about this at all. I don't think it's a cash grab, but a real hope that a community and something wholesome can be created around this nostalgic company. Either way, it's never going to be a huge cash cow, only a quiet niche.

panick21_• 1 year ago

Its the cynical people who believe everything else is always cynical. If somebody wants to do a crash grab they could do crypto or some AI scam with much less effort.

absorbing all resistance

Because its was not resistance in the first place ...

hoping to ride on everyone’s burnout from modern tech

And with 'everybody' you mean a tiny group of nerds who know what a C64 is?

logical_proof• 1 year ago

If the folks who bought the Commodore name 'Atari' this thing I will be disappointed. Not surprised, but disappointed. If this pans out its going to be awesome. Warily optimistic.

LeftHandPath• 1 year ago

I grew up hearing the coders and hackers of yore regaling tales of their youth, the days they invested in things like the commodore or the IBM PC. I was born at the end of the 90's and never touched any of those things and always felt like I missed out.

I've done a lot of work with the IBM i Series (AS400), which has an interface from that era, but no games.

486sx33• 1 year ago

SNAKE/400 Play snake against your AS/400

https://github.com/projectvulcan/snake400

allthedatas2• 1 year ago

Keep manually refreshing that AS400 screen! In the late 90s while I was in college, for a while I had a graveyard shift job running backups and printing shipping labels at a large retailer and most of the work was done on an AS400 and also SCO UNIX before they became a zombie copyright troll.

_spduchamp2• 1 year ago

I want is someone to fab real 6581 SID chips so I can do stuff like this and have it sound as it should.

10 FORL=54272T054295:POKEL,0:NEXT

15 POKE54296,15:TI$="000000"

20 POKE54277,255:POKE54278,255

25 POKE54284,255:POKE54285,255

30 POKE54276,17:POKE54283,17

40 FORA=8TO1STEP-1:FORB=ATO1STEP-1

45 T=TI+2952/B

50 POKE54273,3: POKE54272,A

55 POKE54288,3:POKE54279,A+B

60 PRINTA,A+B

70 IFTI<TTHEN70

80 NEXT:NEXT

90 POKE54276,16:POKE54283,16

vunderba2• 1 year ago

Absolutely love the SID chip. The clever way of imitating chord-based triads by just rapid arpeggiating on a single channel was super cool to me as kid.

smilespray• 1 year ago

Wasn't Rob Hubbard one of the guys behind that trick?

vardump• 1 year ago

Arpeggio was everywhere, doable on pretty much any sound chip.

I think what sets SID apart are things like high/low pass filters, finely adjustable PWM width and maybe even finely tunable pitch.

gschizas• 1 year ago

There's a syntax error in line 10 (t0 instead of to).

Also, what's the source for this program? I tried it on VICE and failed miserably. Maybe something (else) was copied wrong? Or is it supposed to fail on emulators?

woodrowbarlow2• 1 year ago

with the name "ultimate" plus the hints in the original video, will this use Gideon's ultimate64? and it includes a case, keyboard (maybe mechboard64?), and flash cassette -- all for less than the cost of an ultimate64 mainboard? pretty light on details but potentially an incredible deal.

the_af6• 1 year ago

A nice emulated alternative used to be TheC64. I own one, not sure if it's available at a reasonable price anymore. Not a real Commodore -- it's running a version of VICE in an ARM chip -- but with the actual form factor of a breadbin C64 and with a working keyboard, which brings back memories!

You can play games and even program (basic, assembly, etc) using a real keyboard. Pretty cool!

I like this is hardware based rather than emulated. However, I'm unconvinced by the color changing case, which the C64 didn't have...

rbanffy2• 1 year ago

I think it hits a sweet spot where the physical experience is close enough (where would you get an HDMI CRT monitor?). I maintain the physical interaction with the emulator is key for creating the illusion of real hardware.

I'm unconvinced by the color changing case, which the C64 didn't have...

They have beige.

the_af6• 1 year ago

Cool, I didn't realize they had beige! The transparent/color case seems out of place to me.

the_af6• 1 year ago

Wow, downvotes for mentioning an emulated alternative that also physically looks like a C64? I didn't expect a reddit-like response from HN :(

JKCalhoun• 1 year ago

Pretty inexpensive? I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the pre-order.

I have a couple of KIM-1 "clones" and enjoy them as well. I feel like, in my old age, whenever that comes, I will enjoy them even more. Diving at long last deep into assembly....

derdi• 1 year ago

Big props for the website footer: "Only essential cookies here - no tracking, no popups, just focus-friendly computing the Commodore way."

elvis70• 1 year ago

Good intentions, but the site is hosted by Wix which add their own trackers.

mgkimsal2• 1 year ago

Was at a friend's place a few years ago. He had an original c64, tape drive, disk drive, okidata printer, and a trove of disks. We'd been friends since high school, but I think he'd stopped using his by then, and I was more of the computer guy (we bonded over guitars, not code).

This was just sitting in his garage. "Take it - take it all" he said. Then... was sort of forceful with it, and started putting it in my car. :)

I took it back home, and... realized I can't connect it to anything. And I'm not a hardware guy. I hate hacking on that sort of stuff. So I ended up giving it all to a friend who was getting in to retro stuff with his son. I think they got it working and connected up to something. I also gave him my C128.

I still have the original Commodore 'Prolog' and (IIRC) 'Forth' packaging somewhere in the office here. :)

Looking at these (and probably some other incarnations) I'm tempted to get one only because of the built in HDMI.

I've poked around with some emulators online and it's fun, but the combination of the original keyboard and shape plus HDMI might be enough to get me to commit. Probably just the original beige though.

th0ma5• 1 year ago

If it is all original, you'll want to be careful with the power supply. It's known to fail in a way that over voltages. Replacement ones can be made or bought relatively inexpensively.

mgkimsal2• 1 year ago

That was also in the back of my mind. Even back in the 80s, I remember those bricks being a source of heat and... shock sometimes. I'm just not a hardware guy, so gave it to someone who I think loves tinkering with that sort of stuff... :)

mdtancsa• 1 year ago

Its so funny you mention the color. Looking at the image on the website, I was struck by the fact that beige could strike a visceral exciting nostalgia reaction in me. I mean, its beige FFS, the ultimate "boring" color :) I went from a totally disengaged / disinterested teen in school to paying out of my own pocket (I think $50 at the time) to take a course taught be Steve Punter in the basement of a library on the other side of Toronto on 6502 assembler -- in the summer!

gramie• 1 year ago

Is Thomas Middledich (the central character in the TV show Silicon Valley) really the Chief Creative Officer?

Jeri Ellsworth as Technical Advisor is also a solid member of the C64 community.

peterfirefly• 1 year ago

Looks like they are using (are going to use?) her FPGA re-implementation.

skeeter20202• 1 year ago

It's good to have some healthy skepticism, but everything I've seen has felt very legit and pragmatic. It's funny-sad that a lot of people feel THIS is a nostalgia cash-in when Jack Tramiel was one of the least technology-driven, emotive figures in the 8-bit era. I'm OK if they do what it takes to keep the spirit of the Commodore community alive.

allthedatas2• 1 year ago

While I did get to use a Vic20 in school I did not have a c64 but my friend did. At home I had an Apple IIe (which I still have) and it was great but boy was I jealous of all those color C64 games and also the modem they had for it! I didn't get a modem until I switched to a PC in 1989.

skeeter20202• 1 year ago

Someone broke into my house and stole my Vic20 and tape deck; we used the insurance money to buy a C64 and disc drive. At the time it was very tramatic, but turned out to be a big blessing!

austinallegro• 1 year ago

10 PRINT "POOPY PANTS"

20 GOTO 10

RUN

egypturnash2• 1 year ago

10?"POOPY PANTS! ";:RUN

theonething• 1 year ago

As a kid, when we went shopping at K-mart, I would hangout at the computer department while parents shopped and did stuff like this on the C64. hehe

aduwah• 1 year ago

Am I the only one who gets sad when looking at the site? The resentment of modern computing and interconnected life feels extremely wrong with a Commodore brand on it.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to have the box, but to me commodore means the complete opposite. It was the tech that inspired me to start learning and later building complex systems. The evolution of tech after this machine did not steal anything from me, but enriched my life both financially and otherwise.

taylodl2• 1 year ago

Like many people my age (ahem!) the Commodore 64 was my first computer and I loved it and it's responsible for my long software development career.

But I don't want that Commodore 64 today.

I want the Commodore 64 of 2025. A machine where middle schoolers can learn the basics of programming while having fun with graphics and sound. Maybe even have a simple 2D gaming engine built-in. I don't know. I want the spirit of the Commodore 64, not the actual machine itself.

psadri• 1 year ago

I agree. I recently started exposing my kids to programming and I chose a C64 emulator. The BASIC REPL is so simple/limited that it doesn’t overwhelm the kids with irrelevant syntax (those can come later, if they are interested). The fact that a 1..100 loop can introduce a noticeable delay. You can literally see the computer working. Primitive graphics and sound provide immediate feedback which makes learning engaging and fun.

rcarmo• 1 year ago

We used PICO-8. Worked great for that purpose.

hakfoo• 1 year ago

In that regard, I almost feel like a new Atari 800-series would be better.

The C64 had good graphics and excellent sound but so much of it was behind a brick-wall learning curve of poking. Atari's native BASIC at least provided some rudimentary access. You want something where the user can get a win on day 1, or it's getting buried in the closet with the rock tumbler.

Or maybe if they packed in a super-extended BASIC ROM. But pretty quickly you end up wanting something with more modern flow control and structures, maybe closer to "Qbasic with sprite commands" and then you're probably demanding more than what can be reasonably asked of a 6510-class CPU.

z303• 1 year ago

The RM 800XL maybe of interest

https://revive-machines.com/index-en.html

leptons2• 1 year ago

The C64 had good graphics and excellent sound but so much of it was behind a brick-wall learning curve of poking. Atari's native BASIC at least provided some rudimentary access. You want something where the user can get a win on day 1, or it's getting buried in the closet with the rock tumbler.

This was not my experience at all.

I started with an Atari 400 when I was 11, and there was little to no documentation about the machine. I took a BASIC programming class taught on a Vic 20 when I was 10 years old. But then I saved up and got an Atari for my 11th birthday. I cut my teeth on Atari Basic, but it seemed so limited to me. I wanted full access to all of the machine but there was simply no documentation my 11 year old self had available, the internet was not a thing, and there were no books about it at my local library in the early 1980s. The BASIC cartridge didn't really offer much in the way of using the machine to its full capacity.

Then I got a C64 and everything changed. The C64 manual I had included BASIC programming, as well as how to program the sound chip to make simple music and sound effects. There was a complete memory map of the C64 including all the chips, the VIC, the SID, the CIA chips - everything. All the pinouts for all the I/O ports were mapped out.

And in the back of the manual were all the opcodes for the CPU, with detailed information about how they work, A, X, and Y registers, status registers, program counter, address modes, etc, etc... it was absolutely fantastic how much was documented, literally everything about the computer. The book even had a full schematic of the C64 in the very back as a large fold-out poster. Atari had nothing like this.

It was like night and day compared to the very closed Atari platform. I quickly ate up BASIC on the C64 and moved right into assembly language, when I was 14. I got very into the European "demo scene", while being a teenager in America in the mid/late 1980s. Atari 8-bit just seemed like a toy compared to what was going on with the C64 in the world at the time.

https://archive.org/details/c64-programmer-ref/page/n425/mod...

vunderba2• 1 year ago

The Mega65 was a stab at this idea - a self contained modernized version of the old 8-bit computer while trying to maintain backwards compatibility with C64 programs.

https://mega65.org

amichail2• 1 year ago

There was no need to include a floppy drive though.

Also, Python would have been better than BASIC as the built-in default language.

PaulHoule• 1 year ago

See also

https://www.commanderx16.com/

Which is based on the 6502-compatible 65C816 but used a simple banking scheme instead of the broken 24-bit address space that chip natively supports (no 24-bit index registers) The way video memory works in it is really clever and lets it really surpass 1980s machines in many ways.

My favorite retrocomputer though has to be

https://www.olimex.com/Products/Retro-Computers/AgonLight2/o...

which is priced right though it doesn't have the keyboard and instead based on the eZ80 which really does extend the Z-80 with 24-bit registers so that you can use all the RAM easily.

cmdlyne• 1 year ago

I want the spirit of the Commodore 64, not the actual machine itself.

Why not have both?

You could buy this and you could setup EndlessOS:

https://www.endlessos.org/os

aruggirello• 1 year ago

Based on Debian, but does not use apt. I'm impressed by the effort, but not fully convinced.

deaddodo4• 1 year ago

I want the Commodore 64 of 2025. A machine where middle schoolers can learn the basics of programming while having fun with graphics and sound. Maybe even have a simple 2D gaming engine built-in. I don't know. I want the spirit of the Commodore 64, not the actual machine itself.

Exactly. This is what I think every time I see one of these old revival projects. I don't want a Spectrum, C64, Atari ST, etc...we have those, they're fairly easy to acquire and renovate. And are more than capable of being run on a FPGA. And there are dozens of projects built around the same old 6502, Z80, etc.

Stop locking your perspective into the 80s to try to recapture that nostalgia.

No, give me a new "hobbyist" computer in the spirit of those days. Throw an ARM m-series/RISC-V/etc on it with some custom blitter/vdpu and sound ASICs and 512MB of RAM. Give it some easily accessible programming environment on ROM, with an option to baremetal with ASM, C, etc. Add a few slots that are MMAPed in. And let the hobbyist field run wild.

markus_zhang3• 1 year ago

I have always wanted to learn to build a (relatively modern) computer like the one you described:

- Some 32-bit CPU, whatever, anything that is a bit easy to program through C/ASM, just to make sure there is no weird kirks.

- Support keyboards, displays, mouse, etc., just the usual ones. So a lot of drivers.

- Some 256MB - 512MB memory should be good enough.

- Has an OS, some programming languages, some tools, a good editor, etc.

This is like the Ben Eater 8-bit computer in adrenaline. It is probably a LOT of work just to figure out how to source the correct components, and build the thing, then a LOT more work to write drivers for them, and MORE work to write OS and compilers and tools for them. We can't use Linux because it has memory protection all over the place. We need something that newbies can poke and peek into, and simply reset the CPU if something is wrong, just like the micro computers in the 70s/80s. We DO want capable compilers and interpreters (e.g. C/Python) and good tools (like, some editors that have good auto-complete at least).

It's a bit like building a pad or a mobile phone, but without all those commercial consideration. Nowadays, to build a pad or a mobile phone, if I'm not mistaken, one simply push Android into the chipsets and call it a day, which is not what I want. But what I want probably doesn't make $$ so no one is going to do it.

hoistbypetard2• 1 year ago

No, give me a new "hobbyist" computer in the spirit of those days. Throw an ARM m-series/RISC-V/etc on it with some custom blitter/vdpu and sound ASICs and 512MB of RAM. Give it some easily accessible programming environment on ROM, with an option to baremetal with ASM, C, etc. Add a few slots that are MMAPed in. And let the hobbyist field run wild.

Isn't a pi awfully close to that, at least in spirit? For my 10 year-old's science project, I bought a trio of interesting sensors off amazon, showed her a diagram of the GPIO pins and a diagram of the sensor pins, explained how to map between the two, and had her draw it out with colored pencils.

Then I burned a fresh raspbian image onto a sd card, connected a keyboard, mouse, and tv, and helped her figure out how to read the GPIO pins in python. The vibe of the whole thing felt a lot like the old things we had in the 80s and early 90s, but more accessible because I didn't have to deal with weird serial/parallel junk or with putting together a PCB for the slots.

It does sound like this crew harbors ambitions of moving past nostalgia to embracing that spirit a little more, but I don't personally feel like that's lacking in the Pi ecosystem, at least...

usefulcat• 1 year ago

The hardware is the easy part. But if you want a selection of software such as exists for the C64, that takes a lot more time and of course there’s no guarantee that it will ever come to pass.

zeroc8• 1 year ago

That's what I want too. But I fear that even if such a machine existed, the spirit wouldn't be there. Just like no one forms bands or makes personal websites anymore.

tracerbulletx2• 1 year ago

From their faq.

Is this all just nostalgia? Nostalgia is one of our two core pillars - alongside modern innovation. Like yin and yang, these forces balance and strengthen each other in that retro • futurism approach.

The commercial power of nostalgia is real - and it will help fuel and fund the development of modern, forward-facing products in turn. It’s a symbiotic cycle: retro inspires, modern sustains. Commodore isn’t returning. It’s evolving, with purpose.

johnb231• 1 year ago

Written by ChatGPT. The second paragraph is obviously AI slop.

This sentence is 100% AI generated: "It’s a symbiotic cycle: retro inspires, modern sustains. Commodore isn’t returning. It’s evolving, with purpose."

zozbot2343• 1 year ago

They also mention that they explicitly wanted this - a state-of-the-art reimplementation of the old C64 - to be their first released product, which makes some sense. It's also the product where their Commodore trademark - the real value behind this new effort - is most relevant, shifting away from the old pattern where random products would be "Commodore" branded, with no real link to the company's history or to any plausible "retro futurism" vision.

mrandish2• 1 year ago

I've been into 'retro computing' continuously since the 80s and there have been a variety of interesting retro focused machines like this launched over the last 15 years. They are mostly hobby projects but some have scaled up through crowd funding to be marginally successful. A big success in this market would be shipping a thousand units but few reach that level. I think the reason is that despite quite a bit of interest the market is fragmented into different groups with differing primary goals:

* Capture "the spirit" of an all-in-one, simple computer that boots to an accessible language.

* Recreate an actual 80s computer via software, FPGA emulation or compatible CPU. A major sub-group is those wanting support for physical 80s media which can include disks, cartridges and even tape.

Within these major groups are a variety of different requirements. A big one is whether the machine must support modern displays (HDMI) or authentic retro displays (CRTs). If you don't have a CRT then HDMI is a requirement, however inserting what was originally low-res analog composite video into a hi-res digital container involves some significant trade-offs and design complexity. It's not trivial or cheap to do well with high-quality and high-compatibility. Then there are those who split on whether modern connectivity and conveniences like Wifi, Ethernet and SD card media are mandatory, nice-to-haves or definite should-not-haves. Of course, those conveniences aren't much use without sufficient CPU power and resolution to support a modern browser and OS capable of reading modern media which involve more cost and potential compatibility issues.

The great thing is that those who are retro-interested now have a lot of good options ranging from OG hardware to software emulation, FPGA systems and all-new designs. My advice is to be clear on what experience you really want, the specific traits you care about and the various trade-offs and challenges those entail before diving in.

gedy• 1 year ago

Isn't this basically a Raspberry Pi 400? https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-400/

I think the challenge is computers these days can do so much that tinkering with something like this no longer feels futuristic or cutting edge like a C=64 did back then.

leptons2• 1 year ago

Have you seen the things going on with the C64 in the last 20 years?

https://www.pouet.net/prodlist.php?platform%5B0%5D=Commodore...

Some of it is astonishing given the limitations of the machine.

The technical mastery and creative problem solving going on here is what keeps the demoscene alive. The C64 is still going strong, new productions come out all the time.

And I can't think of a better machine for a kid today to start out with than an 8-bit machine. If they learn assembly language on a C64, they will have a far better understanding of how computers actually work than anyone taking a class in web or crypto or whatever they teach kids about computers today.

christkv• 1 year ago

I think something like blitzbasic with llm support to vibe code and generate sprite sheets would be awesome.

Keyframe• 1 year ago

(disclaimer, I have maybe a bit too much of this retro hardware.. unhealthy amount, ahem).

Raspberry Pi 400 / 5 would be that.. but, in reality and pragmatically since it needs to be something widespread I'd argue it's actually a browser. In Chrome you hit Ctrl-Shift I and console is right there.

bowsamic• 1 year ago

It’s called Emacs, not even joking

kgwxd• 1 year ago

To kids these days, a laptop with a something like Roblox Studio on it is pretty magical. Most of their "laptop" exposure is with Chromebooks that only run school stuff, everything else is on consumption-focused tablets and phones that don't leave much room for creativity, or even basic customization.

I have a Commander X16 and my kid had fun doing that Basic infinite maze program, but after that, my dream was over :)

crq-yml• 1 year ago

Tulip CC is the modern C64. The software is mostly fleshed out for audio apps right now, but feature for feature, it's doing the same kinds of thing, with the same eye to budget:

https://github.com/shorepine/tulipcc

HumblyTossed• 1 year ago

I think part of that spirit was not having the internet. You had the machine, a couple books and a handful of magazines. But more importantly an unstoppable desire to figure out how it worked. The internet would have been a distraction.

stevenicr• 1 year ago

Some years ago I gifted a Kano system. https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/kano-computer-kit-touch...

that felt like that spirit.

This was great at the time, I feel it should of come with a 'computing partner doc' like a piece of paper with how to backup and restore with a second sd card, and links to stuff about censorware and what people think about certain places attached to the internet..

I saw one of these at a pawnshop with a $250 price tag and I think a chrome book can be had for less.

not sure what the current availability and pricing of PI type things are these days - but the kano kit was a perfect fit at the right time back then.

vparikh• 1 year ago

I would argue that we have that today in the form of the Apple MacMini (https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-mini) -- the Commodore 64 was priced at around $300 in 1984 or $950 in 2025 money. The basic model MacMini comes in at $600 today. For that you get a fully Unix system with a full development suite to build desktop/mobile/Unix apps out of the box. Every development platform is available (C/C++, Python, Swift, JavaScript, Java, Rust, etc.) on it. The expansion system is extremely simple also (USB C/Thunderbolt). Not to mention it is much smaller than a Commodore 64 and arguably more user friendly.

boltzmann64• 1 year ago

I am sorry, but people are still using Commodore 64 these days?

slow_typist• 1 year ago

There are even people who develop new games for the C64. And there is still an active demo scene I think.

richrichardsson• 1 year ago

Yes, there is a very active demo scene, and frankly the people coding them are wizards.

But not just the coders, the artists (visual/audio) are also wizards.

the_af6• 1 year ago

Yup, the C64 still has a scene. Both of nostalgics enjoying old games, and of people making (and selling!) new games for it.

There are also communities for making C64 piel art and -- get this -- art doing entirely in PETSCII (sort of like ASCII art, but PETSCII has a more interesting set to work with).

mrbluecoat• 1 year ago

Not sure where they were going with LEDs on a nostalgia device but glad they offer beautiful beige: https://www.commodore.net/product-page/commodore-64-ultimate...

cmrdporcupine• 1 year ago

In a way I'd just have preferred for them to slap an official Commodore branding on the Mega65, which is IMHO a much more compelling and amazing product:

https://mega65.org/

Huge labour of love, and far more interesting.

rbanffy2• 1 year ago

I find it a bit of a shame it’s so expensive though. By far, the most important aspect of emulation is the physical experience, from typing on an accurate recreation, to inserting floppies, to hearing the sounds and feeling the vibration. The mega65 could be a shell with a small ARM board inside and I’d be happy, the same way I am with my The64 Maxi.

whartung• 1 year ago

Wasn’t the Commodore logo and name sold recently for “seven figures”?

Is this the same folks?

Findecanor• 1 year ago

The promo video [1] is on the new Commodore CEO's YouTube channel, so it must be.

The PCB looks like a rebranded "Ultimate 64" FPGA board [2], which has been out in a couple of iterations for a few years.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2fGP59mJ5M

2. https://ultimate64.com/

layer8• 1 year ago

I hope they’ll add a version with the C64C design down the line.

jadbox• 1 year ago

I'm sorta turned off that it doesn't include the joysticks.. and they are $40 each!

pflenker• 1 year ago

This really scratches my itch. I love retro computing, the closer to the original hardware the better - but the one thing that gets in the way (and that can stay in the past!) are the horrible loading times. A new C64 is exactly what I need.

Cockbrand• 1 year ago

I have a somewhat modded C64 with JiffyDOS and an SD2IEC, and it loads everything really fast. Sometimes I miss the weird 1541 noises, but generally, it's a great combination.

dirtikiti4• 1 year ago

I get the retro thing... But...

How about a new operating system with backwards compatibility that runs on modern arm hardware...

wvenable3• 1 year ago

https://www.ami64.com/product-page/the-c64-maxi

and

https://myretrocomputer.com/

dirtikiti4• 1 year ago

Neither of those are what I said.

I don't care about a keyboard. I don't care about retro computing.

What I care about is a modern amiga operating system, running on modern hardware.

And make it backwards compatible for the retro computing crowd.

I hate to break it to you all, but retro hardware is a novelty, nothing more.

jasoneckert• 1 year ago

I still have a C64 in my basement in case I need a nostalgia kick. A few years ago I set it all up and loaded a game. I was surprised at how slow it is and how bad the game was compared to how I remember it - so I boxed it up again and have no intention of setting it up again to keep my fond memories intact.

I have a feeling many who buy this product will ultimately do the same.

atombender• 1 year ago

I had the opposite experience. I bought a C64 at a flea market and hooked it up to an old Sanyo TV I had found in a dumpster. Loaded up Time Pilot, Drop Zone, and H.E.R.O., and had an incredibly fun time playing them together with a date.

Sometimes the nostalgia doesn't kick in, and clearly many things were objectively bad in a way that hits differently now. I wouldn't want to sit long nights writing assembly code and battle bad sectors on floppy disks. But I still think it's a great little gaming computer.

the_af6• 1 year ago

I hear you about the slowness, I definitely do not miss it. The good news about retro devices is that games load instantly, and you can save memory snapshots.

As for the games... some are a pain to play today, but others are surprisingly good and the music is beyond cool. Of course, nostalgia is a big factor, but still...

egypturnash2• 1 year ago

I sure spent a lot of time with my c64 and the idea of having a new one in the exact same wrist-ruining form factor, except transparent so you can see that it's actually implemented via a tiny handful of modern chips, has absolutely zero appeal.

sgt2• 1 year ago

Imagine coupling this with this IPS screen:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/checkmate1500mini/retro...

(Stephen Jones' project - he also has Commodore background, IIRC)

crims0n3• 1 year ago

For some reason this is not linking to what I expected…

Edit: I think this is where you meant to link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/checkmate1500mini/retro...

snvzz3• 1 year ago

If only if it was an actual CRT, rather than a LCD on a retro-style case.

Instead, I have to recommend the OSSC / OSSC Pro, with your favourite modern display.

pheller2• 1 year ago

That display with a custom C= 1702 bezel would be great, though perhaps 15-17" for a better aesthetic match to the C= 64 chassis.

ibobev• 1 year ago

I hope the original hardware of retro systems will be in production again someday.

markus_zhang3• 1 year ago

I'm still looking for the 2025-2030 version of a kid's first computer. C64 and Apple ][ made sense back then because whatever the poor animation they provided back in the late 70s/early 80s are exciting ENOUGH for younger version of us. Back then ANY interaction is good enough. NES was the bang but it definitely requires a lot of imagination to match the sprites to the box arts. I think the key here is to force the kids to use imagination.

Actually I'm going to do an experiment on my soon to be 5-years-old son. I have exposed some cartoon shows to him, but none of them is very fancy. I gave him Curious George and Bluey, both fall more into the hand-drawn camp than the CG camp. I have never expose him to any games or mobile apps like TikTok. I'm going to expose NES games or C64 games to him and see if he is interested. Despite my respect to John Carmack, I'm always in the camp of "you don't need post-2000 graphics to make any genre interesting, even for FPS", and I always believe the advancement of graphics hurts games more than benefiting them.

crims0n3• 1 year ago

Grabbed a preorder, the Beige one seems like a legitimately good deal at 300 USD; and it comes with a spiral bound user manual!

AlexeyBrin• 1 year ago

Is there any way to see what the manual contains ? It would be great to have a programming tutorial like the original.

crims0n3• 1 year ago

No idea unfortunately, just saw it listed in the "what's in the box" section.

pheller2• 1 year ago

You can always print up one of the remastered C64 Users / Programmers Reference Guides on Lulu. See here: https://pickledlight.blogspot.com/p/commodore-64-guides.html

It's my hope they brought the individual who did this work in to help make the minimum changes necessary to accurately document the differences. These recreations are really quite nice.

cadr• 1 year ago

They at least have some cool technical advisors. And a "Chief Tramiel Officer".

ta86452• 1 year ago

Earlier in the day the number of preorders / total number of systems available was shown on the order page. That seems to have been removed now. Presales may be going slower than hoped.

rkrisztian• 1 year ago

Cool idea, but I could just run a Commodore 64 emulator on my PC these days.

the_af6• 1 year ago

True, but it just doesn't hit the same nostalgia spot.

Emulators are all about running the software. This is more about the full package, you know? The breadbin in all its glory. Going clickety-clack with its keyboard. It brings back memories.

I own a TheC64 by RetroGames just for this. All the convenience of HDMI and instant loading software with the form factor of the C64 of my youth, with a working keyboard with PETSCII characters!

If you just want to play games, agreed, you just need VICE.

KevinMS• 1 year ago

some backstory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke-Ao-CpI7E

Commodore 64 Ultimate

Related Stories