Commodore 64 Makes a Comeback

PCWorld ^ | 07/14/03 | David Legard

[bedolido]

Popular computers, games from the 1980s will be relaunched.

Tulip Computers, which owns the Commodore brand name, plans to relaunch the brand to take advantage in an upsurge of interest in the obsolete Commodore 64 (C64) computer and its 1980s-era games, the company said in a statement Friday.

Tulip estimates that there are still 6 million Commodore users, who can choose from a range of 6,000 games which were developed for the system.

Tulip is working with Ironstone Partners, which will handle all sales of Commodore 64-related products worldwide and take over the main C64 Web portal. Enthusiasts have made over 10 million game downloads, the site owners have said.

Unauthorized use of the Commodore name by other organizations will be stopped, Tulip said in the statement.

Playing Games Even if the Commodore 64 hardware is obsolete, enthusiasts have written emulators for Windows PCs, Apple Macintoshes, and now PocketPC-based PDAs to enable original Commodore games to run on those systems.

Commodore was one of the pioneers of the PC industry, entering the market in 1977 with its 8-bit PET (Personal Electronic Transactor). The C64 was launched in 1982, followed a few years later by the Amiga.

Slowly, the crucial graphics edge that these systems enjoyed was eroded by successive improvements in Microsoft's Windows OS, and Commodore went into liquidation in 1994. Tulip, based in Amersfoort, Netherlands, bought the Commodore brand name and other assets in 1997.

[bedolido]

[Support Free Republic]

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[x1stcav]

This was the first computer I bought my daughter when she was 12. Very fast in its day. Quickly ovetaken by the competition and was replaced 3 years later by an Apple IILC. I think the Commodore is still down in the basement.

[Puppage]

[Seeking the truth]

Remember it well!

[capt. norm]

Used to spend many an hour typing in code for some application listing I found in a magazine, and then saving it to a cassette tape.

With today's PC's massive amounts of RAM, it's hard to imagine working with only 64K.

I do believe that the huge amounts of RAM encouraged sloppy programming. (you don't dare be too sloppy with only 64K) In most of the apps out there now, the logo takes up more than 64K.

[JustAnAmerican]

The Vic 20, Commodore 64, and the Timex ZX80 were the real precursors to the "Computer" generation. I know there were a few others, but these were the ones that had readily available and cheap software(Games Esp.:)).

[VadeRetro]

I think the Commodore is still down in the basement.

I think mice are making nests in my Osborne 1 and the NEC Spinwriter I used with it.

[clamper1797]

I still have my TI-99

[from_waco]

This was my second computer. The Commodore VIC-20 was my first.

I also spent tons of hours typing in game code (column after column of numbers) from Gazette Magazine.

Cool.

[quack]

Load "*",8,1

Ready

Run

Man,those were the days.The wife and I just took it to the Salvation Army not long ago.Anybody remember GEOS?or who could forget Jumpman!

[angkor]

I worked for a computer store in those days, and we had C-64 backorders for weeks before Christmas 1982. We were also a Commodore distributor, and the owner had big pull with Jack Tramiel (owner of Commodore).

So we finally got our shipment the last week before Christmas and if I recall we moved several hundred units in the course of a few days. It was madness.

[The_Victor]

There are numerous C64 emulators available on the web, most of them free. A quick Google search for "Commodore 64 emulator" turned up thousands of hits. Who'd pay for a "retro C64" when the market has already been satisfied for free?

"M.U.L.E." for the C64 was one of the best computer games ever.

[Richard Kimball]

Remember the old Saturday Night Live commercial parody about Wang computers?

I don't go to the movies anymore. I don't even date. I just stay home and play with my Wang."

[GraniteStateConservative]

Load "*",8,1

Ready

Run

Geez, we're old.

[bedolido]

I just stay home and play with my Wang

I miss the old days. Terrible and kind at the same time.

[sultan88]

Yes, I had one of these, too. Hooked it up to a small black and white TV set. The kids played Frogman for hours.

[cloud8]

"In most of the apps out there now, the logo takes up more than 64K."

I remember when the Macintosh came out with a whopping 128K...who could possibly need more RAM than that? We still have a Mac plus in the attic...actually a converted 512.

[Normal4me]

Heheh...I started with a Commodore PET and remember loading a game and eating dinner while it loaded only to come back and find a "syntax error line 220". I also remember typing in code from Byte magazine only to not have it work either. Good times.....I still have that old computer in my garage collecting dust.

[egarvue]

I just found my VIC-20. On a whim, plugged it in and hooked it up to an old B&W TV. Attached the cassette player, popped in a tape I found in the box, and...

my jaw dropped. Unbelievable. The thing still worked. And there on the screen was a cheesy game program that I had written when I was 13. Suddenly, it was 1981 again....