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Classic Games (Games) Amiga

'Retro Games' Announces A New Commodore 64 (retrogames.biz) 118

Posted by EditorDavid from the back-to-the-future dept.
Long-time Slashdot reader cshamis tipped us off to this story in HotHardware: It is official, folks -- Retro Games is releasing a full-size retro reboot of the original Commodore 64, called TheC64, on December 5...

Of course, modern amenities abound for this reboot. TheC64 can connect to any modern TV via HDMI, to deliver "crisp 720p HD visuals" at 60Hz (USA) or 50Hz (Europe). It also comes with an updated joystick featuring 8 buttons, micro switches, and USB connectivity. It bears a passing resemblance to the original, but with additional bells and whistles. TheC64 will arrive with 64 games preinstalled, including titles such as California Games, Destroyer, Impossible Mission (1 and 2), Monty on the Run, Speedball 2, and many others... [P]layers will be able to add more games from a USB memory stick (not included).

The original Commodore 64 is widely considered the best-selling single-model PC of all time. Estimates have sales pegged at somewhere between 10-17 million units.
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'Retro Games' Announces A New Commodore 64 More

'Retro Games' Announces A New Commodore 64

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  • There are better options (Score:4, Interesting)

    by xack ( 5304745 ) on Saturday June 29, 2019 @04:01PM (#58847112)
    You can get modern Commodore 64 motherboard recreations and cases. There is plenty of videos [youtu.be] out there. The C64 is just a non-mini ‘mini’ console.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by msauve ( 701917 )
      If you want to be retro in Jack Tramiel's world, you'd want a PET 2001, or perhaps a VIC-20.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Could be good for someone looking for a reliable, easy to use system (plugs directly in to HDMI, decent joysticks don't cost a fortune on eBay etc.) Hopefully it still has BASIC, which would make it a great system for people to learn what coding in the 80s was like. Would be even better if you could write code in assembler on a PC and download it for debugging.

      The 8 Bit Guy is in the process of making a "C64-like" system for that exact purpose, although the project has gone off the rails a bit with a daft c

  • W00t! (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    LOAD "*",8,1

  • This is cool. I never had a Commodore before but this is something I was certainly aware of and wanted as a kid.

    I'd buy it if it was just a C64 looking keyboard. Having it work like a real C64 is just a bonus.

    That makes me think that a neat feature for something like this is a keyboard mode. Put a USB-B port and a switch on the back, plug into any computer that takes a USB keyboard, flip switch, and party like it's 1989. That would be a nice bonus for people looking for a retro look on their desk, not n

  • Very little has been revealed (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 29, 2019 @04:18PM (#58847186)

    Very little was revealed in the Retro Games announcement.

    What is the processor? An updated version of the 6502? Can you add a Z80 CP/M board to it? Do USB flash drives take the place of cassettes? How do they work? Does it come with a telephone modem? What is the SDK for it? Does it still use memory mapped I/O?

    • It will most probably be an Arm based Raspberry Pi like board with emulation like all the other minis.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Very little was revealed in the Retro Games announcement.

      What is the processor? An updated version of the 6502? Can you add a Z80 CP/M board to it? Do USB flash drives take the place of cassettes? How do they work? Does it come with a telephone modem? What is the SDK for it? Does it still use memory mapped I/O?

      Given what we've seen with the C64 mini, it's likely an emulation. It's basically the C64 mini expanded with a keyboard and likely boots to BASIC rather than their menu, but you never know. And yes, t

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          There is or was a commercial product that was a recreation of the C64 hardware as a dedicated ASIC (using a design originally intended for PLAs) that fit it into a joystick with points on the motherboard that you could solder a PS/2 connector to if you wanted to add on a keyboard. (I think it also had the ability to add flash, not sure if it supported Serial 488.) It used the official ROMs.

          So the designs for hardware recreations are out there, I wish they'd use them.

          Was.

          It was one of those "plug and play" t

  • Does it come with BASIC? I mean, I hope so, a lot of the games were written in BASIC back then, but more importantly C64 BASIC was an incredible way to get kids into coding...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Bonker ( 243350 )

      I think that folks aren't going to really be happy with this unless it contains a transistor-perfect emulator or a very-close facsimilie thereof of the C64, complete with c64 BASIC.

      I'm not terribly familiar with the state of c64 emulation. I'm in the apparent minority of people who grew up in that era that went on to become techies that did NOT own a c64 or Vic20. That said, I know that newer machines do have some reference-quality emulators out there. I can't imagine that the c64 would be terribly difficu

    • BASIC "WAS" an incredible way to get kids into coding, but there are better options to BASIC these days.

  • That's about all I can think that this C64 "reboot" is worth.

    I'm amazed that a large, international crime syndicate still uses C64s to send out the text messages.

    Let's see what Number 4 brings up - great series!

  • The demoscene is still alive on the C64, with replacement parts for the the original hardware still being sold at parties. The "SID" audio chip almost defines the chip tune genre and is used by several well known musicians.

    The C64 has a loyal following that goes well beyond video games. I hope they did the best they could to provide the most accurate emulation possible. Demoscene productions can be very tricky to emulate. And the analog circuitry for audio is hard to reproduce well.

  • A VIC-20 back in 1981.

    A Commodore 128 in 1985!

    Then I went to a PC in 1990, an 80286 12 MHZ.

    • Then I went to a PC in 1990, an 80286 12 MHZ.

      And then you installed Civilization and played it so much you almost failed your first year in college?

      'cause that would remind me of a certain guy I know....

  • This has lost all the retro appeal.
  • Gotta make it connect to the TV with one of those RF switching boxes.
    • or RCA cables. Those are cool. Maybe the old S-Video adaptor. Pity light pens don't work with modern (post-CRT/raster scan) monitors.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • ...because the early 1980s advertisements featured William Shatner?

  • I was an Atari partisan in the 8-bit days, holding the line against those "commies". Someone do an Atari 800XL version of this and I might be tempted. Then again, today's Atari could produce a keyboard variant of their new VCS 400/800 console (after it finally ships!) and an emulation package, why not?

  • we don't know all the details, and it might not be perfect, but it is at least a very good step in the right direction and something most people would have wanted instead of the first iteration, which was much smaller and had a non-functional keyboard.

    this one can even start in the well known blue basic ready? prompt. hdmi, better joystick and ability to add more games from USB.

    even for most retro gamers this is perfect.

  • Isn't Retro Games the same company that failed (scammed?) to produce the Coleco Chameleon system after a well-funded Kickstarter?

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