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Some experiences are exceptionally formative. I had one of them on my birthday in 1985, when my heart was racing as I opened my presents. An elongated box immediately caught my eye. I tore it open and stared at the magic letters that said Commodore C64 MicroComputer. A bunch of disks and two joysticks were also included. It was a life-changing moment! This intriguing "bread box" would teach me the value of patience and the fundamentals of the BASIC language. The fascination for technology and the drive to explore I felt that day would take a firm hold and stay with me for the rest of my life. Now, the C64 is back, kind of. Same design but contemporary hardware. Naturally, I had to try out this homage to a milestone of home computing.
Though age has left its mark on me, I still feel a joyful anticipation as I open the (new) box. Perhaps it'll bring back some of the old magic? The packaging, though lacking the original lettering, is as true to history as can be and the computer itself is a full-sized replica with a working keyboard. The weight is a little off and key travel differs from the original but, all in all, the manufacturer has done a decent job of faithfully reproducing both size, weight and visuals. The famous Commodore logo is woefully absent, but I'll take care of that! Other package contents: A booklet (with quick start instructions), power supply unit and a low-quality HDMI cable that refused to work with my displays.
On to the most important accessory: the joystick. And let's face it: Nothing beats the original Competition Pro in terms of sturdiness, precision and sound. Still, the included replica features micro switches and was apparently built to withstand even joystick killers, like Summer Games. THE C64 Maxi is USB-only so all you veteran home computing fans out there won't be able to plug in your original joysticks or other peripherals (floppy drive, Datasette etc.). But fret not, at least as far as joysticks go, since there are modern USB-compatible replicas of many fan-favorites available at various quality levels and price points. So far, two weeks of passionate gaming haven't affected my Competition Pro replica in the slightest. We'll see how well computer and joystick will hold up in the long run.
As mentioned before, THE C64 Maxi comes with USB ports for peripherals and an HDMI port for display connectivity. This machine is not an exact replica of the original but an emulator housed in a case that closely resembles the cult classic. This becomes especially apparent once you open it up (I just had to look inside!). There's a lot of unused space, which makes perfect sense seeing as, by today's standards, the computing power offered here is dwarfed by the cheapest of pocket calculators. Enough talk about visuals, let's hook it up and take it for a spin. I am greeted by a nice logo that says "Retro Games THE C64" and prompts associations to glorious times past. Afterwards, a common carousel style interface takes over and gives way to the 64 pre-installed games. As I browse through the collection, I'm presented with title, synopsis, release date, author(s) and genre for each game. Nice!
Every joystick's nightmare: Summer Games
And then there's Classic Mode which sports the familiar light blue on dark blue design along with the glorious 38911 BASIC BYTES FREE message. Suddenly, I see my past self again, wearing tennis socks and watching Knight Rider while Boris Becker wins Wimbledon. Classic Mode not only comes with the design but also the limitations of the original machine: No RAM or software upgrades have been applied, everything is exactly as it was when Bill Gates still had long hair. This faithful reproduction of the past can be either a good and a bad thing, depending on your expectations. I'm pleased to say my Hello World program works flawlessly but I don't have time for a deeper dive into the innards of the BASIC language. You won't find instructions, let alone a tutorial, in the booklet (which some reviewers pointed out as a flaw) but, if you're interested in BASIC, there's plenty of documentation available online.
As for the games: There are 64 in total, including favorites like Boulder Dash, Cyberdyne Warrior and Impossible Mission. But, as with all pre-packaged emulators, there are always one or two important games missing. The good news is that, this being an emulator, the system reads ROM images of C64 games in the popular D64 or T64 formats from USB drives, provided the drives are formatted as FAT32 volumes. D64 worked better in my tests, even for multi-volume games, and loading times were acceptable. Not all games work flawlessly though. To be fair, the manufacturer is still working on game compatibility so this situation can only improve over time. In any case, the current firmware is already a major improvement over the disastrous firmware available at launch.
I recommend using THE C64 Maxi with smaller screens because, even though it supposedly outputs 720p, the now super-crisp, but still low-res, C64 graphics were never made for the giant TVs of today. To be honest, they already looked blocky on the much smaller displays from several decades ago. Displays up to 32'' are a good match. If you want to push nostalgia to the limit, use a CRT display. Important: Make sure your display has a built-in HDMI port or use a high-quality converter. Cheap adapters likely won't work. After all, this is an emulator for an anything but flawless legacy system—but it gets the job done fairly well under the circumstances.
Basic mode—and my heart is jumping with joy
Want more retro feeling? Switch to VIC-20 mode. This, also legendary, predecessor has a smaller fan base but supports timeless classics like Asteroids, Choplifter and Pac-Man in even more rudimentary form! For me, the C64 mode perfectly takes care of all my retro gaming needs.
THE C64 Maxi is the finest piece of 8-bit technology I've come across in a long time. For around €120, you get the chance to (re)discover past gaming highlights complete with that warm fuzzy feeling of nostalgia a plain PC-based emulator can never hope to achieve. And nostalgia really is the operative word here. If you've never owned a C64 (or similar device), you may be having a hard time comprehending both the allure of the the product and this article. But if you owned, or still own, the famous bread box, and showed up in school dog-tired on more than one occasion because you just couldn't let go of that one Turrican II level, you'll have a whale of a time with this one. It's a blast from the past when technology seemed magical and not just an everyday thing that comes with smartphones, Netflix and the internet.
Addendum: I just noticed THE C64 Maxi is mostly sold out now, with the usual overpriced offers now creeping up on eBay etc. Be patient and make sure to also check smaller sites. I'm sure production of additional units is already under way.
What I would like to know: Did you own a C64 or one of the other popular home computers?
Editorial guidance: Petra Schwarze
All Right !!! I had a VIC20 and loved it. got a C64 ,then on to 4.77 PC . Memory's !
Owned a Commodore 128
I used Apple II+ and //e for many years with excellent results, including professional chores. Then I had to switch to the PC due to compatibility demands. The II+ was exchanged for the //e, which still lives at the Computer Museum in São Paulo, Brazil.
Thank you - back to the early 1980's when I had my C64 and how it taught me to use "tight" coding. No multi Gb workarounds.
Apologies for the punctuation errors is I think and 'ashampoo'
,To name a couple
I enjoy each and every comment and don't really mind errors, word of honor. ;)
Thank you for this article,it brings back so many memories.they first started when I was a cleaner at local school I was intrigued by their C64 Ihink it was their server(about 50years ago).My first perchase was aC16 which we bought for our oldest son for Christmas.I only confessed to him just recently that my self and some friends used to play on it after he went to bed ,this was weeks before presenting it at Christmas since then it's been fantastic journey .And Would also like to mention the satisfaction and trust I've experienced using Ashampoo software thanks again
you left out the most important fact, THE PRICE !
See the penultimate paragraph. :) The product sells for around €120 but prices are currently fluctuating heavily, due to the device being mostly sold out.
Used C64 that worked like a charm except for a wonky fitting power plug fitting that finally gave out. Later sold it and a 128 as moved to PC (not the junior, lol). Maybe there was something else in that time range too.
Had a gig with a bank promoting first home banking program so got to try out all the 5 faves. I too always have had soft spot for the Commie. Thanks for the coverage. Think there was U.K. attempt at doing this remake some years back that never got off the ground.
Wow! Thanks for sharing. Remember the "VIC-20"? After that rudimentary introduction I purchased a Commodore-64 ($600) and wrote some simple but very useful (at that time) programs in Commodore Basic. What a fantastic time we had.
My first experience was at work with an Apple ][ with 32k RAM and cassette player for storage. This machine was mostly under the purview of the chief engineer. At that time, for hobbyists and home use, the genuine Apple ][ was too expensive, and clones with 48k RAM were the rage. I was fortunate to visit Hong Kong with my family, so I bought a clone of the Apple ][+ with 64k RAM (WOW), for less than what the 48k model was selling for back home. When I brought it home I was the envy of my colleagues and friends - they all marveled at the *huge* memory!
My screen was a 12" monochrome CRT, which was fine for the games I had - Pac Man and a few others,
I learned a lot from it, programming BASIC and also assembler. The only serious applications I had was the Visicalc spreadsheet program.
I eventually I added to two 5.25" floppy drives and also an Epson MX80 dot-matrix printer.
A few years after I bought the computer my sister came to visit me, and loved playing the games on it - until it had a sudden "heart attack" in the middle of a game, The screen froze in a blocky pattern and that was it. RIP. I never succeeded in finding the cause of the failure because I didn't (and still don't) have diagnostic tools at home. I still have it in my shed...
Then my workplace purchased one of the first IBM PCs - with a whopping 128k RAM and a built-in 80MB hard drive and a 5.25" floppy drive and a 9600-baud modem!! It also had a colour CRT display. All this peak-of-technology cost more than $1000 at the time.
Those were the days!
What an exciting blast from the past. My kids loved it and grandkids experienced it too. It was my primary work computer and I finally bought the SX-64 as my desktop computer at work where I became the only one who could do certain things, like print out things like bar and pie charts in color (EpsonEX-1000 $500.); when the I.T. department was still locked into monochrome.
Some of the games are timeless at the challenge and reward levels, and I still have MANY of the original games in both disk and cartridge formats. I would love to find a source for information to copy/transfer/convert those wonderful programs to usable format today, ie... "Montezuma's Revenge". In fact - we have a number of relatively important historical letters on disks that I REALLY REALLY would also love to convert to plain .txt or .rtf; or pay to have converted to PC usable formats. Thank you for your consideration; I am looking for referrals or resources PLEASE.
American Veterans Information Network
AmVetNet@yahoo.com
Hi Jaice,
you will find many popular games, including Montezuma's Revenge, for various legacy systems at https://www.myabandonware.com/ as downloadable ROM images that work with their respective emulators. Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with detailed instructions on how to transfer your letters to your PC but there are various resources available online, including http://retro64.altervista.org/blog/sharing-data-between-pc-and-c64-my-pc-setup-using-opencbm/ . You could also ask for help on one of the many C64-centric forums, which you can easily find via Google.
Ah Beach Head. My favorite game.
I started with a BBC B, and added two floppy drives to replace the cassette player. Not only thr brst Basic ever but also a C compiler and an assembler. Those were the days. And many hours of playing Elite.
Atari 400, which not long after added an Atari 800XL with the floppy drive. Mostly video gaming done and first attempts at learning BASIC.
I'd like to thank you all very much for sharing so many of your memorable moments in computer history with the other readers in this blog!
I didn't own any computer. I came from a big family and times were hard. I am 76 and they where only in Government control then.I bought my son an Amstrad in later years and we had fun with it. At that time we were not aware of c64 s . Look at computers to day and try to imagine what the next 50 yrs are going to bring !!! BEST WISHES Tom.
My first computer was a Microbee Z80 based Australian kit computer with 16k of RAM and tape (casette) input. Later upgraded to 64k and 5 1/4 inch floppy disk. Loved it and learned a lot.
Yes, a Vic20, a C64, a C128, and a DX64.
Still have them stored away with a whole bunch of other olld computer history.
ATARI !! Had an Atari 400 with a membrane KB, and exchanged/upgraded to an 800.. finagled the issued 48K of RAM with a kit for a whopping 256.... lol... an Mod. 810 Tape, and a couple 1050 Floppy Drives... Visicalc was my first Spreadsheet, and a Wordprocessor called Synwrite... Always loved the games! Still have the whole 9 yards stowed and I need to get it out and set it up again !!!
I never really got into gaming after trying to port "Colossal Cave" to an Interdata 8/32, but my children had great fun with Apple ][ clones and the ill-fated Microprofessor. My daughter (now with older teenage children) wants me to resurrect an Apple ][ for her so that she can play the original 2D version of "Castle Wolfenstein". I'm still trying to source one of the weird value electrolytics that Apple used in their power supply.
She spent ages working out a game called "Below the Root" which came to us with no instructions. None of us ever managed to evade the Invisible Guillotine in "Deathmaze".
Having early computers in their bedrooms while at primary school provided the background that led to degrees and careers in IT.
Wow! My first ever computer was the beautiful Atari VCS and i loved it! Then i moved on to the Spectrum 48k which yo me was amaxing along with its 8 colours were a plethora of games and many a school night became 3 o'clock in the morning night! I remember going to a friend's house after school and being absolutely stunned watching Activision's Ghostbusters! That was ut for me. I pestered my mum and dad constantly until my birthday and the bread bin was there underneath crisp birthday wrapping paper. Daley Thompson was responsible for breaking several of my joysticks! I still have all three and they still work!! I have tons of games and the elusive 1541 disk drive. I may have to get them all out at the weekend and treat myself to a very nostalgic couple of days - and nights. Ian.
The C-64 was my first computer. I taught Basic on 4 of these along with 2 Vic-20's and a B-128 with dual floppy drives. I had floppy drives and modems on the C-64's and Vic-20's. The B had a high speed printer.
One year I built a Pinewood derby timer that worked on both the Vic-20 and the C-64.
OMG, I thought I was in heaven when I got to upgrade from a Vic20 to a C64 !! I had it all, a cassette deck, a 300baud modem, and of course the joy stick. That started me down a path that has lasted ever sense. Tried to get a TRS 80, but Radio shack wouldn't finance it for me, so I just waited until I got my first Intel computer, which was a 286, with 512 of memory, and a video card. Those were the good old days. By the time I had enough money for the Intel, Windows 2 was already out. My first Hard Drive was an 8" scsi, with 1GB of memory, that only cost me $1,000.oo used.
I came to the C64 from the Sinclair, my first computer. It had 2 k (and later a 16 k) memory. I was trying to learn some BASIC programming. So when I got the C 64 with its 64 k memory, I thought I’d gone to heaven! I learned a lot with that computer, and they’re happy (though often frustrating) memories.
Petra, I had c64, c128, bx80 printer and also...FFRED, whom i constructed my self and i believe HE is still working. Taught me an incredible amount about machine language because that was the only way to program HIM in the begining....never graduated to disc drive but eventually used cassette and FFRED played a part in the development of the colour code and formatting of digital system labeling..it printed the first labels in a telephone exchange in Australia. FFRED stands for Fast Frustrating Ridiculous Electronic Device...and he was just that!( he was originally named FRED, but han an update to the fearful speed of 2 MEGAHERTZ system clock and 64 KILOBYTES of ram....oh the dizzying heights of 1980's technology!