Commodore Free 7/Commodore_Free_Issue_07_2007_Commodore_Computer_Club.d64/t.iv kroder

Text File | 2023-02-26 | 11KB | 356 lines

uCommodore are Back! Interview with
Michiel Kroder from Commodore Gaming

Q - Please introduce yourself to our
reader

'Hello Commodore Free readers. My name
is Michiel Kroder. I'm a bit of a game
fanatic that got his real start at
gaming with the C64. I studied Creative
Writing, graduated BA. I am lucky to
work as a Content Manager for Commodore
Gaming.'

Q - How many people work for Commodore
gaming

'It might be hard to believe, but up
until now Commodore Gaming consisted of
7 energetic young men.'

Q - What connection are you with the
commodore of old

'Frankly, our only connection with the
Commodore of old consists of our shared
fond memories of playing Bubble Bobble
& Ghosts 'n Goblins  till deep into the
night, waiting ages for cassettes to
load & our love  for the brand overall.
To our great pleasure, it seems like
there are possibilities to form
alliances with Commodore veterans,
however.'

Q - Do your staff remember the 8 bit
Commodore machines & the Amiga, did you
personally own one of these machines

'Of course we do. If one of us did not
remember the C64 or the Amiga or did
not know what these pioneering machines
were all about, then that person would
not have been hired. My mom & dad did
not let me have a C64 or Amiga, but I
was good friends with the kid from the
neighbours & would be over at their
home all the time, to play.'

Q - At work I placed an A4 picture of
the chicken head logon on the wall with
the words Commodore, you would be
surprised  out of all the staff how
many people owned/remembered or
recognised the name with comments like
"are they still producing machines" & "
I owned a xxx commodore it was a great
machine" would you like to comment

'Commodore has made a great impact on
so many lives in a way that goes far
beyond the regular experience of a
brand. For so many people, the C64 was
their first introduction to computing &
the Amiga was just really ahead of its
time. It's intimidating sometimes, but
we hope to live up to the Commodore
legacy, in our very own way.'

Q - Do you own the Commodore name &
Chicken head Logo C=

'Yes we do, but only in relation to
gaming. Everything else is Commodore
International's terrain.'

Q - Commodore as a PC surely this has
all been done before why are your
machines different

'First of all, the mentality with which
we enter the market is wildly
different. All 7 of us are gamers, with
different taste & expertise. Our cases
& their internal parts are designed &
configured in a way that a true PC
gamer would assemble & modify their PC.
This further extends to the degree of
customization we offer, where a buyer
can choose out of a never seen before
variety of case designs that will be
burned into the cases themselves, in an
exclusive manufacturing process. We
offer this service at a very low cost &
there will be plenty of Retro C64
designs to choose from! :)
Furthermore, in a short time span we
have developed good relationship with
major players in the PC industry, & we
have agreements that ensure we will
have new top-level components
(including CPU, Motherboards & Memory),
before anyone else has them. We also
believe we should be easy on gamers'
wallets. That's why we are confident we
can outprice most, if not all, of our
competition. And lastly, we'll have a
few surprises & exclusive, innovative
technology (Ice Cube cooling on the
power supply) up our sleeves.'

Q- I notice you load a Commodore 64
emulator on your machines, why not
other emulators, like Amiga etc what
emulator is supplied with the machine
& what games, how did you negotiate the
Copyright for the games & emulator

'Well, unfortunately... Commodore does
not own the rights to Amiga anymore,
since, I believe, the mid 90s. Maybe in
the future, we will be able to do some-
thing about that. I can't give you a
final list of C64 games that will be on
there, just yet. But I know that many
Epyx & System 3 titles are among them.
We are working with a UK company named
Ironstone, that owns the rights to this
collection of games now.'

Q - Please tell us about the machines
what Configurations are available & how
would our reader purchase one, will the
machines be sold in local electronic
retailers

'The configurations can be found here..

http://www.commodoregaming.com/pcshop/
Game+PC/Gaming+PC+overview.aspx

From halfway through April, the webshop
will be up & support the UK, France,
Germany, & Benelux. Late May, Commodore
Gaming PCs can be found in electronic
shops & chainstores.'

Q - Commodore to our readers represents
innovation, true some of the machines
had various problems but they were
innovative would you like to comment

'Oh... Oh... Oh..! I know what you are
trying to say! You mean we aren't
innovative? !:) In all seriousness, the
old Commodore was not just innovative
but pioneering. They played a large
role in creating the home computer/PC
business. Our current innovation,
technology wise, lies in small things.
But our real innovation lies with the
mentality with which we approach the
market. We are not some guys in suits
employing gamers to make sure they have
a cutting edge, trendy product, coupled
with cutting edge, trendy marketing...
We are these gamers ourselves.'

Q - Do you have further plans for the
Commodore name -"portable TFT screened
version of the Commodore 64/128 for
example"

'It's our intention to revisit the old
technology & build something new out of
it, somewhere down the line. And when
we will start our business &  re-
establish Commodore as a major force,
we will have so many more possibilities
to do so.'

Q - Many of Our readers still use the
Commodore 64/128 as their main machines
Web browsing & eMail are possible on
these Computers, new games appear
regularly, what would tempt these users
to upgrade

'Well, to be fair, we are aware of the
fact that many Commodore fans shun
today's mainstream PC technology &
really don't expect any of them to
upgrade, if they are happy using the
old machines for day today activities.
But, as fellow Commodore fans, it is
important to us that the Commodore
community appreciates & supports what
we are doing right now: To bring the C=
back in the limelight, which it so much
deserves.'

Q - To many of our readers "IBM
compatable" & "Microsoft" are words of
the devil, did you expect this attitude
for Die hard users of the 8bit range

'Oh yes. It was a reservation some of
us had to overcome as well. We thought
long & hard, but came to the conclusion
that it would be instant suicide to
come out with a home computer with its
own architecture, chipset & OS in
today's PC climate. To enter the Hi-End
Gaming PC market is the most natural &
up to date way to us to bring Commodore
back, right at this moment. And like it
or not, most games run on Windows. :)
Once again, though: If we will be
successful in our efforts to bring
Commodore back to the forefront (and
things are looking good), it will give
us much more space to revisit the old
technology & give back to the fans.
After all, they helped to keep the name
afloat all these years.'

Q - one of the more striking items of
the machine is the Case, Can our reader
supply their favourite Commodore
picture to be used on the case or are
the designs on the website "set in
stone"

'Eventually, the number of designs on
the website will be in the thousands.
We are still thinking of a good way for
people to upload their own designs.
And anyone can enter our upcoming
competition & have their design become
a limited edition C=kin.'

Q - Who thought up the designs

'That's us. Our CEO & two of my co-
workers to be exact. :)'

Q - Would you like to give our readers
the price of various configurations, is
an alternate OSy available for example
Linux or are the machines Microsoft OS
only, also have you thought about say
installing AMITHLON as an OS, although
we are well aware of the licensing
problems faced by such & OS

'The prices have not been set yet.
Expect them to be somewhere in the
1200-5000 range. We will most probably
offer alternative OS as well. Linux
does not seem that probable right now,
since it hardly runs any games. :(
Amithlon might be interesting.'

Q- Do you think the old Commodore
business model is still viable, is
there still a market for something like
an updated C64/128

'Oh, I certainly think there's a market
for an updated C64/128 or Amiga. Just
less of a mainstream market & more of a
niche market. And it's certainly a
market that we are dying to explore &
find out more about.'

Q - Is your company purely designed to
produce "IBM compatible machines"

'No. It's designed to further solidify
the relationship between Commodore &
Gaming & to re-establish Commodore as a
major force in the gaming - industry.
We will be able to do more than 'IBM-
compatible' machines.'

Q - how has the press treated the
machines introduction to the market

'Overall, overwhelmingly positive & we
have been given an amount of attention
that exceeded our already hi-expect-
ations. There is some cynicism here &
there but that is only natural &
healthy.'

Q - What does "COMMODORE" say to you

'A ticking cassette tape player, the
bashing of buttons, pure, addictive
game play & some catchy/memorable
tunes.'

Q- How much customer interest has there
been in the Machines

'At the CeBIT convention where we
exhibited our machines, visitors that
initially looked bored out of their
minds stopped by our booths & we
literally saw jaws dropping. That's
retailers & consumers alike.  Every
day I'm getting e-mails in with people
asking me where they can buy one...
Just as with the press attention, it
truly exceeds our high expectations.'

Q- what question would you have liked
to be asked, & why

'You already asked them. About
innovation, 'the evil of IBM compatible
machines' & the viability of the old
Commodore Business model. Because that
gave me a chance to explain more about
our thought Process, what we intend to
do & how we might be able to give back
to the community.'

Q - I wish you every success in your
project, the machine design looks
great, any tips on convincing my wife
to let me purchase one

'Well, show her a C=kin design that you
know will be to her taste. :) The rest
should be easy, since even though it's
a PC that's especially configured for
gaming, she will be able to use it as a
regular workstation & multimedia
centre.'

Q - Will the machine be sold Worldwide

'YES It will be a worldwide operation.'

Q- Imagine you were given 1 million
pounds what would you do with the Money

'Wow... I will say now that I would use
it to invest & fund some creative
projects of myself & others & set up a
charitable organisation. But I never
had a million pounds, so I might just
go crazy & spend it all on completing
my record & game collections.'