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2022-08-26
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137 lines
u
THE COMMODORE 64 RETURNS...
by E. Grady Glover II
You can't keep a great computer
down. After nearly 10 years of being
out of production, the Commodore 64
Computer is once again available to
consumers.
Well, sort of. Tulip Computers and
Mammoth Toys joined forces in 2004 to
put out something that Commodore
lovers have longed to see, a new
Commodore 64 product called the
Commodore 64 Direct-to-TV gaming
controller. The unit was originally
available only from QVC or QVC.com,
though close out units have appeared
at KB Toys.
The C64 DTV is not merely an
emulator of the Commodore 64 but
rather a miniaturized version. It is a
hand held controller that houses 30
built in games from the past. It is
simple to use. Just install the
batteries and plug two wires to your
television set.
The 30 games include:
-Bull-riding
-Championship Wrestling
-Cyberdyne Warrior
-Cybernoid
-Cybernoid II
-Eliminator
-Excelon
-Firelord
-Flying Disc
-Gateway to Apshai
-Impossible Mission
-Impossible Mission II
-Jumpman Jr.
-Paradroid
-Pitstop
-Pitstop II
-Ranarama
-Silicon Warrior
-Speedball
-Summer Games
-Sumo-Wrestling
-Surfing
-Supercycle
-Sword of Fargoal
-Tower Toppler
-Uridium
-Winter Games
-World Karate Championship A
-World Karate Championship B
-Zynaps
Many of these games are remembered
as produced by Epyx Games when
Commodore was at its peak. Since the
original launch of the Commodore 64 in
1982, it played a large role in the
evolution of the modern games
industry.
The love of the C-64 may well be
responsible for the high sales of the
C64 DTV on its first release day --
November 26th. Reportedly, 40,000
units flew out the door during the
first 24 hours.
What a showing for a "toy" based
on a obsolete computer, out of
production since the end of 1992.
Notably, Commodore Business Machines
went bankrupt in 1994. Tulip Computers
of The Netherlands bought the rights
to Commodore in 1997 and worked with
many ideas on how to get the company
back into the eyes of the consumer.
Tulip, along with the units
designer, Jeri Ellsworth, a self
taught computer chip designer, (and
the "darling of the C= world", ED)
have done just that.
Thanks to Jeri, the C64 DTV unit
is the first plug and play game that
can actually be used like the
original, albeit with some
limitations. Many "hardware hackers"
have been hard at work, from the
moment their units arrived on their
porch step, figuring out ways to get
this handheld device to function as a
real C-64. With a little soldering, a
PC keyboard and a Commodore disk drive
can be added, making LOADSTAR or any
other C-64 software available.
EGGII
[JUST A COUPLE OF NOTES:] If you have
the C64 DTV and have not yet found the
"easter eggs", joggle the joystick
left and right while the main menu is
LOADING. You will find a C-64
Directory with lots of new stuff to
try -- the most addictive of which is
"Splatform" by Robin Harbron.
One of the programs is the C-64
screen, with a joystick controled
"keyboard" on the screen. LOAD"$",8
will bring up yet another directory --
chock full of more good stuff! Using
the joystick to type is a singular
pain -- but the effort is worth it!
Back on the corporate front, Tulip is
selling its Commodore properties for
an incredible price to someone else
that thinks the "C=" holds the magic.
DMM