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= Commodore_64 =
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Introduction
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The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer
introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at
the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7-10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It
has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-selling
single computer model of all time, with independent estimates placing
the number sold between 12.5 and 17 million units. Volume production
started in early 1982, marketing in August for . Preceded by the
VIC-20 and Commodore PET, the C64 took its name from its of RAM.
With support for multicolor sprites and a custom chip for waveform
generation, the C64 could create superior visuals and audio compared
to systems without such custom hardware.
The C64 dominated the low-end computer market (except in the UK,
France and Japan, lasting only about six months in Japan) for most of
the later years of the 1980s. For a substantial period (1983-1986),
the C64 had between 30% and 40% share of the US market and two million
units sold per year, outselling IBM PC compatibles, the Apple II, and
Atari 8-bit computers. Sam Tramiel, a later Atari president and the
son of Commodore's founder, said in a 1989 interview, "When I was at
Commodore we were building C64s a month for a couple of years." In
the UK market, the C64 faced competition from the BBC Micro, the ZX
Spectrum, and later the Amstrad CPC 464, but the C64 was still the
second-most-popular computer in the UK after the ZX Spectrum. The
Commodore 64 failed to make any impact in Japan, as their market was
dominated by Japanese computers, such as the NEC PC-8801, Sharp X1,
Fujitsu FM-7 and MSX, and in France, where the ZX Spectrum, Thomson
MO5 and TO7, and Amstrad CPC 464 dominated the market.
Part of the Commodore 64's success was its sale in regular retail
stores instead of only electronics or computer hobbyist specialty
stores. Commodore produced many of its parts in-house to control
costs, including custom integrated circuit chips from MOS Technology.
In the United States, it has been compared to the Ford Model T
automobile for its role in bringing a new technology to middle-class
households via creative and affordable mass-production. Approximately
10,000 commercial software titles have been made for the Commodore 64,
including development tools, office productivity applications, and
video games. C64 emulators allow anyone with a modern computer, or a
compatible video game console, to run these programs today. The C64 is
also credited with popularizing the computer demoscene and is still
used today by some computer hobbyists. In 2011, 17 years after it was
taken off the market, research showed that brand recognition for the
model was still at 87%.
History
======================================================================
In January 1981, MOS Technology, Inc., Commodore's integrated circuit
design subsidiary, initiated a project to design the graphic and audio
chips for a next-generation video game console. Design work for the
chips, named MOS Technology VIC-II (Video Integrated Circuit for
graphics) and MOS Technology SID (Sound Interface Device for audio),
was completed in November 1981. Commodore then began a game console
project that would use the new chips--called the 'Ultimax' or the 'MAX
Machine', engineered by Yash Terakura from Commodore Japan. This
project was eventually cancelled after just a few machines were
manufactured for the Japanese market. At the same time, Robert "Bob"
Russell (system programmer and architect on the VIC-20) and Robert
"Bob" Yannes (engineer of the SID) were critical of the current
product line-up at Commodore, which was a continuation of the
Commodore PET line aimed at business users. With the support of Al
Charpentier (engineer of the VIC-II) and Charles Winterble (manager of
MOS Technology), they proposed to Commodore CEO Jack Tramiel a
low-cost sequel to the VIC-20. Tramiel dictated that the machine
should have of random-access memory (RAM). Although 64-Kbit dynamic
random-access memory (DRAM) chips cost over at the time, he knew that
64K DRAM prices were falling and would drop to an acceptable level
before full production was reached. The team was able to quickly
design the computer because, unlike most other home-computer
companies, Commodore had its own semiconductor fab to produce test
chips; because the fab was not running at full capacity, development
costs were part of existing corporate overhead. The chips were
complete by November, by which time Charpentier, Winterble, and
Tramiel had decided to proceed with the new computer; the latter set a
final deadline for the first weekend of January, to coincide with the
1982 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The product was code named the VIC-40 as the successor to the popular
VIC-20. The team that constructed it consisted of Yash Terakura,
Shiraz Shivji, Bob Russell, Bob Yannes, and David A. Ziembicki. The
design, prototypes, and some sample software were finished in time for
the show, after the team had worked tirelessly over both Thanksgiving
and Christmas weekends. The machine used the same case, same-sized
motherboard, and same Commodore BASIC 2.0 in ROM as the VIC-20. BASIC
also served as the user interface shell and was available immediately
on startup at the READY prompt. When the product was to be presented,
the VIC-40 product was renamed C64. The C64 made an impressive debut
at the January 1982 Consumer Electronics Show, as recalled by
Production Engineer David A. Ziembicki: "All we saw at our booth were
Atari people with their mouths dropping open, saying, 'How can you do
that for $595? The answer was vertical integration; due to Commodore's
ownership of MOS Technology's semiconductor fabrication facilities,
each C64 had an estimated production cost of (equivalent to $350 in
2022).
Reception
===========
In July 1983, 'BYTE' magazine stated that "the 64 retails for . At
that price it promises to be one of the hottest contenders in the
under- personal computer market." It described the SID as "a true
music synthesizer ... the quality of the sound has to be heard to be
believed", while criticizing the use of Commodore BASIC 2.0, the
floppy disk performance which is "even slower than the Atari 810
drive", and Commodore's quality control. 'BYTE' gave more details,
saying the C64 had "inadequate Commodore BASIC 2.0. An 8K-byte
interpreted BASIC" which they assumed was because "Obviously,
Commodore feels that most home users will be running prepackaged
software - there is no provision for using graphics (or sound as
mentioned above) from within a BASIC program except by means of POKE
commands." This was one of very few warnings about C64 BASIC published
in any computer magazines. 'Creative Computing' said in December 1984
that the C64 was "the overwhelming winner" in the category of home
computers under . Despite criticizing its "slow disk drive, only two
cursor directional keys, zero manufacturer support, non-standard
interfaces, etc.", the magazine said that at the C64's price of less
than "you can't get another system with the same features: 64K,
color, sprite graphics, and barrels of available software". The Tandy
Color Computer was the runner up. The Apple II was the winner in the
category of home computer over , which was the category the Commodore
64 was in when it was first released at the price of .
Market war: 1982–1983
=======================
Commodore had a reputation for announcing products that never
appeared, so the company sought to ship the C64 quickly. Production
began in the spring of 1982, and volume shipments began in August. The
C64 faced a wide range of competing home computers, but, with a lower
price and more flexible hardware, it quickly outsold many of its
competitors.
In the United States, the greatest competitors were the Atari 8-bit
computers, the Apple II, and the TI-99/4A. The Atari 400 and 800 had
been designed to accommodate previously stringent FCC emissions
requirements and so were expensive to manufacture. Though similar in
specifications, the C64 and Apple II represented differing design
philosophies; as an open architecture system, upgrade capability for
the Apple II was granted by internal expansion slots, whereas the
C64's comparatively closed architecture had only a single external ROM
cartridge port for bus expansion. However, the Apple II used its
expansion slots for interfacing with common peripherals like disk
drives, printers, and modems; the C64 had a variety of ports
integrated into its motherboard, which were used for these purposes,
usually leaving the cartridge port free. Commodore's was not a
completely closed system, however; the company had published detailed
specifications for most of their models since the Commodore PET and
VIC-20 days, and the C64 was no exception. This was in contrast to the
TI-99/4A, as Texas Instruments focused less on hobbyists and more
towards unsophisticated users. C64 sales were relatively slow due to a
lack of software, reliability issues with early production models,
particularly high failure rates of the PLA chip, which used a new
production process, and a shortage of 1541 disk drives, which also
suffered rather severe reliability issues. During 1983, however, a
trickle of software turned into a flood and sales began rapidly
climbing.
Commodore sold the C64 not only through its network of authorized
dealers but also through department stores, discount stores, toy
stores and college bookstores. The C64 had a built-in RF modulator and
thus could be plugged into any television set. This allowed it (like
its predecessor, the VIC-20) to compete directly against video game
consoles such as the Atari 2600. Like the Apple IIe, the C64 could
also output a composite video signal, avoiding the RF modulator
altogether. This allowed the C64 to be plugged into a specialized
monitor for a sharper picture. Unlike the IIe, the C64's NTSC output
capability also included separate luminance/chroma signal output
equivalent to (and electrically compatible with) S-Video, for
connection to the Commodore 1702 monitor, providing even better video
quality than a composite signal.
Aggressive pricing of the C64 is considered to have been a major
catalyst in the video game crash of 1983. In January 1983, Commodore
offered a $100 rebate in the United States on the purchase of a C64 to
anyone that traded in another video game console or computer. To take
advantage of this rebate, some mail-order dealers and retailers
offered a Timex Sinclair 1000 (TS1000) for as little as with the
purchase of a C64. This deal meant that the consumer could send the
TS1000 to Commodore, collect the rebate, and pocket the difference;
Timex Corporation departed the computer market within a year.
Commodore's tactics soon led to a price war with the major home
computer manufacturers. The success of the VIC-20 and C64 contributed
significantly to Texas Instruments and other smaller competitors
exiting the field.
The price war with Texas Instruments was seen as a personal battle for
Commodore president Jack Tramiel. Commodore dropped the C64's list
price by within two months of its release. In June 1983 the company
lowered the price to (equivalent to $300 in ), and some stores sold
the computer for . At one point, the company was selling as many C64s
as all computers sold by the rest of the industry combined. Meanwhile,
TI lost money by selling the TI-99/4A for . TI's subsequent demise in
the home computer industry in October 1983 was seen as revenge for
TI's tactics in the electronic calculator market in the mid-1970s,
when Commodore was almost bankrupted by TI.
All four machines had similar memory configurations which were
standard in 1982-83: for the Apple II+ (upgraded within months of
C64's release to with the Apple IIe) and for the Atari 800. At
upwards of , the Apple II was about twice as expensive, while the
Atari 800 cost $899. One key to the C64's success was Commodore's
aggressive marketing tactics, and they were quick to exploit the
relative price/performance divisions between its competitors with a
series of television commercials after the C64's launch in late 1982.
The company also published detailed documentation to help developers,
while Atari initially kept technical information secret.
Although many early C64 games were inferior Atari 8-bit ports, by late
1983, the growing installed base caused developers to create new
software with better graphics and sound. Rumors spread in late 1983
that Commodore would discontinue the C64, but it was the only
non-discontinued, widely available home computer in the US by then,
with more than 500,000 sold during the Christmas season; because of
production problems in Atari's supply chain, by the start of 1984 "the
Commodore 64 largely has [the low-end] market to itself right now",
'The Washington Post' reported.
1984–1987
===========
With sales booming and the early reliability issues with the hardware
addressed, software for the C64 began to grow in size and ambition
during 1984. This growth shifted to the primary focus of most US game
developers. The two holdouts were Sierra, who largely skipped over the
C64 in favor of Apple and PC-compatible machines, and Broderbund, who
were heavily invested in educational software and developed primarily
around the Apple II. In the North American market, the disk format had
become nearly universal while cassette and cartridge-based software
all but disappeared. Most US-developed games by this point grew large
enough to require multi-loading from disk.
At a mid-1984 conference of game developers and experts at Origins
Game Fair, Dan Bunten, Sid Meier, and a representative of Avalon Hill
said that they were developing games for the C64 first as the most
promising market. By 1985, games were an estimated 60 to 70% of
Commodore 64 software. 'Computer Gaming World' stated in January 1985
that companies such as Epyx that survived the video game crash did so
because they "jumped on the Commodore bandwagon early". Over 35% of
SSI's 1986 sales were for the C64, ten points higher than for the
Apple II. The C64 was even more important for other companies, which
often found that more than half the sales for a title ported to six
platforms came from the C64 version. That year, 'Computer Gaming
World' published a survey of ten game publishers that found that they
planned to release forty-three Commodore 64 games that year, compared
to nineteen for Atari and forty-eight for Apple II, and Alan Miller
stated that Accolade developed first for the C64 because "it will sell
the most on that system".
In Europe, the primary competitors to the C64 were British-built
computers: the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, the BBC Micro, and the Amstrad
CPC 464. In the UK, the 48K Spectrum had not only been released a few
months ahead of the C64's early 1983 debut, but it was also selling
for £175, less than half the C64's £399 price. The Spectrum quickly
became the market leader and Commodore had an uphill struggle against
it in the marketplace. The C64 did however go on to rival the Spectrum
in popularity in the latter half of the 1980s. Adjusted to the
population size, the popularity of Commodore 64 was the highest in
Finland at roughly 3 units per 100 inhabitants, where it was
subsequently marketed as "the Computer of the Republic".
By early 1985 the C64's price was ; with an estimated production cost
of , its profitability was still within the industry-standard markup
of two to three times. Commodore sold about one million C64s in 1985
and a total of 3.5 million by mid-1986. Although the company
reportedly attempted to discontinue the C64 more than once in favor of
more expensive computers such as the Commodore 128, demand remained
strong. In 1986, Commodore introduced the 64C, a redesigned 64, which
'Compute!' saw as evidence that--contrary to C64 owners' fears that
the company would abandon them in favor of the Amiga and 128--"the 64
refuses to die". Its introduction also meant that Commodore raised the
price of the C64 for the first time, which the magazine cited as the
end of the home-computer price war. Software sales also remained
strong; MicroProse, for example, in 1987 cited the Commodore and IBM
PC markets as its top priorities.
1988–1994
===========
By 1988, PC compatibles were the largest and fastest-growing home and
entertainment software markets, displacing former leader Commodore.
Commodore 64 software sales were almost unchanged in the third quarter
of 1988 year over year while the overall market grew 42%, but the
company was still selling 1 to 1.5 million units worldwide each year
of what 'Computer Chronicles' that year called "the Model T of
personal computers". Epyx CEO Dave Morse cautioned that "there are no
new 64 buyers, or very few. It's a consistent group that's not
growing... it's going to shrink as part of our business." One computer
gaming executive stated that the Nintendo Entertainment System's
enormous popularityseven million sold in 1988, almost as many as the
number of C64s sold in its first five yearshad stopped the C64's
growth. Trip Hawkins reinforced that sentiment, stating that Nintendo
was "the last hurrah of the 8-bit world".
SSI exited the Commodore 64 market in 1991, after most competitors.
'Ultima VI', released in 1991, was the last major C64 game release
from a North American developer, and 'The Simpsons', published by
Ultra Games, was the last arcade conversion. The latter was a somewhat
uncommon example of a US-developed arcade port as after the early
years of the C64, most arcade conversions were produced by UK
developers and converted to NTSC and disk format for the US market,
American developers instead focusing on more computer-centered game
genres such as RPGs and simulations. In the European market, disk
software was rarer and cassettes were the most common distribution
method; this led to a higher prevalence of arcade titles and smaller,
lower-budget games that could fit entirely in the computer's memory
without requiring multiloads. European programmers also tended to
exploit advanced features of the C64's hardware more than their US
counterparts.
The Commodore 64 Light Fantastic pack was released in time for the
1989 Christmas holiday season. The package included a C64C, a Cheetah
Defender 64 Light gun and 3D-glasses. This pack included several games
compatible with the light gun, including some developed purely for the
packs release (Mindscape.)
In the United States, demand for 8-bit computers all but ceased as the
1990s began and PC compatibles completely dominated the computer
market. However, the C64 continued to be popular in the UK and other
European countries. The machine's eventual demise was not due to lack
of demand or the cost of the C64 itself (still profitable at a retail
price point between £44 and £50), but rather because of the cost of
producing the disk drive. In March 1994, at CeBIT in Hanover, Germany,
Commodore announced that the C64 would be finally discontinued in
1995, noting that the Commodore 1541 cost more than the C64 itself.
However, only one month later in April 1994, the company filed for
bankruptcy. When Commodore went bankrupt, all production on their
inventory, including the C64, was discontinued, thus ending the C64's
-year production. Claims of sales of 17, 22 and 30 million of C64
units sold worldwide have been made. Company sales records, however,
indicate that the total number was about 12.5 million. Based on that
figure, the Commodore 64 was still the third most popular computing
platform into the 21st century until 2017 when the Raspberry Pi family
replaced it.
While 360,000 C64s were sold in 1982, about 1.3 million were sold in
1983, followed by a large spike in 1984 when 2.6 million were sold.
After that, sales held steady at between 1.3 and 1.6 million a year
for the remainder of the decade and then dropped off after 1989. North
American sales peaked between 1983 and 1985 and gradually tapered off
afterward, while European sales remained quite strong into the early
1990s. Commodore itself reported a robust sales figure of over 800,000
units during the 1991 fiscal year, but sales during the 1993 fiscal
year had declined to fewer than 200,000 units. Throughout the early
1990s, European sales had accounted for more than 80% of Commodore's
total sales revenue.
2025-Present
==============
On July 12, 2025, the newly revived magazine Compute! in its first
edition announced the rerelease of the original Commodore 64, which
was also announced on the YouTube channel Retro Recipes x Commodore,
set to be shipped in October or November of 2025. The newly revived
Commodore 64 is purported to not be an emulator but contain original
spec hardware similar to that of the original Commodore 64, and will
be available in the breadbin case. This became possible after the
acquisition of the Commodore International brand by YouTuber Christian
Simpson of the channel Retro Recipes x Commodore.
Commodore MAX
===============
In 1982, Commodore released the MAX Machine in Japan. It was called
the Ultimax in the United States and VC-10 in Germany. The MAX was
intended to be a game console with limited computing capability and
was based on a cut-down version of the hardware family later used in
the C64. The MAX was discontinued months after its introduction
because of poor sales in Japan.
Commodore Educator 64
=======================
1983 saw Commodore attempt to compete with the Apple II's hold on the
US education market with the Educator 64, essentially a C64 and
"green" monochrome monitor in a PET case. Schools preferred the
all-in-one metal construction of the PET over the standard C64's
separate components, which could be easily damaged, vandalized, or
stolen. Schools did not prefer the Educator 64 to the wide range of
software and hardware options the Apple IIe was able to offer, and it
was produced in limited quantities.
SX-64
=======
Also in 1983, Commodore released the SX-64, a portable version of the
C64. The SX-64 has the distinction of being the first commercial
'full-color' portable computer. While earlier computers using this
form factor only incorporate monochrome ("green screen") displays, the
base SX-64 unit features a 5 in color cathode-ray tube (CRT) and one
integrated 1541 floppy disk drive. Even though Commodore claimed in
advertisements that it would have dual 1541 drives, when the SX-64 was
released there was only one and the other became a floppy disk storage
slot. Also, unlike most other C64s, the SX-64 does not have a
datasette connector so an external cassette was not an option.
Commodore 128
===============
Two designers at Commodore, Fred Bowen and Bil Herd, were determined
to rectify the problems of the Plus/4. They intended that the eventual
successors to the C64--the Commodore 128 and 128D computers
(1985)--were to build upon the C64, avoiding the Plus/4's flaws. The
successors had many improvements such as a BASIC with graphics and
sound commands (like almost all home computers not made by Commodore),
80-column display ability, and full CP/M compatibility. The decision
to make the Commodore 128 plug compatible with the C64 was made
quietly by Bowen and Herd, software and hardware designers
respectively, without the knowledge or approval by the management in
the post Jack Tramiel era. The designers were careful not to reveal
their decision until the project was too far along to be challenged or
changed and still make the impending Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
in Las Vegas. Upon learning that the C128 was designed to be
compatible with the C64, Commodore's marketing department
independently announced that the C128 would be 100% compatible with
the C64, thereby raising the bar for C64 support. In a case of
malicious compliance, the 128 design was altered to include a separate
"64 mode" using a complete C64 environment to try to ensure total
compatibility.
Commodore 64C
===============
The C64's designers intended the computer to have a new, wedge-shaped
case within a year of release, but the change did not occur. In 1986,
Commodore released the 64C computer, which is functionally identical
to the original, which was nicknamed the Breadbin 64 after the release
of the 64C. The exterior design was remodeled in the sleeker style of
the Commodore 128. The 64C uses new versions of the SID, VIC-II, and
I/O chips being deployed. Models with the C64E board had the graphic
symbols printed on the top of the keys, instead of the normal location
on the front. The sound chip (SID) was changed to use the MOS 8580
chip, with the core voltage reduced from 12V to 9V. The most
significant changes include different behavior in the filters and in
the volume control, which result in some music/sound effects sounding
differently than intended, and in digitally sampled audio being almost
inaudible, respectively (though both of these can mostly be
corrected-for in software). The 64 KB RAM memory went from eight chips
to two chips. BASIC and the KERNAL went from two separate chips into
one 16 KB ROM chip. The PLA chip and some TTL chips were integrated
into a DIL 64-pin chip. The "252535-01" PLA integrated the color RAM
as well into the same chip. The smaller physical space made it
impossible to put in some internal expansions like a floppy-speeder.
In the United States, the 64C was often bundled with the third-party
GEOS graphical user interface (GUI)-based operating system, as well as
the software needed to access Quantum Link. The 1541 drive received a
matching face-lift, resulting in the 1541C. Later, a smaller, sleeker
1541-II model was introduced, along with the 3.5-inch microfloppy
1581.
Commodore 64 Games System
===========================
In 1990, the C64 was repackaged in the form of a game console, called
the C64 Games System (C64GS), with most external connectivity removed.
A simple modification to the 64C's motherboard was made to allow
cartridges to be inserted from above. A modified ROM replaced the
BASIC interpreter with a boot screen to inform the user to insert a
cartridge. Designed to compete with the Nintendo Entertainment System
and Sega's Master System, it suffered from very low sales compared to
its rivals. It was another commercial failure for Commodore, and it
was never released outside Europe. The Commodore game system lacked a
keyboard, so any software that required a keyboard could not be used.
Commodore 65
==============
In 1990, an advanced successor to the C64, the Commodore 65 (also
known as the "C64DX"), was prototyped, but the project was canceled by
Commodore's chairman Irving Gould in 1991. The C65's specifications
were impressive for an 8-bit computer, bringing specs comparable to
the 16-bit Apple IIGS. For example, it could display 256 colors on the
screen, while OCS based Amigas could only display 64 in HalfBrite mode
(32 colors and half-bright transformations). Although no specific
reason was given for the C65's cancellation, it would have competed in
the marketplace with Commodore's lower-end Amigas and the Commodore
CDTV.
Software
======================================================================
In 1982, the C64's graphics and sound capabilities were rivaled only
by the Atari 8-bit computers and appeared exceptional when compared
with the popular Apple II. The C64 is often credited with starting the
demoscene subculture (see Commodore 64 demos). It is still being
actively used in the demoscene, especially for music (its SID sound
chip even being used in special sound cards for PCs, and the Elektron
SidStation synthesizer). Even though other computers quickly caught up
with it, the C64 remained a strong competitor to the later video game
consoles Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Master System, thanks
in part to its by-then established software base, especially outside
North America, where it comprehensively outsold the NES.
Because of lower incomes and the domination of the ZX Spectrum in the
UK, almost all British C64 software used cassette tapes. Few cassette
C64 programs were released in the US after 1983 and, in North America,
the diskette was the principal method of software distribution. The
cartridge slot on the C64 was also mainly a feature used in the
computer's first two years on the US market and became rapidly
obsolete once the price and reliability of 1541 drives improved. A
handful of PAL region games used bank switched cartridges to get
around the 16 KB memory limit.
BASIC
=======
As is common for home computers of the early 1980s, the C64 comes with
a BASIC interpreter, in ROM. KERNAL, I/O, and tape/disk drive
operations are accessed via custom BASIC language commands. The disk
drive has its own interfacing microprocessor and ROM (firmware) I/O
routines, much like the earlier CBM/PET systems and the Atari 400 and
Atari 800. This means that no memory space is dedicated to running a
disk operating system, as was the case with earlier systems such as
the Apple II and TRS-80.
Commodore BASIC 2.0 is used instead of the more advanced BASIC 4.0
from the PET series, since C64 users were not expected to need the
disk-oriented enhancements of BASIC 4.0. The company did not expect
many to buy a disk drive, and using BASIC 2.0 simplified VIC-20
owners' transition to the 64. "The choice of BASIC 2.0 instead of 4.0
was made with some soul-searching, not just at random. The typical
user of a C64 is not expected to need the direct disk commands as much
as other extensions, and the amount of memory to be committed to BASIC
were to be limited. We chose to leave expansion space for color and
sound extensions instead of the disk features. As a result, you will
have to handle the disk in the more cumbersome manner of the 'old
days'."
The version of Microsoft BASIC is not very comprehensive and does not
include specific commands for sound or graphics manipulation, instead
requiring users to use the "PEEK and POKE" commands to access the
graphics and sound chip registers directly. To provide extended
commands, including graphics and sound, Commodore produced two
different cartridge-based extensions to BASIC 2.0: Simons' BASIC and
Super Expander 64. Other languages available for the C64 include
Pascal, C, Logo, Forth, and FORTRAN. Compilers for BASIC 2.0 such as
Petspeed 2 (from Commodore), Blitz (from Jason Ranheim), and Turbo
Lightning (from Ocean Software) were produced. Most commercial C64
software was written in assembly language, either cross-developed on a
larger computer, or directly on the C64 using a machine code monitor
or an assembler. This maximized speed and minimized memory use. Some
games, particularly adventures, used high-level scripting languages
and sometimes mixed BASIC and machine language.
Alternative operating systems
===============================
Many third-party operating systems have been developed for the C64. As
well as the original GEOS, two third-party GEOS-compatible systems
have been written: Wheels and GEOS megapatch. Both of these require
hardware upgrades to the original C64. Several other operating systems
are or have been available, including WiNGS OS, the Unix-like LUnix,
operated from a command-line, and the embedded systems OS Contiki,
with full GUI. Other less well-known OSes include ACE, Asterix,
DOS/65, and GeckOS. C64 OS is commercially available today and under
active development. It features a full GUI in character mode, and many
other modern features. A version of CP/M was released, but this
requires the addition of an external Z80 processor to the expansion
bus. Furthermore, the Z80 processor is underclocked to be compatible
with the C64's memory bus, so performance is poor compared to other
CP/M implementations. C64 CP/M and C128 CP/M both suffer a lack of
software; although most commercial CP/M software can run on these
systems, software media is incompatible between platforms. The low
usage of CP/M on Commodores means that software houses saw no need to
invest in mastering versions for the Commodore disk format. The C64
CP/M cartridge is also not compatible with anything except the early
326298 motherboards.
Networking software
=====================
During the 1980s, the Commodore 64 was used to run bulletin board
systems using software packages such as Punter BBS, Bizarre 64, Blue
Board, C-Net, Color 64, CMBBS, C-Base, DMBBS, Image BBS, EBBS, and The
Deadlock Deluxe BBS Construction Kit, often with sysop-made
modifications. These boards sometimes were used to distribute cracked
software. As late as December 2013, there were 25 such Bulletin Board
Systems in operation, reachable via the Telnet protocol. There were
major commercial online services, such as Compunet (UK), CompuServe
(US later bought by America Online), The Source (US), and Minitel
(France) among many others. These services usually required custom
software which was often bundled with a modem and included free online
time as they were billed by the minute. Quantum Link (or Q-Link) was a
US and Canadian online service for Commodore 64 and 128 personal
computers that operated from November 5, 1985, to November 1, 1994. It
was operated by Quantum Computer Services of Vienna, Virginia, which
in October 1991 changed its name to America Online and continued to
operate its AOL service for the IBM PC compatible and Apple Macintosh.
Q-Link was a modified version of the PlayNET system, which Control
Video Corporation (CVC, later renamed Quantum Computer Services)
licensed.
Online gaming
===============
The first graphical character-based interactive environment is 'Club
Caribe'. First released as 'Habitat' in 1988, 'Club Caribe' was
introduced by LucasArts for Q-Link customers on their Commodore 64
computers. Users could interact with one another, chat and exchange
items. Although the game's open world was very basic, its use of
online avatars and the combination of chat and graphics was
revolutionary. Online graphics in the late 1980s were severely
restricted by the need to support modem data transfer rates as low as
300 bits per second. Habitat's graphics were stored locally on floppy
disk, eliminating the need for network transfer.
CPU and memory
================
The C64 uses an 8-bit MOS Technology 6510 microprocessor that is
almost identical to the 6502 but has three-state buses, a different
pinout, slightly different clock signals and other minor changes for
this application. It also has six I/O lines on otherwise-unused legs
on the 40-pin IC package. These are used for two purposes in the C64:
to bank-switch the machine's read-only memory (ROM) in and out of the
processor's address space, and to operate the datasette tape recorder.
The C64 has of 8-bit-wide dynamic RAM, of 4-bit-wide static color
RAM for text mode, and are available to built-in Commodore BASIC 2.0
on startup. There is of ROM, made up of the BASIC interpreter, the
KERNAL, and the character ROM. Because the processor can only address
at a time, the ROM was mapped into memory and only of RAM (plus
between the ROMs) were available at startup. Most "breadbin" Commodore
64s used 4164 DRAM with eight chips totaling 64K of system RAM. Later
models, featuring Assy 250466 and Assy 250469 motherboards, used 41464
DRAM (64K×4) chips which stored per chip (so only two were required).
Because 4164 DRAMs are 64K×1, eight chips are needed to make an entire
byte; the computer will not function without all of them present. The
first chip contains Bit 0 for the memory space, the second chip
contains Bit 1, and so forth.
The C64 performs a RAM test on power-up and if a RAM error is
detected, the amount of free BASIC memory will be lower than the
normal 38,911. If the faulty chip is in lower memory, then an ?OUT OF
MEMORY IN 0 error is displayed rather than the usual BASIC startup
banner.
The C64 uses a complicated memory-banking scheme; the normal power-on
default is the BASIC ROM mapped in at -, and the screen editor
(KERNAL) ROM at -. RAM under the system ROMs can be written to, but
not read back, without swapping out the ROMs. Memory location
contains a register with control bits for enabling or disabling the
system ROMs and the I/O area at . If the KERNAL ROM is swapped out,
BASIC will be removed at the same time. BASIC is not active without
the KERNAL; BASIC often calls KERNAL routines, and part of the ROM
code for BASIC is in the KERNAL ROM.
The character ROM is normally invisible to the CPU. The character ROM
may be mapped into -, where it is then visible to the CPU. Because
doing so necessitates swapping out the I/O registers, interrupts must
first be disabled. By removing I/O from the memory map, - becomes free
RAM.
C64 cartridges map into assigned ranges in the CPU's address space.
The most common cartridge auto-starting requires a string at which
contains "" followed by the address where program execution begins. A
few C64 cartridges released in 1982 use Ultimax mode (or MAX mode), a
leftover feature of the unsuccessful MAX Machine. These cartridges map
into and displace the KERNAL ROM. If Ultimax mode is used, the
programmer will have to provide code for handling system interrupts.
The cartridge port has 16 address lines, which grants access to the
computer's entire address space if needed. Disk and tape software
normally load at the start of BASIC memory ($0801), and use a small
BASIC stub (such as 10 SYS(2064)) to jump to the start of the program.
Although no Commodore 8-bit machine except the C128 can automatically
boot from a floppy disk, some software intentionally overwrites
certain BASIC vectors in the process of loading so execution begins
automatically (instead of requiring the user to type RUN at the BASIC
prompt after loading).
About 300 cartridges were released for the C64, primarily during the
machine's first years on the market, after which most software
outgrew the cartridge limit. Larger software companies, such as Ocean
Software, began releasing games on bank-switched cartridges to
overcome the cartridge limit during the C64's final years.
Commodore did not include a reset button on its computers until the
CBM-II line, but third-party cartridges had a reset button. A soft
reset can be triggered by jumping to the CPU reset routine at
(64738). A few programs use this as an exit feature, although it does
not clear memory.
The KERNAL ROM underwent three revisions, mainly designed to fix bugs.
The initial version is only found on 326298 motherboards (used in the
first production models), and cannot detect whether an NTSC or PAL
VIC-II is present. The second revision is found on all C64s made from
late 1982 through 1985. The final KERNAL ROM revision was introduced
on the 250466 motherboard (late breadbin models with 41464 RAM), and
is found in all C64Cs. The 6510 CPU is clocked at (NTSC) and (PAL),
lower than some competing systems; the Atari 800, for example, is
clocked at ). Performance can be boosted slightly by disabling the
VIC-II's video output via a register write. This feature is often used
by tape and disk fast loaders and the KERNAL cassette routine to keep
a standard CPU cycle timing not modified by the VIC-II's sharing of
the bus.
The restore key is gated directly to the CPU's NMI line, and will
generate an NMI if pressed. The KERNAL handler for the NMI checks if
run/stop is also pressed; if not, it ignores the NMI and exits.
Run/stop-restore is normally a soft reset in BASIC which restores all
I/O registers to their power-on default state, but does not clear
memory or reset pointers; any BASIC programs in memory will be left
untouched. Machine-language software usually disables run/stop-restore
by remapping the NMI vector to a dummy RTI instruction. The NMI can
also be used for an extra interrupt thread by programs, but risks a
system lockup or other undesirable side effects if the restore key is
accidentally pressed (which activates the NMI thread).
Joysticks, mice, and paddles
==============================
The C64 retained the VIC-20's DE-9 Atari joystick port and added
another; any Atari-specification game controller can be used on a C64.
The joysticks are read from the registers at and , and most software
is designed to use a joystick in port 2 for control rather than port
1; the upper bits of are used by the keyboard, and an I/O conflict
can result. Although it is possible to use Sega gamepads on a C64, it
is not recommended; their slightly different signal can damage the CIA
chip. The SID chip's register , used to control paddles, is an analog
input. A handful of games, primarily released early in the computer's
life cycle, can use paddles. In 1986, Commodore released two mice for
the C64 and C128: the 1350 and 1351. The 1350 is a digital device read
from the joystick registers, and can be used with any program
supporting joystick input. The 1351 is an analog potentiometer-based
mouse, read with the SID's analog-to-digital converter.
Graphics
==========
The VIC-II graphics chip features a new palette, eight hardware
sprites per scanline (enabling up to 112 sprites per PAL screen),
scrolling capabilities, and two bitmap graphics modes.
Commodore 64 palette
Color # Name Hexadecimal RGB value
0 Black #000000
1 White #FFFFFF
2 Red #9F4E44
3 Cyan #6ABFC6
4 Purple #A057A3
5 Green #5CAB5E
6 Blue #50459B
7 Yellow #C9D487
8 Orange #A1683C
9 Brown #6D5412
10 Light Red #CB7E75
11 Dark-Gray #626262
12 Mid-Gray #898989
13 Light Green #9AE29B
14 Light Blue #887ECB
15 Light-Gray #ADADAD
Text modes
============
The standard text mode features 40 columns, like most Commodore PET
models; the built-in character encoding is not standard ASCII but
PETSCII, an extended form of ASCII-1963. The KERNAL ROM sets the
VIC-II to a dark-blue background on power-up, with a light-blue border
and text. Unlike the PET and VIC-20, the C64 uses double-width text;
some early VIC-IIs had poor video quality which resulted in a fuzzy
picture. Most screenshots show borders around the screen, a feature of
the VIC-II chip. By utilizing interrupts to reset hardware registers
with precise timing, it was possible to place graphics within the
borders and use the full screen.
The C64 has a resolution of 320×200 pixels, consisting of a 40×25 grid
of 8×8 character blocks. It has 255 predefined character blocks, known
as PETSCII. The character set can be copied into RAM and modified by a
programmer.
There are two color modes: high resolution, with two colours available
per character block (one foreground and one background), and
multicolour (four colors per character blockthree foreground and one
background). In multicolor mode, attributes are shared between pixel
pairs so the effective visible resolution is 160×200 pixels; only 16
KB of memory is available for the VIC-II video processor.
Since the C64 has a bitmapped screen, it is possible (but slow) to
draw each pixel individually. Most programmers used techniques
developed for earlier, non-bitmapped systems like the Commodore PET
and TRS-80. A programmer redraws the character set, and the video
processor fills the screen block by block from the top left corner to
the bottom right corner. Two types of animation are used: character
block animation and hardware sprites.
Character block animation
===========================
The user draws a series of characters of a person walking, possibly
two in the middle of the block and another two walking in and out of
the block. Then the user sequences them so the character walks into
the block and out again. Drawing a series of these gets a person
walking across the screen. By timing the redraw to occur when the
television screen blanks out to restart drawing the screen, there will
be no flicker. For this to happen, a user programs the VIC-II that it
generates a raster interrupt when video flyback occurs. This technique
is used in the 'Space Invaders' arcade game.
Horizontal and vertical pixel scrolling of up to one character block
is supported by two hardware scroll registers. Depending on timing,
hardware scrolling affects the entire screen or selected lines of
character blocks. On a non-emulated C64, scrolling is glass-like and
blur-free.
Hardware sprites
==================
A sprite is a character which moves over an area of the screen, draws
over the background, and redraws it after it moves. This differs from
character block animation, where the user flips character blocks. On
the C64, the VIC-II video controller handles most sprite emulation;
the programmer defines the sprite and where it goes.
The C64 has two types of sprites, respecting their color-mode
limitations. Hi-res sprites have one color (one background and one
foreground), and multi-color sprites have three (one background and
three foreground). Color modes can be split or windowed on a single
screen. Sprites can be doubled in size vertically and horizontally up
to four times their size, but the pixel attributes are the same - the
pixels become "fatter". There are eight sprites, and all eight can be
shown in each horizontal line concurrently. Sprites can move with
glassy smoothness in front of, and behind, screen characters and other
sprites.
The hardware sprites of a C64 can be displayed on a bitmapped
(high-resolution) screen or a text-mode screen in conjunction with
fast and smooth character block animation. Software-emulated sprites
on systems without support for hardware sprites, such as the Apple II
and ZX Spectrum, required a bitmapped screen. Sprite-sprite and
sprite-background collisions are detected in hardware, and the VIC-II
can be programmed to trigger an interrupt accordingly.
Sound
=======
The SID chip has three channels, each with its own ADSR envelope
generator and filter capabilities. Ring modulation makes use of
channel three to work with the other two channels. Bob Yannes
developed the SID chip and, later, co-founded the synthesizer company
Ensoniq. Composers and programmers of game music on the C64 include
Rob Hubbard, Jeroen Tel, Tim Follin, David Whittaker, Chris Hülsbeck,
Ben Daglish, Martin Galway, Kjell Nordbø and David Dunn. Due to the
chip's three channels, chords are often played as arpeggios. It was
also possible to continuously update the master volume with sampled
data to enable the playback of 4-bit digitized audio. By 2008, it was
possible to play four-channel 8-bit audio samples and two SID channels
and still use filtering.
There are two versions of the SID chip: the 6581 and the 8580. The MOS
Technology 6581 was used in the original ("breadbin") C64s, the early
versions of the 64C, and the Commodore 128. The 6581 was replaced with
the MOS Technology 8580 in 1987. Although the 6581 sound quality is a
little crisper, it lacks the 8580's versatility; the 8580 can mix all
available waveforms on each channel, but the 6581 can only mix
waveforms in a channel in a limited fashion. The main difference
between the 6581 and the 8580 is the supply voltage; the 6581 requires
, and the 8580 . A modification can be made to use the 6581 in a newer
64C board (which uses the chip).
In 1986, the Sound Expander was released for the Commodore 64. It was
a sound module with a Yamaha YM3526 chip capable of FM synthesis,
primarily intended for professional music production.
{{anchor|Hardware revisions}}Revisions
========================================
Commodore made many changes to the C64's hardware, sometimes
introducing compatibility issues. The computer's rapid development and
Commodore and Jack Tramiel's focus on cost-cutting instead of product
testing resulted in several defects which caused developers like Epyx
to complain and required many revisions; Charpentier said that "not
coming a little close to quality" was one of the company's mistakes.
Cost reduction was the reason for most of the revisions. Reducing
manufacturing costs was vitally important to Commodore's survival
during the price war and lean years of the 16-bit era. The C64's
original (NMOS-based) motherboard went through two major redesigns and
a number of revisions, exchanging positions of the VIC-II, SID and PLA
chips. Much of the cost was initially eliminated by reducing the
number of discrete components, such as diodes and resistors, which
enabled a smaller printed circuit board. There were 16 C64 motherboard
revisions to simplify production and reduce manufacturing costs. Some
board revisions were exclusive to PAL regions. All C64 motherboards
were manufactured in Hong Kong.
IC locations changed frequently with each motherboard revision, as did
the presence (or lack) of the metal RF shield around the VIC-II; PAL
boards often had aluminized cardboard instead of a metal shield. The
SID and VIC-II are socketed on all boards, but the other ICs may be
socketed or soldered. The first production C64s, made from 1982 to
early 1983, are known as "silver label" models due to the case having
a silver-colored "Commodore" logo. The power LED had a silver badge
reading "64" around it. These machines have only a five-pin video
cable, and cannot produce S-Video. Commodore introduced the familiar
"rainbow badge" case in late 1982, but many machines produced into
early 1983 also used silver-label cases until the existing stock was
used up. The original 326298 board was replaced in spring 1983 by the
250407 motherboard, which had an eight-pin video connector and added
S-Video support. This case design was used until the C64C appeared in
1986. All ICs switched to plastic shells, but the silver-label C64s
(notably the VIC-II) had some ceramic ICs. The case is made from ABS
plastic, which may become brown with time; this can be reversed with
retrobright.
ICs
=====
The VIC-II was manufactured with 5-micrometer NMOS technology, and was
clocked at (PAL) or (NTSC). Internally, the clock was divided to
generate the dot clock (about 8 MHz) and the two-phase system clocks
(about 1 MHz; the pixel and system clock speeds differ slightly on
NTSC and PAL machines). At such high clock rates the chip generated
considerable heat, forcing MOS Technology to use a ceramic dual
in-line package known as a CERDIP. The ceramic package was more
expensive, but dissipated heat more effectively than plastic.
After a redesign in 1983, the VIC-II was encased in a plastic dual
in-line package; this reduced costs substantially, but did not
eliminate the heat problem. Without a ceramic package, the VIC-II
required a heat sink. To avoid extra cost, the metal RF shielding
doubled as the VIC's heat sink; not all units shipped with this type
of shielding, however. Most C64s in Europe shipped with a cardboard RF
shield coated with a layer of metal foil. The effectiveness of the
cardboard was questionable; it acted instead as an insulator, blocking
airflow and trapping heat generated by the SID, VIC, and PLA chips.
The SID was originally manufactured using NMOS at 7 micrometers and,
in some areas, 6 micrometers. The prototype SID and some early
production models had a ceramic dual in-line package, but (unlike the
VIC-II) are very rare; the SID was encased in plastic when production
began in early 1982.
Motherboard
=============
In 1986, Commodore released the last revision of the classic C64
motherboard. It was otherwise identical to the 1984 design, except for
two 64-kilobit × 4-bit DRAM chips which replaced the original eight
64-kilobit × 1-bit ICs. After the release of the Commodore 64C, MOS
Technology began to reconfigure the original C64's chipset to use HMOS
technology. The main benefit of HMOS was that it required less voltage
to drive the IC, generating less heat. This enhanced the reliability
of the SID and VIC-II. The new chipset was renumbered 85xx to reflect
the change to HMOS.
In 1987, Commodore released a 64C variant with a redesigned
motherboard known as a "short board". The new board used the HMOS
chipset, with a new 64-pin PLA chip. The "SuperPLA", as it was called,
integrated discrete components and transistor-transistor logic (TTL)
chips. In the last revision of the 64C motherboard, the 2114
4-bit-wide color RAM was integrated into the SuperPLA.
Power supply
==============
The C64 used an external power supply, a linear transformer with
multiple taps differing from switch mode (presently used on PC power
supplies). It was encased in epoxy resin gel, which discouraged
tampering but increased the heat level during use. The design saved
space in the computer's case, and allowed international versions to be
more easily manufactured. The 1541-II and 1581 disk drives and
third-party clones also have external power-supply "bricks", like most
peripherals.
Commodore power supplies often failed sooner than expected. The
computer reportedly had a 30-percent return rate in late 1983,
compared to the 5-7 percent rate considered acceptable by the
industry; 'Creative Computing' reported four working C64s, out of
seven. Malfunctioning power bricks were notorious for damaging the RAM
chips. Due to their higher density and single supply (+5V), they had
less tolerance for over-voltage. The usually-failing voltage regulator
could be replaced by piggybacking a new regulator on the board and
fitting a heat sink on top.
The original PSU on early-1982 and 1983 machines had a 5-pin connector
which could accidentally be plugged into the computer's video output.
Commodore later changed the design, omitting the resin gel to reduce
costs. The following model, the Commodore 128, used a larger, improved
power supply which included a fuse. The power supply for the Commodore
REU was similar to that of the Commodore 128, providing an upgrade for
customers purchasing the accessory.
Internal hardware
===================
* Microprocessor CPU:
** MOS Technology 6510/8500 (the 6510/8500 is a modified 6502 with an
integrated 6-bit I/O port)
** Clock speed: or
* Video: MOS Technology VIC-II 6567/8562 (NTSC), 6569/8565 (PAL)
** 16 colors
** Text mode: 40×25 characters; 256 user-defined chars (8×8 pixels, or
4×8 in multicolor mode); or extended background color; 64 user-defined
chars with 4 background colors, 4-bit color RAM defines foreground
color
** Bitmap modes: 320×200 (2 unique colors in each 8×8 pixel block),
160×200 (3 unique colors + 1 common color in each 4×8 block)
** 8 hardware sprites of 24×21 pixels (12×21 in multicolor mode)
** Smooth scrolling, raster interrupts
* Sound: MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID
** 3-channel synthesizer with programmable ADSR envelope
** 8 octaves
** 4 waveforms per audio channel: triangle, sawtooth, variable pulse,
noise
** Oscillator synchronization, ring modulation
** Programmable filter: high pass, low pass, band pass, notch filter
* Input/Output: Two 6526 Complex Interface Adapters
** 16 bit parallel I/O
** 8 bit serial I/O
** 24-hours (AM/PM) Time of Day clock (TOD), with programmable alarm
clock
** 16 bit interval timers
* RAM:
** 64 KB, of which 38 KB were available for BASIC programs
** 1024 nybbles color RAM (memory allocated for screen color data
storage)
** Expandable to 320 KB with Commodore 1764 256 KB RAM Expansion Unit
(REU); although only 64 KB directly accessible; REU used mostly for
the GEOS. REUs of 128 KB and 512 KB, originally designed for the C128,
were also available, but required the user to buy a stronger power
supply from some third party supplier; with the 1764 this was
included.
Creative Micro Designs also produced a 2 MB REU for the C64 and C128,
called the 1750 XL. The technology actually supported up to 16 MB, but
2 MB was the biggest one officially made. Expansions of up to 16 MB
were also possible via the CMD SuperCPU.
* ROM:
** ( Commodore BASIC 2.0; KERNAL; character generator, providing
two character sets)
Input/output (I/O) ports and power supply
===========================================
* I/O ports:
** ROM cartridge expansion slot (44-pin slot for edge connector with
6510 CPU address/data bus lines and control signals, as well as GND
and voltage pins; used for program modules and memory expansions,
among others)
** Integrated RF modulator television antenna output via an RCA
connector. The used channel could be adjusted from number 36 with the
potentiometer to the left.
** 8-pin DIN connector containing composite video output, separate Y/C
outputs and sound input/output. This is a 262° horseshoe version of
the plug, rather than the 270° circular version. Early C64 units (with
motherboard Assy 326298) use a 5-pin DIN connector that carries
composite video and luminance signals, but lacks a chroma signal.
** Serial bus (proprietary serial version of IEEE-488, 6-pin DIN plug)
for CBM printers and disk drives
** PET-type Commodore Datasette 300 baud tape interface (edge
connector with digital cassette motor/read/write/key-sense signals),
Ground and +5V DC lines. The cassette motor is controlled by a +5V DC
signal from the 6510 CPU. The 9V AC input is transformed into
unregulated 6.36V DC which is used to actually power the cassette
motor.
** User port (edge connector with TTL-level signals, for modems and so
on; byte-parallel signals which can be used to drive third-party
parallel printers, among other things, 17 logic signals, 7 Ground and
voltage pins, including 9V AC)
** 2 × screwless DE9M game controller ports (compatible with Atari
2600 controllers), each supporting five digital inputs and two analog
inputs. Available peripherals included digital joysticks, analog
paddles, a light pen, the Commodore 1351 mouse, and graphics tablets
such as the KoalaPad.
* Power supply:
** 5V DC and 9V AC from an external "power brick", attached to a 7-pin
female DIN-connector on the computer.
The is used to supply power via a charge pump to the SID sound
generator chip, provide via a rectifier to the cassette motor, a "0"
pulse for every positive half wave to the time-of-day (TOD) input on
the CIA chips, and directly to the user-port. Thus, as a minimum, a
square wave is required. But a sine wave is preferred.
Memory map
============
Address Size [KB] !colspan=4| Description
|align="right"| 0x0000 |align="right"| 32 |colspan=3| RAM
|align="right"| 0x8000 |align="right"| 8 |colspan=2| RAM Cartridge
ROM
|align="right"| 0xA000 |align="right"| 8 |colspan=2| RAM BASIC ROM
|align="right"| 0xC000 |align="right"| 4 |colspan=3| RAM
|align="right"| 0xD000 |align="right"| 4 RAM I/O/Color RAM
Character ROM
|align="right"| 0xE000 |align="right"| 8 |colspan=2| RAM KERNAL
ROM
Note that even if an I/O chip like the VIC-II only uses 64 positions
in the memory address space, it will occupy 1,024 addresses because
some address bits are left undecoded.
Peripherals
=============
Commodore-64-1541-Floppy-Drive-01.jpg|Commodore 1541 floppy drive
Commodore 1541 white.jpg|Commodore 1541C floppy drive
C64-IMG 5372.jpg|Commodore 1541-II floppy drive
Commodore-Datasette-C2N-Mk1-Front.jpg|Commodore 1530 Datasette
Commodore Matrixdrucker MPS-802 (weißen hintergrund).jpg|Commodore
MPS-802 dot matrix printer
CommodoreVICModem.jpg|Commodore VIC-Modem
Commodore blockomaus.jpg|Commodore 1351 mouse
Commodore 1702 (made by JVC) front.jpg|Commodore 1702 video monitor
Commodore 1581 Disk Drive Front.jpg|Commodore 1581 3.5" double-sided
floppy drive
Manufacturing cost
====================
Vertical integration was the key to keeping Commodore 64 production
costs low. At the introduction in 1982, the production cost was US$135
and the retail price US$595. In 1985, the retail price went down to
US$149 (US$149 today) and the production costs were believed to be
somewhere between US$35-50 ({{nowrap| }} Commodore would not confirm
this cost figure. Dougherty of the Berkeley Softworks estimated the
costs of the Commodore 64 parts based on his experience at Mattel and
Imagic.
Cost
Count Price in 1985 US$ Part
3 1 ROMs
8 1.85 Dynamic RAMs
4 SID (sound) chip
4 VIC-II (graphics) chip
3 RF modulator package
1-2 6510 8-bit microprocessor
5 A handful of TTL, buffers, power regulators and
capacitors
10 max Keyboard
1-2 Printed circuit board
1-2 Plastic case
5-10 Power supply and miscellaneous connectors
1-2 Packaging and manual
Total: 52.8-61.8
To lower costs, TTL chips were replaced with less expensive custom
chips and ways to increase the yields on the sound and graphics chips
were found. The video chip 6567 had the ceramic package replaced with
plastic but heat dissipation demanded a redesign of the chip and the
development of a plastic package that can dissipate heat as well as
ceramic.
{{anchor|Newer compatible hardware}}Compatible hardware
=========================================================
C64 enthusiasts were developing new hardware in 2008, including
Ethernet cards, specially adapted hard disks and flash card interfaces
(sd2iec). A-SID, which gives the C-64 a wah-wah effect, was introduced
in 2022.
Clones
========
Clones are computers which imitate C64 functions. In mid-2004, after
an absence from the marketplace of more than 10 years, PC manufacturer
Tulip Computers (owners of the Commodore brand since 1997) announced
the C64 Direct-to-TV (C64DTV): a joystick-based TV game based on the
C64, with 30 games in its ROM. Designed by Jeri Ellsworth, a
self-taught computer designer who had designed the C-One C64
implementation, the C64DTV was similar to other mini-consoles based on
the modestly-successful Atari 2600 and Intellivision. The C64DTV was
advertised on QVC in the United States for the 2004 holiday season.
In 2015, a Commodore 64-compatible motherboard was produced by
Individual Computers. Called the C64 Reloaded, it is a redesign of
Commodore 64 motherboard revision 250466 with several new features.
The motherboard is designed to be placed in an existing, empty C64 or
C64C case. Produced in limited quantities, models of this Commodore 64
clone have machined or ZIF sockets in which custom C64 chips are
placed. The board contains jumpers to accept revisions of the VIC-II
and SID chips and the ability to switch between the PAL and NTSC video
systems. It has several innovations, including selection (via the
restore key) of KERNAL and character ROMs, built-in reset toggle on
the power switch, and an S-Video socket to replace the original TV
modulator. The motherboard is powered by a DC-to-DC converter which
uses from a mains adapter, rather than the original (and
failure-prone) Commodore 64 power-supply brick.
=== Web.it Internet computer ===
The C64 brand was reused in 1998 for the Web.it Internet Computer, a
low-powered, Internet-oriented, all-in-one x86 PC running MS-DOS and
Windows 3.1. It uses an AMD Élan SC400 SoC with 16 MB of RAM, a
3.5-inch floppy disk drive, 56k modem and PC Card. Despite its
Commodore 64 nameplate, the C64 Web.it looks different and is only
directly compatible with the original via included emulation software.
PC clones branded C64x sold by Commodore USA, a company licensing the
Commodore trademark, began shipping in June 2011. The C64x's case
resembles the original C64 computer, but - like the Web.it - it is
based on x86 architecture and is not compatible with the Commodore 64.
Virtual Console
=================
Several Commodore 64 games were released on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual
Console service in Europe and North America. They were delisted from
the service in August 2013.
THEC64 and THEC64 Mini
========================
THEC64 Mini, an unofficial Linux-based console emulating the Commodore
64, was released in 2018. It was designed and released by British
company Retro Games. The console is a decorative, half-scale Commodore
64 with two USB and one HDMI port, and a mini USB connection to power
the system. The console's keyboard is non-functional; the system is
controlled by an included THEC64 joystick or a separate USB keyboard.
New software ROMs can be loaded into the console, which uses emulator
x64 (as part of VICE) to run software and has a built-in graphical
operating system.
The full-size THEC64 was released in 2019 in Europe and Australia, and
was scheduled for release in November 2020 in North America. The
console and built-in keyboard are built to scale with the original
Commodore 64, including a functional keyboard. Enhancements include
VIC-20 emulation, four USB ports, and an upgraded joystick. Neither
product has a Commodore trademark. The Commodore key on the original
keyboard is replaced with a THEC64 key; Retro Games can call neither
product a C64, although the system ROMs are licensed from Cloanto
Corporation. The consoles can be switched between carousel mode (to
access the built-in game library) and classic mode, in which they
operate similarly to a traditional Commodore 64. USB storage can be
used to hold disk, cartridge and tape images for use with the machine.
File:C64 + THEC64MINI.jpg|alt=A C64 and a much-smaller THEC64
Mini|THEC64 Mini '(top)' next to an original C64
File:THEC64 Maxi.jpg|alt=See caption|Full-size THEC64 in its original
box
Emulators
======================================================================
Commodore 64 emulators include the open source VICE, Hoxs64, and
CCS64. An iPhone app was also released with a compilation of C64
ports.
See also
======================================================================
* History of personal computers
* IDE64 - P-ATA interface cartridge for the C64
* Keyboard computer
* List of Commodore 64 games
* SuperCPU - CPU upgrade for C64 and C128
Sources
=========
*
* Bagnall, Brian (2005). 'On the Edge: the Spectacular Rise and Fall
of Commodore'. Variant Press. . See especially pp. 224-260.
* Tomczyk, Michael (1984). 'The Home Computer Wars: An Insider's
Account of Commodore and Jack Tramiel'. COMPUTE! Publications, Inc. .
* Jeffries, Ron.
"[
http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v9n1/21_A_best_buy_for_83_Commo.php
A best buy for '83: Commodore 64]". 'Creative Computing', January
1983.
* Amiga Format News Special. "Commodore at CeBIT '94". 'Amiga Format',
Issue 59, May 1994.
* Computer Chronicles;
"[
https://archive.org/details/CC517_commodore_64 Commodore 64 -
Interview with Commodore president Max Toy]", 1988.
* The C-64 Scene Database;
"[
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/scener/?id=1591 - Kjell Nordbø artist
page (bio/release history) at CSDb]".
*
**
{{No more links}}
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* [
http://www.commodore.ca/products/c64/commodore_64.htm Commodore 64
history, manuals, and photos] ()
* [
https://www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Main_Page C64-Wiki (wiki-based
encyclopaedia)]
* [
https://www.c64.com/ C64.com (C64 game database)]
* [
https://www.lemon64.com/ Lemon64 (C64 fanbase)]
* [
https://Csdb.dk Csdb.dk (Commodore Scene/Software Database)]
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20100504034815/http://www.commodoremagazine.com/2010/04/64-variations.html
Extensive collection of information on C64 programming]
*
[
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1991/a_history_of_gaming_platforms_the_.php/
A History of Gaming Platforms: The Commodore 64] from October 2007
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20100504034815/http://www.commodoremagazine.com/2010/04/64-variations.html
A Commodore 64 Web Server Using Contiki v2.3]
*
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20120513181613/http://spectrum.ieee.org/ns/pdfs/commodore64_mar1985.pdf
Design Case History: The Commodore 64], 'IEEE Spectrum', March 1985
* [
https://www.pagetable.com/?p=547 Comparing different unit sales
analyses]
License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64
