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The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer released in August of 1982. It was the third Commodore system made by Commodore International. The starting price was 595 USD. It is often called the C64 or C=64. It boasted 64 kilobytes of RAM. That feature was superior for its time.
Backstory
The story of the Commodore 64 begins with MOS Technology, producers of the 6502 CPU, and taken over by Commodore in 1976. After the release of the VIC-20 in early 1981, MOS had no idea what to do next. The decision was made to create chips for "the world's next great video game", and these became the VIC-II (graphics) and SID (sound) chips.
However Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore Business Machines and a survivor of the Nazi WWII concentration camps, decided not to go with the video game idea and instead wanted to use them in the next home computer - a computer to be introduced at the Las Vegas CES in January. A computer that, at the time, had no design. Stuff like that didn’t seem important in the days of the 8-bit pioneers – promise was what counted.
The machine was then designed around a 6510 CPU running at a breakneck 1Mhz and made general release around August 1982 at $595. Atari couldn't figure out how Commodore was selling it at that low price. They would have been gob smacked if they knew Commodore were operating a 400% mark-up. That was part of Tramiel's style: if two parts could do the job competently, the lower cost unit would always get the nod. Plug a joystick into port 1 and wiggle it about; you should see some characters on screen. Why? In order to streamline part of the input interface, tracks of the joystick reading combine those of the keyboard. That’s Tramiel cost-consciousness right there.
In all, about 10,000 software titles were made for the C64. This includes development tools, games, etc. The C64 is used by hobbyists to this day and C64 games are available for purchase on the Wii Shop Channel in Europe.
* Microprocessor CPU:
o MOS Technology 6510/8500 (the 6510/8500 being a modified 6502 with an integrated 6-bit I/O port)
o Clock speed: 1.023 MHz (NTSC) or 0.985 MHz (PAL)
* Video: MOS Technology VIC-II 6567/8567 (NTSC), 6569/8569 (PAL)
o 16 colors
o Text mode: 40×25 characters; 256 user-defined chars (8×8 pixels, or 4×8 in multicolor mode); 4-bit color RAM defines foreground color
o Bitmap modes: 320×200 (2 unique colors in each 8×8 pixel block),[24] 160×200 (3 unique colors 1 common color in each 4×8 block)[25]
o 8 hardware sprites of 24×21 pixels (12×21 in multicolor mode)
o Smooth scrolling, raster interrupts
* Sound: MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID
o 3-channel synthesizer with programmable ADSR envelope
o 8 octaves
o 4 waveforms: triangle, sawtooth, variable pulse, noise
o Oscillator synchronization, ring modulation
o Programmable filter: high pass, low pass, band pass, notch filter
* Input/Output: Two 6526 Complex Interface Adapters
o 16 bit parallel I/O
o 8 bit serial I/O
o Time of Day clock
o 16 bit cascadable timers
* RAM:
o 64 KB (65,536 bytes), of which 38 KB minus 1 byte (38,911 bytes) were available for BASIC programs
o 512 bytes color RAM
o Expandable to 320 KB with Commodore 1764 256 KB RAM Expansion Unit (REU); although only 64 KB directly accessible; REU mostly intended for 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:
o 20 KB (9 KB BASIC 2.0; 7 KB KERNAL; 4 KB character generator, providing two 2 KB character sets)
The Commodore 64 was a personal computer that dominated the market from 1983-1985.
Summary
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer released in August of 1982. It was the third Commodore system made by Commodore International. The starting price was 595 USD. It is often called the C64 or C=64. It boasted 64 kilobytes of RAM. That feature was superior for its time.
Backstory
The story of the Commodore 64 begins with MOS Technology, producers of the 6502 CPU, and taken over by Commodore in 1976. After the release of the VIC-20 in early 1981, MOS had no idea what to do next. The decision was made to create chips for "the world's next great video game", and these became the VIC-II (graphics) and SID (sound) chips.
Jack Tramiel
However Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore Business Machines and a survivor of the Nazi WWII concentration camps, decided not to go with the video game idea and instead wanted to use them in the next home computer - a computer to be introduced at the Las Vegas CES in January. A computer that, at the time, had no design. Stuff like that didn’t seem important in the days of the 8-bit pioneers – promise was what counted.
The machine was then designed around a 6510 CPU running at a breakneck 1Mhz and made general release around August 1982 at $595. Atari couldn't figure out how Commodore was selling it at that low price. They would have been gob smacked if they knew Commodore were operating a 400% mark-up. That was part of Tramiel's style: if two parts could do the job competently, the lower cost unit would always get the nod. Plug a joystick into port 1 and wiggle it about; you should see some characters on screen. Why? In order to streamline part of the input interface, tracks of the joystick reading combine those of the keyboard. That’s Tramiel cost-consciousness right there.
Reception and Market Share
Throughout its lifespan the C64 sold 30 million units in total. It is the best-selling personal computer model of all time. From 1983-1985, the Commodore 64 dominated the personal computer market with 40% share. It even outsold IBM and Apple computers. It is said that part of its success was due to the fact that it was sold in retail stores rather than just electronics stores.
C64 Version of Karateka
In all, about 10,000 software titles were made for the C64. This includes development tools, games, etc. The C64 is used by hobbyists to this day and C64 games are available for purchase on the Wii Shop Channel in Europe.
Technical Specification
* Microprocessor CPU:
o MOS Technology 6510/8500 (the 6510/8500 being a modified 6502 with an integrated 6-bit I/O port)
o Clock speed: 1.023 MHz (NTSC) or 0.985 MHz (PAL)
* Video: MOS Technology VIC-II 6567/8567 (NTSC), 6569/8569 (PAL)
o 16 colors
o Text mode: 40×25 characters; 256 user-defined chars (8×8 pixels, or 4×8 in multicolor mode); 4-bit color RAM defines foreground color
o Bitmap modes: 320×200 (2 unique colors in each 8×8 pixel block),[24] 160×200 (3 unique colors 1 common color in each 4×8 block)[25]
o 8 hardware sprites of 24×21 pixels (12×21 in multicolor mode)
o Smooth scrolling, raster interrupts
* Sound: MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID
o 3-channel synthesizer with programmable ADSR envelope
o 8 octaves
o 4 waveforms: triangle, sawtooth, variable pulse, noise
o Oscillator synchronization, ring modulation
o Programmable filter: high pass, low pass, band pass, notch filter
* Input/Output: Two 6526 Complex Interface Adapters
o 16 bit parallel I/O
o 8 bit serial I/O
o Time of Day clock
o 16 bit cascadable timers
* RAM:
o 64 KB (65,536 bytes), of which 38 KB minus 1 byte (38,911 bytes) were available for BASIC programs
o 512 bytes color RAM
o Expandable to 320 KB with Commodore 1764 256 KB RAM Expansion Unit (REU); although only 64 KB directly accessible; REU mostly intended for 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:
o 20 KB (9 KB BASIC 2.0; 7 KB KERNAL; 4 KB character generator, providing two 2 KB character sets)
Commodore 64 games
Edit
| Platform Name: | Commodore 64 |
| Release Date: | Aug. 23, 1982 |
| Online Support: | False |
| Install Base: | 30,000,000 |
| Original Price: | $600 |
| Producing Company: | Commodore |
| Total Games: | games |
my machines
a list of 16 items by macker33
a list of 16 items by macker33
|
Dizzy first in Dizzy: The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure |
14
|
|
Lord British first in Akalabeth: World of Doom |
9
|
|
Iolo first in Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness |
8
|
|
Pac-Man first in Pac-Man |
7
|
|
Pinky first in Pac-Man |
5
|
|
Indiana Jones first in Raiders of the Lost Ark |
5
|
|
Inky first in Pac-Man |
5
|
|
Blinky first in Pac-Man |
5
|
|
Carmen Isabela Sandiego first in Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? |
4
|
|
Avatar first in Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar |
4
|
|
Space first in Spacewar! |
47
|
|
The United States of America first in The Oregon Trail |
27
|
|
Castle first in |
17
|
|
Jungle first in |
14
|
|
New York first in |
14
|
|
Japan first in |
12
|
|
Europe first in |
12
|
|
Sewer first in Mario Bros. |
11
|
|
Middle-Earth first in |
11
|
|
Desert first in |
10
|
|
2D first in Tennis for Two Simulator |
114
|
|
Side-Scrolling first in |
94
|
|
Jump first in Donkey Kong |
82
|
|
High Score first in Seawolf |
76
|
|
Cheat Code first in Manic Miner |
74
|
|
Virtual Console first in |
72
|
|
Chiptune first in |
69
|
|
Lives first in |
64
|
|
Game Over first in |
62
|
|
Boss Fight first in DND |
61
|
