Unlike many of my friends, my first video game console wasn’t the original NES. It was a Commodore 64, which my parents bought as our first home computer. It could do a few useful things, but the C64 was always first and foremost a gaming system in our house. So while I find the SNES Classic Edition intriguing, this miniature Commodore 64 really hits a nostalgic nerve for me.
Like Nintendo’s miniaturised NES and SNES, the C64 Mini is a shrunken plug-and-play system that connects to modern TVs with a single HDMI cable, providing a better on-screen image using pixel filters that can also emulate the look of a fuzzy CRT TV, if you miss the days at having to squint to read the screen.
Finding great (or just good) games for the Commodore 64 was always a hit and miss affair, as so many of the titles were terrible copies or sloppy ports of games from other systems. But the makers of the C64 Mini claim they have managed to bundle up 64 titles for the tiny system, with notable classics such as California Games and Chip’s Challenge immediately catching my eye. They’re no Super Mario World or F-Zero, but they’re enough to rekindle fond, frustrated memories of my childhood.
The $US70 ($89) C64 Mini will come with a single joystick controller, but you can connect a second one using one of the console’s two included USB ports, or you can plug in a full QWERTY keyboard. Why would you want to do that? Like the original Commodore 64, the C64 Mini is also a fully working computer, and still runs BASIC, allowing you to write and save your own programs and games without the need for a disk or cassette drive.
So when will the C64 Mini be available? A launch date hasn’t been specified, which is a bit concerning. The console’s creators, Retro Games Ltd., appear to be the same people behind a clone of the Commodore 64 that hit the crowdfunding site Indiegogo a few years ago. That hardware venture, THE 64, hasn’t shipped to backers yet, despite a promised delivery of December 2016. And the updates to that project seem to indicate that it won’t ship until the after the C64 Mini does, assuming it successfully manages to make its way into the hands of consumers eventually.
I reached out to the creators of the C64 Mini for comment and clarification but had not heard back at time of writing. Until we do, hopefully you managed to snag an SNES Classic Edition to satiate your retro gaming urges.
[The C64 Mini via SlashGear]
Comments
17 responses to “I’ll Take This Miniature Commodore 64 Over A Tiny SNES Any Day”
The commodore 64 was my 1st ever computer/games machine as well.
But considering the size the games are, and just how many games there were on C64…64 included games actually seems a bit small to me.
Considering the system limitations, IMHO, nostalgia would be a big factor for a system like this, so not seeing the games you recognize from childhood would be a major turn off.
Mind you, if they can get the Last Ninja games on there…those would alone would make it a must buy (Again, IMHO)
I don’t remember any C64 games being sold in stores but I do remember the 500 odd game library everyone had.
Thing On a Spring.
If it includes Lords of Midnight and Wizball I absolutely MUST have this!
Someone rewrote Wizball for pc, seems to work really well too. I havent played it past the first level yet though.
I’ll have to hunt that down, thanks!
No Wizball, no Barbarian… 🙁
Glad Paradroid and Creatures made the list though.
Man, #snesaphobic
Does seem to have Barbarian on it.
Awww man! Barbarian was the best. The decapitation move just felt so rewarding. AND the music afterwards. Burned into my brain.
Awww man! Barbarian was the best. The decapitation move just felt so rewarding. AND the music afterwards. Burned into my brain.
I hope so. I didn’t see it on an alleged “official” list;
AlleyKat, Anarchy, Armalyte: Competition Edition, Avenger, Battle Valley, Bounder, California Games, Chip’s Challenge, Confuzion, Cosmic Causeway: Trailblazer II, Creatures, Cyberdyne Warrior, Cybernoid II: The Revenge, Cybernoid: The Fighting Machine, Deflektor, Everyone’s A Wally, Firelord, Gribbly’s Day Out, Hawkeye, Heartland, Herobotix, Highway Encounter, Hunter’s Moon, Hysteria, Impossible Mission, Impossible Mission II, Insects In Space, Mega-Apocalypse, Mission A.D, Monty Mole, Monty on the Run, Nebulus, Netherworld, Nobby the Aardvark, Nodes Of Yesod, Paradroid, Pitstop II, Rana Rama, Robin Of The Wood, Rubicon, Skate Crazy, Skool Daze, Slayer, Snare, Speedball, Speedball II: Brutal Deluxe, Spindizzy, Star Paws, Steel, Stormlord, Street Sports Baseball, Summer Games II, Super Cycle, Temple of Apshai Trilogy, The Arc Of Yesod, Thing Bounces Back, Thing on a Spring, Trailblazer, Uchi Mata, Uridium, Who Dares Wins II, Winter Games, World Games, Zynaps.
Oh man, I want my mini Atari 800
As somebody who also had a Commodore 64 as a kid, this comparison is a little silly. There’s no comparison to the SNES. This is my experience with the C64.
Insert the floppy disk/tape (if you had that peripheral).
Type clunky run command.
*nothing happens*
Type clunky run command again.
*Nothing happens*
Type clunky run command again*.
*Bingo*
*Play game*
*Game is ruined by terrible controller input*
No I always found it more like this…….
Insert the floppy disk
Type clunky run command.
*nothing happens*
Type clunky run command again.
*Bingo*
* Go make a sandwich and watch an episode of Ninja Turtles and then come back*
*Play game*
Where’s Defender of the Crown, F14 tomcat, Yee-ar Kungfu, International Karate?
Still, I’ll definitely pick one of these up.
Another visitor. Stay awhile, staaaaaaaaaay forever!