History

C64: Ode To Thee

August 9, 2013 By ausretrogamer

“Are you keeping up with the Commodore? Because the Commodore is keeping up with you.” – the famous jingle from the 1980’s TV advertisements for the C64 is still stuck in my head. As it turned out, millions of computer gamers were keeping up with the jewel in Commodore’s crown.

The affinity we have with the C64 spans more than three decades. It has seen us grow from that awkward shy kid to a charismatic adult (well, for most of us!).

The trusty 8-bit from Commodore was released on this day (August 9, 1982) at a cost of $595 (almost $1500 in today’s money!). What you got for this price was “A computer that’s light years ahead of its competition”. At the time, the C64 was pitched as an office computer, which threw it up against the likes of the Apple II+ ($1530), IBM PC ($1565), Tandy TRS-80 III ($999) and Atari 800 ($899) computers. With hindsight, we know that the C64’s success came from those budding kids coding and playing the latest video games in their bedroom – I should know, I was one of those kids.

The C64 went through a number of hardware and cosmetic revisions, with the original breadbox being our sentimental favourite. The C64 enjoyed a fruitful existance, but with the emergence of the 16-bit era, the end was nigh for the brown/beige Commodore – the C64 was officially discontinued in 1994.

Everyone’s memory of the C64 is filled with fondness. The C64 had the power to lure you to it and use it – especially for gaming! It also kickstarted a lot of coding and music / chiptune maestro careers. The C64’s rivalry with Amstrad and Spectrum were (still are) legendary, with school-yards becoming the arguing battlegrounds. Just for the record, the C64 was and still is the king!

The C64 will forever be remembered for the joy and fun it brought to the masses, myself included. The C64 still remains in use in our household with the view to passing it on to the next generation to enjoy and appreciate. Long live the C64!

For those of you keen to know what was under the hood of the C64, read on:

Microprocessor: MOS 6510 – a beefed up 6502 with additional input/output lines

Memory:

RAM: 64K
ROM: 20K (containing the OS and Commodore BASIC language)

Keyboard: Full size typewriter style with 66 keys

Display: VIC-II chip

40 columns x 25 lines;
16 colours;
320 x 200 pixels;
TV out (RF)

Sound: 6581 Sound Interface Device (SID) chip

3 independent voice
9 octaves
4 waveforms (sawtooth, triangle, variable pulse and noise)
Programmable ADSR (attack, decay, sustain, release) generator

Connectivity:

2 x Joystick ports
Power
Cartridge (ROM) port
TV Out (RF)
Printer
Digitial Tape
GPIO/RS-232 (Serial)

Top 5 Games Charts: September 1987

July 16, 2013 By ausretrogamer

Do you recall what you were bopping to in September of ’87? Let me remind you – “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley. Don’t even try to deny it! Perhaps you were more of a Pet Shop Boys fan? Whatever your music tastes were, I bet that you would have been playing a number of the following chart toppers either on your Amstrad, Spectrum or C64:

	1) Paperboy (Elite) 2) Barbarian (Palace Software) 3) 6 Pak (Elite) 4) Exolon (Hewson) 5) Ball Crazy (Mastertronic)

	1) BMX Simulator (Codemasterts) 2) The Milk Race (Mastertronic) 3) Barbarian (Palace Software) 4) Road Runner (US Gold) 5) Destructo (Bulldog)

	1) Last Ninja (System 3) 2) Barbarian (Palace Software) 3) Enduro Racer (Activision) 4) Road Runner (US Gold) 5) World Class Leaderboard (US Gold)

FAMICOM: The Phoenix Rising From The Video Gaming Ashes

July 15, 2013 By ausretrogamer

In the early eighties, the video gaming industry was brought to its knees. It seemed that every man and his dog wanted in on the video gaming action. These fly-by-night cowboys flooded the market with mediocre products, subsequently leading to the great video games crash!

In the midst of the video gaming ruins, one bold company, Nintendo, had plans of their own. Undeterred, they were quietly tinkering away creating their own home video gaming system, the ‘Family Computer’ (Famicom).

Nintendo had offered Atari the rights to market, brand and sell the Famicom outside of Japan. Imagine if Atari had taken up Nintendo’s offer! They would most probably still be in business and not become a derelict company ripe for pillaging.

On this day (July 15) in 1983, Nintendo released (in Japan), what was to become a video gaming revolution, the Family Computer (Famicom). What happened after that, well, as they say, the rest is history. Happy anniversary to the Famicom, and thank you Nintendo for resuscitating the home video gaming market!

Vital Stats:

Released: July 15, 1983 (Japan)
Generation: Third Generation (8-bit)
CPU: Ricoh 2A03 8-bit (MOS Technology 6502 core)
Media: ROM cartridge
Retail Price: ¥34,800
Units sold: 61.91 million (combined Famicom & NES)

Vital Stats source: Wikipedia

It’s On Like Donkey Kong

July 9, 2013 By ausretrogamer

On this day (July 9) in 1981, Nintendo unleashed Donkey Kong in the arcades! Since then, millions of gamers have fallen in love with the great Nintendo gorilla. DK (as he is affectionately known) has gone from being the villain to now being the hero.

From humble beginnings – kidnapping Pauline and throwing barrels at a plumber, DK has come a long way and truly grown up. He has definitely kept us all entertained. Happy Birthday big fella!

What is your favourite DK game?

Image source: Cheezburger

Top 5 Games Charts: March 1996

June 7, 2013 By ausretrogamer

March 1996 saw the release of the brilliant Coen brothers movie, Fargo. In the same month, we were bopping away to Take That’s “How deep is your love” (we did?!) and the Prodigy’s “Firestarter” (that’s more like it!).

The Sega Mega Drive and Saturn were embroiled in their own 16-bit vs 32-bit war, while Nintendo’s SNES was being stretched to it’s maximum capability.

These were the top games that had us glued to our consoles in March 1996:

	1) Donkey Kong Country 2 (Nintendo)
	2) Yoshi’s Island (Nintendo)
	3) Killer Instinct (Nintendo)
	4) FIFA Soccer ’96 (EA)
	5) Street Racer (Ubisoft)

	1) FIFA Soccer ’96 (EA)
	2) Premier Manager (Sega)
	3) Sonic & Knuckles (Sega)
	4) Micro Machines ’96 (Codemasters)
	5) Mickey Mania (Sony)

	1) Virtua Fighter 2 (Sega)
	2) FIFA Soccer ’96
	3) Firestorm: Thunderhawk 2 (Core Design)
	4) Virtua Cop (Sega)
	5) Daytona USA (Sega)

Game Time: Watches

June 6, 2013 By ausretrogamer

For those of us born in the 1970’s, we have fond memories of Gunpei Yokoi’s wondrous Game & Watch series – from the various handhelds to the wrist watches that had mini versions of Nintendo games. The games on these watches were a pared down version of their console or handheld counterparts, but hey, who cared, they looked cool on your wrist.

Fast forward to the present, and these watches still attract attention. Their nostalgic value is not measured in currency, but in smiles from onlookers. The conversations that these watches generate are a sure fire way to meet interesting people, from retro gamers to the curious diner sitting at the next table.

If the Game & Watch wrist watches are too child like for you, then perhaps the Fossil ‘Atari Asteroids’ limited edition is more up your alley. These watches had a limited run (5000 to be exact) and are therefore getting harder to source. Unfortunately, the ‘Asteroids’ game is not playable on these watches, it merely serves as a demo for this contemporary time piece.

If you are into watches of the video gaming kind, then these time pieces are a cool way to tell the time and provide some gaming relief (excluding the Asteroids watch!) if you are stuck on the road without your handheld or smartphone.

Top 5 Games Charts: May 1987

May 12, 2013 By ausretrogamer

Back in May 1987, Mannequin was released and Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” was rocketing to number one on the music charts. On the video games front, the Spectrum, C64 and Atari XE/XL computers were lavished with quite a few awesome games.

These were the top five games on each platform for the month of May 1987:

	1) Park Patrol (Firebird)
	2) BMX Simulator (Codemasters)
	3) Gunship (Microprose)
	4) LA SWAT (Mastertronic)
	5) Micro Rhythm (Firebird)

	1) Leaderboard (US Gold)
	2) Bomb Jack II (Elite)
	3) Paperboy (Elite)
	4) Olli and Lissa (Firebird)
	5) Gauntlet (US Gold)

	1) BMX Simulator (Codemasters)
	2) Colony (Bulldog)
	3) Green Beret (Imagine)
	4) Gun Law (Mastertronic)
	5) Silent Service (Microprose)

Genealogy Of Video Game Controllers

April 21, 2013 By ausretrogamer

Pop Chart Lab has created the family tree of video game controllers, from joysticks, paddles, gamepads, power glove to bongos and guitars!

Sonic Reaper: The Sega Pluto

April 18, 2013 By ausretrogamer

Sega_Saturn_Pluto_front

Over at the forums on Assembler Games, an interesting thread caught my eye, ‘The Real Sega Pluto’ – posted by forum member and ex-Sega employee, Super Magnetic.

In the post, Super Magnetic unveils a deep dark secret from his days at Sega – the Pluto console, a Saturn with a Netlink built in. A great post accompanied by great photos of the prototype Sega hardware. I am glad this ‘inside information’ is available to us all in the public domain. Without this kind of sharing, we would have been blissfully unaware of Sega’s Pluto endeavour.

Top 5 Games Charts: August 1985

April 9, 2013 By ausretrogamer

While Madonna’s “Into the groove” was rocking the number one spot on the music charts in August 1985, there were some awesomely great games in the charts of that month for the C64, Spectrum and Amstrad. Here is a hit of nostalgia:

	1) The Way Of The Exploding Fist (Melbourne House)
	2) Elite (Firebird)
	3) Hyper Sports (Imagine)
	4) Frankie Goes To Hollywood (Ocean)
	5) Tour De France (Activision)