eSIM Studios
The Commodore 64 remains the best-selling desktop computer of all time (according to the Guinness Book of World Records), even though it's a computer that has been out of production since 1994. But Commodore is bringing the C64 back. Kind of.
The original company filed for bankruptcy more than thirty years ago, and its assets were sold off. But YouTuber Christian Simpson recently agreed to buy all 47 Commodore trademarks, effectively creating a new company with an old name: Commodore International. And after hiring a team that includes some veterans of the original Commodore and some new folks, the new company is launching a new Commodore 64 Ultimate. It's a modern computer with a retro design and support for most classic Commodore games and applications. The Commodore 64 Ultimate is up for pre-order for $300 and up and it's expected to begin shipping in October or November.
That starting price is for a BASIC Beige model that looks a lot like the classic computer, but customers can also pay $50 more for a "Starlight Edition" model with a transparent case or $500 for a limited Founders Edition version that adds a 24 karat cold Commodore badge and a few additional goodies.
Functionally, they're all the same though. They may not have the exact same hardware as an original C64, but they use an AMD Xilinx Artix-7 GPA to recreate the original processor, allowing classic games, cartridges, and peripherals to work without software-based emulation.
The computer has some modern features though, including HDMI output, USB Type-C and Type-A ports, a microSD card reader, 100 Mbps Ethernet, and WiFi.
But it also has connectors for classic C64 controllers and media as well as analog video outputs. So you can use this brand new device with older hardware including a CRT TV or Commodore 64-compatible cartridges, disk drives, and other accessories.
While there have been other Commodore-branded devices released in recent years, most have been made by third-party companies – the C64 Mini, for example, was made by Retro Games Ltd, which licensed the Commodore name. What kind of makes this new model different is that it's the first "official" Commodore product in decades.
That said, it's also effectively the first new device from a brand new company, and it's treating its pre-orders like a crowdfunding campaign: it's taking orders now in order to raise the money that will be used for manufacturing, among other things. But the pre-order page does promise a "money-back guarantee," and that customers can cancel their orders before they ship to request refunds. Still, I suspect there's the usual risk that comes with backing a product that's not yet in mass production: timelines could slip, and it's unclear if the finished hardware will live up to its promise.
And we're still talkin about a new computer in 2025 that's designed to run software made for a platform that's been out of production for decades. Even if everything does go according to plan, this is very much a retro computer with some modern touches, not a replacement for a modern PC with up to date hardware. Those USB ports are limited to USB 2.0 speeds. The system has just 128MB of DDR2 memory and 16MB of NOR flash storge. And while it supports 1080p displays, refresh rates are limited to 50 Hz (PAL) or 60 Hz (NTSC).
It does come with a "cassette-style USB" flash drive loaded with more than 50 games, music, and demos.
via Tom's Hardware and Retro Recipes (1)(2)(3)
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