In 1994, Commodore smashed and burned. After a home computer giant across the United States and Europe, the company was distracted by mismanagement and failure. The carcass was chosen clean and the pieces were so many times that it was difficult to hold a track, but with each new owner came the inevitable – attempt to make a quick blow striking the famous c = logo on some old trash.
Fans looked in terror as the brand appeared on the average website. Commodore -intelligent Phone. There was even a Commodore-marked scissors. So when retro gaming YouTuber Christian “Perifracic” Simpson Announced that he wants to buy what was left of Commodore and give it a new life, asked questions. Main among them: Does the world still need Commodore?
When I am 64 years old
Commodore as Mark initially focused on typewriters and calculators, but its glorious days arrived with the rise of domestic micros, causing a quick revival as an international computer from Commodore.
Its greatest success was Commodore 64, which hit the sweet point between accessibility and potential. While the CPU was a slow, powerful graph and surprisingly capable sound -chip (which remains honored today) spurred creativity on both sides of the Atlantic. More than 5,000 business games were released during the height of the machine, and more than 15 million copies were sold, making the C64 still one of the best -selling single computer models ever.
This Heritage Simpson aims to revive. Initially, he sought a license agreement with the owners of Mark Commodore, imagining “official” boards and replacement components as part of an inclusive, community conglomerate. These plans snowed during discussions, and Simpson found themselves reaching an agreement to buy a commercial directly for a “low-digit” sum. He now serves as a Commodore CEO and promises to revive the company in a sustainable way – one that will not repeat the failures of the past.
Courtesy of Commodore
Courtesy of Commodore
But that’s where things are difficult. Simpson does not actually own the original company, because that company no longer exists. The collapse of the 1990s of Commodore means that the current iteration possesses a few trademarks, but essential parts of the ecosystem remain scattered. C64 ROMs and Amiga (16-bit micro) rights of Amiga (Commodore, belong to Cloanto and Amiga Corporation. Amigaos is controlled by Hyperion Entertainment. And apart from the odd mass market flirtation of clone machines, such as the C64dtv All-in-one joystick and the plugin Thec64 miniImportant developments that have been important for the past 30 years, have all come from the community, not from the brand.
Computers for the masses
It is for these reasons Simpson finds itself walking multiple stresses. He must avoid alienating enthusiasts who have supported the Commodore flame, and do not imply that only his new Commodore gives legitimacy. He must collaborate closely with owners of other key puzzle pieces and authorize the brand Commodore fairly to interested thirds. And to pick up that seven-digit amount, the new Commodore has to sell enough new hardware, which means moving beyond a decreasing core fan phase.
For now, Simpson’s initial game banks heavily on nostalgia – not just for the C64, but for a whole era. The new Commodore website Sets the company as a “Digital Detox mark [that’s] based on digital minimalism. “It rolls against social media, glorifies the good old days of” theonic optimism “-reportedly, the 1980s until the mid-1990s-and alludes to Commodore can help users recover their childhoods. And original; past And Future.
Approf, the debut product of this iteration, the Commodore 64 Ultimate, embodies such tensions. The $ 500-gold bilingual Edition of founders and $ 350 LED-loaded nightclub case Starlight Edition Don’t exactly shout digital minimalism. But the $ 300 Basic Beige is the spit image of the original hardware. All models are bridging authenticity and modernity by maintaining original C64 peripuries and current connectivity, including 1080p HDMI eliciti, so you don’t need to hunt CRT television. Inside, it is all FPGAs-field software gate tables-which ultimately means simulation instead of the less accurate emulation found in Chinese retro handles and cheap plugins.
