A new Commodore 64 computer and gaming handheld are coming via Indiegogo

[carlsson]

Seen on Facebook just recently:

 

 

 

This week we reached a significant milestone with the development of THE 64, and now have stable firmware running on our pre-production hardware, with full video and audio over HDMI! Despite the distracting lure of playing Uridium and Monty on the Run on THE 64, we're starting to pull together the range of games that will be offered for THE 64, and setting out a tentative production schedule as well as confirming our manufacturing partner. As we did not quite reach our campaign goal, we have secured additional funding to meet the shortfall so we can deliver THE 64 to backers before moving into global retail sales. More updates and videos VERY soon!

 

Thanks once more to everyone for your continued support!

Dont forget you can also keep in touch with us via our web site, and twitter as well!

Thus it appears this project still lives and makes progress, or at least they give the impression it does.

[MisterMsk]

Seen on another forum:

so, it's this:

apparently they used https://www.olimex.com/Products/OLinuXino/A20/A20-OLinuXIno-LIME2-4GB/ and https://www.olimex.com/Products/USB-Modules/MOD-WIFI-RTL8188/ and some ducttape and it took some months to compile VICE for the thing.

[Flojomojo]

I can see a use case for taking a general purpose thing and making it a single purpose thing.

 

i don't see how someone can do that and ask a 5X price premium for the privilege. Yucko!

[Greg2600]

Zero interest in this. Don't see the point.

[Kokovec69]

So glad I pulled out of this campaign.

[carlsson]

Hey, it is pre-production hardware! :-)

[JamesD]

Indiegogo - Crowd funding website where people with and idea but no prototype go to get money to live on while they work on their project.

[Keatah]

Hey, it is pre-production repackaged hardware! :-)

 

Fixed that 4 U.

[Keatah]

 

As someone who professes to love emulation, I can't imagine what problem you'd have with something like this. Again, I don't think they're going to actually produce what they say they are, but assuming they are, having an emulation-driven C-64-specific keyboard and other modern conveniences seems extremely reasonable and rather desirable.

 

I personally have no issue with single purpose modern devices. It's kind of a bridge between impersonal emulation on a generic computer and the relative "challenge" (maintenance, decades old tech, size, etc.) of using an original machine.

 

I'm not sure what my exact, precise, pinpointable problem is with this. It seems bastardized, wrong, somewhow.

 

There are times when I feel these kinds of projects are just trying to ride the gravy train that dried up 30+ years ago.

 

Since this is just emulation I'd much rather go with Vice and call it a day. Just go to Amazon and get a $260 laptop and stuff it with emulators and you'll be happier.

 

But now ask me about MiST and real PC-based software emulators. Both camps are seeing honest-to-goodness technical updates on an irregular basis. Will this thing get the same treatment?

 

I might like this project better if they made their own mainboard replica, modernized it by using FPGA in place of the custom chips - or all the chips, and at the same time provided both the classic ports and new modern stuff like SD and HDMI. In so many of today's recreations and re-imaginings, it is the array of ports and expansion slots that get left out.

 

Wouldn't it be cool to have a REAL modern C64? And not this farce?

Edited August 30, 2016 by Keatah

[Keatah]

I didn't know Blahhpunk made monitors! Or maybe it's a re-brand?

[leods]

So is it official by now this thing was pretty much a scam, or are we still pretending this was legit?

 

You know, the electric tape spun around the io ports of the standart board is just out of this world. Seriously. What went on there? They looked at the RVGS stuff, and just decided "we need some electric tape on our prototype".

 

If people get an adroid board taped to a standart keyboard running on free emulators I think they should be happy they got something out of this. They don't respond to questions on facebook, don't respond to comments on youtube, don't specify anything at all, and are still to show anything resembling a handheld. Well, that one was obviously always going to be some crappy stock android handheld officialy not licenced.

 

Kinda sad no one really tried to save these people from parting with their money. Now we'll just laugh it off, say they deserved it... How can sites like IGG keep going when they're basically just enabling scammers? I'd like to see statiscis of how many IGG projects actually deliver what they promised properly.

[motrucker]

It seems that the 19th century snake oil salesmen are still alive and well in the 21st century, as sad as that may be.

 

 

[Keatah]

So is it official by now this thing was pretty much a scam, or are we still pretending this was legit?

 

Kinda sad no one really tried to save these people from parting with their money. Now we'll just laugh it off, say they deserved it... How can sites like IGG keep going when they're basically just enabling scammers? I'd like to see statiscis of how many IGG projects actually deliver what they promised properly.

 

Scam? Legit? Who cares.. In context of THE 64 there's better choices. And these choices have been around for a while. Emulation. Game packs. Real hardware. We don't really need a product like this.

 

90% of the shit being sold on these sites, and stuff is being sold, is totally unnecessary. Most of it is impractical busywork and noise.

 

As far as "saving people"? It's a lost cause, many people will support a KS/IGG with religious fervor - until they get burned a coupla times. Then, and only then, do they learn. Can't fight nature. Best one can do is sit back and laugh.

[Keatah]

They didn't deserve to succeed for many reasons, and one of those reasons being, their "prototype", their pre-production hardware, was something straight off the shelf.

[Keatah]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, these are cash grabs on past glory. All they have to do is post some videos, wire up a $40 board, and watch the $$$ roll in. YOU get left holding the bag. An empty bag.

[motrucker]

Am dead tired of Kickstarter-type-deals by now. Pass. Either do your market research, draw up a business plan, take out a loan and produce something that will be sold/supported through normal channels like everyone else has for the last 200 years or not. Sick of this "modern" chicken-shit way of doing business today. It's so 2010's.

 

Waiting on at least three long overdue projects as it is, despite monthly or semi-monthly spammy e-mails with little content and broken promise after broken promise.

 

Was going to comment about how Jens @ Individual Computers already released a C64 replacement motherboard, but may be sold out already. And there's been a case/keyboard combo recently also. Just seems like the wheel is getting re-invented once again. And this time, requires $150k in order to maybe make it happen? sigh

I wasn't going to touch this one - But this post is how I feel about this whole "kickstarter" crap to a point I had to ad my two cents. What a bunch of nonsense.

[Keatah]

I already explained the psychology behind why this stuff happens. And it's no different than RetroVGS, perhaps on a smaller less boisterous scale.

[carlsson]

Apparently Retro Games Ltd (THE 64) are more concerned about getting associated with Retro Computers Ltd (Sinclair Vega+) than present a product.

 

It started with a legal notice regarding some games to be removed from the Vega+, and the former MD of RCL who now runs RGL was referenced by name:

http://retrocomputerslimited.com/2016/11/02/legal-notice-%C2%AD-darren-melbourne/

 

It caused RGL to publish a statement that they no longer are related to RCL and that remaining directors of RCL are prohibited from joining RGL:

http://the64.computer/news/

 

When it comes to THE 64 product, work is still under way, or if it that is locating other, existing solutions to repackage. Both companies seem to have in common to not deliver on time, if ever but then again that is life for crowdfunded projects in the 21th century.

[Keatah]

Best thing to do is filter the noise and wait'll it comes to retail.

[carlsson]

I don't understand a lot of this, but perhaps someone else does. In Kevin Toms' game simulator "Software Star", you can choose to advertise based on hype or honesty. This project seems to go all in for "hype".

 

In this hardware test, you don't get to see a single second of the hardware it runs on, just a C64 screen that could come from any emulator.

[leods]

Not sure wether the 64 guys are deleting comments left and right on their facebook page, or wether their backers are all morons, but overall I don't see many complaints. The fact they called this an "early christas present" is very funny. And now everyone who bought this thing will get a generic chinese crappy gamepad with "the 64" screen printed on it.

 

That is, if they ever get anything at all. But I do think they'll get something. I have no idea what they'll get, cause so far they showed absolutely nothing. But I guess they'll get something. And a crappy 2 dollars generic controller to go with it.

[spacecadet]

I don't understand a lot of this, but perhaps someone else does. In Kevin Toms' game simulator "Software Star", you can choose to advertise based on hype or honesty. This project seems to go all in for "hype".

 

A lot of hype, yeah, but it still wouldn't surprise me to see a completed product. Because frankly, I don't think what they're purporting to be doing is all that difficult. I think the "hype" is coming from making it sound more difficult than it is. The "milestones" they describe in this video are things you can do around a coffee table in a day. Choosing a SoC to run your emulator on, choosing a manufacturer, etc.

 

I think they're riding a gravy train of hype for as long as the money keeps rolling in, but eventually I'll bet they do release what's basically a keyboard around an off-the-shelf board/SOC running Linux and a C64 emulator. And then they'll ride that gravy train for as long as they can, charging $150 for $20 worth of parts.

 

I'll bet you could even do most of what they're doing yourself, on no budget at all, using mostly off the shelf parts.

 

The handheld might be a different story. But I'll bet the computer itself does happen, because it's just not that difficult to do and would allow them to at least say that backers got something. But you're basically paying for a custom case for a C64 keyboard and the same innards as a mini NES.

Edited December 22, 2016 by spacecadet

[leods]

 

A lot of hype, yeah, but it still wouldn't surprise me to see a completed product. Because frankly, I don't think what they're purporting to be doing is all that difficult. I think the "hype" is coming from making it sound more difficult than it is. The "milestones" they describe in this video are things you can do around a coffee table in a day. Choosing a SoC to run your emulator on, choosing a manufacturer, etc.

 

I think they're riding a gravy train of hype for as long as the money keeps rolling in, but eventually I'll bet they do release what's basically a keyboard around an off-the-shelf board/SOC running Linux and a C64 emulator. And then they'll ride that gravy train for as long as they can, charging $150 for $20 worth of parts.

 

I'll bet you could even do most of what they're doing yourself, on no budget at all, using mostly off the shelf parts.

 

The handheld might be a different story. But I'll bet the computer itself does happen, because it's just not that difficult to do and would allow them to at least say that backers got something. But you're basically paying for a custom case for a C64 keyboard and the same innards as a mini NES.

One correction. The portable is actually even easier. You just get any android console, install the c64 emulator and you're done. The portable won't have a keyboard or anything of the sort. It is certainy going to be some handheld they buy in bulk and just screen print their logo on.

 

Otherwise I completely agree.

[carlsson]

As noted before, Retro Games Limited (THE 64) are still having issues and seems to put a lot of energy on fighting their former colleagues at Retro Computers Limited (ZX Vega).

 

YouTube user Funkyspectrum, who is active on AtariAge as well, has previously posted very criticizing videos about the Vega+ never delivering and has now posted a "Night Before Christmas" tale about a made-up RCL.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fofYkH5-tpM

 

Guess what the guys behind THE 64 do in their Facebook flow? Yes, they link to that video:

 

 

 

We saw this video tweeted, and as it's Xmas, and as it's not based on real people, or real characters or events, thought you might like to have a laugh at this video!

It's done by a third party YouTube blogger, and we must give a parental type language warning, it's not for kids! But very funny!

Happy Christmas from us THE64 backers and fans!

Well, so much for not having the pot calling the kettle black! At least THE 64 hasn't made a promise to deliver anything yet, so in that respect they have only cashed in on the crowdfunding and people are still in limbo waiting for the product to happen, unlike the people who crowdfunded the Vega+ and getting weekly excuses why it still is delayed.

[carlsson]

Today, another wall of text was posted on THE64 Facebook page. The essential information is they have secured rights to more than 250 classic and new games. The PCB design is still going on, they're trying to reuse the same design in multiple products. They will launch yet another version of the system THE64 Mini, which will come in one special crowdfunding version and one standard version in Q4 2017. Exactly what the Mini is, they don't mention - keyboardless perhaps. As soon as this crowdfunding phase is over, they will start to manufacture and deliver devices. Backers might also get the chance of getting a cartridge adapter, but "hoping to bring you" sounds vague. They also mention shareholders by merits, not names. They also point out that good work takes time and production is costly. They have been working on distribution deals though.

 

Well, a bit over 18000 characters condensed into one lengthy paragraph. Interested parties probably already follow their updates directly.