The Commodore Story (IMDB) Kickstater information (here) Where to buy (here)
I’ve already watched, well streamed the footage of the Blueray pre-release and though the quality of the story being told, the people involved and the continued love for the Commodore computers really comes across in this video.
Its been a very Commodore week. Today my rewards for backing a Kickstarter campaign arrived in the mail today. A beautiful hardcover book and twin Blueray’s on The Commodore Story.
Over the years there has been plenty of documentaries made about Apple, IBM, Atari and plenty of others but one company who you could argue was the most influential throughout the 1980s is often overlooked.
Commodore finally has its day in the sun, and if you ever used, owned or programmed any of the amazing Commodore 8 bits or even the wonderful Amigas then you’ll love to sit down for a few hours and watch this fantastic story called The Commodore Story.
Well, it’s finally here. The C64 Mini, a half size C64 Breadbin shape Commodore without a working keyboard but with 64 built-in games and the ability to add a second joystick, USB keyboard, and your other C64 games via a USB stick.
For more information on the C64 Mini check out the manufactures website here.
The new C64MINI
With some classic C64 titles and some not so classic but still fun to play games included I found Boulder Dash looked great on a 42″ TV and who could forget the introduction voice from Impossible Mission “Another Visitor, Stay awhile, Stay forever…..”
I found the games highly playable, even though a lot different than when I played them back in the 1980’s on a small 13″ monitor. The joystick was ok, but not as good as it could be and so I’ll more than likely get another one to make games easier to play.
Heres a quick video of The 64 Mini. Truly plug and play, easy to use menu system, etc.. Plenty of games but only a few real classics like Mission Impossible, Summer Games, and Boulder Dash. Some of the games felt a weird little playing a 42″ TV and the Joystick isn’t the best, in fact, I’d change it to something better to enhance play. And lastly, you must add a keyboard as the virtual onscreen keyboard is a nightmare.
For many years now we have been reminded of the amazing success of Apple, IBM, and Microsoft and how each of these companies launched the Personal Computer revolution. It is true that the victors write history and it is true that Apple, Microsoft, and IBM (precisely the first two) certainly dominate the computing world that we all live in today.
But being someone who was introduced to Personal Computers way back in 1980 at the beginning of the revolution, I know only too well that there were companies that made a significant impact on the world but unfortunately didn’t last to see how it would turn out 40 years later.
One of these companies which I feel genuinely made the most impact was Commodore. With their initial PET series launched at the same time that Apple released the Apple II and then followed up with the VIC-20 and then the world beater Commodore 64, no other company put more personal computers into the hands of normal people like Commodore.
In fact Apple, Tandy (Radio Shack), Atari and a dozen others combined would still fall short of the enormous sales figures that propelled Commodore into 30 million houses and small businesses around the globe.
Until recently Commodore part in the Personal Computer history has mainly been forgotten but now a fantastic new documentary called The Commodore Story has been released, and I have been lucky enough as an early Kickstarter backer to see the final version and WOW.
This documentary is fantastic and does its absolute best to show how Commodore played an essential part in the history of the Personal Computer.
Sometimes I feel like an archaeologist rediscovering a long-forgotten world when I look back at projects I worked on as a teenager. I often examine completed programs or pieces of code that my younger self created over 30 years ago when I first started learning to program.
To set the scene, it was January 1986, and I was 16 years old, a member of one of the largest Commodore Users Groups outside the metro area in Australia (with a few hundred members, if my memory serves me correctly). I served on the club’s committee as the Software Librarian, responsible for managing public domain programs available to members.
One evening during a committee meeting, the idea was raised that our club was large enough to warrant its own Bulletin Board System (BBS). This BBS would promote the club and provide a local platform for hundreds of users, saving on long-distance phone calls. I distinctly recall two things from that meeting: First, we lacked the funds to purchase the necessary hardware (C64 + Disk Drives) and software. Second, somehow my ability to code games and utilities led to the daunting task of writing a BBS.
Looking back, I realize I had no idea how significant this undertaking would be, and the rest of the committee had nothing to lose. Thus began the quest to create a complete BBS for the Commodore 64, which culminated a year later with a last-minute rush to develop a small, user-friendly, and free terminal program.
The screenshots and code presented here capture the outcome of that night before the BBS launch and go-live meetings. Although I can’t recall whether the club meeting was on the first or second Wednesday of the month, the exact date doesn’t really matter.
On a Tuesday afternoon, just before the launch, not long after I returned home from school, the Sysop (System Operator) named Phil—or, as we committee members affectionately referred to him, “Nuggets” due to his penchant for consuming KFC—called me in a mad panic.
“Scott,” he said, “I’m so sorry. I completely forgot to tell you that we need a small, user-friendly terminal program. We’ll print it out and photocopy it for all the users with modems so they can connect. We need it for tomorrow’s meeting.”
Now, you must remember that in 1986, diskettes weren’t cheap, and cassette tapes were too slow. If we wanted people to use this new BBS, we had to provide them with the terminal program’s source code on paper for manual entry.
Armed with this new information, I set about coding a simple terminal program that could run on a Commodore 64. It needed to be small enough to fit on a single printed page. By 9 pm, I had a fully working version 1.0.
Excited, I called Nuggets to share the good news. He was over the moon and exclaimed, “I can’t believe you finished it in time, including the ability to view and print the buffer!” Unfortunately, the concept of viewing and printing the buffer was news to me—I hadn’t added those features.
So, at 11 pm, I worked diligently to enhance the program. Soon, it was working like a charm, complete with a view and print buffer option. Nuggets was thrilled.
And that’s the story of how GOS-TERM came to be.
If you would like to view the actual source code for version 2.0 written in Commodore 64 BASIC click here.
2017 has been an amazing year for the retro computer community with an endless supply of books and documentaries on offer and of truely professional quality.
My newest instalment arrived today, 400 pages of stories, interviews and screenshots all enclosed in brilliant hardcover showing the history of one of my favourite computers of all time the Atari ST.
The Atari ST was a machine that I spent plenty of time with in the later half of the 1980s, learning to program in C, ST BASIC (not a fan of) and my favourite STOS.
In Australia where Commodore was King and the C64 had an amazing following who almost all turned to the Amiga at some point the ST was a very strong contender and with the full support of Atari Australia Pty Ltd was well supported for many years (unlike the earlier Atari 8bit line).
It is great to see the Atari ST getting it very own book, volume 1 and volume 2in production. I really look forward to finding a few hours over Christmas reading and taking in the history of this fantastic machine.
The long-awaited continuance of Brian’s first book titled Commodore a Company on the Edge has finally made its way to my door.
Mine turned up in the mail from Amazon a week or so ago and I couldn’t have been happier.
I read Brian’s first book about Commodore many years ago now and have been sitting patiently for the next installment and will now find some free time prior to Christmas to get stuck into it.
There have been plenty of books written over the years on Apple and their role in pioneering home computers and even a few about the role Tandy played in getting computers into the homes, schools, and business. But until recently the Commodore brand had all but been forgotten by the mainstream press while never overlooked by the tens of thousands of fans of these magnificent machines.
The Amiga Years picks up the story where volume 1 left off and carries it through the 1987 and not only includes the beautiful Amiga 1000 but the most successful model in the Amiga lineup the A500. There are also chapters on the C128 and the continued success of the C64 in spite of many mainstream press outlets saying that it was all over.
For further information on this awesome book check out the details on Amazons website.
The legacy continues with the release of the next installment of the ATARI branded Flashback console, this time Flashback 8 has become readily available from various retails stores and online sites (but shop around as the price does appear to vary).
Flashback 8 is the 40th Anniversary of the original release of the ATARI Video Computer Systems (VCS, but known better these days by the name 2600).
This release contains 105 games, many original Atari classics such as Adventure, Yars Revenge, Space Invaders, Asteroids and many of my all-time favorite titles from Activision.
Two of my favorite games were included in this release of the Flashback and it was great fun running them on a 42″ flat screen, unlike the small 12″ screen I had as a kid.
With each new release, Microsoft has made the life of an Access Developer easier and putting together prototypes or finished products has become faster. But there is one thing that I’ve always wanted to be able to do that Access doesn’t allow, and that is the ability to quickly develop desktop applications for not only Windows but Mac and Linux as well.
Microsoft Access 2016
Well, all this changed a few months ago when I chanced upon a development language called XOJO (previously known as Real Basic or Real Studio). It provided me with a rapid application development environment not that different than Access, with a BASIC-like language similar but more powerful than VBA and the ability to compile the end product from Windows, Mac, and Linux (plus iOS devices, Web, and Raspberry Pi).
Learning XOJO and getting started has been extremely easy, with a wealth of training videos, manuals and examples that makes getting to grips with the syntax has been a lot easier than I could have expected.
I’ve already converted some old VB6 and Access code over and was completely surprised just how easy it was. The IDE is clean, and intelligence of the autocomplete makes coding VBA feel so primitive.
So if you’re looking for a Rapid Development system I’d strongly suggest you take a look at XOJO.
In recent years the retro community and those wishing to relive their youth have been spoilt with choice, whether it be new games for classic systems, books, magazines and console remakes just as the recently released Nintendo Super Nintendo Entertainment System Mini.
Available in limited numbers (like the original release NES Classic Mini from last year) so you had to be quick and lucky to get hold of one.
It was a Saturday morning about 8 am and I was out and about when I remembered that the Super NES mini was released officially today. So, I headed to my local department store to see if there was any chance of picking one up.
The queue had already formed, plenty of geeky looking guys and girls all patiently waiting for the store to open. So, I queued up and waited as well. Soon an employee came over and asked whether I was interested in the Nintendo and provided me with a ticket, number 35 or 47 available.
The unit contains 20+1 games (20 to play and 1 to unlock) and plugs into any modern TV via HDMI cable (supplied), two joysticks and only had to add power which came from my TV USB port.
It contains an easy to use menu, and quick to start a new game and have some fun. So far, my favorite title is Super Mario Kart. Now I just need a few spare hours to play a few titles and all will be good.
