This is what Commodore Comback fans are waiting for – but the odds are still against

In 1994, Brigadier General Crashed and burned. Once a family computing giant across the United States and Europe, the company was undone for mismanagement and missteps. The corpse is picked and cleaned, the debris are resold so many times that it is difficult to keep track, but with the arrival of each new owner, it is inevitable – trying to make money quickly by slapping the famous C= logo on any old trash.

Fans looked at the brand in horror when it appeared on the mediocre network, an all-in-one PC, weird gravel and Commodore smartphone in Pocket Media Player. There is even a debris crusher. So when retro game YouTuber Christian “Perifractic” Simpson announced that he wanted to buy the remaining Commodore and bring it a new life, the question was asked. Among them, the chief: Does the world still need a brigade general?

When I was 64 years old

Commodore was a brand that initially focused on typewriters and calculators, but its glorious days came with the rise of Home Micros, leading to a rapid rebirth as Commodore International Computing.

Its biggest success is the Commodore 64, which hits the best position between affordability and potential. Despite the sluggish CPU, powerful graphics and surprisingly sound chips (still respected today) stimulate creativity on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Released over 5,000 commercial games at the height of the machine, selling over 15 million units, making the C64 still one of the best-selling single-computer models of all time.

This is Simpson’s legacy for a revival. Initially, he sought a licensing agreement with the Commodore brand owner and put the “official” board of directors and replacement components as part of an inclusive, community-friendly group. The plans rolled in the discussion, and Simpson found himself secured a deal to buy the brigade general at a “low seven-digit” price. He is now CEO of Commodore and promises to resume the company in a sustainable way that will not repeat past failures.

Provided by Commodore

Provided by Commodore

But this is where things get tricky. Simpson actually didn’t own the original company because the company no longer exists. The 1990s dismemberment of Commodore means that the current iteration has many trademarks, but the basic parts of the ecosystem are still scattered. C64 ROMS and Amiga (16-bit micro-commodore) rights belong to Cloanto and Amiga Corporation. Amigaos are controlled by Hyperion Entertainment. Apart from the weird mass-market flirting of cloning machines, such as the C64DTV all-in-one joystick and plug-in Thec64 Mini, the key developments that have been crucial over the past 30 years have come from the community, not the brand.

The masses’ computer

For these reasons, Simpson found himself walking multiple layers. He must avoid alienating enthusiasts who can keep the Brigadier General’s Flame alive, and that does not mean that his new Brigadier General has given legitimacy. He must work closely with the owners of other key puzzles and grant the Commodore brand fairly to interested third parties. To make up for the seven-digit sum, the new brigade general must sell enough new hardware, which means going beyond the growing core fan base.

For now, Simpson’s original drama group’s nostalgia for nostalgia was not just the C64, but the entire era. New Commodore website markets the company as a “digital detox brand” [that’s] Based on digital minimalism. “It opposes social media, exaggerating the good times of “technical optimism” – the 1980s, and by the mid-1990s, it hints that Commodore can help users recover from their childhood. and Original; past and future.

Suitably, the iteration’s debut product is the Commodore 64 Ultimate, reflecting this tension. The $500 Golden Founder Edition and the $350 LED Disco Record Starlight Edition will not completely scream digital minimalism. But the basic beige for $300 yes Spit image of original hardware. All models bridge authenticity and modernity by supporting the original C64 peripherals and current connections, including 1080p HDMI output, so you don’t need to look for a CRT TV. Inside, all FPGAs (programmable gate arrays) ultimately mean less effective than found in Chinese retro handheld computers and cheap plug-in TV devices.