Slashdot Mirror
Commodore Follows Up TV Game With ROM Selling
An anonymous reader writes "Since Commodore recently re-appeared selling a Commodore 64 joystick 'TV game', as previously mentioned on Slashdot Games (the company is now owned by Dutch computer builder Tulip), they're now expanding their efforts, and have set up a legal emulation site where you can buy classic Commodore 64 titles, initially including Epyx and Hewson titles. Apparently, in a later stage, Commodore will release a Gentoo Linux based set top box which plays MP3s and runs Commodore 64 games."
Since Epyx went belly up with their handheld console, they produced for Atari. Who is getting the royalties for those Epyx games sold over the net. I have sever doubts the developers of those games will see a single cent....
I was unable to find descent pricing information. There's talk of a monthly subscription fee (5 euro's for 7 titles), but does that mean I'm only allowed to (legally) use the game for one month?
How much do I have to pay to download just one game?
The Commodore brand also popped up on a cheap-and-nasty MP3 player a little while back, as shown on Dan's Data.
Apparently it's unlicenced, but certainlty a shock to the brain to see that logo on a recent product.
Remember, it takes 42 muscles to frown and only 4 to pull the trigger of a sniper rifle.
That game alone would make the thing worth buying.
Lasers Controlled Games!
Yeah, I think someone should track down who really has the copyrights to those these days and beg until they let folks distribute the ROMs freely. It's not like they're really valuable these days or anything...
...and right now I'd need a really cool lo-rez pixel font too, and C64's is my favorite =)
Another cool project would involve complete rewrite of the firmware. A further optimized OS and a new BASIC interpreter that doesn't suck would rule... =)
No, but back in the golden eighties I saw a project that linked two machines together on cable. Imagine a Beowulf cluster of those!
For me it's all about the whole C64 form factor which I found so appealing. Of course, you're idea about the flash card is a much better solution than a HD. Although, in reality, with your approach, the whole thing could be built into the size and shape of an old C64 ROM cartridge. Conceivably, one could then sell the C64 keyboard unit separately and use the slot where one would plug cartridges into the unit to dock the actual computer into the keyboard unit.
I never beat the original. Never beat Jumpman Jr. either. That hailstone level always took too many lives.
Lasers Controlled Games!