SPOnG: August marked 25 years since the Commodore 64 was released, after a long absence what kicked-started Commodore's desire to get back into the game?
Sean Charles: Commodore had a strong role in laying the foundations of gaming with the C64 and later the Amiga. It is only right that Commodore should have a strong presence in the way gaming is shaping up today. We felt that now was the right time to bring the brand back to the forefront of PC gaming
SPOnG: Many gamers today won’t have played a Commodore machine, and even if they have they may see it as the Led Zeppelin to their Wolfmother. What's Commodore's pitch to the console generation?
Sean Charles: Commodore Gaming isn’t on a mission to convert anybody from console gaming to PC gaming. Ultimately we are gamers that are building systems for gamers. We love and play our consoles as much as the next guy but PC gaming is our first passion. However, the standardisation and open playing field for publishers, developers and gamers alike is something that we embrace and our goal is to make quality products at a fair price, while bringing new innovation, such as C-kin, and new technology, such as the Ice Cube, as Commodore always has.
A lot of games are more suited to a PC; the Commodore rigs are built to make the most out of them. Models like the G and GS are optimised for gaming but do everything else a £1,000 PC does with ease – whether its Office or Media Centre applications. They are the perfect way to introduce people, including console gamers, into the delights of PC gaming.
SPOnG: So, tell us a bit about the new hardware, what has Commodore got in store for gamers?
Sean Charles: Commodore is taking the very finest components and groundbreaking technology from all areas in PC building. We are working together as gamers with gamers, to find what is stable, gives high performance and a great bang for buck. This is why we only having Quad Core, DirectX 10 and only having SLI ready GPU setups. We’re future proofing our consumers as best we can.
We want to make our products as future proof as possible so that even our entry models are still awesome systems. The XX will always be leading edge technology moving as fast as the industry does which will stagger down then into the other models.
SPOnG: The hardware line up looks pretty strong, would you say Commodore's systems are comparable to the top end rigs hardware geeks build from scratch?
Sean Charles: We are hardware geeks building top end rigs from scratch!
SPOnG: With two chunky fans, the option of SLI GeForce cards and a power supply that looks like it will dim the neighbourhood lights when switched on, the case's soundproofing looks to be a welcome addition. Does it make a dramatic difference or should we invest in some new headphones too?
Sean Charles: It does make a difference; it’s not a loud system considering the specs. Anyway, I don’t know about you, but when I play games I have my speakers up so loud, a nuclear silo could be housed next door and it wouldn’t disturb my gaming.
SPOnG: The C-kin custom artwork is a refreshing addition, will punters be able to submit their own designs in the future?
Sean Charles: We will be offering people the ability to customise C-kins within certain parameters i.e. reserved spaces within a C-kin design template to add personal content. There are some issues to do with the nature of the content that will always be a challenge to overcome. However, for LAN teams or other groups who want to order more than a couple of systems, we will provide a bespoke service to create a customised C-kin based on their design. They just need to get in touch with us directly.
We are also encouraging magazines and publishers alike to run competitions where gamers can submit designs. We’re also looking into a design ‘community’, it’s going to be an area of focus in the coming months – watch this space!
