Amiga Lives on as Commodore USA Announces PC64
New all-in-ones built into replica chassis.
From Commodore USA's official website.
Fantasies of a continuation of classic Commodore product lines may finally become a reality, as hardware manufacturer Commodore USA has just signed an agreement with Commodore Licensing BV to create all-in-one computers bearing the C64 and Amiga names.
The deal is in response to "an overwhelming demand from former Commodore users worldwide," and the first product to come out of the arrangement will be the Commodore PC64. This AIO will feature "an exact replica of the original [C64] beige chassis."
But instead of tapes and 8-bit hardware, the PC64 will include an Intel Atom 525 processor with NVIDIA Ion2 graphics, 4GB memory, a 1TB HDD, HDMI output, six USB ports, integrated WiFi, Bluetooth, card reader and a DVD/CD drive with options to upgrade to a Blu-ray drive.
A PC64 "Pro" option will include a 2.66 GHz Intel Core I7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 512 MB graphics, 2TB HDD, 4GB memory and a Blu-ray drive - but it won't come in a funky C64 replica case, which sort of defeats the point a little bit.
Commodore's company history since its bankruptcy in 1994 has been a convoluted legal nightmare, brought on by the splintering of several key intellectual properties - the games, the brand name and the operating system - to many different companies. These rights have changed hands several times over as well, meaning that it has been very difficult thus far to get a consensus on building a revised Commodore product line.
To give you an idea as to how confusing this gets, Commodore USA president and CEO Barry Altman attempted to get a C64 refresh off the ground earlier this year, but had contacted the wrong company for the licensing rights. Commodore Games, a company that offers classic C64 games on Virtual Console amongst other platforms, had been approached by Altman, not realising it was merely a licensee. Hopefully with Commodore Licensing involved, things are on the right track.
But even more confusing is the image Commodore USA released to promote the new product. It's only a fantasy mock, but it's clearly a chassis of an Amiga computer and not a C64. Not that we're bothered or anything - we'd in fact prefer an Amiga chassis - but it's just worth pointing out.
The PC64 will be available at the end of 2010. We're going to buy fifteen. How about you?
The deal is in response to "an overwhelming demand from former Commodore users worldwide," and the first product to come out of the arrangement will be the Commodore PC64. This AIO will feature "an exact replica of the original [C64] beige chassis."
But instead of tapes and 8-bit hardware, the PC64 will include an Intel Atom 525 processor with NVIDIA Ion2 graphics, 4GB memory, a 1TB HDD, HDMI output, six USB ports, integrated WiFi, Bluetooth, card reader and a DVD/CD drive with options to upgrade to a Blu-ray drive.
A PC64 "Pro" option will include a 2.66 GHz Intel Core I7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 512 MB graphics, 2TB HDD, 4GB memory and a Blu-ray drive - but it won't come in a funky C64 replica case, which sort of defeats the point a little bit.
Commodore's company history since its bankruptcy in 1994 has been a convoluted legal nightmare, brought on by the splintering of several key intellectual properties - the games, the brand name and the operating system - to many different companies. These rights have changed hands several times over as well, meaning that it has been very difficult thus far to get a consensus on building a revised Commodore product line.
To give you an idea as to how confusing this gets, Commodore USA president and CEO Barry Altman attempted to get a C64 refresh off the ground earlier this year, but had contacted the wrong company for the licensing rights. Commodore Games, a company that offers classic C64 games on Virtual Console amongst other platforms, had been approached by Altman, not realising it was merely a licensee. Hopefully with Commodore Licensing involved, things are on the right track.
But even more confusing is the image Commodore USA released to promote the new product. It's only a fantasy mock, but it's clearly a chassis of an Amiga computer and not a C64. Not that we're bothered or anything - we'd in fact prefer an Amiga chassis - but it's just worth pointing out.
The PC64 will be available at the end of 2010. We're going to buy fifteen. How about you?
Companies:
Commodore
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Comments
Daz 31 Aug 2010 21:16
1/3
so it's a PC in a C64 case? I'm sure I've seen that done somewhere else, still looks cool but I'm already getting a new PC for crimbo
Other Aros Hardware platforms 3 Sep 2010 09:22
2/3
Just so all are aware there are already two Aros platforms. IMICA Silent Atom based and high performance AresOne.
http://www.vesalia.de/e_aresone2010.htm
http://www.imica.net/
http://www.vesalia.de/e_aresone2010.htm
http://www.imica.net/
Amigaman 12 Dec 2010 05:45
3/3
What a shame to use intel procs, better gofor an ARM license....