This might excite "Wedoe" - Commodore returning

http://www.commodoregaming.com/
Interesting.


http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=159402

The Commodore brand is returning to the videogame world as Commodore Gaming, which is focusing on building high-end gaming PCs.

Wow, that sounds nothing like Commodore and much like ... I don't know, some rich geeks want to compete with Alienware.

Yawn.

Commodore went bust, the tech was sold off and the name has been passed round to everyone and their family.

If you asked the new 'owners' of the 'brand', they propably don't even know the name Chris Yaneff. It's just a cheap wellknown name and an interesting image to them.

Whatever it is, they will go bankrupt like all of the other owners who had nothing other than 'brand name recognition' to rely on. Products build the brand, not the other way around.

Andy

I hope they make all their PCs really blocky and in a restricted set of garish colours

It's going to be interesting to see what happens here. They're making a big deal out of the launch of these things.

Pfft, Commodore died long ago. It's sad that the corpse is still being kicked around in an attempt to make ppl think it still lives.

Why would I buy one of their machines, which costs the usual hardware + their own margin?

I could go to the local computer shop and order a system containing:
- a brute CPU
- brute mem
- brute videocard
- brute HD, perhaps 2 for a RAID even, but I doubt that'll add something useful for gaming

..And then pay exactly the hardware, and nothing more!

Easy. Cause you wouldn't know how to assemble those parts together, and it wouldn't look as cool.

Obviously I don't mean YOU. I mean the person buying it.

Here is what they should do.

Get any flavor of linux, and graphics drivers that work for it. Stuff it in a little motherboard that fits in the old C64 style case. Then start selling games and applications that work with it. (If they put the thing in the box I would buy it for nostalgia alone)

I'd prefer it in an A600 case and I'll pass on the Linux.

Hey, just for nostalgia, they should bundle Amiga OS4 into an A600 case and sell that with games. I'd buy into that for sure :-D.

> I'd prefer it in an A600 case and I'll pass on the Linux.

Well, they should call it Commodore Linux, standardize it, and release a list of what works with the hardware they select. A600 case is fine of course. (I wonder how much my hands would cramp trying to use a C64 case these days)

imagine amigaos with a linux core that would be cool

No, what they should do is stuff it into a black binliner along with a bunch of kittens and a housebrick, find the dark, secluded stretch of canal beneath the bridge where the rusty shopping trollies, dirty syringes and used condoms live, and drop it in the water when no one's looking. It'd be a kindness really.

So, you don't like kittens, then? :(

I was going to say "I like 'em bloated up with bubbly eyes", but that evokes a rather nasty visual image, doesn't it?

* big10p writes JustLuke's name in his tiny black book.

It's sad. Nothing related to my beloved C64 and Amigas at all :-(

Yeh, but let's wait for them to be revealed first - I'm most intrigued.

You're just a kid in a candy store with everything you read aren't you puki =]

Ahh I remeber the ole C64. Had one when I was a kid.

10 x=1:y=1
20 poke x,y
30 x=x+1:y=y+1
40 goto 20

My first and last C64 program.

Because they value their time?

When doing my consultant thing I charge about £70 an hour. So how long do you think it takes to build a PC? I'd say about 4 hours fitting all the bits together properly, at least two hours installing Windows (and any updates you might want), and then at least another 4 hours for burn-in testing, just to make sure everything works all right. So that's about 10 hours @ £70. Thus if their margin, is less than £700, it's cheaper for me to get them to assemble it. Sure if you work at McDonalds or something your time might be just as well spent putting computers together, but otherwise it's just a write-off.

Also it's probably worth about £100 or so to have the manufacturer go through the hell of getting proper and compatible drivers setup, and if something breaks under warranty, getting an RMA isn't your headache either.

I still have my Amiga 1200 and 4 C64's with tons of games and apps.

This is not what i was expecting Commodore to become. :/

lol @ Rex. Nice crash.

I agree with FD. I used to build my own (used to work in a shop and build hundreds) but these days I just order them in as it's not worth the time + hassle.

Seriously, it doesn't take 4 hours to build a PC. I used to build 20-30 a day, and even though we would use an OEM kit for the windows installation, 10 hours is overkill. Most retailers don't test for 4 hours either, but simply turn the PC on, run memtest and a DX test suite from CD.

>This is not what i was expecting Commodore to become.

That's just it. It's not commodore, merely a company which purchased the C= name and logo, in the hopes of being able to profit from it. To them it's just a 'brand'. I'm sure they'll be making statements like 'Leading PC manufacturer with 40 years of experience', regardless of the fact that none of their employees or managers have any real experience and they propably don't even have a R&D department.


Andy

Not surprising really... :)

By hand? On an 8 hour work day, that's an average of three an hour, or roughly 20 minutes to disassemble the case, mount a motherboard, PSU, CPU, harddrives, RAM modules, heatsinks, fans, graphics card(s), and any extra peripherals you might want. Then you have to plug in all the cables and make sure they stay put, and reassemble the case again. In 20 minutes? I doubt it.

The local computershop here assembled my PC as a service. I didn't order an off-the-shelves model there, they invested time in me, offering a few models and options (intel vs amd, ghz options, HD options etc.), and they assembled it, including a 24h test run etc.

As far as I'm concerned these white machines are assembled equally careful as those bigname companies do, but then without the brand margin. Even, if the shop made a few bucks margin, then it's still not comparible with the margin Commodore needs for their national or internationl advertising and marketing.

No, I don't believe these brand-PC's, ever. Do me a custom-designed PC from the local shop on the corner, every day.

I used to enjoy assembling my own PC's, but nowadays I couldn't be arsed, TBH. Most online sellers allow you to specify your own spec and the financial reasons for self-building have all but gone, so what's the point. :)

> I used to enjoy assembling my own PC's, but nowadays I couldn't be arsed

Same here, I've gone to buying emachine computers (they are cheap) and putting in a new graphics card. The whole process of getting a new machine running is done to under an hour, when building one from scratch would take a whole day of work. Although most of that was installing software, hardware generally took under 30 minutes.

>...or roughly 20 minutes to disassemble the case,

4 screws, remove both sides, then you place it on the workmat. Put the hard and optical drives in.

>mount a motherboard, PSU, CPU, harddrives, RAM modules,
>heatsinks, fans, graphics card(s), and any extra >peripherals

First put the mainboard on an antistatic mat, then put the CPU, the heatsink and the memory in. Then you put the whole thing into the case and screw it in.

>Then you have to plug in all the cables and
>make sure they stay put

Plug in power cable, IDE, PCI-E and connector cables, replace the sides using 4 screws and the hardware is done.

Assembling thousands of PC's in a factory, using standard components can be done very rapidly, when you do it for a living and have orders to meet.


Andy

Yikes. How many times did it hit line 20 before the system locked up? :)

RE: Rocketgnome

Yikes. How many times did it hit line 20 before the system locked up? :)

It was a long time ago now, but I think it got round to 200 or so before it crashed. It caused the system to generate two cursors permanently. In other words, the c64 was only good for the bin after that :)

I knew I was pushing my luck, but I was fascinated with the poke command, particularly because it was needed to change system colours. I got some very interesting results with poke before I did trash it though. One was like a electronic schematic or circuit design appear full screen. another one (my fav) was an orange kind of see-thru bubble which would generate from the top of the screen and slowly move to the bottom of the screen whilst causing the machine to make sqealing noises from within.

>I knew I was pushing my luck, but I was fascinated with
>the poke command, particularly because it was needed to
>change system colours.

PEEK, POKE and PETSCII is all we really need!

Snif, I love my C64!

Andy

Lol haven't heard Wedoe for a long time, a very very long time.

-Mark

I'm a bit skeptical to the entire commodoregaming and leeching off old brand names, but at least they have a sense of humor. I checked the site as it opened and sent them a mail saying amongst other things:


Go to the site an check the C-SKIN > Examples in 3D > Colours and see what they've added!

I feel that I've done something to preserve the legacy of the commodore brand. Any piece of hardware bearing the commodore logo should be available in that colour!

Cheers!

/PetBom

REX: You should have got a BBC. I know the system inside out and could even change the IRQ rate- speeding up or slowing down the system considerably...

but the BBC micro wouldn't let you "poke" anywhere, if you poked ROM or dangerous areas, it'd just not do it. Hence, I was able to literally probe "Poke" every section of memory to learn what it does.

I learnt the sound system map, the interrupt area, output pin layout/areas and from this was able to create a "soundcard" for it using just two cables and some assembler, rather than a rather expensive $300 chip.

hmmm... big, bad and ugly all in one.

I feel sick :x


More here.

What is that? A kiddies lunch box? :/

Unfortunately its a Commodore PC :/

Their website is completely arsed. You click on the G model, then click on specifications, and you're on the specifications page for the XX model instead of the G.

Not an encouraging start.

This should be of more interest to y'all:

http://www.commodoreworld.com/world/home.aspx

Looks like they're trying to copy Apple with their media player and AppleTV like device.

. (oops double post)

no. 10 looks kinda cool, i guess it all depends on the price of these things. I would like the grafiti one too if it had less pink and yellow on it (reminds me of mr blobby)!

I personally like a box like this. I hate pcs (like packard bell) who seem to think a bulbous curvy monster somehow looks modern or sleek when in fact it looks like a deformed kitchen device.

I say, if graffiti "art" is your thing, invite a bunch of urban gangstaz to come scribble on your wall in exchange for some cheap booze and cigs. A well designed computer is one that you don't notice - not some garish, crass monstrosity.

Mac Mini is what should inspire all PC makers. Nice, small (fits into your hand), portable and can perform everything you need.

Lol, i guess you grew up in the country or have never experienced, appreciated or been a part of urban culture. Graffiti art is a serious artform like any other, probably more so as the individual does not do it for money or mass fame. Neither is it all about gangs.

When not overly offensive and well done, it can really brighten up the grey boring urban sprawl and a lot of people actually like it and say it cheers them up on their way to work etc. (and im not talking about mindless scribling like "tracey is a slut" etc..)

"The words of the prophets are written on subway walls" - Sound of silence.


You could argue the same for cars, I guess that all depends on where its going to go, taste, how old, openminded, conservative or tolerant you are etc. Something like this would be good for a youth center or something like that where it would blend in.

Personally i would prefer a plain black box for my office, but my girlfriend likes the colourful one :)

Well, I'm not sure I'm very enthusiastic about this, there
were only one C64 and the times cannot be brought back.
Commodore f**ked up already in late 80's by making various
of versions of the Amiga and after that it all went downhill.
Commodore only exist i name now, it have nothing to do with
the old company or the original designers.

But it could still be a cool machine even if the exterior
looks like lunch-boxes.