Alright let see who remembers this: "The Arcade" joystick with micro-dip switches!, if you recognize what I say, read on. A company called Retro Games Ltd will be launching the C64 Mini console based and styled after the Commodore 64.
For those that where born after the 90'ies, the Commodore 64 was THE personal computer back in the days, it surely was a life changer for yours truly. In early 2018 under the name "C64 Mini" the replica unit will be ready and released and it will hold 64 classic Commodore 64 games as well as the ability to program it in Basic. Basic was a programming language in the most simple form, I can still remember it like:
10 print "Guru3D"
20 goto 10
Which would loop the Guru3D on your screen.
It will be interesting to see what components will be used for the C64 Mini, likely something ARM based with a C64 emulator. You will be able to connect a USB keyboard to the device as well as there will be firmware updates through a USB stick. The console can be connected to a display using HDMI. The C64 mini console will get games like California Games, Chip's Challenge, Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, Paradroid, Insects in Space, Monty on the Run and Impossible Mission. With the hundreds if not thousands of C64 games, I do have to see .. a lot of popular ones are missing from the list. Given it's name, it is obvous that the manufacturers did not get hold of the Commodore brand ergo it isn't used in it's name. It is expected the C64 Mini will be available for 80 bucks in early 2018, which bundles a joystick, USB cable and HDMI cable.
Man, I think I still have an actual original working unit somewhere tucked inside a box on the attic. BRB!
.... found it! :-)
