THIS is how a video/review should be done. Glad to see a reviewer that knows his stuff. Finally something else than 10 print "hello", 20 goto 10. I do hope Retro Games improve firmware based on your suggestions. I would give this video 10/10 but WHY did you mention about the 0 key not aligned properly ? Now I cannot sleep at night ;)
Actually seeing 10 print " hello" in EVERY video made me laugh each time ;) Delivery in the Netherlands has again been postponed, now it's december 31. I do hope they will add a 50/60 forced choice in a future update. I only have one tv, older Sony Bravia, so if it decides to choose 60hz automatically I'm screwed :-/
I will save this video for later, when I purchase one. I need a way to transfer programs from a floppy disk, to a thumb drive. I have hundreds of programs on 5 1/4. Many are programs I wrote, so I can't get them any other way. Any suggestions? Oh yea, I have several c64 and 1541 drives.
@@vbrigham Either use an SD2IEC (copy to blank d.64 image), same with a Pi1541, or get a Zoomfloppy device and use that to copy your disks to a PC with the correct software. I am sure there are other ways, but those are what I have used (and writing d64 images to real floppies as well).
At www.nedgame.nl/afbeeldingen/the-c64-microcomputer/screenshots/3_5066541970.jpg I see a perfect aligned '0' on the zero-key. Perhaps this picture is of a new serie/batch of C64's?
Excellent video, its refreshing when someone with actual knowledge provides a balanced view of these products. And I definitely think a PAL vs NTSC gamer competition should happen!!
Well said..! Too many people around the internet going on about Raspberry Pi is better.. Really? this thing looks like, and feels like a genuine C64, and as this video proves, it's emulation is so deep it even does assembler/machine code programming perfectly I just got one of these, as I remember them from 40+ years ago selling and using them, and it seems perfect (except for the lack or original ports in the back ;-) ) , and for general use; game playing, brushing up on basic skills, reliving the past, this machine is more than perfect.....! It's a fantastic new computer for hobbyists wanting to tinker with newer USB/HDMI equipped hardware, or the general 'target' audience, to relive those old memories - even down to typing-in endless pages of programmes only to get "syntax error" messages all over... but they can be edited, fixed, and then saved to a USB stick just as they would have been saved to disk years ago. It's a real feel-good machine that love these older days of computing, and yet is still totally relevant today.... ;-)
This was an excellent review, answered all my questions about using this as a basic machine. With the built in keyboard that seems like the big draw, yet all the other reviews I've seen have glossed over the keyboard and basic, which made no sense. This was great!
Oh man, these videos are so good. The voice is so pleasant. The information is just spot-on. There is a jump-to section. Really nice. Bless the internet that something like this is made.
Its amazing to see how involved you have been with this community for almost/over 20 years now. Personally i show up to see weird old hardware, but its not often someone is as skilled and interesting as you can be. Loving the content!
Thank you so much, sir! i'm doing a Zelda game for thec64 and really i was needing a blank disk like those D81 formats. i've watched your video and now my problems are solved. great, you're awesome!
I spotted these were being made and was thinking of getting one for my 50th... got a C64 here in the uk when they came out, how I loved it back in the day. Many thanks for a great review, didn't think it could do all that.
Loved this video and for the record, I didn't feel you were biased one way or the other. I found your review very objective and informative. Thanks so much!
Great review mate! Super informative and detailed... especially with the icon placement on the keyboard, it's going to probably bug me now! Looking forward to getting this for Christmas and writing games out of the old c64 books. Happy Holidays!
Excellent review, Robin. A couple of things, that I wanted to know about it were mentioned. Back in the 1980s, I liked to play David‘s Midnight pinball. That is now possible, too. I might still wait a bit, but finally, I want to get one, I think.
Thanks Robin, this is the review this machine deserved. May I suggest to tryout, in eventual upcoming videos for thec64, error codes, original bugs, easter eggs and fastloaders?
Great coverage and information on getting the assembler running with 512k. I guess you could just save a state on The C64 once all set up? You also asked what advantages The C64 has and why you might choose to use it? I would add a huge feature (which you said you’d save for another time) is it also has a Vic 20 inside. If you are short on space, or want a better Vic output on a modern TV, The C64 does a good job here. :)
Simply one of the best reviews I've ever seen. Thanks. In my declining years, some things that gave me great joy when younger are coming back...The C64...going back to the Moon. Too much to hope for another Golden Retriever puppy? Time will tell...
BIG WOW. Great "Reintroduction" of this famous computer. Real blast to watch and admire! Never thought a toy from my childhood be so popular! I played with assembly on it in early 90's. But soon to be forgotten and replaced with i686...
Happy New Year Robin! Great video as always, probably THE best The64 review online, and it's going to help sell a lot of The64 because you really do know what your'e talking about and hack into it. :)
I've heard that differences in size comes from the VIC 20, which align perfectly with theC64 Max. There must be some Commodore 64 batches in VIC 20 frames, maybe the firsts.
There were a few different sizes of theC64, there was another youtuber (cant remember which one) who showed them next to each other - thec64 is matches that one.
The speed issue is clearly that the games loaded on this machine were the EU/International versions which were designed to run on PAL. The fix in the video is totally valid but the simplest way to get around it is to just select PAL at the system setup. Since this version of the system was built for these markets I would imagine that the majority of the games that are pre-loaded would also be designed for PAL mode. The NTSC mode is most likely there as a compatibility feature so that those with a collection of NTSC based roms can use them without too much issue.
Great Video! Love the 512k hack. I managed to make it work on thec64 mini too. BUT for the super snapshot cart to work with the 512 i had to make a save state snapshot in vice 2.4 like you did but including the snapshot crt with it. love your videos and i like more thec64 hack and assembly tuto. Thanks for sharing your knowledge
(Almost) comprehensive review!! Great and very informative stuff! Now if I may ask a couple things not covered here: 1- How faithful/accurate is the emulation? How does it fare with running hardware limit-pushing and demanding demos and other taxing software of the sort that rely sometimes heavily on specifics of internal workings and quirks of the original machine? 2- Is the joystick useable as a standard USB joystick? Can we plug and use it on a PC (great to play with other emulators), or is it exclusively working with theC64 Maxi? Thank you loads for this excellent review!
Thank you for the best C64 review on RU-vid. I just love your channel. I really appreciate it when someone on RU-vid really knows what they're talking about. The fact that you're sharing your knowledge here is greatly appreciated.
@@NuntiusLegis Well. You're kinda right about a few things. It's not a C64, it's a "TheC64". And yes. It's emulation. I have two 64c's and two breadbins so I understand what you're saying about the keyboard. Still I can't help liking TheC64. Now I can lie on my sofa and easily program in Basic on my living room TV. I used to do it with a real C64, but TheC64 gives a sharper and more stable image with HDMI. It's all in good fun.
Nice review. I have to say, this looks like a nice machine. I may look into one myself. I love the look and feel of a classic C64 with modern conveniences. This would be nice for a great number of other machines as well. A classic Amiga 500 perhaps or even Atari 2600 etc... with the same look and feel.
Great Review and you earned another Subscriber! I haven't messed around on a C64 since the mid to late 80s. I look forward to picking one of these up and re-living my childhood memories with playing the C64 with my Dad and starting to dabble in learning to use BASIC! I look forward to watching more videos from you for "TheC64" and have a good day! :)
@@NuntiusLegis Since leaving this comment my dad and I uncovered our Commodore 64, 1541 Disk Drive and 1702 Monitor. We also found all our accessories and software. It’s currently out of order, but I’m going to be sending it out for inspection/repair tomorrow afternoon. I look forward to getting it up and running again.
@@Zion767318 Great. I got my C64C and !541 II out a few months ago, connected it to a 4:3 TFT TV from Ebay via s-video and enjoy better picture quality than ever in the 80s when I only had a worn out CRT TV. But a proper CRT monitor like your 1702 should be even better.
My brother and I have a tradition of playing Christmas Lemmings every Christmas. While this is hectic enough, it is far less frenetic than Sarah's Santron game. So congratulations to Sarah for creating the game and to you for making it so far without getting blown to smithereens :-)
It's a good system overall, but there are a couple of things that I personally would have liked to have been implemented (perhaps in a future firmware update...) 1. mouse support (would come in handy if you want to fool around with programs like GEOS) 2. Support for memory expansion modules in VIC-20 mode (perhaps with a flag(s))
Yes, mouse support would be great. I was under the impression that the VIC-20 mode already does support different memory configurations, but I haven't played with it myself yet. I know there's a section about it, anyway.
I'm waiting for mine. But it seems that it could be done using the same method as REU hack - preconfiguring snapshot of GEOS and VICE settings to use 1351 mouse
Just wanted to point out to people: if you're not too sure how to make a D64 image in VICE, that there is a program called DirMaster that makes it very easy.
c1541 utility comes with VICE. # create a new d64 disk image c1541 -format "my disk,01" d64 "mydisk.d64" # add a file to it c1541 -attach "mydisk.d64" -write "myfavgame.prg" "myfavgame" # list the contents c1541 -attach "mydisk.d64" -list
Thank you. My main question how to save files to USB-Sticks you answered in this video - and many other thing. I hole that many people start programming for C64 again. I love this machine! May be next year we get with the new Atari a ebirth of competition against C64- and Atari-Systems again ;-)
Excellent, excellent review. I felt ambivalent towards this thing when I first heard about it, and after I received no replies to emails I sent to the devs, but you have answered all the questions I asked them, and more. How do you find the SID sound vs an original? Now all we need is a 'The Amiga500' to come out ;)
Great vid! Nice to know there's a bit of a Canadian connection to the development of TheC64, even if you were just a lowly contractor. :) It's been a few years now since the release of this box and it's unfortunate that there never was any real Canadian distribution. Feels like Retro Games really dropped the ball on that.
I don’t know if you’ve seen the Full Sized “The VIC 20” but i bought one recently and have been having fun with it. The issue you noted with the keyboard number 0 being not lined up with the rest of the numbers has been fixed. My “0” lines up with the 9.
I would love a show from you with a 1541 ultimate or an ultimate 64 ! For sure you will love that device. The latter has an HDMI and a ton of possibilities. I like to watch all your shows. Keep em coming. 😃👌🕹
This thing seems like the best of both worlds. I have what is in effect a very fast hard drive, yet I can load and save from and to a (virtual) floppy with good old comma-eight commands. The one thing this needs now is support for an external Commodore FDD, with some sort of adapter to connect through the USB. Pull all my old files off the floppies I kept all these years.
Very good review. I'd like to purchase a C64 Max in the near future. So glad the Commodore Vic20/C-64/c-128 are getting a new tech platform. My thoughts on emulator vs C64 Max - the emulator can go anywhere with me on my notebook PC & has PET emulation.
Thank you for the video and blank disk images. I don't own "The C64", but I do own an SD2iec for my original C64's. There's programs I've saved to tape that I'd like to put on disk.
Easily the best review of the C64 maxi. Most reviews just show this machine playing C64 games or running two-liners written in the useless CBM Basic 2. I was curious how this replica works with TMP and not only you gave an answer, but also provided a "hack" to make it work with TMP+REU. My C64 died several years ago, and I am considering buying the C64 maxi, since it is way cheaper than the alternative options. The information you provided was really helpful. Thank you, and keep up the good work! A few questions, if you have time... Can this machine emulate the NEOS mouse (or any of the old C64 mouses) by plugging in an optical mouse in one of its USB ports? Can it emulate two disk drives? Also, I noticed that VICE often slows down while running TMP. Even cursor movement is noticeably slower after some time working on TMP; sometimes VICE also pops up a window saying memory is "dumped" (and that without messing up with reserved memory). Did you notice anything similar on "the C64"? A soft reset solves the issue in VICE, but this replica does not have a soft reset, so I wonder how it performs when working more "seriously", with larger assembly code.
I have a real C64c but this just looks so conveniant as hassle free for playing and doing C64 stuff. I might have to pick one up. Also cool for picking out one of Sarah Jane Avory's games. I have met her in person a few times. She is one of the delevops at Frontier Developments. She does a lot of C64 stuff in her own time and is working on a new game atm.
As an almost 50 year old Dutch 'kid', I certainly have to get this device, although I have an original CBM64 as well! ;-) I pre-ordered The C64 Maxi at www.nedgame.nl and see a picture of a C64 with the '0' on the zero-key that is aligned perfectly. See: www.nedgame.nl/afbeeldingen/the-c64-microcomputer/screenshots/3_5066541970.jpg. Perhaps a new serie/batch of C64's?
What would be really nifty is if you could plug in a modern USB printer and use old software like Print Shop and geoWrite like the good old days for some nice retro signs and cards and stuff. Or hook up a Raspberry Pi via a USB cable, and run tcpser on the Pi so it can be used as a modem for dialing into telnet BBS's. Guess we'll see how hackable this thing is in the months and years to come. Excellent video as always, and I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas! :)
Given that the old printers themselves need to be emulated, it would probably make more sense to write an emulation of those that just generated output in PDF format, and then you can move the output documents to whatever system you like to print them, or just send the PDFs to whomever needs them.
That’s funny about the Impossible Mission voice. I run at 60Hz here in the US, and the 60Hz version you played was at a higher pitch than what mine plays. Seems like it should be identical, but the 50Hz version you played sounds just like my 60Hz version.
What hardware is under the hood on this thing? I have an electronics background and would love to see a breakdown of it. Many others here would probably love it as well. How does the new chip stack against the 6502/ 6510 of the older designs? Do you think we will see an Amiga or ST soon?
