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Commodore 64 Game System
Do you know the Commodore 64 Game System?
This console was produced by Commodore in the late 1990s with the aim of countering / entering the console market that was emerging at the time.
So far nothing strange, if not for the great "genius" of the manufacturer and let's see in detail why.
Commodore in general, apart from the first Pong, never made consoles but pushed the computer market as one of its famous advertising campaigns said.
“Why buy a console when at the same price you can have a computer to study, work and play”.
They realized that the consoles were selling well and decided to offer their own, but the main problem was that they didn't invest anything to make it. They took a card of the many Commodore 64c (at the time there was the one in production) and deprived of the unnecessary connectors and components since the user port, the cartridge port, the serial port and not even the keyboard were no longer used. The only substantial change was to reprogram the ROM with a new Kernal that would show an animation when the console started (without cartridge) that indicated how to insert the game.
Ah, the Basic has also been removed from the memory as it was no longer usable without a keyboard and data loading / saving devices. The cartridge connector has been mounted vertically to allow for easier insertion.
Then? well, the rest comes by itself, the console did not sell, it was a resounding flop.
It was produced only for the European market and an estimated production of 80,000 copies of which only 20,000 sold and others converted into Commodore 64c.
Because? this question should be asked to Commodore .. Why put an 8 year old computer back on the market, depriving it of all its potential (which made it famous) to sell it at the same price as the real computer and that it did not have the possibility to load not even all the games of the C64 !!!
Another interesting thing is that this system only worked on cartridges (therefore less games and more expensive) but having no keyboard it could not start or run the games of the C64 correctly, some of these were adapted to run on the GS without requiring pressure. buttons but using the joystick only.
Sales were very bad and the life of this console was short. The price was lowered considerably within a year to be able to sell more. Today this console is very rare and unfortunately if you find it has very high prices, do you think it is worth it? If we consider what this console is .. NO, it's a simple 64 without keys. If you consider the collector side .. No I can give you an answer because this is subjective how much a person wants to spend on it, but considering that he has not sold and therefore few can say they had it and buy it back for "nostalgia", let's say I don't see the reason of these prices.
Retrofixer's recipe
Let's see everything we need to create a 64GS with our hands!
Fundamental parts
- One 250469 Assy Motherboard (C64c)
- One Eprom 27C256
- One Edge 44 pin 2.54mm straight connector
- One 250469 Assy Motherboard (C64c)
- One Eprom 27C256
Download the image of the Rom 64gs (64gs.390852-01.bin):
https://rfix.it/zimc64
Eprom 27C256 from Aliexpress: https://rfix.it/alc256
T48 programmer from Aliexpress: https://rfix.it/alit48
- One Edge 44pin (2.54mm / 0.1mil) straight connector
From Aliexpress: https://rfix.it/alec44
Case components
Here there are two roads, either we do it or we have it printed.
If we print it with a 3d printer with a small print bed we have to divide the case into 2 parts and then proceed to assemble everything, we will need:
A good glue for plastic, a putty for plastic, paint and any primer, sandpaper or sander.
If we have a large format printer we will be able to print it all in a block, for a better finish we may need putty or resin and any paint.
If we want a job done well by professionals in the sector and without any effort, the answer is:
Not only PCB, PcbWay also does 3D printing, CNC and injection printing service.
I had this prototype printed and the service was really accurate and reliable, they contacted me to inform me that the hinges I had designed were too small and could have come wrong, fixed the design and printed successfully!
Excellent finish and resistance, but glook at the result!
Questo è il link dove poter trovare il file per la stampa, lo potete trovare anche nella sezione download del sito riservata ai Patreons.
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/gadget/commodore-64gs-replica
Once the case and all the accessories have been printed, we will need a 1mm stick to hold the doors in place and a spring to close them:
Springs (0.3x3x175degree): https://rfix.it/almo03
Splint (1mm): https://rfix.it/alsca1
As icing on the cake we have to create the graphics of the cartridge compartment, here is the link to download the graphics:
And here's the finished 64GS. Watch the video to see all the steps and subscribe to the channel!
Italian version:
English version:
10 Comments
Ciao, mi chiamo Alessandro e seguo con molto entusiasmo ogni vostro progetto e non mi perdo mai ogni video che mettete sul vostro canale YouTube, vi lascio anche il link del sito web del Fablab di cui ne faccio parte, ne approfitto x chiedervi se è possibile avere il file sorgente del case Commodore 64gs così da poter apportare alcune modifiche, grazie
Complimenti per il lavoro, scusami potresti postare nuovamente il file per la stampa 3d del case? il link non è più disponibile. Grazie
Ciao, stiamo rivedendo i download e tutto il resto. L’account su Thingiverse è stato cancellato, vediamo ora il modo e sito dove pubblicare tutto.
Penso ci sarà una pagina anche sul sito.
Ti ringrazio molto. Un’ultima domanda…sono già disponibili titoli convertiti da commodore 64 a commodore 64 gs? di nuovo grazie
Ciao, scusami…ho visto ora che i titoli convertiti per GS sono nel pacchetto di Salvo…di nuovo grazie 🙂
Complimenti per l’articolo e per il sito in generale, sto imparando molto…
Mi volevo cimentare nella costruzione di un GS tuttavia penso che ci sia qualcosa che non vada bene o sicuramente sbaglio io con il kernel… Quello scaricato dal link indicato non funziona e penso debba essere adattato alle EEPROM 27c256. Potete riposare la versione giusta oppure indicarmi come adattarlo? Grazie
La rom originale è una 23128, se si usa una nuova 27256 è 2 volte più grande, i pin sono compatibili con quella vecchia ma occorre vedere dallo schema. I l pin A14 della nuova eprom è messo a vcc sullo zoccolo del C64c. Occorre scrivere l’immagine del kernal nella parte alta oppure scriverlo due volte, uno nella parte basse e uno alta, così sarà indifferente se il pin A14 è al gnd o vcc. La rom 256 va da 0 a $7FFF quindi per usare la parte alta l’immagine originale va scritta partendo da $4000 altrimenti il computer leggerà la parte vuota. Queste sono impostazioni che si trovano sul programmatore, es il TL866 ti fa scegliere da che indirizzo partire. In alternativa puoi scaricare il programma MagicBin sul sito e impostare una memoria 27256 e caricare due volte l’immagine così da averla sia all’inizio che alla fine.
https://retrofixer.it/magicbin/
grazie per la spiegazione.
Ciao per il materiale di stampa cosa avete utilizzato il PETG, PLA, Resina? sto per comprare il vostro modello 3d e volevo un risultato di stampa PERFETTO quindi penso la resina vada bene, ma è resistente?
Grazie.
Il materiale perfetto per l’estetica è la resina, liscio e molto dettagliato. Di contro è un po’ fragile ma se non cade per terra come ha fatto il nostro, non ci sono problemi. Il PLA è facile da stampare, buono come resistenza ma non resiste bene al calore, meglio il PETG che resiste di più al calore ed è più robusto, di contro lascia la finitura più grezza con meno dettagli.