When I was 11 my Dad convinced me that if I wanted a computer I had to first take a computer course on TV. I agreed and learned about the ins and outs of bits, bytes, ROM, and RAM. So that Christmas I got my first computer: a shiny new Commodore 64 with a 1541 drive and 1702 model color video display. One of my favorite things to do was challenge myself to draw pixel-by-pixel with the cursor keys and create my latest digital masterpiece. One I fondly remember is the Amsel Raiders poster that I copied to the best of my 11-year-old artistic talents. I also enjoyed designing my own games with Garry Kitchen’s Game Maker from Activision when I wasn’t playing Zork or Bard’s Tale.
Little did anyone know how popular this computer would become. Due to its spectacular graphics and sound, in-house production and the creation of the 10,000 games and other programs written for the C64, it flourished. It is now listed in the Guinness Book of World Records in the highest-selling single computer model of all time category. It outsold Apple, Atari, IBM PCs for years. According to Wikipedia: “It has been compared to the Ford Model T automobile for its role in bringing a new technology to middle-class households via creative mass-production.”
There is a great online repository for nearly every program ever written for the Commodore 64, including all of the classic games we remember. The site is arnold.c64.org.
Visit Arnold.
For Commodore 64 emulation visit Power64. I keep Snow Leopard around just so I can run this one.
