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The Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 (C64) was Commodore's third computer, released in 1982 and in production until 1994.

 

It was an 8-bit computer with 64 kilobytes of memory and groundbreaking graphics and sound for its time. Its capabilities very quickly made it a high seller for business purposes but most of all for early computer gaming.

 

It still holds the world record of most sold computer in computer history, with over 17 million sales.

Top 10 Games :

Known Amount of Games : 2022

1.

Impossible Mission

Released: 1984

Genre: Platform

Mode: Single-Player

Publisher: Epyx

2.

California Games

Released: 1987

Genre: Sports

Mode: Single/Multiplayer

Publisher: Epyx

3.

Bubble Bobble

Released: 1986

Genre: Platform

Mode: Single/Multiplayer

Publisher: Taito

4.

Maniac Mansion

Released: 1987

Genre: Graphic Adventure

Mode: Single-Player

Publisher: Lucasfilm Games

5.

The Last Ninga

Released: 1987

Genre: Action-Adventure

Mode: Single-Player

Publisher: System 3

6.

Pac-Man

Released: 1980 (original)

Genre: Maze

Mode: Single/Multiplayer

Publisher: Namco

7.

Ghost Busters

Released: 1984

Genre: Action Adventure

Mode: Single-Player

Publisher: Activision

8.

International Katate +

Released: 1987

Genre: Fighting

Mode: Single/Multiplayer

Publisher: System 3

9.

NYC

Released: 1984

Genre: Action

Mode: Single/Multiplayer

Publisher: Synapse Software

10.

Target Rennagade

Released: 1988

Genre: Beat 'em up

Mode: Single/Multiplayer

Publisher: Imagine Software

Hardware :

6510

CPU

PLA

Logic Array

ROM

Basic

VIC II

Graphics Chip

SID

Sound

ROM

Kernal

ROM

Character

RAM

8 total

VIC II

Video

SID

Sound

PLA

Logic

*  Picture by Bill Bertram

Can Be found at (as of  Aug 2020) :

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64#/media/File:C64motherboard.jpg

By this point Commododre International had aquired MOS Technologies, a microchip manufacturer, and were on their way making cutting edge hardware for the time.

The most famous pieces of hardware being the VIC II (Video Interface Chip 2) and SID (Sound Interface Device) chips. These brought revolutionary graphical and sound capabilities with a vast amount of control, including the support of MIDI devices.

These chips ran along the 6510, commodore's own varient of the popular 6502 CPU, one of the most popular and powerful CPU's at the time and main rival of the Z80.

Written By : Ryan Brown

Date 31/08/2020

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