Commodore 64 Direct-to-TV: self-contained joystick loaded with 30 C64 games for $25!

Agent X

Agent X

Member
I found some information on the Commodore 64 Direct-to-TV joystick game on the Usenet newsgroup rec.games.video.classic. For more information, click here to see the official Web site for the product, and click here to read the Usenet posting describing some of the features.

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For those of you who had already heard about this product, the list of 30 games that was originally announced has been altered a bit. Here's the final list of games that this product is supposed to have: Championship Wrestling, Cyberdyne Warrior, Cybernoid, Cybernoid II, Eliminator, Excelon, Firelord, Gateway to Apshai, Impossible Mission, Impossible Mission II, Jumpman Jr., Paradroid, Pitstop, Pitstop II, Ranarama, Silicon Warrior, Speedball, Summer Games, Supercycle, Sword of Fargoal, Tower Toppler, Uridium, Winter Games, World Karate Championship A, World Karate Championship B, Zynaps, (games split out from others) bull-riding, flying disc, sumo-wrestling, and surfing.

Personally, I think the following two games alone would justify the purchase price of this unit (assuming they are quality reproductions of the Commodore 64 experience):

Impossible Mission

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Jumpman Jr.

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The cable TV shopping channel QVC is said to have exclusive rights to this product until the end of the year. They'll begin selling the units on November 26, and it will be a "Today's Special Value" for that day. The estimated price is $25, although QVC may set its own price.

The unit supports 256 colors (as opposed to 16 on a "real" Commodore 64), and can be hacked so that a disk drive and a PC keyboard could be connected. Click here for some cool photos.

In closing, here's a really interesting coincidence that I'd like to point out. The current address of QVC's headquarters just happens to be the same as the address of Commodore's headquarters many years ago. :)
 
Do I get to sit around and wait 15 minutes for the games to load? Because if I don't, they're cheating me (and other consumers) of the full experience!

Wait a sec, I have my C-64 right here. Never mind.
 
Pretty good selection of games, I like all the Epyx games, Pitstop II especially. But I dont think this will keep my toes warm during cold winter nights like my C64 power supply does.
 
Fusebox said:
I seem to recall my cart of Mission Impossible having better graphics???
Click to expand...
I think your memory is doing tricks for you... Thats how the first Mission Impossible looked like back in 1984. MI2 had improved graphics.
 
Memory doing tricks? I was only 10 years old dude, it doesnt need to do tricks for me to get shit wrong.

Trust me, at 10 years of age and upgrading from a VZ-200 and a VIC-20 I thought those were some pretty shit hot graphics right there, I also remember I had sold the C64 by the time IM2 was released.
 
Fucking hell.

It's Impossible Mission, not Mission Impossible.

Sorry but people have been getting this wrong for almost TWENTY FUCKING YEARS NOW.
 
Heh... Sword of Fargoal was totally addictive for a while... I had a nightmare about it once, I have no idea why.... but it is the one nightmare that I can still remember quite well.

And Pit Stop was great.

I think these "connect to TV" type games are great. I wish Nintendo would do something like it (or a half-decent compilation for their home console a la Mario All-Stars), but they're too busy milking their back catalog for $20 a pop on the GBA.
 
"Sorry but people have been getting this wrong for almost TWENTY FUCKING YEARS NOW.'"

DESTROY HIM MY ROBOTS
 
Wow, that's a pretty damn good selection of games. Some of my definite favorites there. Cybernoid and Cybernoid 2 had such an amazingly good music and cool looking graphics... Speedball and both Impossible Missions are there. Awesome. I'm so buying this, although I already have such great C64 emulator on Pocket PC. There's just something about that joystick! They should have included Creatures 1 & 2, and Mayhem in Monsterland, though. More people, especially in the US, needs to see them. It will be even better if the unit can be hacked and some of the games replaced with other games.
 
Project Midway said:
"Another visitor! Stay awhile. Stay forever!" :eek
Click to expand...

Ah, memories. Of course, there are still times when I get the little tune that you had to put together in IM2 stuck in my head. Sure, it's only about 10 seconds long, but damn, it was catchy.

I am disappointed that there's no Archon or MULE, but those games really need a second player to get the most out of them.

What's the word on these types of devices, anyway? They seem to be quite popular nowadays, but how is the quality? Do the joysticks typically feel flimsy? I noticed that there's a few of those old Olympics-based titles on this thing, and if I remember correctly, you really had to do a number on the joystick to do well. I don't want to be shaking my stick back and forth frantically only to have the damn thing snap off (if you know what I mean...).

What about the battery life? I noticed that the thing is powered by batteries, with no apparent option for an AC adapter. Is this standard for these devices? How is the battery life on other items like this?
 
Where the hell is BREAK STREET? Or Mail Order Monsters! And why the split-away "Games" games? It should have Summer 1/2, Winter, World, and California in their entirety.
 
God I loved my C64. I'd love to get a GP32 and all 60 of the games I used to own. Until then, this will have to do.
 
Wow, this sounds great. It still needs games like Zorro, Finders Keepers, Transatlantic Balloon Challenge, Hades Nebula, and Forbidden Forest though. And a whole lot more. But I don't care much, I'll stick to my GP32 anyway. :P
 
Why not get a real C64 and shitload of games with it for a few bucks? And Pitstop is surely the best racer ever, there is still no racing game available where the condition of the tyres is indicated by colors! :) The best games are not included. No Commando, no sale! No Ninja games, no sale! No Bond games, no sale! No Lucas Arts games, no sale! No homebrew sex games, no sale! Lots more games missing.

And most important, no Bazooka Bill, no fucking sale!

bazookabill.gif
 
256 colours. Lol.

I wonder if their using the core from the C65 rather then the 64 that never came out.

Not the greatest collection of games.

But it's C64.....thus......SOLD!
 
almokla said:
no Summer Games ?
Click to expand...

Summer Games is on there!

mumu said:
Why not get a real C64 and shitload of games with it for a few bucks?
Click to expand...

Good point. But this is marketed as a conveniece. It's great for young kids, as well as older gamers who don't want to be bothered with a whole C64 setup--they can just plug this into the A/V jacks on the TV and start playing. They don't need to bother with LOAD"*",8,1 and all that. :)

COCKLES said:
256 colours. Lol.

I wonder if their using the core from the C65 rather then the 64 that never came out.
Click to expand...

It's an all-new design, but based on the original Commodore 64. It's essentially a "C64-on-a-chip," kind of like how a lot of other self-contained video game units use a "NES-on-a-chip" design. When they designed this chip, they made some minor enhancements, such as bumping the palette up to 256 colors.

Jumpman Jr. said:
I'd get this for Jumpman Jr, but where's the first game, Jumpman?
Click to expand...

I don't know, but that would've made this product even sweeter.

Anyone who buys this needs to play Jumpman Jr. Even if you've never played it before, you must try it. It's an example of great game design that stands up remarkably well, even more than two decades later.
 
Project Midway said:
I think your memory is doing tricks for you... Thats how the first Mission Impossible looked like back in 1984. MI2 had improved graphics.
Click to expand...

You're nuts! Impossible Mission 2 looked like total crap. The first game, as well as being a better game, had a sort of elegant simplicity about the graphics. :) How many of you guys actually beat it? I never could as a kid (didn't know you lost 10 minutes when you died and you only had 6 hours to finish) but I was able to do it finally.

This collection needs Lazy Jones on it!
 
EA's finest moment -
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Between this and Ghostbusters!, licensed games were actually a good idea for a time. Multi-layered cyberpunk adventure -
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Not as flashy as One on One: Dr. J Vs. Bird and Jordan Vs. Bird, but some Scott Orr design magic, especially with two players -
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This is where I learned a lot of what I know about Russia -
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Helped me understand the theaters of war -
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Breakthru had vehicle physics -
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Cinemaware lived up to their name -
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There was a trick to being able to move before the match started -
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Stupid skunks -
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Driver 2 -
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Pitstop II was amazing. Two-player splitscreen, tyre wear and "realistic" pitstops with tyre change and re-fueling. It was the game that sold Commodore to me. I had Spectravideo 328 at the time but when I saw Pitstop running on my buddys commodore....wow. SYSTEM SELLER!!1

anyone remember Thrust:
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how about one of the worst cover arts ever:
pyjamarama.jpg


But Pyjamarama was addictive game... when I finally got all the parts for the rocket and got to moon.... most rewarding feeling ever. =)
 
I never liked that joystick, I always settled for this one:
arcade.jpg


man, thinking of the 1500 meters race on Decathlon makes my muscles hurt again :)
 
Lazy8s said:
Ghostbusters.ss1.gif

Just be ready to plant the bait.
Click to expand...

Ahhhhh!! Anguished memories returning!

I remember hovering over the bait key for the entire second half of games of that, only to blink at the wrong time, drop the bait late, and be forced to watch that fucking Stay-Puft crush yet another one of the buildings...

Johnny Konami said:
You're nuts! Impossible Mission 2 looked like total crap. The first game, as well as being a better game, had a sort of elegant simplicity about the graphics. How many of you guys actually beat it? I never could as a kid (didn't know you lost 10 minutes when you died and you only had 6 hours to finish) but I was able to do it finally.
Click to expand...

I was too young when these came out, but I remember my dad playing both IM games for hours on end, and I definitely remember the endings to both of them. I wasn't good enough at games back then to even come close to beating it. I spent most of my time in those games entering a room, noticing that there were way more robots and stuff than I could handle, then quickly retreat to the comfort of the elevator.

They really gotta make one of these that somehow implements multiple joysticks for the great multiplayer games, like Racing Destruction Set, MULE, Archon, Beach Head, etc...

Speaking of Beach Head, I still remember cackling like a madman when the little guys got shot and cried "Medic!", or if you shot your own guys, the good old "Hey, don't shoot me!"
 
Vlad said:
They really gotta make one of these that somehow implements multiple joysticks for the great multiplayer games, like Racing Destruction Set, MULE, Archon, Beach Head, etc...
Click to expand...


As far as MULE & Archon are concerned all I can say is Dreamcast emulation *nudge* or XBox, whatever. I mean, even buying one of these new 64DTC chumpies isn't going to bring money anywhere *near* the developers' pockets (if they're still alive, which isn't the case for Dani Bunten) so I don't feel so bad as far as the emu thang goes.

What *i* would really like to see is an Adventure Construction Set remake.
 
Trakball said:
As far as MULE & Archon are concerned all I can say is Dreamcast emulation *nudge* or XBox, whatever. I mean, even buying one of these new 64DTC chumpies isn't going to bring money anywhere *near* the developers' pockets (if they're still alive, which isn't the case for Dani Bunten) so I don't feel so bad as far as the emu thang goes.

What *i* would really like to see is an Adventure Construction Set remake.
Click to expand...

I don't own a Dreamcast or an Xbox, nor would be willing to mod my investment if I did ever pick one up.

I didn't know either one could run a C64 emu, though... every time I ever read about that sort of thing, it was always stuff like NES emulation.

Oh, and speaking of Archon, one of my finest video-game achievments was knocking out a Dragon (strongest piece on the black side, if I remember correctly) with a Knight (the pawn equivalent), while ON a black square.

Let me tell you, the person I was playing against did quite a bit of cursing...
 
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