The Commodore brand may be coming back!

[Sardine]

Ok confused here

I thought the a600gs and a1200ng are arm cortex mali stuff just off the shelf android cpu stuff not a fpga or 68k insite more in common with the a500mini or an orange pi

 

[YouKnowWho]

Ok confused here

I thought the a600gs and a1200ng are arm cortex mali stuff just off the shelf android cpu stuff not a fpga or 68k insite more in common with the a500mini or an orange pi

My understanding is also as you note, that they are not cycle accurate FPGA cores, but some sort of software emulation running on ARM Cortex Quad Core H618. Amiberry?

 

[tbtorro]

I guess he will have these guys to deal with too unless they've already paid up their license fees:

https://commodore.inc

Been there, done that. Introducing the Yranus Phat 16:

 

[YouKnowWho]

Been there, done that. Introducing the Yranus Phat 16:

Just 16 kilo? That bites!

Where is my Amiga laptop?

 

[Amiga Forever]

 

[comraider]

I'm in the camp of original hardware being the best, because that's the actual machine we love and where the nostalgia is for the experience. If you want to recreate that feeling and don't have access to original hardware or the space for it, then FPGA is a great solution (whether in an original looking case or not). Emulation can also be fun for what it is, but that's a different experience altogether.

 

[YouKnowWho]

I'm in the camp of original hardware being the best, because that's the actual machine we love and where the nostalgia is for the experience. If you want to recreate that feeling and don't have access to original hardware or the space for it, then FPGA is a great solution (whether in an original looking case or not). Emulation can also be fun for what it is, but that's a different experience altogether.

Yup. I'd also put that as the hierarchy or retro @comraider

All this new C= will do is repackage FPGA, and so far, in my opinion not nearly the best FPGA solution out there.

We're dreamers. We don't want 1994 to be the end. In a way, it isn't because we still have the machines and they still work and can be enjoyed.

But as far as roadmap for C= products...if there was something, it would have happened. Think of all the attempts in the past 31 years.

One thing is certain, anyone selling anything with a Commodore logo on eBay will have to pay a license fee going forward.

 

[comraider]

One thing is certain, anyone selling anything with a Commodore logo on eBay will have to pay a license fee going forward.

Among other "fees" that will likely be involved in the transaction these days, lol..

 

[Amiga Forever]

I wonder what 47 Commodore Trademark mean? does it mean like C(Commodore) Pet, C VIC 20, C64, C128, Amiga 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 and so on.

 

[Boing-ball]

View attachment 2542431

Video short on youtube

 

[Merlin]

Let's see if Jens Schoenfeld gets involved. That guy has history.

 

[davideo]

View attachment 2542431

I know we all need to make a living and I admire all of the above guys for what they've done - well except for one money grabbing sod that's only interested in what he can squeeze out of us.

 

[YouKnowWho]

Let's see if Jens Schoenfeld gets involved. That guy has history.

I don't know. I don't know Jens. I don't know the history. I don't know icomp plans. However, every time I place an order, (as I'm a big fan of the Indivisions, those lovely reasonable 1221lc and keyboard adapters like Lyra for a few of my builds) based on what he often notes - that this is a hobby for him - we're probably not going to see some of the exciting things I was personally hoping for.

ReLoaded 1200 is probably not happening as ReAmiga 1200 has happened by the community and is here in addition to the many 1200 motherboards. I certainly doubt that it will happen and I certainly don't think it will happen at 350 Euro mark, although that would be impressive. And MISTer has been here for over 5 years and so I doubt the Clone-A FPGA Amiga will ever see the light of day that he was reportedly planning. Add to this the 8bits4ever MISTress boards that let a MISTer live in a 500/600/1200 and that need has been addressed for us by another hobbyist. https://www.8bits4ever.net/mister

Jens has a very high quality vision and product design skill. As I said, I'm a fan of his creations. But more than that he has business acumen and market data from his effort. He knows what things cost to make, and what their sales potential and thus revenue potential is, and I wonder if his efforts break even. Also, how many more accelerators can we all buy? Especially after excellent TF options flooded the market last few years and easily tempted us away from anything else.

I ask, what gaps exist curently in the retro market, which need to be filled?

We'll see what happens with this new Commodore, but I expect no miracles. I just don't see the product road map here and based on what has been shown I'm thinking AMD FPGA based solutions will be their main play, which aren't as well established as MISTer DE-10 Nano FPGA. But the AMD FPGA chip can be more capabilty restriced, which I imagine is desirable from their point of view. Plus brand licensing fees or merch. All of this also has bariers, because of ever growing shipping costs, VAT, duties fees, tariffs all add up and have made me reconsider purchases. Honeymoon ends soon, then we all need to ask ourselves if we need another FPGA C64. Survival of new Commodore depends on it!

 

[YouKnowWho]

I know we all need to make a living and I admire all of the above guys for what they've done - well except for one money grabbing sod that's only interested in what he can squeeze out of us.

Which one is it in that photo? Let me make sure I give him none of my ducats. Hint us at least.

What if the new Commodore turns into some non-profit retro charity? Then everyone on the board can donate their expert time at a 300K salary, for which they get a lovely tax deduction. There is always more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[Boing-ball]

Which one is it in that photo? Let me make sure I give him none of my ducats. Hint us at least.

What if the new Commodore turns into some non-profit retro charity? Then everyone on the board can donate their expert time at a 300K salary, for which they get a lovely tax deduction. There is always more than one way to skin a cat.

Now my curiosity has peaked! Don’t see a certain Steve Clifford in there

 

[davideo]

Nor a Matthew as far as I know

 

[miggymad]

@Boing-ball

Let's hope both Matthew and Steve don't get a look-in ...

However, should they do then hopefully they don't get put in charge of order fulfillment and/or customer service

 

[YouKnowWho]

@Boing-ball

Let's hope both Matthew and Steve don't get a look-in ...

However, should they do then hopefully they don't get put in charge of order fulfillment and/or customer service

I was going to reply to above, but then...distracted by @miggymad signature - you have 32 of the 32-bit Amiga 1200s? That's mad!

OK, forget I mentioned that. Back on track. New Commodore Team and FPGA boards and will they avoid brankruptcy this time around?

 

[miggymad]

And on a side note:

It seems Retro Games are still pushing ahead with their release schedule for 2025 and beyond.

First up is THEC64 Mini - Black Edition which is scheduled for retail release October 24th 2025.



According to the following video from Retro Games, their A1200 is still on course for 2026.



How does this all sit with the new C= crew? They might have already discussed it at length with them and are fully on-board.

Fingers crossed!

 

[YouKnowWho]

@miggymad - for some reason I have an urge to watch SNEAKERS after watching that video.

Obviously, the new Commodore owns trademarks. However, design cannot be protected as far as I know. It is perfectly legal to make a copy of a Rolex watch design for example. Branding it as a Rolex is where things get spicy. I'm certain there are additional factors that may play a role in different geographies. However, I'm not sure they would be grandfathered to old hardware. The C64 and The A1200 are sufficiently generic that new Commodore can't stop it. It maybe very possible that Retro Games got their own trademarks on "The C64" and "The A1200". I'm thinking that they will stick to things like previous versions - ARM CPUs with software emulators. Is that what we want? As for "The A1200" I can see us buying those just for the parts potentially. How long before actual Amiga motherboards get put inside them? I guess we'll see what is possible soon enough.

Is 32 of the 32-bit 1200s a hard limit you've set for yourself or is there room for this thing? Also...how amazing would it be if you had all 32 on some sort of shared network?