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| Also known as | C64GS |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Commodore International |
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Third generation (8-Bit era) |
| Release date | December 1990[1] |
| Units sold | ≈2000 |
| Units shipped | ≈20000 |
| Media | Cartridge |
| Predecessor | MAX Machine |
| Successor | Commodore CDTV |
The Commodore 64 Games System (often abbreviated C64GS) is the cartridge-based home video game console version of the popular Commodore 64 home computer. It was released in December 1990 by Commodore into a booming console market dominated by Nintendo and Sega. It was only released in Europe and was a considerable commercial failure. The C64GS came bundled with a cartridge containing four games: Fiendish Freddy's Big Top O'Fun, International Soccer, Flimbo's Quest, and Klax.
The C64GS was not Commodore's first gaming system based on the Commodore 64 hardware. However, unlike the 1982 MAX Machine (a game-oriented computer based on a very cut-down version of the same hardware family), the C64GS is internally very similar to the complete Commodore 64, with which it is compatible. Out of the approximately 20,000 consoles produced,[2] only 2000 consoles were sold.[3]
The initiative to release a console based on the Commodore 64 was claimed by Commodore UK and, in particular, Steve Franklin, reportedly requesting the development of a games machine to be sold more cheaply than the Commodore 64. Such a machine was to be launched at a £99 price point, at a time when the Commodore 64 itself sold for £159. It was envisaged that children wanting only to play games on a Commodore 64 would accept a console version of the computer with more limited application at a lower price. Reminiscent of Commodore's strategy several years earlier, it was also envisaged that a low-cost console would "fracture the console sector" and "put a block on Sega and Nintendo's aspirations".[4]
- ^ "Retro Treasures: Commodore 64 GS". retro-treasures.blogspot.se. 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
- ^ "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". www.old-computers.com. Retrieved 2022-05-24.
- ^ "Commodore 64 Games System". Retrieved 2022-05-24.
- ^ Campbell, Colin (17 November 1990). "'I put Commodore back on the map'". New Computer Express. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 1 May 2024.