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Ready: A Commodore 64 Retrospective
How did the Commodore 64 conquer the hearts of millions and become a platform people still actively develop for even today? What made it so special?
This book will appeal to both those who like tinkering with old technology as a hobby and nostalgic readers who simply want to enjoy a trip down memory lane. It discusses in a concise but rigorous format the different areas of home gaming and personal computing where the C64 managed to innovate and push forward existing boundaries.
Starting from Jack Tramiel's vision of designing computers "for the masses, not the classes," the book introduces the 6510, VIC-II and SID chips that made the C64 unique. It briefly discusses its BASIC programming language and then proceeds to illustrate not only many of the games that are still so fondly remembered but also the first generation of game engines that made game development more approachable -− among other topics that are often neglected but are necessary to provide a comprehensive overview of how far reaching the C64 influence was.
Written in a straightforward and accessible style, readers will relive the dawn of modern technology and gain a better understanding of the legacy that was built, bit by bit, in those pioneering days by computers that had only a tiny fraction of the power modern machines have and, yet, were used to create the technological world we are now living in.
With a foreword by Michael Tomczyk.
This book will appeal to both those who like tinkering with old technology as a hobby and nostalgic readers who simply want to enjoy a trip down memory lane. It discusses in a concise but rigorous format the different areas of home gaming and personal computing where the C64 managed to innovate and push forward existing boundaries.
Starting from Jack Tramiel's vision of designing computers "for the masses, not the classes," the book introduces the 6510, VIC-II and SID chips that made the C64 unique. It briefly discusses its BASIC programming language and then proceeds to illustrate not only many of the games that are still so fondly remembered but also the first generation of game engines that made game development more approachable -− among other topics that are often neglected but are necessary to provide a comprehensive overview of how far reaching the C64 influence was.
Written in a straightforward and accessible style, readers will relive the dawn of modern technology and gain a better understanding of the legacy that was built, bit by bit, in those pioneering days by computers that had only a tiny fraction of the power modern machines have and, yet, were used to create the technological world we are now living in.
With a foreword by Michael Tomczyk.
157 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2015
About the author
Roberto Dillon
13 booksRoberto Dillon was born in Genoa, Italy and holds a Master and a Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Genoa.
Over the years he worked in prestigious academic institutions across Europe and Asia, including KTH in Stockholm, NTU and the DigiPen Institute of Technology in Singapore.
While at DigiPen, he served as an Assistant Professor and Game Design Department Chair, teaching a variety of subjects like Game Mechanics and Game History, with his students gaining top honours at competitions like the IGF both in San Francisco and Shanghai.
He is now an Associate Professor at the Singapore campus of James Cook University where he teaches game design and project management subjects to both undergraduate and graduate students.
Since 2005 Roberto has led high profile research projects on innovative game mechanics and has designed games showcased by the international press and at events like Sense of Wonder Night in Tokyo, FILE Games in Rio de Janeiro and the Indie Prize Showcase at Casual Connect Asia.
In 2011 he founded Adsumsoft, an indie studio developing original games while also offering game design consultancy services.
Besides development and academic activities, Roberto also wrote different books for AKPeters, CRCPress and Springer: "On the Way to Fun" (where he introduced the '6-11 Framework', an analysis methodology now being taught at different universities around the world and used by game designers in studios like Ubisoft, EA, Gameloft etc.), "HTML5 Game Development from the Ground Up with Construct 2", to introduce aspiring developers to the world of game making, "The Golden Age of Video Games" and "Ready. A Commodore 64 Retrospective" about the history of computer games and their industry.
He is also a regular speaker at gaming conferences worldwide, including Game Connection, Casual Connect, Develop, Korea Games Conference, Game Convention Asia, Serious Games Summit, Game Education Summit etc
Over the years he worked in prestigious academic institutions across Europe and Asia, including KTH in Stockholm, NTU and the DigiPen Institute of Technology in Singapore.
While at DigiPen, he served as an Assistant Professor and Game Design Department Chair, teaching a variety of subjects like Game Mechanics and Game History, with his students gaining top honours at competitions like the IGF both in San Francisco and Shanghai.
He is now an Associate Professor at the Singapore campus of James Cook University where he teaches game design and project management subjects to both undergraduate and graduate students.
Since 2005 Roberto has led high profile research projects on innovative game mechanics and has designed games showcased by the international press and at events like Sense of Wonder Night in Tokyo, FILE Games in Rio de Janeiro and the Indie Prize Showcase at Casual Connect Asia.
In 2011 he founded Adsumsoft, an indie studio developing original games while also offering game design consultancy services.
Besides development and academic activities, Roberto also wrote different books for AKPeters, CRCPress and Springer: "On the Way to Fun" (where he introduced the '6-11 Framework', an analysis methodology now being taught at different universities around the world and used by game designers in studios like Ubisoft, EA, Gameloft etc.), "HTML5 Game Development from the Ground Up with Construct 2", to introduce aspiring developers to the world of game making, "The Golden Age of Video Games" and "Ready. A Commodore 64 Retrospective" about the history of computer games and their industry.
He is also a regular speaker at gaming conferences worldwide, including Game Connection, Casual Connect, Develop, Korea Games Conference, Game Convention Asia, Serious Games Summit, Game Education Summit etc
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 29, 2015
This short treatise gives a brief overview of the history of the company that would become the makers of the best-selling home computer of all time and then describes how the Commodore VIC20 and Commodore 64 worked, with a few chapters that even provide some examples of the version of BASIC that C64s used. Then the author looks at 100 of the top C64 games (very briefly in each case), some of the magazines that grew up around the C64, and some of the utility programs that made C64s so popular with amateur programmers.
As someone who had a C64 back in the day, I was delighted by this book and read it in more or less one sitting. The author is a native of Italy and while the English is generally clear, one area he is unable to adequately discuss is the downfall of the C64: the rampant software piracy that destroyed the market for C64 ports of new games and programs and hobbled the company's efforts to keep in the PC market with the C128 and Amiga.
There are plenty of illustrations, including ads and screen shots, but unfortunately they are all in black and white. The programming chapters brought back a flood of long-lost memories about FOR...NEXT commands, POKEs and PEEKs, and drawing SPRITES in graph paper and then converting the image to binary and a series of numbers in DATA lines. I never really mastered anything complicated in C64 so quite a bit of those chapters went over my head, but this book really is an amazing piece of nostalgia fuel. I'm to find a C64 emulator to download!
As someone who had a C64 back in the day, I was delighted by this book and read it in more or less one sitting. The author is a native of Italy and while the English is generally clear, one area he is unable to adequately discuss is the downfall of the C64: the rampant software piracy that destroyed the market for C64 ports of new games and programs and hobbled the company's efforts to keep in the PC market with the C128 and Amiga.
There are plenty of illustrations, including ads and screen shots, but unfortunately they are all in black and white. The programming chapters brought back a flood of long-lost memories about FOR...NEXT commands, POKEs and PEEKs, and drawing SPRITES in graph paper and then converting the image to binary and a series of numbers in DATA lines. I never really mastered anything complicated in C64 so quite a bit of those chapters went over my head, but this book really is an amazing piece of nostalgia fuel. I'm to find a C64 emulator to download!
February 5, 2015
Fantastic book. I can't believe how much information is squeezed in only 170 pages! From programming to making a game in SEUCK, from history to collecting there's so much to remember, discover and enjoy.
Highly recommended to anyone who had a C64 back in the day or who is curious about this old myth.
On the bad side, there are some weird typos here and there and the price is really outrageous. Springer, please, rethink your pricing policy!!!
Highly recommended to anyone who had a C64 back in the day or who is curious about this old myth.
On the bad side, there are some weird typos here and there and the price is really outrageous. Springer, please, rethink your pricing policy!!!
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January 25, 2016Five stars for fans of the Commodore and 80s computer games. It's not as comprehensive as I personally would like as far as covering the games go, but I still gave the book five stars because I recognize that my definition of "comprehensive" in this matter is almost certainly impossible by any reasonable measure. :)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews