Hacker News Reader

Comment by busterarm | Hacker News Reader

As someone who owned a C64, the games list leaves a lot to be desired.

Some make sense, but the absence of Pirates!, The Bard's Tale series, AD&D Gold Box and Carmen Sandiago games is noticeable. I imagine the licensing is too hard. Then the missed gems like Cauldron I & II, Ultimate Wizard, etc.

I guess I'll stick to VICE.

View on HN

Only a couple of those games did I recognize (I think). As far as I could tell from a quick look, not a single game I did play on the C64 made the cut. I wonder if the lack of a real keyboard severely limited the games they could include?

Just checked the web page again, and it sounds like it IS a more or less fully functional C64 -- you just need to add a real USB keyboard to type on it. Wonder if it has a way to emulate a 1541 over USB?

My reading comprehension is sht, so the keys are just for show?

probably copyright issues.

I felt the same way, but then I have to keep in mind that the library of games for the C64 was pretty immense, and negotiating with that many software developers to get the rights would be a herculean task. This isn't Nintendo, where a single company is putting out their own hits. Commodore's library is (I believe) entirely 3rd party manufactured, and back in the BBS days I maintained a library of hundreds of games for trade.

Oh, I completely understand. I just hope there's some nudge-wink way of loading my own software on the thing. Often these things end up being pretty closed off.

That Ultimate Wizard game I mentioned was made by 'Progressive Peripherals and Software', who some might remember as makers of Amiga add-on cards, frame grabbers and games out of Colorado. Just two guys (worked on the game, at least). I heard some sad news back in the 90s that their office burned down and took out their remaining business with it.

They have a facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/groups/104188856284928/

IA has Wizard, but not Ultimate, so no extra level packs or construction set. https://archive.org/details/C64Videoarchive198-Wizard

There actually were a few games published by Commodore in the early days (like Radar Rat Race and Cosmic Cruncher), but they didn't really take advantage of what the machines could do. I wouldn't say they were terrible games, but the games from later years, all of which were third-party, were far better than any of the games Commodore published.

Also no "The Last Ninja", "Bruce Lee", "1942", "Raid over Moscow" or "Ghosts'n'Goblins". Boo!

You can get those on other platforms though

Well, same with the games you mentioned! None of those games are C64 exclusives; in fact, I played many on the PC.

It's a nostalgic thing anyway: to me, Bruce Lee and The Last Ninja defined the C64... and my childhood.

edit: according to Mobygames, at least Raid over Moscow was never published on the PC, and certainly not on the arcades. So there's that :P

It looks like it's made by a UK or European company, which might affect their priorities.

And how could you not include Uridium, Way of the Exploding Fist, Summer Games and Paradroid?

Uridium and Paradroid are included, at least.

The full list is at https://thec64.com/hello-world/. Summer Games II is included, but not the first. Maybe there's some sort of weird licensing issue for that, as it's owned by Epyx and all of the other "Games" series are there.

Pirates! is a game I crave to this day. The newer versions lacked some of the charm of the 64 version.

Have you tried the Amiga version? Back in the days. It had the same mechanics but it was a lot more polished with graphics and sound. Plus loading was a lot faster!

The library is so vast....

Reply on news.ycombinator.com