8 Bit Commodore 64 FPGA Hardware Retro Gaming

Commodore Brand Officially Revived, a Joint Effort of the Retro Computer Game Community

ByRGN Admin

Aug 5, 2025 #Commodore 64, #FPGA, #FPGA Commodore 64, #FPGA Retro Gaming, #Retro Gaming, #Revival of Commodore, #Ultimate Commodore 64

There’s some wonderful things happening in the retro gaming community these days. Well here is another one to add to the list, the Commodore brand has been purchased and all it’s 47 trademarks dating back to 1983. The main source of funding for the deal comes from Christian Simpson and the rest was contributed by a group of like-minded fans. A press-release came out five days ago, at the end of July officially stating that the Commodore brand and it’s trademarks have been purchased. Christian Simpson is the owner and creator of YouTube channel Retro Recipes as well as the new CEO of Commodore B.V. The acquisition of the company reportedly had taken place for no less then a seven-figure sum. Some of the team which has been assembled by Simpson were employed at Commodore initially and include Bill Herd (Commodore Lead Engineer 1982-1986), Albert Charpentier (Commodore VP of Technology 1979-1984), Michael Tomczyh (Assistant to Commodore President Jack Tramiel, 1980-1984), James Harrison (Commodore Support Hotline Agent, 1990-1994) and David Pleasance (Commodore UK VP & Joint Managing Director, 1983-1994).

The newly acquired Commodore company is just about ready to release a new machine. Specifically the Commodore 64 re-released for the modern era. It is called the Commodore 64 Ultimate and it is significantly upgraded over the original having extra RAM and a 48 MHz turbo mode. The motherboard is reproduced by FPGA hardware and while original disks are supported they are not needed as USB can be used to store and load games from. You can now also enjoy HDMI clarity (no more RF in this day and age, thank God!). It is claimed to have 99% compatibility with all original Commodore 64 hardware and software. The price to pre-order the Ultimate Commodore 64 is currently at $461.98 AUD (for the BASIC Beige model) and is expected to start shipping out October – November 2025. There are more flashy and expensive models but the differences are just for aesthetics not functionality. This is apparently just a stop-gap product solution as Commodore promises it’s working on something using cutting edge PC technology and is partnering with an industry leader to help them with their project.

This is a short selection of my personal favorite Commodore 64 games:

Street Rod
Maniac Mansion
Space Shuttle
Barbarian
Trap Door

Video Game Spotlight: BS Treasure Conflix (Satellaview)

This game is an interesting hybrid that is part adventure/RPG and part mode 7 airship-dogfighting simulation. It was available in Japan only through the Satellaview satellite streaming service in 1996. The game was developed by legendary RPG developer SquareSoft. The game follows airship pilot and treasure hunter Voice as he is hired to find a mythical treasure by a mysterious client Gilmore on the planet Walden. The game is split into several main sections: the town mode where the main character can interact with NPC's at the various bases located throughout the land for clues to the whereabouts of hidden treasure. The mode 7 overworld in which you have control over the airship and can use a scanner to search for hidden treasures after the revealing of intel from NPC's at the various bases. The other section is the airship-dogfighting battles which occur during various stages throughout the game.

In addition to the aforementioned game sections there are a couple more elements that are core to how the game works. After finding the treasures after obtaining clues to their whereabouts as intel from the hunter's office. Intel must first be purchased or obtained by talking to NPC's before it can be detected and found on the overworld map screen. When the location of a treasure is found an artifact is obtained which can then be sold at the hunter's office, to specific NPC's or to collector's at an auction. With money obtained from finding artifacts various upgrades can be made to the player's airship such as armor, engine, rudder and weapons. The more the airship is upgraded the easier future battles become, allowing you to progress through the game's story. It may sound very basic however it's executed brilliantly and the result is an excellent game as you would expect from SquareSoft during the mid 1990's.

As the game was released for the Satellaview Super Nintendo broadcast service in Japan, the game is only available in Japanese, but thanks to the efforts of fans there is an English patch available which can be applied to the ROM file. The whole game is fairly short as it was designed as a short downloadable game that was probably only meant to keep gamers busy for a week or so after which they would have finished it and moved other games that were newly available the following week. The entire game can be finished in about 4-6 hours but it's a very entertaining few hours. It would have been great if SquareSoft had developed this into a full-length game as the whole experience is over far too quickly. We highly recommend this game for fans of Super Nintendo RPGs and SquareSoft games.
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BS Treasure Conflix LongPlay Video - Retro Game News YouTube Channel

Hardware Spotlight: Hori SGB Commander

I had no idea that this controller even existed until I came across it on eBay a couple months ago. It's a controller designed specifically for the Super Game Boy. It has buttons that are specific to the Super Game Boy functions and will do nothing when playing Super Nintendo games unless it is changed to "SFC" mode using the little switch in the middle of the controller which will restore the L, R, Y and X buttons. When playing Game Boy games through the Super Game Boy you only need the B, A, Start and Select buttons which means that these buttons can be changed to specific SGB functions. The different buttons are mute, speed, color and window which are mostly all self explanatory. The window button changes the border surrounding the game screen and the color button switches between the available color palettes.

The controller is very attractive and is very reminiscent of the Game Boy and Super Game Boy aesthetic. The buttons are colored just like the original DMG Game Boy with maroon A and B buttons, while the function buttons are whitish-grey, the body color of the DMG. The d-pad is black and the start and select buttons are a dark grey. The entire controller is whitish-grey like the function buttons and all the buttons are labelled in a striking dark blue. The same color is used for the words "Super GAME BOY" which are printed right at the top and in the middle of the controller. It even has a fake grate mimicking the DMG's speaker holes in the bottom right corner. This controller is extremely attractive, robust, well made an absolute delight to use. However they are rare and command prices on eBay of around $100 (AU) or more.

Commodore Brand Officially Revived, a Joint Effort of the Retro Computer Game Community

ByRGN Admin

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