We’ve been posting news about Paul Gardner-Stephen’s project on Commodore is Awesome very often, and today we are pleased to see that his efforts weren’t in vain. Today, he presented, in partnership with the people behind the Museum of Electronic Games & Art a new 8-bit computer – the MEGA65 Retro Computer. Strongly based on the never-released Commodore 65, the new computer will run 50 times faster than the C64 while being highly compatible.
MEGA65 – Further details and hardware specifications
We’ve talked to Detlef Hastik, from M.E.G.A and he has provided us further details about the MEGA65.
First he confirmed that, even being all open source, they will make available a fully assembled version for purchase. Planned to be ready around March next year, there is no price set yet, but he says that it will be the cheapest possible, to encourage the community growth. Besides the housing we see in the pictures, there is also plans for a laptop version in the future.
As for specs, it is powered by a 48MHz single-core CPU, with 128KB RAM and 32KB Colour RAM. The VIC-IV video controller supports all VIC-II video modes and VIC-III modes. There are three graphic modes: 320×200 bi-colour, 160×200 4-colour and 1920×1200 256 colour using full-colour character mode. There are also a separate 256-colour palettes for sprites, bitplanes and character graphics.
The machine will have a Micro-SD slot and it will support .D81 image files (.D64 is promised soon) as well as real floppy unit. It has also 2 joystick ports, VGA, Ethernet port (!), mono audio (stereo in development) and USB.
"There are three kinds of suns in Missouri: Sunshines, sunflowers, and sons-of-bitches"
I know what I am taking to my next hacker capture the flag.
noiseredux wrote:If it's all open source then in theory shouldn't you be able to also just run the OS on a PC? I'm not sure I fully understand the project I guess?
Close, but no cigar. Open source just means the source code is revealed (aka open). This is using an FPGA or Field-Programmable Gate Array, just like RetroUSBs HDMI NES. Its an integrated circuit that can be programmed to do a vast array of things using Hardware Description Language (HDL).
In oversimplified terms, think of it like a System on a Chip. They are just expensive that's why they are not used everywhere.
isiolia wrote:Is there that large a market for C64 style software outside of emulation?
I guess that's sort of what I was trying to say as well, yeah. I'm not sure I understand why we'd want a new low-powered computer. Like I said, it looks really cool. But I am not really certain the benefit to getting one of these over having the ability to just run the software on a PC.
noiseredux wrote:But I am not really certain the benefit to getting one of these over having the ability to just run the software on a PC.
You can say the same thing about the Retron and whatever other clone systems.
See, again, I don't even think I understand what this is then. Is it a clone of C64? Or is a *new* low-powered system based on the never released successor to the C64?
Given their claims of attempts to preserve compatibility, it sounds like they want it to be a clone that also has expanded capabilities. They probably want to appeal first to C64 enthusiasts who already have software on disk and want to be able to run it without worrying about killing old hardware in the process. They also are probably interested in people who have a C64 retro interest but aren't collectors, and folks who continue to do C64 development.
If you already have to use an FPGA to clone the original hardware instructions, might as well add some extra capabilities and lets folks use some of the new capabilities as well as the old.
Let me ask a dumb question (my favorite kind). If one was to purchase a Mega65, could one dump images of every single C64 and Vic-20 game onto an SD card and start playing right out of the box?
