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About ready to have some fun!

D

DoctorPepper

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I had read about the C64 DTV, a "Commodore 64", built into a joystick, with 30 old favorite games, a while ago. I did some reading on it and decided for the price, I had to have one. It came in today, and I will try to hook it up to the TV and check it out later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C64_Direct-to-TV

The cool thing is it is really modifiable. You can add all kinds of goodies to it, but the best part is there's an "Easter Egg" that will allow you to halt the boot process at the original C-64 "Ready" prompt, and mess around from there.

http://www.answers.com/topic/c64-direct-to-tv

BTW, this was designed by Jeri Ellsworth:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeri_Ellsworth
 
I did a review of it not too long after it first came out: http://armchairarcade.com/neo/node/573 . Since then I also picked up a second one to hack, even though I own multiples of every Commodore computer type. I haven't gotten around to do anything with it, but it's neat to be able to hack that and the Atari Flashback 2.0 (not the 1.0 covered in that same review) into near-original style systems.
 
I remember reading an interview of the C64 joystick's developer in CPU magazine a while back...

By the way, If I remember correctly, the Atari FlashBack 1.0 uses an NOAC (NES-On-A-Chip), so, it can be hacked to play NES games...
 
atari2600a said:
By the way, If I remember correctly, the Atari FlashBack 1.0 uses an NOAC (NES-On-A-Chip), so, it can be hacked to play NES games...
Click to expand...

While it does indeed use a NOAC chip, I don't think it's possible to hack the 1.0 in any case. However, the NOAC is used in all those marginally compatible NES/Famicom knock-offs. I have one of the knock-offs that just does NES games and its compatibility is weak. That's also why high profile clones like the NEX Messiah have gotten such poor reviews.

It's funny that the NOAC is actually such a poor design that not only can't it properly simulate an Atari 2600, it can't even properly simulate the NES/Famicom it was originally designed to do. It gets used in a lot of TV games though, mostly because it's cheap. I wrote a related blog entry on a recent NOAC usage here: http://armchairarcade.com/neo/node/818
 
Hm, over on the Benheck forums, I got into an argument on whether the Famicom Disc System would work on a Famiclone NOAC.

(Some idiots tried to be smart saying that the FDS hooks up to an [non-existant] expansion port on the Famicom! :p)

The end result of the debate (IIRC) was that certain NOAC's emulate better than others, & that due to poor manufacturing enviorments, they're commonly flawed.
 
Well, I know for instance that the Generation NEX clone machine is constantly being updated for improved compatibility, so no doubt the NOAC's can be thought of as a work in progress and variable.

It's not as easy to find the Famiclones with expansion ports. I'm not sure if they're truly compatible with the expansion port on the original Famicom or not, but I suppose in theory there's no reason why it wouldn't be.
 
No, there ISN'T an expansion port on the Famicom; just the cart port & a controller port, used for paddles & light-guns & whatnot. Also, I don't see the point of putting the expansion port on a Famiclone, as it was never used. (On a newer NES cart, you'll see that the 10 pins in the middle that where used for the expansion port where removed from the PCB design)

EDIT: Oh, wait, I see what you mean! :p The Controller port!
 
Of course there's an expansion port on the original Famicom and yes it was used. The original Famicom controllers were hard-wired and the system was RF output only. That port was actually used for lots of things due to that issue.
 
Yeah, as I corrected myself in the EDIT in my above post. Sorry, I'm in school right now, it gets a little confusing... (Talking to a friend on how much better the Japanese version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! cartoon was than the English "4kids entertainment" version, working on a video assignment, talking on this forum, etc...)
 
Hi,
I was a Commodore fanatic years ago. Starting with a C64 and 1541 drive. Hooked it up to a TV and I was playing Monoply on the TV. It was a memorable time. From there I added software and a 1701 monitor. I was in heaven. Over the years collecting programs was a lot of fun. I had then upgraded to the C128. That had a cool version of BASIC that made it quite simple to program graphics. Remember all those pokes and peeks? AARGH... I really miss working in a non MS DOS/Windows environment. And best of all no viruses. The Commodore 64 was so popular at the time some friends and I decided to start a club. We started a successful (FUN) Bulletin Board System. We had five SFD1001 drives running. A total of 5 Megs. At the time that was plenty of DOS. Hackers, even back then would try to crash the system. We only had about 175 active users but it was fun. Mostly posting messages in what we called "The War Room" and "Sexplicit". They were the most popular message rooms. At some point I gave the system/hardware/software to a friend when I was moving. And now over some time it is now long gone.
Can you offer some advice as to purchasing a C64C system (1541 drive, 1802 monitor, power pack, cords software etc...)?
 
For those who missed the announcement, the three designers of the C64 DTV will be at the ECCC Commodore Expo in Chicago September 30th. I will be there selling and signing books as well, but you can bet I will be getting my DTV signed by all three of the designers, including Jeri!
 
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