Commodore 64 returns with modern tech in crowdfunding campaign

Retro Games is raising money to create a modern reimagining of the Commodore 64 - and there's also a handheld version

A render of what the THE 64 will look like (Retro Games)

It may have been the world's best-selling computer from the 1980s, but the bulky, tan-coloured Commodore 64 has been overshadowed of late by revivals of the Sinclair Spectrum.

But now it's hitting back with not one but two new machines, reigniting memories of the computer which earned itself a place in the Guinness World Record book with 17 million sales.

As well as a new desktop computer called THE 64, the Commodore 64's (C64) innards are being re-spun into a handheld console named THE 64SX.

Both are set to come with a range of built-in titles which the maker, Retro Games, promises will include some newly-created programs.

Gamers will also be able to play compatible games downloaded from the internet, and given the originals were fired up via slow-loading cassettes, many will see this as a bonus.

The computer will have a full keyboard, slots for a cartridge and SD card, a HDMI connector, audio jack and USB ports. The concept render shows the handheld with fire buttons to the right of the screen, a directional-pad to the left and function buttons either side.

A scale model shows the size of the THE C64 (Retro Games)

Retro Games says the internal components will feature “new core technology” which it says will be based around the C64's architecture. But they won't carry the Commodore name because neither of the machines are licensed by the current brand-owner Commodore Holdings.

Before either machine can get off the ground, the company has to raise $150,000 on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo where the computer version costs $150 and the handheld $170.

A handheld version of the legendary console is also in development (Retro Games)

Yet in the project's favour is the C64's worldwide appeal: launched in 1982, it was very popular in America as well as the UK, and was only discontinued in April 1994.

The ZX Spectrum, on the other hand, was primarily picked up in the UK and yet the keyboardless Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega raised £155,677 on Indiegogo while The Recreated Sinclair ZX Spectrum – essentially a Bluetooth keyboard version of the machine Sir Clive Sinclair launched in 1982, attracted £63,194.

Not that this is the first attempt to bring the Commodore brand back to life. Commodore USA sought to insert modern-day components including a dual-core 1.8 Ghz Atom processor into a similar case to the C64 in 2011.

And in 2004, the computer was squeezed into a joystick containing 30 built-in games which could be plugged directly in the TV. The team making the current machines were involved in bringing the C64DTV to market.