In February we witnessed the sale of a Commodore 65 computer for the impressive sum of 20,000 euros. Its rarity and specifications create a double appeal for collectors, but if we set aside the economic details, nothing prevents the development of a modern variant. This is how the MEGA65 project was born, aiming to place both the software and the complete hardware design under the open source umbrella.
Why build a hardware replica?
Emulating a Commodore 64 these days is as simple as downloading a copy of CCS64 and double-clicking its executable. No special configuration is needed, and games are easy to find, despite any copyright concerns that may arise. So why try to reproduce the hardware when emulation works so well? The answer to that question was, is, and will be because we can. Think for a moment about all those users who as children never knew what it was like to own an Atari 2600 or a ColecoVision because their parents couldn't afford them. There was a time when video games were luxury items. Today we are adults, bitter, in debt, sleep-deprived, and with a hairline that recedes day by day, but we also want our revenge, and if those classic systems were devoured by time, something inside us cries out for a replica.
Introducing MEGA65
This is how we come across the MEGA65 project. Its leader, a certain Paul Gardner-Stephen, aims to create a reproduction of the mysterious Commodore 65, cancelled by the company shortly before its launch. All software components and hardware design will be available under the LGPL license, so anyone interested can build and modify it freely. Some of its parameters obey the original Commodore 65 specifications, such as the 128 KB of RAM, but the optimized CPU, its frequency (48 MHz), and reading data from SD cards multiply performance almost 50 times compared to a real C65.
Specifications and future plans
Ethernet port, audio output (mono for now), VGA output, two joystick ports and native resolution of 1,920 by 1,200 pixels form the basic specifications of the MEGA65. Future plans include stereo sound, an HDMI port, microphone, RCA video output, and floppy support of 3.5 inches to load old programs. The cost to develop the MEGA65 will be enormous, so a donation system has already been activated. It is likely that MEGA65 will generate more interest if it appeals to crowdsourcing, but there are no updates on that. We will be watching.
