Commodore Retro Heaven

Welcome to Commodore Retro Heaven!

If you are remotely interested in computers and have passed your 30th birthday you have most probably heard about Commodore. Maybe you had one, or you had many arguments with your friends since your father brought home an Amstrad or a ZX Spectrum while all the other kids in the street had a C64. Basically, its the most sold microcomputer ever, with over 30 million C64s sold in its lifetime. But there is more than the C64 - many of you upgraded to an Amiga when that became available. If you were in it from the start you have also experienced the good old PET and the VIC20. If you were a true computer hobbyist back in the 70s you might also have tinkered with the KIM-1. For many, its still a surprise that Commodore also made a lot of other computers like the C16, Plus 4, even a C64GS Game Console. Many of these never really had any success, and some were never released like the elusive C65 that promised to be the real C64 successor, now a cherished collectors item.

My story starts when my father suddenly came home from work with a Commodore 64 under his arms. We were at awe at all the things you could do with it. The first thing I did was to use the RVS ON and colors to draw a Norwegian flag on the screen. Half of my family taught themselves Basic and made all kinds of fun applications. Naturally being in my teens I was very interested in games, so eventually that became the main use, and I recall many hours after school with friends playing everything from Blue Max to International Karate. As time went, and working part time in a computer shop, I was one day introduced to the Amiga 1000. I fell in love immediately at the beautiful graphics and sound it could reproduce, and I recall playing Defender of the Crown and Faery Tale Adventure on it. As soon as the Amiga 500 was introduced I bought one with my savings. The Amiga 500 got an extra floppy drive and I even formed a group with a buddy at school - even learned myself to code 68000 assembly. Time went again and the first VGA and Soundblaster cards were coming out for the PC, which made the Amiga look a bit dated in many ways. As many others, the PC took over my desk - eventually resulting in the fall of Commodore, although I had friends who followed it all the way to the Amiga 4000.

Time went, the dust settled, I never looked back. But one day I came across a brilliant book, "On The Edge - The Rise and Fall of Commodore" by Brian Bagnall (a revised version has now been published). Through this book the old computers got a whole new meaning, and I thought to myself; These computers formed my life in such a way that its something that should be preserved. In the years that followed I took an active role in preserving old original Commodore 64 tapes and learning to develop in 6502 assembly (again) - even to the point of developing the game Rocket Smash which can be bought on tape, disk as well as cartridge.

On these pages I will present a number of Commodores creations, as I collect various pieces. I have no intention of making it a complete collection as that is quite impossible with limited funds. But rather a managable sample of what Commodore created in their existance, from Calculators, LED watches, Computers and Accessories. Naturally I will also collect some games, especially the classics. Although as time has passed, the games collection has grown into a subtantial one. I hope you enjoy my pages and email me if you have any questions.

Best regards, John Christian Lønningdal