REDO FROM START and the COMMODORE 64

Our book series REDO FROM START showcases the heroes who took the C64 by storm when it was first launched on the gaming market. Their original works are representative of the enthusiasm of numerous tech pioneers in the early 1980s.

The Commodore 64 was a masterpiece of market calculation, educational offensive and chip technology. Today, it is clear that Jack Tramiel’s plan to create a computer for the masses not only paid off financially, with over 17 million units sold, but also created a mass phenomenon. However, the low-cost VIC20 update first had to face the established Atari and Sinclair market. Before its market launch, only VIC and SID engineers Robert Russell, Bob Yannes and Al Charpentier were convinced.

The developers of VIC and C64 on their mission to bring a low-cost machine to the mass market (image from Volume I).

This is where our new computer history begins, compiled by more than 64 contemporary engineers, software developers, publishers and enthusiasts in 800 pages. We give popular creators, but also unknown pioneers, a voice in two elaborately designed volumes. The result: the development of the Commodore 64 – from a cheap ‘consumer box’ to a serious home console competitor – was not a matter of course, but required enormous effort, cooperation and dedication.

Our collection of English-language interviews includes Jeff Bruette (Wizard of Wor), David Crane (Ghostbusters, Decathlon, ACTIVISION), Dane Bigham (Choplifter, Lode Runner, BRODERBUND), David S. Maynard (Worms, ELECTRONIC ARTS) and Paul Norman (Aztec Challenge, Forbidden Forest, COSMI), as well as Jim Sachs (Saucer Attack!), Ken Grant (Slapshot, Battle Through Time, ANIROG), Andrew Braybrook (Paradroid, Uridium, GRAFTGOLD), Rod Cousens (Director, QUICKSILVA) and Jon Steele (Hunchback, OCEAN).

The complete anthology is based on a 10-year research project by Italian video game researcher Andrea Pachetti. We took on the layout and production to capture another piece of digital history on paper and leave it to international libraries.

ANTHOLOGY 
REDO FROM START

VOLUME 1: USA & JAPAN
-> Available here
VOLUME 2: CANADA & EUROPE
-> Support on Kickstarter 

Today, the C64 is an integral part of our memories: not least, the hardware reissue by the newly founded company Commodore International attests to its unique cult status.