The MEGA65 8Bit Computer
Author: -fab- <fab@redterminal.org>
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Published on: Thu, 16 Sep 2021 04:26:48 +0200
Last updated: Thu, 16 Sep 2021 04:26:48 +0200
The MEGA65 8Bit Computer is an Open Source remake of the lesser known Official Commodore C=65 (1991) which was never released. It has full compatibility to the C=64 and a lot of modern extra features. It's developed by the MEGA e.V. and the Museum of Electronic Games & Art and is still in development.
MEGA65 Home Page
A journey to my youth
When I first became aware of the MEGA65 and saw some pictures of it, I was immediatly moved back to the '80s. The C=64 was my first computer. I learned how to program the MOS6510 in assembler and me and my friends wrote little demos to compete who can get most out of this machine. I never was one of the best coders out there, but it was a really, really fun time, fiddling and tinkering with it.
After some research about the MEGA65 Project and watching some Youtube Videos, I couldn't resist to install VICE (C=64 Emulator) and downloaded some demos and tools which still exist on the internet. I spent a whole day watching and listening to some cool demos and SID tunes. I even coded a stable raster interrupt (with the help of the internet) just to check, if I still can do it. It was a very inspiring experience.
Quality Hardware
The price of the MEGA65 should range around ~800 EUR. This is not a few bucks for such a machine. But the producers focus all on quality without compromises. Its not build with cheap hardware emulating a C=64, it has a dedicated FPGA and a high quality keyboard and case, which are quite expensive to produce, especially for a low number of pieces. And all the MEGAs are assembled in tedious manual work. But due to the community and fandom nature of the project, the computer will be released for production cost price.
MEGA65 Hardware Specs
Will I buy one?
It would be really, really cool to have a MEGA65 on the desk to revive this '80s feeling and enjoy the experience to full extend. Maybe utilize this thing to write my gemlog or checking my email on it. Just for inspiration.
I think it's worth the price and I wish the project long lasting success with all my heart, but I probably won't buy one. At least not in the near future. At the moment I need to priorize my expenses a little. But if I had 800 EUR to spend just for fun, I couldn't imagine anything better than the MEGA65.
-fab-
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