--- title: Commodore C64 GS (Games System) categories: - Consoles origins: - U.S.A. years: - '1990' cpus: - '6510' params: name: C64 GS (Games System) company: /companies/commodore company_name: Commodore specs: - label: NAME value: C64 GS (Games System) - label: MANUFACTURER value: Commodore - label: ORIGIN value: U.S.A. - label: YEAR value: Christmas 1990 - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: None - label: KEYBOARD value: Atari compatible controllers - label: CPU value: '6510' - label: SPEED value: 0.985 MHz (PAL) / 1.023 MHz (NTSC) - label: CO-PROCESSOR value: VIC II (Video), SID (Sound) - label: RAM value: 64 KB - label: ROM value: 20 KB - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 'several, most used : 320 x 200' - label: COLORS value: '16' - label: SOUND value: 3 voices / 6 octaves (sound output through TV) - label: I/O PORTS value: RGB (composite, chroma/luma and sound in/out), 2 x Joystick plugs, Cardridge slot, Power supply, RF TV output - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: Cartridges - label: POWER SUPPLY value: External PSU - label: PRICE value: £99.99 (UK, 1990) tabs: - photos - software - emulators - links photos: - title: C64GS subtitle: '' text: '[Thomas Conté](http://www.pas.net)' image: null screenshots: - title: GYRUSS subtitle: '' text: '' image: null - title: LAST NINJA REMIX subtitle: Title screen 1 text: '' image: null - title: LAST NINJA REMIX subtitle: Title screen 2 text: '' image: null - title: LAST NINJA REMIX subtitle: '' text: '' image: null - title: MOONPATROL subtitle: '' text: '' image: null - title: RICK DANGEROUS subtitle: '' text: '' image: null - title: STUNTCAR RACER subtitle: '' text: '' image: null - title: INTERNATIONAL SOCCER subtitle: '' text: '' image: null - title: SCREENSHOT 1 subtitle: '' text: |- When there is no cartridge inserted into the system, a small amiga-esque animation is diplayed, explaining how to insert a cartridge. The first image tells you that the system is powered but there is no cartridge inserted (thanks!). image: null - title: SCREENSHOT 2 subtitle: '' text: This image tells you to switch off the system and to insert a cartridge. image: null - title: SCREENSHOT 3 subtitle: '' text: The last image of the animation tells you to now switch on the system. image: null emulators: - title: MESS emulator url: http://www.mess.org platform: Other platform text: This well known multiplatform emulator emulates the C64 GS as well links: - title: Def guide to ZZAP64! url: http://www.zzap64.co.uk/zzap66/thec64gs.html text: An article from ZZAP64, dated from 1987, describing the brand new C64 GS system - title: The Secret Weapons of Commodore url: http://www.floodgap.com/retrobits/ckb/secret/ultimax.html text: This excellent site as a very nice page about the C64 GS comments: - author: Nash date: Friday 8th December 2017 text: This wouldn''t have been a terrible idea if, one, the cartridge games never required keyboard commands, and two, if it would have come out in 1985 or 6, instead of 1990... - author: Nik Williams (UK) date: Wednesday 2nd March 2005 text: In 1991 I was working for a company that had the contract to repair all Commodore machines in the UK. I remember the C64 GS just as it was released but we didn't get many in for repair. At that time it was too little too late. If it had been released about 3 or 4 years earlier it could have been a great earner for Commodore. - author: Claus Ruglund Jakobsen (Denmark) date: Monday 5th July 2004 text: My parents gave me a C64G for christmas present in 1990, already then they were stopping production, there was the original GS-joystick and the cartrigde that came with the gs in the box, the games were good, but the joystick was utterly bad. - author: Nuey San Waldman (Amsterdam (NL)) date: Tuesday 27th April 2004 text: Actually, this thing was also sold in The Netherlands. I remember looking at it in a store display (running a soccer game) wondering why Commodore even bothered making this thing. oc_id: 768 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230604170655/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=768 date: '2023-06-04' --- The C64 GS (Games System) is basically a C64 motherboard in a simple beige plastic case without a keyboad, serial port and tape interface. Apart from some minor ROM changes the circuitboard inside is exactly a C64. Thus it can play all the C64 cartridges that don't require interaction with the keyboard. Some cartridges were specificaly produced for the C64 GS, but there are a few... These cartridges could also be used with the original C64 or C128 both being equiped with the same cartridge slot. Priced at £99.99 in UK (Christmas 1990), the console was packaged with a joystick and a cartridge containing International Soccer, Klax, Flimbo's Quest and Fiendish Freddy's Big Top O'Fun. But as history told us, putting aging computer technology into a gaming system, never made it a winner... The Amstrad GX-4000 (using CPC hardware), the Amiga CD-32 (using Amiga hardware), the Atari XEGS (using XE xomputers hardware) or the C64 GS never became top selling systems. The companies usually tried this strategy to desperatly compete with new waves of systems. For the C64 GS that was Nintendo NES and Sega Master System. The Megadrive was even released a few months later as well as the Nintendo Superfamicom (at least in Japan). Given this information, it's clear that the C64 GS, or the Amstrad GX-4000 released at the same time and same price, could not compete... Moreover, for a few bucks more you could buy a real C64 computer! The C64 Games System was only sold in UK in 1990, and Denmark in 1991...It was a massive flop. 80,000 units were produced; less than 25% of them eventually sold. Most of the remaining units were taken back and dissassembled for parts for the 64G. --- **Taneli Lukka** from Finland reports: The machine actually has a cassette connector and user port on the motherboard, but there are no holes for them in the case, it seems that either the machine was originally supposed to have the ability to play tape games too (would seem quite likely, you really only need one or two buttons to load a game from tape) or then it was cheaper to manufacture the motherboard with fewer changes compared to the C=64 computer. There might have also been some peripherals planned for the user port, but both the cassette compatibility and the user port thing must have been scrapped well before release because there are no holes for them in the case. These ports did enable Commodore to use the unsold machines as parts for C=64 computers when the console bombed. The machine came packaged with a Cheetah Annihilator joystick, which is probably one of the worst joysticks of all time. It's a real wonder why Commodore didn't use one of their own sticks (which are all manufactured by other companies, they just have C= stickers on them) which are not very good either, but atleast you can play with them. The reason might be that The Annihilator just matched the colour of the machine.
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