November 15, 2025

The History of Commodore Pt 3

1 hour 33 minutes

TCW Podcast Episode 246 - The History of Commodore Pt 3

After Jack Tramiel left Commodore and founded Tramel Technology, the company pressed on with mixed results. Systems like the SX 64, the C900, the Plus/4, the C16, and the C116 failed to gain traction, which led to the development of the C128. It improved on the C64 in many ways, but because so many games relied on C64 quirks, Commodore included a full C64 mode to preserve compatibility, so software support was poor. During this period Amiga was shopping its advanced chipset and entered a tentative agreement with Atari, but Jack’s impending purchase of Atari from Warner disrupted the arrangement. Commodore stepped in to pay off the outstanding note, which led to Commodore acquiring Amiga outright. This set the stage for the Amiga 1000, its famous bouncing ball demo, and a new chapter in Commodore’s history as the company entered the sixteen bit era

TCW 2025 Livestream: https://youtu.be/BXXAhEVD4Lk

Computer Chronicles Revisited - SMOliva: https://computerchronicles.blog/post/computer-chronicles-revisited-038-atari-520st-commodore-128/

Computer Chronicles Revisited - SMOliva: https://computerchronicles.blog/post/computer-chronicles-revisited-052-amiga-workbench-deluxe-paint-neochrome-vip-professional/

Commodore C900: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbVjNInzrw8

Commodore SX-64: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIGjT-RjNbk

Commodore Plus 4 C16 & C116: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICiZbUypMlQ

XKCD - Workflow: https://xkcd.com/1172/

Star Raiders (Atari 8-bit): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwqMqmo_jho

Joyboard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdFzdz3o1hU

Boing Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlAhRJjOhDg

Amiga 1000: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjapiUQOi2s

Launch Event of the Amiga in 1985: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OeQ5uzm-Qs

Amiga 1000 Sidcar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPfArIhoy0s

TCW 172 - The Computer Price Wars Pt 1: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-computer-price-wars-part-1/

TCW 173 - The Computer Wars Pt 2: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-computer-wars-part-2/

TCW 174 - The Computer Wars Pt 3: https://podcast.theycreateworlds.com/e/the-computer-wars-part-3/

New episodes are on the 1st and 15th of every month!

TCW Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @tcwpodcast

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theycreateworlds

Alex's Video Game History Blog: http://videogamehistorian.wordpress.com

Alex's book, published Dec 2019, is available at CRC Press and at major on-line retailers: http://bit.ly/TCWBOOK1

Intro Music: Josh Woodward - Airplane Mode - Music - "Airplane Mode" by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/song/AirplaneMode

Outro Music: RoleMusic - Bacterial Love: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Rolemusic/Pop_Singles_Compilation_2014/01_rolemusic_-_bacterial_love

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By Alex Smith, and Jeffrey Daum

4.9

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