???? – 1991retired
Family Computer Network System
“It dialed up the future through a Famicom, then hung up politely when the call was done.”
“Same beloved heart as the C64, minus the keyboard, minus the buyers.”
The Commodore 64 Games System was the cartridge-based console version of the beloved Commod 64 home computer, released in December 1990, Europe-only. Inside, it was essentially a complete Commodore 64, fully compatible with it — the family computer with the keyboard stripped away. The idea came from Commodore UK, particularly Steve Franklin, who wanted a cheaper games machine pitched at £99, bundled with four games i
Unfortunately it arrived into a console market firmly owned by Nintendo and Sega, and it was a considerable commercial failure. Of roughly 20,000 consoles produced, only about 2,000 ever sold before Commodore discontinued it in 1990's aftermath. Not Commodore's first C64-based gaming attempt either — that honor goes to the 1982 MAX Machine — but the C64GS remains the strangest footnote: the computer everyone loved, s
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“It dialed up the future through a Famicom, then hung up politely when the call was done.”
“Britain's first homegrown console: sleek, RGB-ready, and gone before the kettle boiled.”
“It buried its treasure, and the map was never quite the same.”