In the earliest days of PC gaming, before everything got homogenized with Windows and Mac, the Commodore 64 reigned supreme. It still has a passionate homebrew community making their own original C64 games to this day–and if you’re interested in checking out the classic console, its games, or the homebrew scene, you’ll want to check out this awesome deal on the THEC64 Mini replica console. The device captures the look of the original C64 and is capable of playing official and homebrew games on moderns TVs. It typically costs $120, but you can buy it for $85 during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale event, which runs until March 31. At that 29% discount price, it’s certainly worth picking up for those curious about what the Commodore 64 developer community is like today.
THEC64 Mini – Black Edition
$85 (Was $120)
THEC64 Mini – Black Edition is actually a follow-up to another THEC64 Mini console that focused on retro games. It sets itself apart not just with a matte-black finish on a 50% scale replica of the original, but also with a library of 25 pre-loaded “modern” C64 games made by developers after the console’s heyday. These are all of the games you will have access to:
- A Pig Quest
- Caren and the Tangled Tentacles
- Galencia
- Good Kniight
- Grid Pix
- Guns N Ghosts
- Hessian
- Hunter’s Moon Remastered
- It’s Magic 2
- Joe Gunn: Gold Edition
- Knight N Grail
- Metal Warrior Ultra
- Mille & Molly
- Nixy and the Seeds of Doom
- Ooze: The Escape
- p0 Snake
- Pains N Aches
- Planet Golf
- Rocky Memphis: The Legend of Atlantis
- Runn N Gunn
- Sam’s Journey
- Shadow Switcher
- Spinning Image
- Steel Ranger
- Yeti Mountain
Those aren’t exactly games that are household names to your modern gamer, but you’ll have a great idea of what the Commodore 64 homebrew game developer community is like after playing them. The mini console even lets you load your homebrew programs from a USB stick or code games in BASIC on the hardware and share them online. Another major benefit of this hardware is that it supports USB game controllers and outputs at 720p resolution in US and European display modes, making it one of the simplest ways to play Commodore 64 games on modern televisions.
