New Commodore 64 Tribute Book Coming Soon

Long time Commodore 64 enthusiast Andreas Wallström is bringing his passion for the popular 8-bit micro into print taking his extensive support for the machine further than he has ever done before as a passionate supporter of the computer.

In addition to running the fan site C64.com, Andreas is also a performing member of SID’80s – a six piece band that has dedicated themselves to playing live cover versions of classic game anthems from the Commodore 64 composed by such legendary musicians as Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway, and many, many more. It’s clear that his passion for the computer runs deep and plays a very important part in his life.

Now he has turned that passion towards creating a book dedicated to the computer. COMMODORE 64: FOR THE LOVE OF A MACHINE is a book tribute to the Commodore 64, the people who created it, the people who used it, and the people who still use it today. It’s a book full of exclusive photographs, in-depth interviews, pixel art and contributions from the people we like to call legends.

Andreas continues to describe the book and what you can expect from it:-

FEATURES

  • Exclusive in-depth interviews with Bob Yannes and Al Charpentier who created the C64, the SID sound chip and the VIC-II graphics chip.
  • In-depth interviews with the people who created the fantastic games we remember so fondly. Some of the interviewees include: Donna Steiner-Buttlaire (Tapper), John Twiddy (The Last Ninja), Ben Daglish (Krakout), Chris Hülsbeck (The Great Giana Sisters), and Dave Collier (Hyper Sports) in his first-ever interview about the old C64 days.
  • The book will include a world-exclusive interview with Zoltan Kelemen, a.k.a. Mr.Z/Triad, who is the most famous cracker ever to be part of the C64 scene. The interview is covering many subjects, including why he started cracking, what the hardest part about cracking was, and whether he felt there was a moral issue around cracking games for other people to then share for free.
  • Professional photography of industry legends, people from the demo scene and C64-related events will be on show throughout the book. Those featured will include Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway, Karen Davies-Downey, Colin Porch, Michael Tomczyk, as well as people from scene groups such as Fairlight, 1001 Crew, The Judges and Triad.
  • Pixel art from today’s best artists will also form a central part of the book. Some of the artists will be creating new exclusive art especially for the book!
  • Rob Hubbard is the most famous computer musician from the 1980s and 1990s. He wrote the music to games like Sanxion, Thing on a Spring, Crazy Comets and Spellbound. For the first time ever, readers of the book will be given the chance to look at his original music notes and gain insight into how he used to compose his famous C64 tunes. This is indeed a world exclusive!

If the campaign reaches a certain stretch goal, one person will be the sole owner of an original, hand-written Rob Hubbard music sheet that he wrote for his 2003 concert at Back in Time Live Brighton. This is everybody’s chance to own something unique without having to spend a fortune on getting it!

QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEWEES

“The Commodore 64 was a huge hit at CES, and suddenly it was the most important thing in the world. All the other projects went on the back burner as we now rushed to turn this slapped-together mutt of a computer into a real product.” Bob Yannes, enginner on the C64 and creator of the SID sound chip

“The motivation to crack games was threefold: boundless curiosity about what was inside the machine; solving the puzzle of how to overcome the copy protection; and garnering fame and glory for doing something unique.” Zoltan Kelemen a.k.a. Mr.Z/Triad, the most famous cracker on the C64 scene

“Dad drove me to the tape recording plant in Telford and it was a 3-4 hour drive. U.S. Gold had setup 100 or so terminals with boys and girls to test the game. After an hour one of the girls yelled ‘BUG!’ The screen was black and OutRun had crashed. I recall sat at the keyboard in tears trailing lines of code looking for that bug.” Martin Webb, Programmer of OutRun

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andreas Wallström is a 43-year-old Commodore 64 fanatic. He got his first Commodore 64 in 1984 and drew his first font and logo on a Commodore 64 when he was 14 years old. Little did he know then that you could do that stuff for a living… but here he am, 29 years later, working as a graphic designer and photographer. He has contributed photography to the books Generation 64, Generation 500, and the Bitmap Books smash-hit Commodore Amiga: a Visual Compendium.

You may already have seen his name in connection with C64.COM, for which he is the webmaster. C64.COM is a site which hosts interviews with the people who created the games and demos we all love, as well as detailed information about said games and demos. The site has been a labour of love since 1998.

COMMODORE 64: FOR THE LOVE OF A MACHINE is currently being funded via Kickstarter and the campaign can be found at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wallstrom/commodore-64-for-the-love-of-a-machine

About Simon Plumbe 203 Articles
Husband, father and lifelong geek. Originally from the West Midlands, now spending my days in South Wales with my family and a house full of animals. Passionate about video games, especially retro gaming, the Commodore 64 and PlayStation Vita. Love pro wrestling, sci-fi and I'm an animal lover and vegetarian. Enjoyed this and my other articles? Why not buy me a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/simonplumbe

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