Yeah, yeah. I don’t remember playing PONG on my C64 either, and it’s not as sleek or modern as that MacBook Pro cake, but this retro computer cake actually looks much tastier, IMHO. According to Flickr contributor Andy’s Retro Computers, it most definitely was yummy. Unfortunately you can’t have any – unless you happen to live in the UK, your name is Andy and your wife makes you one like it for your birthday too.

The head-to-head serves as a reminder of just how much technology has changed over the years, as well as a rough idea of how freakin’ rich Apple must be: while the old breadbox has a colossal lead in terms of total units sold at 32 million (it was first released in 1982),  a head esploding 1 million iPhone 3GS units were sold on its first 3 days on sale alone. That’s just insane.

That’s the start of the list. Funny how the C64 is almost all keyboard while the iPhone has no real keyboard at all. Other interesting facts: there are a total of 50,000 apps for the iPhone. McCracken(!) goes by the official number of C64 apps which is more or less 10,000, but several commenters are claiming that there are up to 100,000 programs for the C64. That seems like a huge advantage, until you realize that the iPhone is only less than 3 years old while the C64 is 27.

Of course the iPhone sweeps the tech specs trophies, but the C64 won lots of love because it offered… FREEDOM! The William Wallace of gadgets had neither carrier tie-ins nor app approval jujitsu. As one commenter said, if there was an iPhone emulator for the C64 it would’ve been warmly welcomed and immediately approved, no questions asked, except maybe “Would you like some cookies?”

Head on to Technologizer for the full list and the flame war. The C64 fanboys (fangrandfathers?) are winning. McCracken! Sorry.

[via Download Squad]

Software Engineer Michael Lauer recently released SID Player, which emulates the 6581 SID audio circuit from the C64. Of course, what’s a sound chip emulator without tunes? SID Player has you covered, providing on-the-go access to a collection of over 33,000 C64 music tracks by linking up with HVSC – the High Voltage SID Collection.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Enjoy classics like Commando, Arkanoid and Yie Ar Kung Fu, along with thousands of original chiptunes by over 1,100 contributors. Each SID sound file only takes up a few K of your memory, and the files are tiny enough to be quickly downloaded over an EDGE or 3G connection, so fill ‘er up!

SID Player is available now from the iTunes App Store for $2.99 (USD), which according to my math, works out to be way, way, way less than a penny a tune.

[via electrobeans]

Graphic designer Marshall Alexander’s cutout characters includes a veritable menagerie fantastical creatures and critters all made from boxy paper cutouts, but his latest series, Foldskool Heroes 3, has got to be my favorite. These fun papercraft creations are anthropomorphic renditions of classic systems of our childhood. Heroes 3 includes the C64, an Atari 2600 and a loving tribute to Nolan Bushnell, Pong.

The best part is that Marshall offers up precise PDF templates for each of his paper toy designs, letting you make your own with those office supplies you stole from work. Head on over to Marshall’s site and print some out now!

[via NOTCOT via theawesomer]

Modder subatomicglue’s MidiboxSID may have started life as a C64, but now it’s nearly unrecognizable thanks to a serious synth rehab. I especially love the backlit reddish-orange potentiometers and LED illumination throughout the box, making this retro synth perfect for cranking out beeps and blips out in a darkened nightclub or concert gig.

This isn’t any old stock C64 either. Subatomicglue embedded 8 SID chips under the covers of this puppy, which lets it generate 4 stereo pairs of sound, and 4 synthesizer “voices” at the same time. The controls expose plenty of flexibility to tune and tweak every nuance of the system’s 8-bit chip sounds, and of course, it can be MIDI controlled for sequencing purposes.

The cool thing is that the specs for building Midibox SID are available for anyone cares to make one for themselves. As a matter of fact, the one featured in this article is based on a reference design by Midibox SID originator “TK” (Thorsten Klose). Here’s a video of TK’s original in action.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Check out the full worklog to see how it all came together, and learn about building your own C64 Midibox here.

As a result, the trusty C64 has become a popular platform for “circuit bending”, which is hardware hackers’ terminology for taking old technology, applying circuit modifications to output audio or video effects that the original device wasn’t necessarily designed to produce.

Now you can own your own circuit bent C64, without any electronic know-how. The circuit bending wizards from Bighead Electronics have made this extremely limited edition pre-modded C64, appropriately called the Bent64.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The system comes completely loaded Paul Slocum’s Cynthcart, a custom program which helps the heavily modded Commodore produce a wild cacophony of retro noise as you press keys on the keyboard.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The Bent64 is a ready-to-go electronic musical instrument, capable of cranking out 3-note polyphonic analog sounds, applying effects with a “whammy” tuning knob, and even stereo support if you can wrangle a second sound chip and install it in the provided socket. The Bent64 can even output a psychedelic light show through a composite video output, so you’re ready to rave out of the box.

Oh yeah, it’s still fully functional as a standard C64 with the flip of a switch before you boot up. So you’d better brush up on your Commodore BASIC.

[eBay Auction Page]

Toni Westbrook’s Shredz64 project aims to interface a Playstation GH controller with a C64, then to create a rudimentary version of the rhythm matching game that runs on the classic computer. Plans are to use the system’s retro 8-bit beeps and blips to crank out its tunes.

Thusfar, Westbrook has gotten the controller working with the C64, and started work on the game itself earlier this year. While his initial tests were written in good old Commodore BASIC, he expects to write the final game using C and 6502 assembler language.

Now if only I could get Mass Effect to run on my Atari 400 and Bioshock on my TRS-80, I’d be set.

[via Waxy.org via Kotaku]