by typing the command
SYS 64802 from Basic would cause the machine to reset. Many people found they could create hardware projects easily and then have them connect to the machine
for things as mundane as temperature sensors to measuring devices, up to robotic sensors.

The VIC chip had three rectangular-wave sound generators. Each had a range of three octaves, and the generators were located on the scale about an octave apart, giving a total range of about five octaves. In addition, there was a white noise generator. There was however only one volume control, and the
sound output was in mono. The Vic didn't have hardware sprites but for many programmers this didn't seem to matter looking at some of the later titles released. The low-cost VIC modem also opened up the world of BBS (bulletin board systems) and would pave the way to the Internet we know today.

RETAIL

Commodore decided the Vic`s retail chain would be via toy stores, shops and many places you wouldn't normally associate a computer with. Of course the
more technical electronic shops could provide more support and more knowledgeable staff could advise about the machine. Ultimately though it
seemed the Vic would sell where it had to compete with other "games systems". It was also the first computer sold by the famous K-mart store. To enforce the message that the machine wasn't just about games, Commodore used the famous actor William Shatner from the Star Trek TV series in commissioned adverts and commercials for the machine where he came out with the infamous line "why buy just a video game?"

To this day the machine stands out as another of Commodore's success stories. Many machines were used mainly for games but educational titles did exist on both on tape and cartridges. The cartridge software was undoubtedly where the machine shone, removed from slow loading times and the technicalities of
typing the right commands. Even the most non-technical person could power off the machine, insert a cartridge and then power the machine back on.

Scott Adams was contracted to provide a series of text adventure games for the machine and with help from a Commodore engineer who came to Longwood, Florida to assist in the effort, five of Adams's Adventure International game series were ported to the Vic. They got around the limited memory by having the 16Kb games reside in a ROM cartridge instead of being loaded into main memory via cassette. Although the Vic didn't originally have a disk drive available, Commodore would release the VIC-1540 disk drive in 1981.

MEMORIES

As soon as I power on my Vic I am transported back into time. When I see the "boot screen" with the prompt READY, I am transported back to Christmas and a very welcome present sat under the tree. Not only was the machine a success, it's still loved all over the world by dedicated fans who are still pushing
the hardware to the limits and seeking out something extra and special. The
Vic was and indeed always will be a special machine, well respected and indeed capable of many and varied uses.

The VIC-20 was also sold as the VIC-1001 in Japan and the VC-20 in Germany.

The Vic-1001 includes a special character ROM and a different (incompatible) Kernel to the Vic20 and keyboard that allow the user to enter Katakana characters, although the origins of the name are unknown. (The PET was
labelled as the PET 2001 in Japan, and so perhaps the association and lower number were intended to market it as a lower cost model).

German produced VIC's were labelled with VC-20, which made reference to the Volkswagen car brand: the VolksComputer was a big hit in Europe. More likely
is that "VIC" spoken the German way is very close to the swearword ficken (which means "to f*ck", and is also the reason the Vixen codename was dropped).

ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA

"Because of its small memory and low-resolution display compared to some other computers of the time, the VIC-20 was primarily used for educational software and games. However, productivity applications such as home finance programs, spread sheets, and communication terminal programs were also made for the machine. Its high accessibility to the general public meant that quite a few software developers-to-be cut their teeth on the VIC-20, being introduced to BASIC programming, and in some cases going further to learn assembly or
machine language. A young Linus Torvalds, the eventual creator of Linux, was given a VIC-20 as his first computer. Another notable software developer who began his computing career with a VIC-20 was the OpenBSD creator Theo de Raadt."

MACHINE SPECIFICATIONS:

* Length (depth): 216mm

* Width: 404mm

* Height: 75mm

* Power Consumption: Original model - 18 Watts, Revision C (also known as
VIC-CR) - 7 watts

* Video Standard: NTSC, PAL, SECAM (by special modification)

* Processor: MOS-6502

* Random Access Memory (built-in): 5K built-in of which 3.5k (3583 bytes)
available for BASIC language programming

* Random Access Memory (optional): up to 37k of additional RAM with 27.5k
(28159 bytes) available for BASIC language programming

* Display area: 23 rows x 22 characters, 176x184 pixels with one bit per pixel
depth, and 88x184 with two bit per pixel depth

* Colours: 16

* Sound: Monaural, 3 square wave voices & 1 noise channel

* Ports: Cartridge port, User port, Cassette tape port, Serial bus, Joystick
Connector, Audio/Video port.

Commodore Free: Thanks to Andrew Fisher for Proof reading this.

WEBSITES

Vic 20 Denial
sleepingelephant.com/denial/

Old School Gaming
www.oldschool-gaming.com/view_index.php?4mat=5

Revival Studios
www.revival-studios.com/?page=137

Cosine Systems
www.cosine.org.uk/products.php?4mat=vic

VIC Tapes
www.6502dude.com/cbm/vic20/arma/0to9taps.html



--- MBSE BBS v1.0.01 (GNU/Linux-i386)
* Origin: Dragon's Lair (39:901/280)