Commodore 64 in Pixels, Story of, by Chris Wilkins (Review)
The “Story of the Commodore 64 in Pixels”, was a Kickstarter that was successfully funded on August 12, 2015. Written by Chris Wilkins from Central England, the kickstarters main goal was to fund the book by the same name. The book covers the history of the Commodore 64 in images, articles, vintage advertisements & music. As with most Kickstarters, there were varying levels of pledges and there were stretch goals. I pledged at the level that would grant me a hard cover of the book and a copy of the Tiger Claw video game cartridge.
Additional levels and stretch goals included, a pdf version of the book, a paperback copy, a Signed copy of the book, a cassette game called “Barnsley Badger”, as well as a diskette version, a poster, a vinyl record of Commodore 64 music, and the Tiger Claw Commodore 64 Game cartridge which I have recently reviewed. Chris really put together an enticing Kickstarter with many perks & rewards in order to fund this project.
Having recently received my copy of the book, about two weeks ago, I was not prepared for just how masterfully it was done. I mean, this is by far the nicest book that I now own covering the Commodore 64. Full disclosure, I only own about a half a dozen or so books on the C64, all paperbacks. This is my first hardcover C64 book. But, I cannot get over how well put together it is. Check out the craftsmanship here:
There are so many articles in the book and a whole lot of images which bring back many memories.
In addition to the book, it also shipped with a copy of Reset magazine 8.5 , which I was not expecting or really,I forgot it was going to be included in the shipment. This miniature version of Reset magazine is also beautifully done. I would pay for a subscription to it if that were an option. My understanding is, that this is a download only magazine, so I was excited to get my hands on a physically printed copy.
Also included, was a copy of a brand new music CD by Linus and GH. It contains 12 retro tekno pop style tracks. It’s really good. At least three of the tracks are remixes of classic SID songs, including a remix of the awesome Commando SID song. I am not going to play the songs here for copyright reasons. The Cover of the CD was done by C64 scener, James Svärd.
Also, you cannot discount the “I Heart C64” magnet that was included, it’s a nice touch.
Overall, I couldn’t be more pleased with this kickstarter. Chris also included the names of all the backers in the last couple of pages of the book. You can now pre-order this book as well as the other books he has for sale on the fusionretrobooks website.
At:
https://www.fusionretrobooks.com
Quoting from the website:
“We pride ourselves in including memoirs from the developers, artists and musicians within each and everyone one of our books, thus giving the reader a personal insight into what it was like developing games on the 80s & 90s consoles and computers. ”
I am assuming the same attention to detail and level of quality are present in all of these books.
On June 11th, 2016, Chris Wilkins is kickstarting the Story of the “Commodore Amiga in Pixels”. I have never owned the Amiga, or had any experience with it, but I know it was a wonderful machine way ahead of its time and I am really interested in the book, so I will probably be backing this one as well.
Anyhow, The Story of the Commodore 64 in Pixels is a great book, please take the time to check it out.
Highly Recommended.
Youtube Description:
This is my review of “The Story of the Commodore 64 in Pixels” Kickstarter. Spoiler… This is a great book and I recommend you check it out!
Kickstarter link:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/47744432/the-story-of-the-commodore-64-in-pixels/
Fusion Retro Books website:
https://www.fusionretrobooks.com
Reset Magazine Website:
http://reset.cbm8bit.com/
Link to Barnsley Badger (C64) game:
http://www.psytronik.net/newsite/index.php/c64/74-barnsley
Tiger Claw Rom download link:
https://rgcddev.itch.io/tiger-claw
Check out Linus and GH on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=linus+and+gh
Youtube Original Post Date: 06/07/2016
