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C64 Direct-to-TV

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The C64 Direct-to-TV, called C64DTV for short, is a single-chip implementation of the Commodore 64 computer, contained in a joystick with 30 built-in games. The design is similar to the Atari Classics 10-in-1 TV Game.

The C64 Direct-to-TV computer-in-a-joystick unit.

Tulip Computers (which had acquired the Commodore brand name in 1997) licensed the rights to Ironstone Partners, which cooperated with DC Studios, Mammoth Toys, and The Toy:Lobster Company in the development and marketing of the unit. [1] QVC purchased the entire first production run of 250,000 units and sold 70,000 of them the first day they were offered.

The circuitry of the C64DTV was designed by Jeri Ellsworth, a self-taught computer chip designer who had formerly designed the C-One.

Specifications

The C64DTV runs on four AA batteries. It has two fire buttons, four function buttons, and composite video and monaural audio outputs. The internal hardware is a clone of the C64 and thus has the same features and limitations, but it lacks the keyboard and I/O portsTemplate:Fn. The internal circuit board has exposed solder points for floppy-drive and keyboard ports, and detailed instructions for adding them are available.

There are two versions of the C64DTV available. The first appeared in late 2004 for the American market (NTSC television type), and has these features over the original C64:

  • The palette is reprogrammable, with 4 bits of luma and 4 bits of chroma
  • There is 128 KiB of RAM, and a 2 MiB ROM for the built-in games
  • It has DMA engine that can be used to copy data between system RAM and the game ROM and extra RAM

In late 2005, a revised version for the European and world markets (PAL television type) appeared with these additional features:

  • There is 2 MiB of RAM, and a 2 MiB reprogrammable flash memory for the built-in games
  • Much improved graphics modes, including a "chunky" 256 color mode.
  • It has a blitter for fast image transformation
  • Improved CPU with fast and burst modes, additional registers, and support for undocumented opcodes.

Built-in games

The official games for the unit are mostly a mix of Epyx and Hewson C64 games. The following games list is sorted by original publisher.

EPYX

Hewson

Image Works

Easter eggs

The console also contains several Easter eggs, planted by the software developers (and accessed by wiggling the joystick left to right when the C64DTV enters the "LOAD" mode) and secret commands to enable hidden functions such as a Commodore BASIC editor with an on-screen keyboard, demoscene animations, and 6 additional bonus games.

  • Tip 01

To 'Turbo Load' the Games menu: Hold down the Left Joystick Button as you power on or reset. The games menu will load much more quickly.

  • Tip 02

To boot to C64 mode:
When you power on or reset, wait until you see the blue screen appear. Immediately start wiggling the Joystick back and forth (left to right) QUICKLY. Do this until you see:
SEARCHING FOR $
LOADING
READY.
LIST
If you see RUN instead of LIST, you'll need to press reset and try again. Instructions posted elsewhere say that you should start wiggling the joystick from the moment you turn it on, but that is not true (at least with the Version 2 NTSC joystick- hexagonal package versus pyramid shaped package). Also, instructions posted elsewhere say to wiggle the joystick VERY FAST, but a firm, consistent wiggle will get you into C64 mode. By following these instructions you will prolong the life of your C64 DTV.
The display will load and list several programs and stop.

  • Tip 03

To load and run a listed program from the C64 mode list: Boot to C64 mode (Tip 02), then Use the Joystick to move up to a listed program Hit the Left Joystick Button The chosen program will load and run. Hint: If you keep holding the button down, it will Turbo Load (Tip 01).

  • Tip 04

To go to BASIC mode: Boot to C64 mode (Tip 02), then Load and run (Tip 03) the listed "BASIC PROMPT" program. The familiar blank C64 blue screen will come up.

  • Tip 05

To use the Joystick Keyboard: Go to BASIC mode (Tip 04), then Hold down the Left Joystick Button. The Joystick Keyboard appears. Release the button and the keyboard disappears.

  • Tip 06

To type using the Joystick Keyboard: Bring up the Joystick Keyboard (Tip 05), then While still holding down the Left Joystick Button, Move to the key you want to type using the Joystick, then Release the Left Joystick Button. The key you selected will appear on the screen. Repeat. The Shift Keys are "sticky". That is, when selected they will stay in effect until you select them again. (Consult an online C64 reference for an explanation of the C64's keyboard layout and functions.)

  • Tip 07

To list the programs in memory: Go to BASIC mode (Tip 03), then type (Tip 06): LOAD "$",1[enter] LIST[enter] A huge list of programs will scroll by. Hint: Hold down the Left Joystick Button to bring up the Joystick Keyboard as the list scrolls. This will temporarily halt scrolling (though it also obscures the bottom half of the screen...)

  • Tip 08

To load and run the "ENTROPY" demo: Go to BASIC mode (Tip 03), then type (Tip 06): 0 POKE1,55:LOAD"ENTROPY",1[enter] RUN[enter] The Entropy demo will load and run.

  • Tip 09

To page through different screens in the Entropy demo: Load and run the Entropy demo (Tip 08), then Hold down the A Button and move the Joystick to the Up position. Hold for a couple of seconds and release. The next screen will load and run in a few seconds. There are 5 different screens.

  • Tip 10

To list programming info for the new graphics modes: Go to BASIC mode (Tip 04), then type (Tip 06): LOAD"DOCVIEWER",1,1[enter] RUN[enter] The first page of info will display. Scroll through more screens by hitting the Left Joystick Button.

  • Tip 11

To see the simple text Easter Egg: Go to BASIC mode (Tip 04), then type (Tip 06): POKE53280,0:POKE53281,0[enter] The screen will turn black, which makes some text (which was already there!) visible around the BASIC header at the top of the screen.

  • Tip 12

To see the slightly less simple text Easter Egg: Go to C64 mode (Tip 02), then Use the Joystick to move up to the line that says 0 BYTES FREE and hit and release the Left Joystick Button. You will see a name in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. Hit the button again and the name changes. Repeat.

  • Tip 13

To see a picture of a Commodore Legend Drinking Beer: Go to BASIC mode (Tip 04), then type (Tip 06): LOAD"1337",1,1[enter] RUN[enter] Voilà. A grainy picture of Jim Butterfield and friend.

  • Tip 14

To see a picture of the DTV Development Team: Go to BASIC mode (Tip 04), then type (Tip 06): LOAD"DTVTEAM",1,1[enter] RUN[enter] Voilà again. Jeri and friends.

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