1982 Commodore Christmas Demo

[@LGR]

Now this is some quality Christmas content. Love the detail you went into!

[@Good9tTo9t]

First reply after two years

[@mertarslan8039]

Greetings LGR! I Really Like Ur Content Even Tho I'm Only 13! Keep Up The Good Work! And Also Thanks To The 8-Bit Guy For Making This Great Vid!

[@brunoprimas1483]

I remember running the Christmas program for my Grandparents in 1983. When the snowman started to dance, my Grandmother was amazed. I was 12. Good times.

[@vcv6560]

Funny I did the same for my grandmother, Christmas 1984

[@brunoprimas1483]

vcv6560 My Granparents are gone now, but I still have the 64. I bring it out occasionally and go through my floppies....

[@3um3le3ees]

Who needs more 8bit guy in their life???

[@davidlewis1787]

3um3le3ees his wife

[@zekchard]

OMGGGG MEEEEEEEE

[@kaiseanng6669]

Every geek ever

[@longstrike7795]

3um3le3ees me

[@rubblejohnstone4460]

This takes me back. My brother got a C64 for Christmas, my dad wasn't prone to extravagant spending but the guy in the shop convinced him it was the 'future' hence we woke up expecting a spectrum or similar and there it was a C64! wow the power.

[@TheGeekPub]

Ahhh.. a Commodore Christmas. The feels! It was a great morning every year as kid waiting to see what new Commodore device/upgrade/peripheral/game/etc was waiting for me under the tree!!

[@MrLondonGo]

TheGeekPub Spoilt 8-bit Guy you were?

[@thatguyontheright1]

No his parents actually loved him, unlike you :P

[@Gayestskijumpever]

+TheGeekPub Dumbledore bleached his rectum.

[@MrLondonGo]

TGOTR it's true his parents never loved me. My parents, however, bought me Skyfox, Druid and a Competition Pro joystick one Christmas. Great memories.

[@MrLondonGo]

Simon Harris aha the first example of "shit posting" I've seen this Christmas.

[@Diabolos1]

David looks just like his dad.

[@billypilgrim1]

It's David going through his Benjamin Buttonesque transformation.

[@U014B]

BillyPilgrim So was his dad the one holding the box?

[@KairuHakubi]

Oh wow he really does.

[@billypilgrim1]

Noel, common mistake. That's actually David's brother.

[@eurobum2012]

Came here to say that.

[@LMacNeill]

I was so into SID music back in the day that I actually recorded it to cassette tapes so I could listen to it when I wasn’t at the computer. I must’ve had 50 floppies filled with songs I had downloaded from various BBSs back in the day. It was truly amazing what could be done with that chip that seems so limited by today’s standards.

[@EgoShredder]

Yeah I did that too but with Amstrad CPC tunes as I did not have a C64 back then (I do now). However there were some brilliant ones on the CPC, they just have a different sound profile and character to the C64.

[@ambroseruhlman5405]

now I may be a lowlife teenage computer geek but imagining being a kid wandering a snowy outlet mall and looking through a window and seeing that being displayed on a TV with a beaming commodore next to it and being amazed at the graphics just makes me smile. Yeah, it's early August but screw that merry Christmas.

[@caltechengineer9762]

Ahh. Feels nice to see these old demos. Merry Christmas everyone!

[@GamingPalooza]

There was also a few MS-DOS Christmas demos from the 80s that had glorious CGA graphics.

[@sluxi]

would be interesting to dig those ones up

[@GadgetUK164]

Great choice of demos there! I am staring to feel a bit Christmasy now lol.

[@refractionpcsx2]

Merry Christmas dude :)

[@thomasmcdougall1353]

GadgetUK164 - Retro Gaming Repairs & Mods bahhh humbug

[@michgingras]

well is aboot time

[@GreenNekoProductions]

I never expected to see you wearing a Santa hat. Merry Christmas, David.

[@DanielBartholomew]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Thanks for all of your excellent videos this year. I'm looking forward to a great 2018!

[@91_C4_FL]

@8:05 has my whole existence in question because I always thought it was “up on the house top reindeer paws”. Obviously I know they don’t have paws. I assumed it was a dumb rhyme that meant they were walking around. The song makes so much more sense now.

[@bluestarninja]

I remember this demo well - as I come from the UK I had it on tape. Amazingly, it was the one time of year that my parents liked having my C64 on the main TV in the house so they could play it as a rudimentary sort of screen saver during Christmas dinner and the like. They even put up with the music! Great times, great memories 😊

[@deljohn]

Ahhh, the C64 Christmas demo. I first encountered it when I worked for Commodore as an intern in 1983 and have played it every year since... Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!

[@kirishima638]

Commodore 64? But Captain Kirk promised me that the VIC-20 was all I would need :(

[@Chaos89P]

"640K ought to be enough for everyone (slightly paraphrased)." - Bill Gates

[@darkwinter6028]

Kiyoshi Kirishima Need? Yes... Want? Oh, no.... not at all! 😜

[@lordofthecats6397]

"The computers of the future may be able to fit in a single room" -Popular Electronics circa 1949 (kinda paraphrased)

[@Chaos89P]

LordOfTheCats I thought it was "...weigh no more than 1.5 tons"? Either way, they had no idea.

[@moshly64]

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." Thomas Watson, president of IBM, 1943 "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977 "Apple is already dead." Nathan Myhrvold, former Microsoft CTO, 1997 "Two years from now, spam will be solved." Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, 2004

[@justme002]

I definitely had a demo like this on something. I want to say it was my TI-99. I remember a scene almost exactly like the wreath, and another with a fireplace. I also coded a pretty great, for the time anyway, Christmas Tree decoration kit game for my Atari 8-bit machine in BASIC out of a Family Computing magazine. It took me the better part of a day, maybe even spanned over two, typing it on that membrane keyboard. It let you build a tree and add decorations by moving branches and all the bits around, all in ASCII characters, then when you were done it'd display it and play "Oh, Christmas Tree." This was before I had my tape backup so I did all that code input just for it to vanish as soon as I turned off the Atari.

[@Kris_M]

I really loved the demo's that would draw outside the regular screen in the borders. Or showing more sprites than available on-chip. Of course all trickery using the raster line interrupt...

[@heathwellsNZ]

10:09 - hahaha panning around a contemporary lounge with the C64 all set up - that's hilarious and cool all at the same time!

[@BoogiemanXXL]

I don't know what it is but that intro music is so incredibly catchy...

[@everythingpony]

BoogiemanXXL his old one is way catchyer

[@thejay8963]

He didn't have one, Rainbow Dash. Is that the joke? I think that's the joke.

[@everythingpony]

he had a old intro song before this " new" lame one came out,

[@ParoxyDM]

I agree it's a great intro. Has a late 80's / early 90's tv show sound to it. Very nostalgic sounding.

[@johnrossi6212]

I remember seeing this demo in the stores when I was a kid and always wanted it to play it in my house. Never thought I’d see it again. Thank you for posting this.

[@magnum333]

Thanks and merry Christmas!

[@rafaelmoura8688]

Merry Christmas brother!

[@theoparke]

Thank you so much for making this video! I still remember the Christmas our first C-64 was all set up beside the tree, running this very demo, flashing that $595 price proudly. At the time, I was actually a little confused and even disappointed, since I was 10 years old and really wanted a cartridge-based game console like my friends had, such as the Atari 2600 or ColecoVision... but my parents in their wisdom knew better, a decision I will always be grateful for. That Commodore put me on a path to graphic design and Web coding which shaped my future interests, career and life path. And it all started one Christmas morning... with this wonderful, timeless Christmas demo. Today I play the Christmas demo every year on my Powerbook G4 (in emulation) in my office. It's not Christmas in my home without it.

[@batmandalorian5504]

"After doing a bit of POKE-ing around..."

[@jdemars]

yup, I see what he did there.

[@demagmusic]

I missed it. I'll have to take another PEEK

[@robspiess]

I also noticed that REMark!

[@Dosbomber]

Boooo.... ...lean.

[@EgoShredder]

Think I will GOTO bed after all these REMarks! Everyone else should GOSUB to his channel..... ;-)

[@NetworkXIII]

I got my first computer, a VIC-20, on Christmas Day 1982. That, and my C=64 were the best computers that I have ever owned. Thanks for the memories, Dave.

[@strawloki7133]

you know you're early when the title has "Episode" and numbers after it

[@Natalie-ez1zc]

eeyup (2)

[@Nuberax]

eeyup. (FINALE)

[@ryanincro17]

I seriously can't get enough of that intro song. I get so excited for every video when I hear that familiar, heart-warming chiptune! Thank you for uploading, 8-bit guy!

[@andrewosborne7544]

Great episode as always. Merry Christmas David

[@bayzano]

I just listened to the 20k MHz podcast, season 1, the chapter about 8-bit music, and I was like: where is the 8-bit guy? He is an authority! And then... I was pleased to hear you man... congrats on the success and the authority/thought leader you’ve become. Merry Christmas!

[@zackiechan2601]

That cute Christmas hat killed me!!

[@cristinamonte4510]

Zack Becker

[@OneEyePI]

This made my day. Gorgeous, and brings back so many happy memories of the excitement of waiting to see what C64 goodies would be under the tree

[@DMadHacks]

I love these comma doors.

[@mikeynjs94]

*has brain aneurysm*

[@GeekBoy03]

So do I! Sail on down the line about half a mile or so!

[@studiopapa5874]

The commies

[@zapoww]

lool

[@EgoShredder]

They are easy like Sunday morning.

[@mjegullan007]

Thank you for all entertaining videos in 2017. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and to all you nostalgi nerds.

[@Fortuna1]

Magnificent works in the 80s And C64 music are great

[@ab1dq593]

I had completely forgotten about the Commodore Christmas demo, but I definitely had one. Thanks for the memories, David.and happy new year.

[@dom64c]

finally something i can watch after being ungrounded

[@vwestlife]

There was also Jingle Disk for the IBM PC, which LGR did a video about. It spawned C64 and Apple II versions as well, but those were half-hearted conversions which didn't take full advantage of the extra graphics colors of those systems.

[@inversephase]

thanks for mentioning this, Jingle Disk is a fond memory I was going to mention. DOS/CGA version at v=1t02TvLbQec

[@vidrogic1499]

+1 for that cap

[@Echidneys]

It's amusing to me how casually he wears it like it's not even there

[@attimus02]

Thanks for getting one last video up before christmas. You have a Merry Christmas as well!

[@Joznia]

i love that hat

[@isawadelapradera6490]

I hat that love

[@Homersan123]

I still bust out (dust off?) this demo every year. Every year, it brings back some great memories. Thanks again for the in-depth look!

[@kNo1bdy]

Merry Christmas

[@Samuel-ge7im]

Great job David, good luck on all of your future endeavours, it has been a pleasure to watch and support your channel!!!! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

[@8bitHuman]

When you add the blur effekt at 3:44 the flam startet to look real ;)

[@armanelgtron4533]

That effekt startet to look cood ya know ;)

[@Jako1987]

I think c64 worked very hard to calculate that blur effect

[@hikyle3214]

8bithuman YEh, dat wuz kewl. dat efact.

[@baconandbullets]

Love this stuff. One of my first computers was a Commodore 64. They are amazing machines. They all hold a place in my retro heart. Keep making these amazing videos. Great work.

[@MaximNightFury]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all, and all get good gifts

[@thejay8963]

K, thanks!

[@BensafiM]

Great Channel, which made me so nostalgic that I finally bought an old commodore 64 + 1702 monitor + 1541 Floppy on the second hand market. Continue like that it's really cool.

[@A_Player]

"That about wraps it up." I see what you did there.

[@StevePietras]

I encourage everyone to always watch ALL of the ad that appears before Dave's videos. Those help Dave make these great videos. Merry Christmas Dave!

[@104d_3rr0r_vince]

Merry Christmas! Atari 8bit snowman is great. P.S : Atari ST has PSG sound not FM :-D

[@carlospulpo4205]

Love your videos. The C64 brings back memories, I still have the Eprom programmer for it. I held on to such a rare item.

[@Trusteft]

"Amiga vs IBM PC" Really? Must be a USA thing. Over here it was Amiga vs Atari ST. PC wasn't even considered till the 90s.

[@teromustalahti2903]

The ST was never very popular in the US.

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Trusteft We were lucky just having the Amiga at all.

[@jond1965]

I still have my 1040st and Mega2 st, both work still. Atari over Amiga any day. Same goes for Atari 800 over the Vic20. Own an 800 too and that still works. I am in the USA.

[@Trusteft]

No caps replacement, no re-soldering of the port(s) etc? Very nice!

[@thomfroi]

Hey 8-Bit Guy. I regulary come back to your videos. I wish you and your loved ones a mery christmas. Thank you for all your great contributions.

[@harukatakahashi8822]

I'm glad 8BitGuy said "Merry Christmas" instead oh "Happy Holidays", there is nothing wrong with that, Merry Christmas everybody x3

[@rdxdt]

Merry Christmas for you too David. And thank you for a year filled with nice episodes.

[@oblitum]

Feliz navidad, me encantan sus vídeos 🎁🎁🎁

[@Walkthrough52]

For the non-Spanish speaking: Merry Christmas, I live your vids

[@losalfajoresok]

correction: Merry Christmas, I love your videos

[@DarkVeilGaming]

+Sentry Gun I would hope most people can read that lol, pretty sure we learned all those words in our required year of spanish :p at least i'm pretty sure most states have that...

[@DarkVeilGaming]

Blorox Cleach true, but in my experiences most people from other countries know a lot more languages than us Americans.

[@Edd8]

Estas seguro?

[@mikeb8674]

Merry Christmas to you and yours, sir! I had a C64 but never saw the demos before. Great stuff. And I loved the childhood pictures, took me right back. It could easily have been my dad with me and my brother, everything looked so familiar. Right from the Gen-X template!

[@BillyNoMates1974]

Could you do a video on what you think are the best Demo Scene's for your 8 bit computers ? would be interesting to see what you think

[@Jon-Blaze]

Wow did this take me back. With a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. Thank you.

[@BaumInventions]

If people dont like loud SID christmas music on my party ... they are not invited :D Problem solved

[@rebelrailz.]

I love the old 8-Bit/SID music... invite me, please! x3

[@redpheonix1000]

You could probably throw one with the soundtrack of the Gloatlight demo by Fairlight. Go listen to it!

[@bobjohnson3173]

Our parents got us one of these around 1982 after we moved back into our house after a fire that happened Feb of 82. It was supposed to be for all of us...I'm not even sure what prompted my parents to get it but it ended up becoming mine and this demo really takes me back. I remember running this thing and seeing that first video with the snowy village ... I even have an animated gif of that snowy village and watching it makes me smile...I can almost smell the new computer smell and feel that same sense of wonder at how cool those graphics looked at the time.

[@EVRLYNMedia]

Not dissapointed with this Christmas thing.

[@AdamChristensen]

Amazing to see the Commodore Christmas demo featured! It is my first vivid memory of using a computer. My dad still has our SX-64. Fond memories!

[@shadoskill]

Any one notice the intro disk says 'LOAD "*", 8' but he types 'LOAD "$", 8'

[@ChristopherUSSmith]

Shadoskill Heckroth The LOAD "$",8 was used to load the disk directory first. Then he used the LOAD"*",8 to load the first program in the directory.

[@d_vibe-swe]

The demoscene

[@devttyUSB0]

A very merry christmas to you, and thanks for creating such cool content! I very much remember 'the demo scene' from when it was big on early PCs. Back then the whole MOD, S3M, XM and IT 'tracker scene' was big too. Been to a few of the 'compos' (competitions) too. The ever astonishing graphic feats. Some of that stuff should be really cool to make a vid about. Check out the Mind Candy DVDs: www.mindcandydvd.com/ - awesome.

[@devttyUSB0]

Heh. Remember when all downloads from BBS'es came with some .com-format 'demo' with horizontal scrollbars? Or when you saw the 'plasma'-effect the first time? ;) Oooh trip down memory lane.

[@AlexisZamorano_frognum]

Excelentes videos los del 8bit guy. Acá en Chile el Commodore no fue tan masivo como el Atari, pero recuerdo jugar el Special Delivery en la época cercana a navidad para darle "ambiente" a diciembre. Feliz navidad para todos.

[@inrg3688]

Can you communicate with two commodores using the userport?

[@blazeelvirafirehoof7844]

Merry christmas man, merry christmas. May the Commadore be with you.

[@vegardertilbake1]

ARE YOU KEEPING UP WITH THE COMMODORE

[@berownik1246]

No

[@Angelgreat]

CAUSE THE COMMODORE IS KEEPING UP WITH YOU

[@SoylentGreenIsPeople]

Thanks for posting this! I remember being called down by my dad each year and watching this disk and other Christmas themed demos. Back then it seemed like the coolest thing that I had ever seen even though it doesn't it look like much now. Anyway, keep up the good videos and I just got my copy of Planet X2 in the mail a few days ago and look forward to trying it out during my time off during the holidays!!

[@MrMaclovin]

Alright but seriously, how was that dancing spinning man done in under 64k?

[@pharmtek]

that group does some amazing tricks kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4S1g4edpJJ_jaM

[@chris-do]

I remember this Demo. It was on the Test/Demodisk. Delivered with my new C128D. And many Years later, i´m starting this amazing Demo at Christmas time again :-) Merry Christmas from Germany

[@HebaruSan]

Very interesting. From your description of your design process for PX2, I didn't realize that it was possible to combine character graphics and sprites on the screen at the same time. How did that work? Just print characters, then draw pixels?

[@The8BitGuy]

Sprites are a totally independent part of the C64's video chip. They work in any mode. In fact, I use 1 sprite in Planet X2 as the browse selector.

[@HebaruSan]

It's a cool resource-saving design feature. Do you have to redraw the character graphics if a sprite obscures them, or does the hardware take care of that?

[@AnOfficialAndrewFloyd]

Systems with sprites likely had Display Priority flags. This would determine if a sprite was opaque or transparent, and if text or bitmapped pixels displayed on top of or behind sprites. Sprites do not affect anything they pass over.

[@HebaruSan]

Wow, hardware compositing in 1982. Of all the C64 features people have fawned over, I think I find this one the most impressive.

[@HebaruSan]

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. It never occurred to me that there was no framebuffer!

[@tezzamc5631]

Merry Christmas and a Safe New Year to the 8-Bit Guy.

[@domnulvlad4471]

You left the episode number in again...

[@kenfagerdotcom]

Merry Christmast to you too! I've really taken a keen interest in your videos this year. Keep up the great work!

[@9wattcat]

Episode 193?

[@SpikeKastleman]

Merry Christmas, Mr. Guy! Hope you and the family have a love filled Christmas Day!

[@xcvsdxvsx]

Is basic on the commodore an interpreted language like python? I'm trying to make sense of why they would ship the disk with source code on it rather than just a binary.

[@kaiseanng6669]

I think so. Watch his videos on BASIC and I think they mention it.

[@ct6502c]

xcvsdxvsx Python isn't even a real programming language, since you can't make a stand-alone executable with it. Any computer that runs a program made with Python has to have a Python installed on it. It's just a scripting language.

[@kaiseanng6669]

Pretty much. (although you can package it with a python build and make it an "exe")

[@FriedOrange]

Commodore programs were frequently written in mostly BASIC (which is indeed interpreted), with any parts that needed speed (especially true for games) in machine code.

[@GeekBoy03]

@ct92404 He never said it was a programming language, but interpreted; meaning the computer interprets the human code as it is executed. Which is how BASIC is treated, however BASIC can be compiled as there were BASIC compilers available for the C64 which made the application run a LOT faster,

[@isoguy.]

Great vid, wow, that was the first time ever for me. I've never stopped to the very end of a youtube video before, because credits is boring, but you had me hooked right to the last second. Thanks for all the great videos this year, may I personally wish you a Great Christmas & A Happy New Year. Sorry no fab credits to my comments.

[@shreyaskul]

Its my birthday and here is the present! I love your videos David :) keep it up...

[@yvonnerogers6429]

Thank you for yet another awesome video! I find it pretty awesome to find out what Christmas looked like when I was a baby. Happy Holidays.

[@AirborneSurfer]

Demoscene stuff amazes me as it's incredible how much programmers have been able to push the envelope of the original hardware! Great stuff!

[@freesaxon6835]

And a merry Christmas to you & yours Ahhhh the music of midi files, can't beat it, very nostalgic

[@intel386DX]

9:53 wooden Atari 2600 and wooden TV just beautiful !!!!!!!

[@1Bonehed]

This makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I remember going into different stores around Christmas time & staring at Demos of different computers in amazement. I ended up with an Atari 800XL because of all the Atari 2600 cartridges I had already. I was always a bit jealous of the C64's sound capabilities, but they all had their individual limitations back then. I think there is something missing from today's software buying experience. Today's generation will never feel that appreciation of looking through floppy drive packages to find that special game you want & waiting to open it up, go to the company BBS & load it up & play. Looking back, I think it was part of the experience. Great vid

[@davidfountain6607]

Thank you for another entertaining and educational video. Merry Christmas to you and all the family!

[@loganmacgyver2625]

10:09 that was what i was thinking about , and planning for this year's christmas and thank you, i wish a merry christmas for you too

[@JeffTiberend]

Merry Christmas to all! Thanks for posting this.

[@flintsteel7]

Thanks for the in-depth look. I like how you explain about memory use, text characters, etc.

[@config2000]

Oh memories. I recall playing this demo many a time. The C64's SID chip is such a marvel. Rob Hubbard and Martin Gallway rocked it back in the day producing amazing music. Thanks for the memories and signing out ... SYS 64738!

[@Underdrummer]

So many great memories! Opening my first Commodore 64 back in good old 1986 and then getting Dark Castle and Last Ninja too!!! I had no idea the wonders that awaited me. Merry Christmas and God bless!

[@FireDran]

Merry Christmas, 8-Bit Guy! I appreciate these types of videos!

[@xlake218]

Merry Christmas to you and yours, 8-Bit Guy, and a Happy New Year!

[@dotHTM]

I lived just on the edge of Hurst, TX growing up, and while I went to Birdville ISD schools, we got the HEB ISD school cable channel. During the winter break, they ran 24/7 a loop of student made pictures and animations of various Christmas and winter scenes, all in that familiar blocky text mode. It always fascinated me, and I wouldn't be surprised if cleaning out my mother's house if I found a VHS of some of those early digital fireplace-like animations. My mother worked in the HEB ISD, and told me that they were made by the high school's students, and I was eager to get to do that, even though I was only in first or second grade. Alas, by the time I made it to high school and later the Media Tech class, Commodore 64s were long outdated, and the C programming class felt they had better things to do than write demos at that point in the year. Not that it mattered much, Neither HEB or Birdville cable channels ran interesting content on their break anymore.

[@Mr.E_Days]

Merry Christmas 8-Bit Guy and to all of you!

[@AftercastGames]

I had that Christmas demo on the C64, although I’d forgotten completely about it. Now I’m going to have to find it again! Thanks 8BG!

[@frankbernard6819]

That disk brings back tons of memories when I bought my 64 in '82. Thanks.