The Commander X16 Is a Brand-New Computer Built From 1980s Technology

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Күн бұрын

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@djstyles97 9 ай бұрын

After all these years it's great to see The 8-Bit Guy finally get more mainstream recognition.

@vivastar2231 9 ай бұрын

oh yea its great, been watching him for a few years now :).. was interested in his restoration videos at first, but now anything goes :)

@GimmeTOKYO 9 ай бұрын

Right? Been loving his videos for 7 or 8 years now and it’s just been amazing seeing the recognition that he deserves.

@squirlmy Ай бұрын

except the X16 Commander sucks and is overpriced. he should get recognition for other things. Like seriously.

@fuseegelee Ай бұрын

⁠@@squirlmyeven if that’s your opinion, you need to be more positive. It’s also the Commander X16 not the X16 Commander

@claytonjones6127 4 ай бұрын

If you don't know "the 8 bit guy" channel, you are really missing out! this guy has such a deep and interesting base of knowledge. Basically - interesting and smart people are interesting! thanks for spotlighting 8 bit guy - its a great resource to learn more about computers, software, game design, retro tech, history, restoration, video games etc.

@jonathany1259 9 ай бұрын

8 bit guy is the real OG, so cool to see this

@calledout4437 9 ай бұрын

Atari 800 here. It was magical haha. Nostalgia from those days.

@johntilghman 4 ай бұрын

Wish you could still find them

@HerecomestheCalavera 2 ай бұрын

@@johntilghman Ebay

@DavidGalich77 7 ай бұрын

What a throwback to the day.

@JustWasted3HoursHere 9 ай бұрын

This computer has been many years in the making. The end goal, not mentioned, is to get the price down to as little as possible, perhaps even less than $100 eventually. But these first few iterations will be around $400 or so. One thing that was really cool about those old 8 bit computers like the VIC-20 and C64 (and Atari 400/800/etc) were that they came with a spiral-bound user manual that showed you how to program in BASIC so you could start making your own games right away. Many legendary programmers got their feet wet doing just that.

@endwigast5212 6 ай бұрын

Less than $100? Yeah, won't happen... not even close.

@JustWasted3HoursHere 6 ай бұрын

@@endwigast5212 In large enough volume and with custom ASICs, possibly. Certainly less than $200 is possible. After all, the mini systems that were released over the last several years were around $100. The X16 could probably be software emulated on a very low cost ARM processor (less than $10 in volume).

@endwigast5212 6 ай бұрын

@@JustWasted3HoursHere Why are you talking volume when you know full well this is a very niche retrocomputing item catering to a very small market? And why compare to mini devices when the X16 is not trying to be a SoC machine? Wanna talk emulation, eh? OK, the X16 can be emulated on your existing PC for no extra cost except the price of electricity, so it certainly beats the $100 cost you projected - congrats.

@jsmythib 5 ай бұрын

@@endwigast5212 Not sure what currency they are pricing in, but $400 will be the new $100 before ya know it.

@saszab 2 ай бұрын

There is such computer. Even twice cheaper than $100! It's name is Agon Light 2. It's based on another cult processor of this era - Z80 (its newer version eZ80 to be more precise), but surprisingly it runs BBC Basic, which was originally written for 6502.

@TalynWuff 9 ай бұрын

Proud of David getting mainstream eyeballs.

@Elibbb-sx3kg 9 ай бұрын

But can it run crysis ?

@batterypwrlow 9 ай бұрын

I'd be surprised if it could run Doom

@Jos3phIVIasucci 9 ай бұрын

Some men just wanna watch the world burn.

@TheLastLineLive 9 ай бұрын

It would be great if they could convince Crytek to make a Commodore 64 version of Crysis (probably a top down run and gun shooter like Commando would be appropriate) so they could say yes, it runs Crysis!

@uziel900able 9 ай бұрын

😂😂😂 that's rich!@@TheLastLineLive

@earthsteward70 9 ай бұрын

It CAN run 3D engines.

@LordXsi 9 ай бұрын

Programming was anything but “basic” in those times. You had to actually know the hardware and really understand a lot of algorithms to get anywhere serious. And there were very few (if any) prebuilt libraries. And no stackoverflow or anything like that. Real programming was an art back then.

@doltBmB 9 ай бұрын

no, that stuff is simple, it's having 100 million lines of code on top that nobody can understand that makes it hard

@c0d3warrior 9 ай бұрын

Blindly typing in a listing from a print magazine was a thing back then, too. Understanding what that listing did was an entirely different thing however.

@arfansthename 2 ай бұрын

@@LordXsi you're confusing "home programming" with "professional programming". home programming usually uses BASIC, a high-level language (a language with syntax much more closer to human language than machine language) used in most home computers of the 70s and 80s. professional programming usually uses assembly, a low-level language (a language with syntax much more closer to machine language than human language) that requires a complete understanding of the processor used in order to code.

@squirlmy Ай бұрын

if you were doing "serious" and "real" programming with Basic, you were a fool, maybe today, too. Microsoft actually built most BASIC in ROMs of vintage 8-bit computers. So it was free, and elementary and even high schools would teach it. In part it was taught and distributed for free BECAUSE it was not appropriate for professional work and computer companies didn't care if Basic programs were shared, or small apps were sold by hobbyists. It was what companies thought "open source" would be like, until Open Source became real.

@benbreeck3363 9 ай бұрын

For follows up, you should next profile the C256 Foenix series by Stefanie Allaire and the MEGA65.

@gabor222 9 ай бұрын

Yeah, both has beautiful and more retro design and the Mega has the C64 compatibility too.

@RaymondHulha 9 ай бұрын

Thank you for this great video! ❤

@TheRafaelRamos 9 ай бұрын

THE 8-BIT GUY MENTIONED, LET'S GOOOOO

@DougDingus 9 ай бұрын

Thanks IGN. This project deserves a little mainstream recognition and it's great to see.

@cucho69 4 ай бұрын

¡David es un genio!, me gustaría poder comprarla en Argentina

@mrsupertash 9 ай бұрын

If you say dream computer I'm thinking about the one in Weird Science.

@endwigast5212 6 ай бұрын

You've got no pickup skills?

@eduardoADSL 9 ай бұрын

Congratulations David, nice to see you here.

@_yatte 9 ай бұрын

The parallels with synthesizers and music studio/mixing gear 😂 you have no idea yall 😅

@greatwhiteretro 9 ай бұрын

The Commodore 16 wasn't the inspiration, rather the VIC 20 was. The C16 and its TED counterparts took a very different direction.

@TheMitoSan 9 ай бұрын

It's awesome to see David on IGN. Amazing! 💜

@Bob-1802 2 ай бұрын

I didn't know FPGA's were a thing in the 80's.

@Khaostheory1980 9 ай бұрын

2:49 was not actually screwing any screws...

@sn0n 9 ай бұрын

^ this

@markododa 9 ай бұрын

What is the game at the beginning of the video, Shadow something?

@jengelenm 9 ай бұрын

Great video guys, alongside David’s supergreat project, there’s also Stefany Allaire’s Phoenix Systems 16bit retro computers. Surely deserves a spotlight as well !!! Cheers

@sherekhangamedev 9 ай бұрын

One of the magnum opus from 8-bit guy. A really solid "what if" system.

@Tarodenaro 9 ай бұрын

Can you guys please pass this to the IGN France: "Back then, in the 80's, you can connect up two IDE devices, with either "primary" or "slave" in one ribbon connectors"

@neuralwarp 9 ай бұрын

A desktop VAX cluster please.

@jc33353 9 ай бұрын

Love to see this. It can be really fun trying to figure out how far you can take a system with intentionally limited capabilities like this one. Plus it has those big chonky chips!

@johnmckown1267 9 ай бұрын

Ah, my TRS-80 model 1 with 56K and an 80 track single sided 5.25 inch floppy powered by a Z-80 processor.

@edminchau811 6 ай бұрын

You had 80 tracks? Luxury!

9 ай бұрын

So Great to see the 8 bit guy in IGN.

@mrelba9176 9 ай бұрын

WAIT...This was an unexpected feature. Go The 8-Bit Guy!

@trippg3261 9 ай бұрын

Just FYI folks, learning to program on this, or learning how this relatively simple CPU works will actually let you understand a lot about the current hardware. In my opinion more people learning to code on this will be the breakthrough needed for the US to excel in hardware design.

@HumanityAsCode 9 ай бұрын

Is this thing really $350?

@fenrirwolfy1848 4 ай бұрын

Yes and no. David is working on ways to make other X16 boards that are cheaper. You can expect smaller boards for $100, but if you want something more sophisticated and high quality, you can buy a bigger board for a bigger price.

@scottiepal3029 9 ай бұрын

How to purchase it. How much? For a complete system

@Bobbias 9 ай бұрын

Currently they're selling the developer edition, which is about 400 USD. They hope to reduce prices over time, as the intended price is 100 USD, but the price of electronics has overseen a fair bit since the project began development making that price point quite difficult to hit.

@alexbedel6320 9 ай бұрын

Can it run dwarf fortress

@DaftRebel 9 ай бұрын

the 8 bit guy is the best!

@DarkZenith 9 ай бұрын

pretty sure the wood grain veneer reached its height in the 70s. 80s people started wanting to go black/silver/etc

@AS-oz6ep 9 ай бұрын

For what it is.. the price is much too high for me to consider buying one at this time.

@the_otamatone 9 ай бұрын

They hope to reduce the price, and there is a clone called the otter, which is about half the price right now

@throwaway6478 9 ай бұрын

@@the_otamatone They throw a fair bit away to hit that price point though. 512KB RAM instead of 2MB, a single expansion slot instead of four, and several of the chips aren't genuine parts - they're emulations based on modern microcontrollers/FPGAs, which would upset some of the target demographic for a machine like the X16. Having said that, from what I've seen, the Otter is pretty close to what 8-Bit Guy envisages for the "cost reduced" second version of the X16, plus he wants to go surface-mount to reduce cost even more.

@stuartleckie 9 ай бұрын

Seth the right guy to bring this to the IGN audience! Awesome.

@AnnatarTheMaia 9 ай бұрын

1970's technology had wood veneer; in the 1980's plastic was the new cool.

@F40PH-2CAT 3 ай бұрын

No. Wood was popular thru the 80s.

@kingshadow8782 9 ай бұрын

Nice.

@TGAProMKM 9 ай бұрын

wow!!

@SpaceGringos3D 9 ай бұрын

8-Bit guy!!!!!!!

@EvelynRamos2 9 ай бұрын

Interesting

@varganyamuvek Ай бұрын

The narrator looks like Ben Eater.

@toplist4944 9 ай бұрын

nice...

@COMATRON. 9 ай бұрын

dope! MiSTer core would be even more dope

@awedelen1 9 ай бұрын

Nice

@hi2chan 9 ай бұрын

My dream PC is a Mac Pro

@toma01001 9 ай бұрын

Keep dreaming

@Adam-jw3uz 9 ай бұрын

I'm already a longtime fan of 8BG and his work, I'm just here to read the normie reactions to the video and laugh at the ignoramuses.

@johnhunt1725 9 ай бұрын

But, WHY?!?

@F40PH-2CAT 3 ай бұрын

Did you watch the video?

@mkolt 4 ай бұрын

Computer deisgned by a guy, who famously burned an IBM prototype by shorting the powersupply with a paperclip? Irony.

@BlackGymkhana 4 ай бұрын

...and cutting security screws with a dremel...

@F40PH-2CAT 3 ай бұрын

Get over it.

@millsyinnz 3 ай бұрын

yeah, he wasnt exactly in form that time. Probably should have just put it to one side.

@ignaciosalia1952 9 ай бұрын

I'm not crying you are crying

@valentinoesposito3614 9 ай бұрын

8 bit guy

@juniorxranger 9 ай бұрын

My mind is blown right now. IGN!!

@retrotechnerd 5 ай бұрын

The X16 is way overpriced and has virtually no game development being done for it making it essentially an expensive paperweight.

@fenrirwolfy1848 4 ай бұрын

Have you even watched the update videos on the X16? It's still in infancy, they're still trying to find game developers and ways to bring the price down. You can't hate on something that's not even close to being done.

@The10021k-guy 4 ай бұрын

At VCFMW he was demoing the system and it's amazing 🤩

@F40PH-2CAT 3 ай бұрын

Simply not true.

@retrotechnerd 3 ай бұрын

@@fenrirwolfy1848 it’s been released for a long time and still has virtually no software. Stating facts is not hating. It’s the truth. The Speccy Next has tons more games coming out for it than the overpriced x16.

@retrotechnerd 3 ай бұрын

@@F40PH-2CAT it is true. Overpriced and very little software.

@Iamallwaysright1 9 ай бұрын

Cool concept but idk how useful it is. Can't this just be emulated?

@batterypwrlow 9 ай бұрын

@DanteS-119correct. Some games heavily depended on the cpu clock speed for the game speed. Goof example is if you get the OG Xbox and did an overclock on the cpu, some games will go faster like the speed of characters, npcs, attacks, ect. Can cause game breaking glitches sometimes too. It's kind of interesting.

@jc33353 9 ай бұрын

There is already an emulator, which is how X16 games can be played on Steam. This is all discussed in the video.

@gormondprecursor3525 9 ай бұрын

@DanteS-119 Even on something like a MiSTer?

@novh4ck 9 ай бұрын

It's like asking why somebody would want a simple car build like in the old times when they can buy a Tesla. Some people just want to drive cars from the 60's because it's fun.

@jonasthemovie 9 ай бұрын

You could be emulated

@jazzlover10000 9 ай бұрын

The Commander X16 made so many of us very very sad. This project could have been really great but because of the stubbornness and the way it rolled out, it's only interesting to a very small group of people. Needs a modular design with the backplane on a daughterboard so that it can be small and forged into a laptop with a display. Think Model 100 / NEC PC8201a if ANYONE had listened this could be selling a million. A real lost opportunity it's just sad, really. Also needs to be open-source instead of this ridiculous cagey "we mock you with our non-openness" kind of bzi.

@darksword1 6 ай бұрын

You do it then. They are not obligated to make your dream computer

@F40PH-2CAT 3 ай бұрын

What the hell are you talking about?

@mrsupertash 9 ай бұрын

A vibrant facebook (!!1!1!1??9) community? first of all this makes no sense, second of all, it clearly says 11 members. why lie about his?

@F40PH-2CAT 3 ай бұрын

It has 20K members 🤔

@tasso6196 3 ай бұрын

Why dedicate so much time and money to an obsolete technology? just get a raspberry.

@HerecomestheCalavera 2 ай бұрын

Exactly. The fact he really thinks this $350 machine that runs on an obsolete programming language will have any kind of success in the education market is just insane. I'd say 99.99 percent of kids would think this thing is worthless and have zero interest in it. Also at this point in time what would be the reason to learn basic? If a kid is interesting in programming they will want to do so with modern hardware. I really doubt there are many kids out there interested in learning to write programs in Basic. David seems to think it is still 1984.