Hands-on with Commodore's gaming rigs

We had a chance to get hands-on with Commodor's new gaming rigs in their booth here at CeBIT. As you'd expect, they played the part with ease during the canned-and-cached demonstrations. But we'll have to wait for some hard working reviews before passing judgment on something so potentially life consuming as a gaming PC. Still, they had a flood of skinned rigs to ogle and even provided us with a peek at their new "C-kin" personalization (aka, painting) software. Check all the action in the gallery below including a freshly skinned laptop which, according to Commodore, is "a hint at things to come."

Gallery: Hands-on with Commodore's gaming rigs

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[James @ Mar 15th 2007 2:01PM]

whats up with that last pic being upside-down and flipped?

sweet rig btw. nice to see the big c come back.

[EDawg @ Mar 15th 2007 2:21PM]

the photo of the C64 and 1541 disk drive are more exciting than a new Windows machine. (inner monologue) "Why", "Oh why did Commodore blow it and never advance the C64 & Amiga to World PC Dominance? WHYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyy?"

"KHHHHHHAAAAAAANNNNNN!"

[Albion @ Sep 11th 2007 2:18PM]

Bad management and poor marketing killed Commodore.

[PJ @ Mar 15th 2007 2:31PM]

I honestly would have preferred something a bit more, well, special since they do in theory have all of the Commodore assets. Here are a few things that would have been a slam-dunk and neat besides:

1. Including an actual C-64 system complete with an actual working 5 1/4 and cart port that, using a boot loader, would allow booting either into C-64 or Window mode.

2. A dual-boot system using either AmigaOS or Windows.

3. A re-engineered C-64 that worked similar to how the Atari Flashback 2.0 works.

4. A mATX system built upon a C-64 chassis.

All of these potentials aside, I would be highly interested in the case itself since the entire skinning aspect appeals to me. That and allow me to change the look of my system depending upon my mood. ^__^

[henrrrik @ Mar 15th 2007 4:34PM]

That's just shameful. Generic-looking cheapo boxes.

[Mischa Lockton @ Mar 15th 2007 5:07PM]

It aint sh** without AmigaOS. This is an embarrassment.

[Rob Gomes @ Mar 15th 2007 5:33PM]

Anyone else notice that one of those towers had PS/2 ports?

Dare I ask... why? Assuming the price range on one of these rigs is somewhere beyond $2000, I think you could also assume that these buyers can afford some USB peripherals to go with it.

[Paddy @ Mar 15th 2007 7:24PM]

all good motherboards generally have ps/2 ports.

[Paddy @ Mar 15th 2007 7:34PM]

some boards(like my abit quad gt) wont boot with usb devices plugged in until u flash to a later bios

[Andir3.0 @ Mar 15th 2007 7:26PM]

It's the Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus Motherboard. I know because I have one and nobody could forget that back panel configuration. It's the first aftermarket Motherboard that I've seen that does not include Serial and Parallel ports on the board.

As far as PS/2 support. Anyone serious about computers will tell you that USB keyboards/mice are an absolute horrible way to communicate with the PC. PS/2 uses hardware to control the keyboard/mouse and USB does everything through the processor/drivers. If your machine is dogging, so is your mouse and keyboard. I don't think that's changed in the past year or so when I last tested a USB mouse and on a full load, the mouse was so jerky I wanted to throw it across the room.

It's going to be a sad sad day when the PS/2 port is phased out.

[AlphonseElric @ Mar 15th 2007 7:31PM]

Still retains the worst feature of the Amiga: the C= "Chicken Lips" logo. not just one but hundread, splashed all over the box. ick.

[Mike @ Mar 15th 2007 8:11PM]

I'm pumped with those F1 and F2 keys at the bottom. Easier access to software lighting/fan settings most likely, instead of a shitty looking program.

[Brown @ Mar 15th 2007 10:23PM]

This is a joke right? Those things look like something anyone could put together at Fry's with a fancy airbrush job. I was expecting something a bit more revolutionary from the Big C. I actually feel bad for them...

[boden @ Mar 16th 2007 3:17AM]

Looks like somebody rounded the screws off on that 120mm rear fan.
I wonder how much the brand 'Commodore' as it appears now has to do with anything of the Commodore in the past... Wasn't Amiga sold on to Amiga Inc? (and then probably sold on another 4 times) Meaning that Commodore as it is now wouldn't be able to include anything Amiga based without licensing agreements.

[teel @ Mar 16th 2007 10:15AM]

Some generic fugly gaming rigs with bright colors and leds all over. Wouldn't want one even near my apartment.

What is it with PC manufacturers being unable to hire some designers who aren't blind monkeys on crack?

[jin @ Mar 17th 2007 7:45AM]

yah... boo! there's not a HINT of the old school c64 heritage! what the heck? sure, you can get any pc and call it a commodore but where's the commodore?! i want my beige plastic dangit!

and i swear that if it takes less than 5min to load f-15 strike fighter... (shaking fist)

jin