The last few weeks have seen a flurry of activity surrounding 2 new “old” systems. I am of course reffering to the ZX Spectrum Next Issue 3, and the C64 Ultimate. And while most of the discourse has been broadly positive, there has been some which has ruffled a few feathers, shall we say.
Now, if I’m being honest, I wish no ill on anyone trying to revive these fondly remembered names from our youth (except anything associated with RCL, but that’s a whole other story). They are doing sterling work in the most part to keep these names alive and flourishing in the 21st century. But the noises and behaviours coming from 1 party are just a bit, well, off putting truthfully.
The team behind the ZX Spectrum Next have played an absolute blinder with their 3rd Kickstarter campaign. A proven product, with a history of delivering has seen them utterly shatter expectations with over £2.6m raised, and some 7000+ systems sold. And that’s on top of the already existing 8000 or so Issue 1 & 2 owners. So no matter how you slice it, that’s an insane achievement. Sadly, I don’t have one (money is tight and I have other priorities currently, but hope springs eternal), but plenty of folk do, and I’m sure they will enjoy it.
On the flip side, the team behind the “new” Commodore do set a few red flags off for myself, and others. Firstly, I shall state i have no problem with Commodore being “bought” by a YouTube personality. That isn’t my issue at all. My issue is how things are being handled by the team behind Commodore.
First up, some of the updates regarding the purchase of the Commodore rights were locked behind the Youtube personalities personal PAtreon page. So to find out what was going on, you have had to pay this person personally to access the information. Now, for me, this is an absolute no-no. If the new Commodore is indeed a serious, real business, then locking updated away behind the “CEOs” personal Patreon shows a lack of professionalism and class, frankly.
But perhaps more egregiously, this new Commodore is being touted as an antidote to the “toxic” modern day internet. A “digital detox brand” is how they push it.
The following post on Bluesky kind of makes that statement seem hollow at best, and utter bullshit at worst:
First up, riding the coattails of another successful product is more than a bit cringey. The ZX Spectrum Next campaign have been more than successful enough without trying to tag onto someone else’s successes. As I said, it’s cringey.
And then there is the “playground wars” nonsense. That shite was stupid 40 years ago when we were children. It’s downright pathetic these days as full grown adults. Why call out the internet, especially social media s a “toxic” place, then say something as childish ad dumb as that? A mutual online frined has told me it’s just “banter”, but I don’t care. “Banter” is an excuse. “Banter” is what people call insults & abuse when they get found out. “Banter” belongs in an episode of The Inbetweeners. Adults in their 40s don’t need to resort to “banter”.
If you are trying in earnest to sell a product, and recoup what is allegedly a 7-figure investment, be professional about it. Don’t ride the coattails of the ZX Spectrum Next team, and invoke the worst, most fanboy-esque elements of social media. Instead, look at how the ZX Spectrum Next team have gone about their business, and copy it. They have given anyone launching a product into the retro space a near perfect blueprint to follow. The “banter” has put me off, and I know of others who were interested, but are now now not that bothered.
And, incidentally, it appears to have had pretty much no impact on the pre-sales of the C64U, so it hasn’t even worked how they probably expected it to.
So Commodore, it’s time to be more professional. Stop locking stuff behind paywalls. Stop doing childish “banter”. Be a real, proper business. Be better.
