CommodoreUSA Partners with Disney

[WolfToTheMoon]

The intereting thing will be to see how many people still doubt it if the story is the same tomorrow.  Even more interesting will be to see where things go on the 5th.  It would take some pretty big self denial to continue to doubt that CUSA is for real if they get ads in a disney release.

Well... I knew that something Tron related was coming for a few days beacuse Barry sent me some material that, let's just say, hints in that way

then, you also have a message by eliyahu on awn.net saying that he and barry discussed this deal as far as last year in e-mails.

On top of that, several mods on C-A.org knew about this for some time also.

Yes, it was posted today, probably deliberately on Barry's part , but it is true.

I have also been informed and have seen their webstore, including prices on the hardware.

It is happening as outlined in their PR.

[WolfToTheMoon]

http://disney.go.com/tron/index_flash.html#/partners



I guess this should be enough of a proof for those still thinking it's April 1st?

[WolfToTheMoon]

Looking at the menu, am I correct in assuming that you only get to see this ad if you're one of the 0.000001% of people who accidently click on the obscure "Partners" tab

Yes, you are correct...

However, if you buy a Tron Legacy disc you will receive, in the box



this printed add.


This is just the beginning. There are more marketing and technology deals to come

[WolfToTheMoon]

I still don't get the direction of the company, or the reasoning behind the product line, but I hope that someone doesn't lose a small fortune here because there could have been other projects such has bringing the FPGA to market in mass for Xmas that could really generate some cash.

FPGA? Maybe one day, but for now it will remain a hobbyist market when it comes to C= and Amiga related products.
As to loosing a small fortune, if you wanna make it, you got to take risks.

[WolfToTheMoon]

I am with darrin if they had all this money would have been better to make something we can use and not just another PC.

Well, I can use this... from emulation, to everyday work and BluRay movies.

There are other companies and people selling stuff for C= and Amiga hobbysts. I don't think they(C=USA) could have done anything significant on the "classic" market. It's pretty saturated as it is.

[WolfToTheMoon]

The question is: what are they advertising ?

Last time I checked there were no C64 product, just words about "Workbench 5".

C64x is in production ...

[WolfToTheMoon]

With an apparent launch date as early as next week.

Yes...
Though, if you do order, you're likely to wait for a few weeks as they have sold almost the entire first production run to large retailers.

[WolfToTheMoon]

Do you mean big companies or fat local business owners?  

Don't know exactly, but I know that at least one of those has a global business reach

[WolfToTheMoon]

Launched where?  Online?

Yes.

Possibly even on shelves of some retail stores. AFAIK, they are already being produced and they probably shipped some of them. This part is just my conjecture, so I could be wrong, but they are in production.

I like Tron (new and old), and I'll probably buy one of the new  breadboxes. The case is neat, and it doesn't really matter what it's  running. I'd like it even more if you could jut buy empty cases.       

Yes... I've seen parts of the webstore, C64x barebones is available to order on launch.

[WolfToTheMoon]

Neither - it's the Magical Commodore Brand that imbues it with holy powers of awesomeness. CUSA spent much money in acquiring the Holy Brand, therefore we are now obligated to love and cherish them.

At least, that's how it seems to work around here :|

We are the C=USA. Lower your shields and surrender your Amigas. We will  add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your  culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile.

 :lol:

[WolfToTheMoon]

Stop and think about it for a minute. Mike's Replay board will fit in one of those barebones cases. I'm not sure the Natami will. And I can't think of a PPC design that would.
But there lot's of other PC boards. Several that are more powerful than the Intel Atom/Nvidia combo used by C=USA.
I'm surprised they're even offering this option, but those of you that like the case, but don't care for the contents will have some interesting options.

Natami is sub mini-ITX, so it will fit, dimensions wise.
But, there will be a A500x case that would probably be more appropriate for NATAMI, by the end of this year it should be out. It will also be sold as barebones.

[WolfToTheMoon]

meh - nothing against the old A500, but I was always a bigger fan of the original breadbox designs for the in-keyboard (or the A600/1200 style).  A500 looked just like a C128 to me.

Me too...

The A500x will not be an exact replica of the A500, as far as I understand. Expect something in between A500 and A1200. Probably something mora similar to the Amiga Fantasy case than A500.

[WolfToTheMoon]

A business model based on nostalgia that might sell 10k units of the C64x, if it's lucky, is not enough to kickstart new OS development.

well, based on what I know, they have already sold more then that.

Nor can such a model guarantee a sufficiently large enough ROI to justify investment in new OS development.

Strange since Hyperion seems to be managing that with a lot smaller resources. OK, maybe I haven't shown the best example in favor of that strategy

[WolfToTheMoon]

To ease the tensions(and still be ontopic)...

[WolfToTheMoon]

Barry is a real business man, assembling a real team and is laying down real money. Will he ultimately succeed or fail? I can't say. I will agree that many assessments are off base and seem almost religious in nature.

I'd like to quote one of my favorite TV characters





"He who dares, wins!"