Observation: VICs in original boxes

Post by **Jeff-20** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 11:17 pm

I think the VIC 20 by far is more likely than any other system (videogame or computer) to be found in its original box.

This can be observed in thriftstores, yard sales, ebay, and collector meetings. Agree?

Why do you think this is the case?

PaulQ · Post by **PaulQ** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:09 am

I agree, and I think this is the case because of the Commodore 64. See, most people bought their Vic 20's around '82-'83, I believe. '83 is when the Commodore 64 came out. So, within a year of buying their Vic 20, everyone (myself included) jumped on the C64 bandwagon. Most people still keep their original boxes during the first year, often because of warranty or exchange/return concerns. They pack up their barely-used Vic 20, and set up their C-64. The C-64 was a popular machine for many years, so it's easy to understand why, after a couple of years, someone would use the C-64 box for something else or simply trash it. Of course, back then, the Vic 20 was worthless, so they just hung onto it until one day they decide to declutter and make a trip to the Goodwill, where, among other things, they drop off their boxed Vic.

It also explains why used Vics seem to be in terrific shape. Aside from some broken keys, mine looked barely used.

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:20 am

That's a very good point, DigitalQuirk.

Perhaps there was also a lot of original VIC stock left unsold after the C64 really started to catch on.

Also, because the VIC was, for most people, their very FIRST computer....it seemed like a big, important investment. So people weren't as callous(sp?) about throwing away the packing material. Instead, they kept everything. I even find a lot of original warranty cards & paperwork that came with the VIC.

I have two boxed VICs. I used to think that was something rare until I met the people on DENIAL. I know at least two people (VICuser and Centallica) that have at LEAST four boxed VICs.

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:33 am

Also, by the time the VIC reached the end of its life cycle, they were selling for something like $79. I knew a lot of people who bought VICs, took them out of the box once... and that was it. I suspect there were many thousands of VICs sold that were never used much at all.

MacbthPSW · Post by **MacbthPSW** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:40 am

I've got 3 VIC-20 boxes, and in fact, one of them has a VIC in it I forgot about, so that raises me to 12 VICs altogether (9 are 2-prong).

I've got 4 C-64 boxes (hmm, 5 if I count the one still at my dad's place full of old comics) but I have many more C-64s (maybe around 40?) so percentage-wise the VIC wins.

However, I've got 3 Plus/4s, and all 3 have boxes (though one is missing the outer sleeve), so that is the winner in my collection.

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:59 am

How many DTV related products do you have still in their boxes?

MacbthPSW · Post by **MacbthPSW** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 3:48 pm

carlsson wrote:How many DTV related products do you have still in their boxes?

I've got 3 Hummers that I've picked up during a couple trips to the U.S. in the last year. I haven't opened any of them; I can't stand to look

All of my C64 DTVs (five in total?) but one have been opened. That last one I keep as a prop for job interviews. I felt like throwing it at the manager at my company who wouldn't hire me as a programmer in 2005. I was the only internal applicant (we get priority due to union rules) and to avoid hiring me he had to claim I wasn't qualified! Anyway, next time a chance came around there was a different person in that position, and I got the job

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:01 pm

MacbthPSW wrote:All of my C64 DTVs (five in total?) but one have been opened. That last one I keep as a prop for job interviews. I felt like throwing it at the manager at my company who wouldn't hire me as a programmer in 2005. I was the only internal applicant (we get priority due to union rules) and to avoid hiring me he had to claim I wasn't qualified! Anyway, next time a chance came around there was a different person in that position, and I got the job

Sorry, but what does a DTV being used as a prop have to do with you getting hired/not-hired for a job? I think there's some interesting info missing here...

MacbthPSW · Post by **MacbthPSW** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:08 pm

ral-clan wrote:Sorry, but what does a DTV being used as a prop have to do with you getting hired/not-hired for a job? I think there's some interesting info missing here...

I was the lead programmer on the C64 DTV (NTSC and PAL versions) and then on the Hummer racing game which used more-or-less the same hardware. I think that's why carlsson asked. Sorry to get off-topic

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:22 pm

Yep, I guessed you would have at least a couple of units of those.

-"Not qualified? I'm the programmer behind a product that has been sold in hundreds of thousand copies around the world."

Maybe they would ask why you didn't stick to working with that product.

eslapion · Post by **eslapion** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:34 pm

MacbthPSW wrote:I was the lead programmer on the C64 DTV (NTSC and PAL versions) and then on the Hummer racing game which used more-or-less the same hardware. I think that's why carlsson asked. Sorry to get off-topic

If you were the lead pogrammer for that thing then boy do I have a truckload of questions for you... questions concerning some very annoying bugs with this thing.

First, why is it that sword of fargoal does that stupid thing of your character not being able to retract from the fight when fighting enemy creatures? In the original SoF, it is possible to pull back from a fight.

Second, why is it that, as a left handed user, it is completely impossible to use the right fire button? Only the left fire button seems to work.

Thirdly, this is less of a programming issue, my girlfriend accidentally lost the instructions sheet. After sifting for hours and hours on the web, we were able to find the instructions for the PAL version but I am still missing the instructions for a few games because PAL and NTSC DTVs don't have the same games built-in.

I must say the DTV is a great little device who's potential is partly ruined by a certain number of annoying little quicks like that.

Technically it is great but the user friendlyness is questionnable.

MacbthPSW · Post by **MacbthPSW** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:42 pm

eslapion wrote:First, why is it that sword of fargoal does that stupid thing of your character not being able to retract from the fight when fighting enemy creatures? In the original SoF, it is possible to pull back from a fight.

Yeah, that bug was introduced when we were "fixing" the game to run off the small choice of buttons available on the DTV, since there is no keyboard. Very little testing time was devoted to the NTSC version of the DTV, and Fargoal was one of the games added in the last week.

It was noticed and fixed for the PAL version, but that's little consolation.

Second, why is it that, as a left handed user, it is completely impossible to use the right fire button? Only the left fire button seems to work.

That's because the right fire button is actually a F7 (or F1 or something) key, and not a fire button at all. This was a hardware decision that was pretty much beyond our control.

Thirdly, this is less of a programming issue, my girlfriend accidentally lost the instructions sheet. After sifting for hours and hours on the web, we were able to find the instructions for the PAL version but I am still missing the instructions for a few games because PAL and NTSC DTVs don't have the same games built-in.

I don't think I ever had an electronic copy of the instructions to send. Probably best to ask at dtvhacking.info and see if anyone has a copy there.

I must say the DTV is a great little device who's potential is partly ruined by a certain number of annoying little quicks like that.

Technically it is great but the user friendlyness is questionnable.

Yup. I don't know if you've ever been involved with the video game or toy industry, but it sure was an eye-opener for me. Personally, I'm amazed that it turned out as well as it did.

I've since went on to work on a GBA game, and I was happy to see that a lot more attention was given to quality assurance. Most of the poor treatment the DTV and Hummer received were due to them "just being toys".

ral-clan · Post by **ral-clan** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:43 pm

Wow! Eslapion you asked the VERY question I was going to ask MacbethPSW. Sword of Fargoal is my favourite game....it was one of the ones I was most excited about when I bought the DTV. When I found out it didn't work properly I was so disappointed.

Oh well....at least now I can hack it to make it a C64 - I actually don't have any C64s.

The DTV was a great effort, and I'm glad it got done. The ability to hack it was a great gift to the Commodore user community. I only wish that the N. American version had the flash memory!

eslapion · Post by **eslapion** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 10:14 pm

MacbthPSW wrote:I don't think I ever had an electronic copy of the instructions to send. Probably best to ask at dtvhacking.info and see if anyone has a copy there.

Thank you for your prompt and honest response to my various griefs.

However, all I get when visiting the suggested web site is a ton of unwanted advertising.

MacbthPSW · Post by **MacbthPSW** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 11:07 pm

eslapion wrote:However, all I get when visiting the suggested web site is a ton of unwanted advertising.

Hmm, seems his domain name expired?

Well, the forum can still be reached at http://jledger.proboards19.com/index.cg ... dtvhacking