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Circulating around the inner tubes of the internet for a few weeks has been the news that YouTuber Peri Fractic (aka Christian Simpson of the Retro Recipes channel) has been in talks to head up a move to purchase Commodore – yes Commodore, the actual Commodore – a company so mismanaged time and time again since the mid-90s it makes gamers of a certain age want to cry.
Commodore means a lot to so many people, from growing up with Vic 20s and C64s as their first computer to me, a former editor of the outstandingly funny Amiga Action magazine, once, briefly, the best-selling Amiga magazine in the world in its heyday.
In 1995, Commodore, a company with its hugely successful Amiga computer, collapsed, was bought out for the first of many subsequent times, and has since been a shambolic example of stubbornness and greed. About a billion fragments of various IPs and trademarks exist and are scattered around companies and people who infight and argue, and sue and counter-sue, and it’s just been horrible to watch.
Then, a couple of weeks ago, Simpson dropped a YouTube video saying he was looking to buy Commodore and reinvigorate it to its former glory, hoping to release new hardware, start a Commodore Cares charity that would install Commodore machines into children’s hospitals, and so forth.
It was very exciting, and then nothing, until this week when a follow-up video announced that the sale of the company to Simpson had been agreed, and it was all systems go. I watched the video, hugely excited, and mildly irritated that this has actually been going on since the start of the year, and now we are getting videos dropped extending the story over a number of parts, obviously to get views. Fair enough, the man’s got to make a living, but the key take here is that Simposon is now the recognized de facto CEO of Commodore (albeit no money has exchanged hands yet and the deal is yet to be signed off).
Can Commodore Rise Again? Inside Perifractic’s Bold Retro Revival
Peri Fractic has wasted no time though, and has assembled a new board of former Commodore employees and cheerleaders to look after the interests of the reborn company. He’s also well-connected through his involvement with Hollywood and has got Silicon Valley actor Thomas Middleditch on board.
Others notables include Bil Herd (Commodore lead engineer 1982-1986), Albert Charpentier (Commodore VP of Technology 1979-1984), Michael Tomczyh (Assisant to Commodore President Jack Tramiel, 1980-1984), James Harrison (Commodore Tech Support 1990-1994) and the one and only David Pleasance (Commodore UK VP & Joint Managing Director, 1983-1994) – the man often credited for the movie tie-in genre.
While some are perhaps naturally sceptical that Simpson is in it for his own ego and gain, I am not having it. I’ve followed his work on YouTube, and he comes across as a genuine lover of retro, a humble and funny guy who is deeply in love with Commodore. What he has put together here is astonishing. It is what I would love to have done, but I would never have had the drive.
In a world where publishers don’t believe we should own the games we pay for, merely license them while being pumped full of microtransactions and special editions, paying much more to play three days early, and the like, this chance to save this gaming relic is important. Nobody will be trying to save Ubisoft in 40 years. Nobody will care.
Simpson says we should expect new Commodore hardware in the near future and deals and partnerships to bring the brand back to life. I am not that sure it will be that simple getting the wider public to buy in, but more power to him and his team. As an original Intellivision owner, I backed Tommy Tallarico and the reborn Intellivision Amico to the hilt, and where did that get me?
However, if we, as older gamers, truly want to hold up a flag and say, ‘Look, Fortnite kiddies, you are only playing that because of us, and companies like Commodore”, we need to get behind Simpson’s movement and do everything we can to make it a success.’
Check out the vids above for the full story, there is no option to invest yet because international investing laws are all over the show, but Simpson is looking out for Angel Investors to help get it over the line.
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