Retrocomputing Efforts
The magnetic tapes and disks upon which home computer software was stored are decaying at an alarming rate. In order to preserve game software and information, efforts are underway to copy from these degrading media onto fresh media which will help ensure a long life for the software and make it available for emulation and archiving. In addition, there are other efforts to archive Commodore 64 documentation, software manuals, magazine articles, and other nostalgia (such as software packaging artwork, game screenshots, and Commodore 64 TV commercials). Commodore 64 game software has been remarkably well documented and preserved - a considerable feat when taking the amount of software available for the platform into consideration.
The GameBase 64 (GB64) organization has an online database of game information, which at version 7 holds information for 21,000 unique game titles. The database is still growing as new information comes to light. Besides the online database a downloadable offline version exists. Using one of the frontends GameBase (Windows only) or jGameBase (platform independent) you can conveniently browse the database entries and directly start them in an emulator. The GoodGB64 variant of Cowering's Good Tools allows users to audit their C64 game collections using the GameBase64 database.
There are tools available to transfer original 1541 floppy discs to or from the PC. The Star Commander is a DOS-based tool, cbm4linux is a Linux tool, and cbm4win is a Windows tool to transfer data from an original floppy drive to the PC, or vice versa, using a simple X-cable. There are also tools available, 64HDD, to allow your C64 to directly load D64 software stored on your PC using the same cables. The Individual Computers Catweasel allows PC users to use their own floppy drive to read C64 disks.
In addition, there is now a growing number of emulators available, which allow the use of an emulated C64 on modern computing hardware. The most popular and compatible are VICE, which is free and runs on most modern as well as some older platforms; CCS64, which is by far the best and most accurate emulator program available for Windows written by Per Håkan Sundell; and Power64, which has versions for Mac OS X and OS 9.
Also the Quantum Link service has been reconstructed as Quantum Link Reloaded. It can be accessed with a real Commodore 64, or through the VICE emulator.
Special hardware has also been designed to aid the conservation of software, such as the IDE64 cartridge, which allows the user to connect a modern PC IDE ATA hard drive or a CompactFlash flashcard directly to the machine, giving the possibility to copy software onto the hard drive and use it from there, preventing wear on a decades-old floppy disk.
Nintendo's Virtual Console service offers Commodore 64 games for download on the Wii console in North America and Europe.
Read more about this topic: Commodore 64 Software
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