The Commodore 64 is the best-selling single personal computer
model of all time. Released in August 1982 by Commodore Business Machines, the
Commodore 64 is commonly referred to as the C64 (sometimes written C=
64 to mimic the Commodore company logo) and occasionally known as CBM
64 (its model designation), C-64 or VIC-64 (a label used by
some users, magazine writers, third party advertisements and also by Commodore
in Sweden. The original Commodore 64 casing has
affectionately been nicknamed the "breadbox" and "bullnose" due to its shape.
Introduced by Commodore Business Machines in
August 1982 at a price of US$595, it offered 64 kibibytes of RAM
with sound and graphics performance that were superior to IBM-compatible
computers of that time. During the Commodore 64's lifetime (between 1982 and
1994), sales totaled around 17 million units.
Approximately 10,000 commercial software titles were made for the Commodore 64
including development tools, office applications, and games. The machine is also
credited with popularizing the computer demo scene. The Commodore 64 is still used today by
many computer hobbyists, and emulators (see here for a list) allow anyone
with a modern computer (or even smartphones) to run these programs on their
desktop (with varying degrees of success and functionality).
The Commodore 64 is commonly seen as an icon of the 1980s. An example is the introductory movie of the video
game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which
features a Commodore 64 screen which later reveals the Rockstar North logo.