Would you like Games with that Computer? Revisiting early Game History & Culture with the Commodore 64

Abstract

In this paper, we first document that most video games of the 1980s were published on home computers, and especially on the Commodore 64 (C64), but that home computers have been curiously sidelined in histories of early video games and game culture. This raises a question: What was the relation between home computers and games, or between computer and game culture in the 1980s? Graeme Kirkpatrick’s study of UK game magazines argued that game culture became increasingly divorced from technical computer culture during the 1980s. But what does that history look like from the other side, through the lens of the C64? To answer this, we study early advertisements for the C64 and show its promotion as a universal computer – with heavily gendered roles - for the whole family, but downplaying video games. Then, examining early computer and game magazines, we argue that contrary to what previous research has reported, the late C64 period saw a renewed emphasis on programming as commercial software waned and the demoscene became popular. Thus, the paper argues that the central role of home computers in early video game history and culture has been neglected, and that game and computer culture continually interacted during the history of the Commodore 64.