C64 Direct-to-TV


The C64 Direct-to-TV, called C64DTV for short, is a single-chip implementation of the Commodore 64 computer, contained in a joystick, with 30 built-in games. The design is similar to the Atari Classics 10-in-1 TV Game. The circuitry of the C64DTV was designed by Jeri Ellsworth, a computer chip designer who had previously designed the C-One.
Tulip Computers licensed the rights to Ironstone Partners, which cooperated with DC Studios and Mammoth Toys in the development and marketing of the unit. Released in late 2004, QVC purchased the entire first production run of 250,000 units and sold 70,000 of them on the first day that they were offered.

Versions

There exist multiple versions of the C64DTV. DTV1 comes with 2 MB ROM. It first appeared in late 2004 for the American/Canadian market. DTV2 is a revised version for the European and world markets and appeared in late 2005. The ROM has been replaced by flash memory in these devices. However, the DTV2/PAL version suffers from a manufacturing fault, which results in poor colour rendering. In the DTV3, a problem with the blitter was fixed.

Hardware specifications

The official games for the unit are mostly a mix of Epyx and Hewson C64 games. Games unique to the NTSC or PAL versions are noted below.
TitleDeveloperPublisherNTSCPAL
Summer GamesEpyx
Winter GamesEpyx
PitstopEpyx
Pitstop IIEpyx
Super CycleEpyx
Jumpman JuniorEpyx
Impossible MissionEpyx
Impossible Mission IIEpyx
Championship WrestlingEpyx
Gateway to ApshaiEpyx
Sword of FargoalEpyx
International Karate Epyx
California GamesEpyx
Silicon WarriorEpyx
AlleykatHewson
Nebulus Hewson
Maze ManiaHewson
ParadroidHewson
EliminatorHewson
Cyberdyne WarriorHewson
CybernoidHewson
Cybernoid II: The RevengeHewson
RanaramaHewson
MarauderHewson
Head the BallHewson
Mission ImpossibubbleHewson
FirelordHewson
ExolonHewson
NetherworldHewson
UridiumHewson
ZynapsHewson
SpeedballImage Works
Bull Riding Epyx
Sumo Epyx
Flying Disk Epyx
Surfing Epyx

Hardware-modding

Since the internal circuit board has exposed solder points for floppy-drive and keyboard ports, hardware modifications of the C64DTV are relatively simple.
Known hardware mods
  • Keyboard connector
  • External joystick
  • Floppy connector
  • Power unit connector
  • Fixing the palette problems of the PAL version
  • S-Video connector
  • User port
  • Original C64 casing and PS2 keyboard
Additional hardware
The internal flash memory is accessible as device 1. However, software is not included to support write operations so high-score saving is not possible. Also, flash devices used in the DTV are specified for a very limited number of write accesses only.
When using the standard keyboard mod, the F7 key does not work. There is a workaround, the "Keyboard Twister."

Software-modding

The DTV contains software-flashable memory. A number of tools have been released to compile programs into DTV-compatible flash images and load it onto the DTV. People made their own game compilations, adding popular games that were not in the original DTV, added boot menus to make homebrew software development easier or enable new features, for example transfer programs like DTVtrans for transferring data from PC to DTV RAM and vice versa via the PC parallel port and the DTV joystick port.