This sounds like a bit of a stupid question. How can something free cost any money? The reason that I ask this is because I was speaking on a Discord chat group recently and a common statement that people make is that the Bare Metal Commodore 64 (BMC64) emulator is a better thing than THEC64 and THEC64 Mini. Of course, such a solution that one could build oneself would be better in many ways. One could presumably customise all of the settings to enhance the user experience, including I assume choosing which SID chip to emulate, or even have two SID chips emulated, and so on. On THEC64 platform, one doesn't have nearly as much control, not without hacking anyway.
Another reason for BMC64 being better [than THEC64 platform] is that it is free. I was specifically thinking of BMC64 kits that one may purchase when I made the point that THEC64 has likely sold a lot more units than these kits. The counter argument was that BMC64 is just software that one could install on a Raspberry Pi, so it's free like a Linux operating system is free. But how much would one need to spend to use BMC64?
If you're reading this and you've already made an investment in a Raspberry Pi then you may stop reading here; BMC64 isn't going to cost you any more money than you've already spent. But what if you don't already own a Raspberry Pi, and want a dedicated piece of kit just for Commodore C64 software? Is THEC64 or Mini a good solution compared to something for free?
Well let's look at costings for a BMC64 solution first. Assuming that BMC64 will run on any Raspberry Pi currently available, you're probably looking at spending around £30 - £40 GBP for the cheapest Pi, which I assume has the lowest specification. So we'll say £30 with postage. And then of course you'll want a keyboard, so there's another £10 - £15. And if you don't mind playing games with a keyboard rather than a controller or joystick, that's it. It's then just the time it takes to set up. So, you're looking at spending between £40 and £55 for this option, and that's if you don't already have a spare USB keyboard lying around. That's good value, but it's certainly not costing £0.
Like for like, THEC64 Mini is currently for sale here in the UK via Game outlets for around £40, at least in my local store in the West Midlands. Okay, so you don't have a keyboard included with the Mini, but do have a controller. I know THEC64 Mini joystick isn't the best version, but it's still a fair comparison for the cheapest BMC64 option. Set up time for THEC64 Mini is usually no more than a few minutes, whereas BMC64 may vary depending on how much one wants to configure. THEC64 Mini does include 64 games to get started with, and all of these are licensed games. THEC64 Mini has a custom housing, fewer USB ports and no included PSU. It requires a 5V 1amp USB charger, which will be another £5 - £10. Both solutions allow you to add your own software, but THEC64 platform is limited to USB 2 flash drives formatted to FAT32, though this is more than adequate for C64 games.
THEC64 Mini is nicely packaged. I genuinely had a warm fuzzy feeling when I initially opened my first THEC64 Mini. The guys at Retro Games Ltd did a really good job with the industrial design and packaging. I won't have that same feeling opening the packaging for a Raspberry Pi, but this may be different for you.
The suggestion in the chat wasn't for this cheap option, but to consider a Raspberry Pi 4000, as that includes a keyboard and a mouse. This is currently around £100 in the UK. How does that compare to THEC64 Classic?
THEC64 is currently retailing in the UK for around £120, it is housed in a stylist casing which matches the size of the most common C64 casing in the UK, and includes a fully functioning and properly mapped keyboard with a joystick controller. Again, everything on THEC64 is fully licensed, and the bundled joystick is much better than the THEC64 Mini joystick. At £120, this isn't costing significantly more than a Pi 4000 solution.
So whilst one may save some money with a Raspberry Pi, is BMC64 a better solution? Well that depends on what you mean by better. THEC64 and Mini work out of the box, and THEC64 has a fully mapped keyboard with a pretty accurate casing, and both run at 50 or 60FPS like the original hardware (depending on your region or what you're used to), and with no sound drift nor frame skipping like on some emulators especially running on lower specification hardware. There is an issue on some modern displays if you specifically want a 50Hz refresh rate, but I assume that this will be the case for a Pi anyway.
Whilst THEC64 emulation is more limited than with a BMC64, those things that are missing [from THEC64] are very marginal use cases. For most people who just want to play games, THEC64 is pretty good. If you are a more serious user and more invested in the C64 platform then BMC64 is very likely a more suitable option. It isn't for everyone though, like Linux isn't for everyone either.
This reminds me of the arguments that people used to have (maybe still do) between Microsoft Windows and Linux.
Linux is free, and yet you still need to spend about the same money as a Windows-installed PC to run it. Also, I've never known anyone to actually pay for a copy of Windows by itself as this cost is usually included with the computer, and that cost isn't necessarily significantly cheaper without a Windows installation. And more serious computer users probably want to build their own system anyway, and make their own choices of operating systems and other software installations.
So I don't own a BMC64 (or any bare metal emulator) solution, and at this point spending some money to get one isn't for me. I have got to an age now were I want things to work out of the box, rather than using my time with various customisations and setting, and wasting my time with any trouble shooting for when things go wrong. I already did that in the 1990s and early to mid 2000s with my Commodore C64 and C128 and all of the Creative Micro Designs hardware that I was using.
THEC64, regardless of what faults that it may or may not have, works. It's actually well supported and has seen regular updates for it, though I suspect that v1.6.1 will be the last firmware update for THEC64 as the remaining missing features, such as using a custom Kernal or emulating more than one drive, are very marginal use cases that most people who want to play classic games won't care that much about. Again, your experiences may differ here. Maybe it's essential that you have a custom Kernal installed, or have two SID chips emulated, for instance.
On that note, I'm off to play a few games of the absolute classic Wizball, and ponder the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.
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