id Software

The $500 Commodore phone that nobody asked for There is a fine line between catering to nostalgia and exploitation, and the newly announced Commodore Callback 8020 might be stomping all over it. Christian Simpson, known online as Perifratic, has been the face of the Commodore brand's recent revival. While the **C64 Ultimate** was a genuine win for the community, this new mobile venture feels like a hardware fever dream. It is a flip phone running Sailfish OS, marketed as a "dumb phone" meant to reduce doomscrolling by blocking social media and browsers. Technically, it is a smartphone in a retro suit. It features a MediaTek Helio G81 processor and a surprisingly high-end ESS digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The marketing focuses on "mindful friction," essentially arguing that because it's harder to use T9 texting, you'll spend less time on it. However, the hardware community has been quick to point out that the device appears to be a rebranded Chinese feature phone that retails wholesale for around £25. When you slap a Commodore logo on it and charge upwards of £525 for a "Founders Edition," people are going to ask questions. The use of generative AI in the promotional trailer only adds to the sense that this project lacks the analog soul it claims to celebrate. GoldenEye XBLA finally escapes its Xbox 360 prison The saga of the cancelled GoldenEye 007 remaster for Xbox Live Arcade is one of the most famous "what-ifs" in gaming history. For years, the only way to play this 99% complete build from Rare was through an Xbox 360 emulator. This week, the preservation scene took a massive leap forward with the release of **GoldenEye Recon V 1.0**. This isn't just another emulation layer; it is a static recompilation of the original game code into a native Windows executable. By using the Rex Glue SDK, developer SunJC has essentially reverse-engineered the finished binary back into C++. The result is a version of GoldenEye that runs at a rock-solid 60fps with widescreen support and modern controller mapping. It even includes online multiplayer via Hamachi or public servers. To avoid legal fire from copyright holders, the project requires you to provide your own original game assets, which the script then builds into the PC version. It is arguably the definitive way to experience the seminal N64 shooter in the modern era, bypassing the lag and blurry textures of the original hardware. EU targets game publishers over "dead" digital titles The Stop Killing Games initiative, led by Ross Scott of Accursed Farms, has finally secured a seat at the table with the European Commission. The campaign addresses a growing rot in the industry: games that become unplayable the moment a publisher decides to switch off the servers. This isn't just about losing a favorite pastime; it's about the erasure of cultural heritage. While a car or a book works for decades, a digital game can be bricked by a corporate whim. In a major update, the European Commission announced it will engage with the industry by the end of 2026 to explore stricter standards. Currently, EU copyright law protects the publishers' right to their code, but consumer law is starting to push back. The commission notes that if a game is sold with an expiration date, that date must be clearly visible on the packaging. The ultimate goal is to force publishers to release "end-of-life" patches that allow for private server hosting or offline play. It is a long game, but the fact that the EU is now actively investigating the disabling of games is a significant win for consumer rights. Nightdive Studios revives the forgotten Sin While Half-Life and Quake II hogged the spotlight in 1998, a shooter called Sin was quietly pushing the Quake II engine to its absolute limits. Developed by Ritual Entertainment, it was remarkably ahead of its time, featuring hacking via a DOS-style terminal and branching paths based on player actions. Nightdive Studios has just released the launch trailer for **Sin Reloaded**, a full remaster running on their proprietary KEX Engine. Nightdive has built a reputation as the gold standard for preservation. They don't just upscale textures; they fix the logic bugs that plagued the original releases while maintaining the "feel" of the late-90s PC gaming era. Sin was notorious for its buggy launch, which many believe killed its chances against Valve's juggernaut. With Sin Reloaded, players can finally see what the developers intended: a high-interactivity world where you can pilot vehicles, hack cameras, and take area-specific damage. It is a classic example of a "diamond in the rough" getting the polish it deserved twenty years too late. The Commodore 64 gets the documentary it deserves The Commodore 64 remains the bestselling single computer model of all time, and its impact on the 80s coding culture cannot be overstated. Filmmakers Anthony Caulfield and Nicola Caulfield, the duo behind *From Bedrooms to Billions*, have launched a Kickstarter for a new documentary: *The Commodore 64: The Birth of a Cultural Icon*. This project aims to capture the global experience of the machine, from the screeching tape loads in Europe to the floppy disk dominance in the US. The film will feature interviews with the revived Commodore team and delve into the legacy of Jack Tramiel, the man who founded Commodore and later took over Atari. For many of us, the C64 wasn't just a toy; it was an entry point into engineering and electronics. Seeing the community rally to fund this documentary—already hitting nearly half of its £55,000 goal—proves that the appetite for tech history is stronger than ever. It is about more than nostalgia; it's about documenting the silicon foundation that modern computing was built upon. Legacy of a legend: RIP Bobby Prince The tech and gaming community lost a titan this week with the passing of Bobby Prince at the age of 81. Prince was the sonic architect behind the most iconic games of the 90s, including Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Duke Nukem 3D. His work at id Software defined an entire genre, blending heavy metal influences from bands like Pantera and Metallica with the technical limitations of FM synthesis. Prince was a Vietnam veteran and a lawyer before he became a composer, bringing a unique perspective to the industry. He understood that music in games wasn't just background noise; it was an emotional driver. The thumping, aggressive tracks of Doom (1993) are just as recognizable today as the game's pixelated shotgun. Tom Hall, co-founder of id Software, broke the news of his passing, sparking a wave of tributes from developers who were inspired by his ability to make a PC speaker scream. His contribution to the hardware and gaming landscape is permanent, etched into the memories of every player who ever navigated a Martian base in the dark.