Commodore xx

It was back at this year's CeBit tradeshow when we came across the reintroduction of the Commodore brand, and this was probably one use most akin to the heart of the name without having to suffer the cut throat market that is the modern day console war. Instead, by offering a gaming PC and riding on the brand that Commodore made for itself, it puts the company in a good position to take on the likes of Dell and Alienware when offering the complete kit for those that want something a little different.

The available options have changed quite a bit from when we first saw them; now, partly thanks to the recent Intel price cuts, the quad-core Q6600 is the minimum you can buy across the entire range. There is not a single AMD machine in sight at the moment, meaning that there is nothing available for the budding AMD enthusiast. The lowest graphical option is also an Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB as well, which means DirectX 10 support is guaranteed from the bottom up, but there are no ATI cards are included - does Commodore not like the new AMD/ATI then?

We asked the same question to Commodore's representatives, and this was what we were told: "Our aim is to offer the best technology and products for our customers. We feel that Intel and Nvidia are the leaders for the moment but we have good relationships with AMD and certainly remain open to the possibility of offering their products in the future."

Although the XX will in this configuration will set you back around £2,750, the "low-end" G configuration is just a shade over £1,000 and looks just as enticing, with the same case and looks but without the heavy price tag.

Click for Large Images

As well as a full two-year parts and service warranty, the system comes preloaded with an emulator so you play over 50 classic C64 games as well. They may not stress the likes of the hardware inside, but it sure as hell beats the integrated Vista games for some top quality retro action. The warranty covers the parts inside as well as the C-Kin quality on the outside should there be a problem.

Click for Large Images

But is 50 Commodore games and a few logos slapped to a case worth the near £3,000 investment? Or would your money be better spent on the likes of a jet engined Dell XPS and half an hour on the Internets, plugging in "Commodore emulator" into Google.

And It seems that's exactly what Commodore ClickGamer did! We tried out a few ROMs from the CD and to our surprise (and mild amusement) there were 'scene' messages throughout: the one above was more tame than others. Incidentally there's a disclaimer at the end of the CD insert warning that because some of the games are over 15 years old, the originals were not available so "other" sources were required.