Commodore MAX

The Commodore MAX is, in many respects, the proto-Commodore 64. The original vision for had been to create "the world's best video game" and at the backbone of this would be their VIC-II graphics chip and what would become the legendary SID sound chip. But in November 1981, Jack Tramiel, head of Commodore, pivoted to a full computer which could serve as the Vic-20's successor.

The Commodore MAX is the remainder of that games console project; a stripped-down 64 with a membrane keyboard, only 4K of RAM, designed primarily for cartridge based games. The machine would not even boot without a cartridge inserted. Released only in Japan, it sold modestly and quietly disappeared. With the 64 on the market and the Vic-20 as Commodore's budget offering, the MAX made no sense in their product lineup.

As a footnote in the Commodore story, it is one of the great curiosities in the company's history. It is very a much a "what might have been" story - certainly it would have been an Atari-beating console, but by that stage there were several competitors who could beat Atari technically. Computing history would have been very different if Commodore had stuck to their console-oriented vision and put their weight behind the MAX, tried to carve out a niche in the console market, and never released the C64.