It's easy to forget today, but once upon a time, Commodore was a huge force in the world of computing and interactive entertainment. Its C64 home computer was incredibly popular, and it would follow this with the equally beloved Amiga.
These two platforms sold millions of units and gave us plenty of classic games, but the Commodore story went off the rails in the early '90s thanks to some poor business choices, the growth of the PC market and the arrival of powerful Japanese home consoles. Systems like the CD-TV and Amiga CD32 failed to gain a foothold in the market, and the company would effectively cease to exist by 1994.
Despite this, the Commodore name still holds a tremendous amount of respect with many retro gamers, and Christian Simpson of Retro Recipes is looking to purchase the entire company, along with a group of like-minded fans.
As recounted in the video below, Simpson has managed to get in touch with the current rights holders in Holland to the Commodore brand and is planning to 'reboot' the company with a series of new products. He's even looking to launch a new charity called Commodore Care, which will spread the "spark of joy" with underprivileged children. Simpson—who has also acted in more Star Wars movies than the average person—even says plans are afoot to build a 'Commodore arcade' within Caudwell Children's HQ in the UK.
It all sounds amazing, but long-suffering Commodore fans will be keenly aware that we've been here before; since the original company went bankrupt in 1994, the name has changed hands multiple times, passing from Escom to Gateway 2000 to Tulip to its current resting place with a Dutch firm. It's also worth noting that the Amiga trademark was spun off in a separate deal and won't be part of Simpson's proposal—unless he's able to obtain a license, of course.