Update []:
After teasing his purchase of Commodore earlier this month, Christian Simpson of Retro Recipes has confirmed that he has completed the acquisition of the company for a "low seven-figure sum". The cash hasn't actually been handed over yet, but Simpson and his team have raised a significant amount and seem confident about attracting additional investment. "As of a few weeks ago, I am the acting CEO of Commodore Corporation," he says at the start of the video, with a justifiable grin.
The deal includes a host of trademarks stretching all the way back to 1982, and Simpson has carefully assembled a team of former Commodore staffers to lend this new venture legitimacy.
These include Bil Herd (Commodore lead engineer 1982-1986), Albert Charpentier (Commodore VP of Technology 1979-1984), Michael Tomczyh (Assisant to Commodore President Jack Tramiel, 1980-1984), James Harrison (Commodore Tech Support hotline agent, 1990-1994) and David Pleasance (Commodore UK VP & Joint Managing Director, 1983-1994).
Furthermore, Simpson has gotten Canadian actor and Silicon Valley star Thomas Middleditch involved with the project, which Simpson claims could result in new "retro futuristic" hardware as early as next year.
While there's much reason for optimism with all of this and the vast majority of comments are overwhelmingly positive, some individuals have expressed concern with Simpson's excessive use of generative AI in this video and others on his channel.
"Why is there so much AI trash in this video?" says one comment, while another says, "This is very cool, but I wish you wouldn't use AI in the video. It doesn't give me hope about the future of Commodore." Another comment simply says, "AI GENERATED CLIPS BOOO."
At the time of writing, Simpson hasn't responded to those particular comments, but he has addressed this one:
"Please be very careful not to brand Commodore with AI generated imagery. I know this is just a fun video but I hope not to see it in marketing etc. Retro fans are good at spotting it and It's kind of repelling. Would hate it to be associated with modern Commodore because it opposes its values."
Simpson has posted in reply:
"Thanks for correctly discerning the difference between what has always been a fun YouTube channel, and the actual products the company will put out."
The irony here is that, in the video itself, Simpson laments the impact of modern technology, including AI:
"Do you remember how tech felt in the late '90s and early 2000s, sort of techno optimism they call it; it was retrofuturistic, fresh, inviting; no pop-ups and overflowing inboxes and boring black rectangles that all look the same... and took our attention away from our loved ones... all that transparent tech and metallic clothing symbolized and reflected clarity hope and freedom; social media stands for the opposite; toxicity, distraction, addiction, and harm... it just all went wrong. Technology that was meant to help us or we became enslaved to it. It just went too far and we're on another precipice right now with AI, but this time the feeling isn't optimism now."
Simpson has been very open about his use of Generative AI clips and images, and he has used it to create thumbnails for his channel, too.
The FAQ section of his personal site outlines his use of the controversial technology:
"We sometimes experiment with AI to assist in content creation, like AI-assisted thumbnails and our occasional AI presenter, PerAIfractic. This allows us to balance content creation with personal demands."
Generative AI is a hot topic at the moment, with critics claiming that it relies on human-made content for output, and, in the vast majority of cases, the creators of that content are not consulted or renumerated.
Hollywood giants Disney and Universal are currently involved in legal action against one of the services Simpson uses on his channel, Midjourney, with the duo branding the video-generation tool a "bottomless pit of plagiarism".
While many see Generative AI as a legitimate creative tool, it's clearly a divisive topic; AI-created art, video and audio is effectively removing demand for human creatives, and many people see its use as a shady shortcut that leverages the hard work of other people.
Recently, YouTube celebrity MrBeast was forced to withdraw a service he was offering which would allow content creators to produce AI-generated thumbnails based on content harvested from YouTube following a dramatic backlash.
We've tried contacting Simpson for comment, but his personal site only seems to accept faxes, and his social media accounts do not accept messages from people he isn't following. If we succeed in getting in touch, we'll update this article with his reply.
Original Story:
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.