William Shatner..... wants you..... to buy..... the..... COMMODORE VIC 20-The 1981 Commercials for the COMMODORE VIC 20+How did the machine come to be?

My apologies for my poor attempt at his style of SYNTAX SPEECH......anyway,

Back in the early 1980s, 

Canadian Actor WILLIAM SHATNER,

aka CAPTAIN KIRK from STAR TREK, The Original Series(1966-1969)

Starred in commercials for a certain little home computer from COMMODORE BUSINESS MACHINES in WEST CHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA:

Ah yes, that COMMODORE VIC 20. 

Pictured above is the early PET KEYBOARD revision from 1981.

Meant to be a successor to the earlier PET Computer released by Commodore back in 1977

The VIC20 however was susposed to be more advanced than what COMMODORE was initially planning.

I've read that the Successor to the PET was susposed to be the TOI

Notice the pun there?

Unfortunately, the TOI never materialized due to manufacturing and Cost Issues.

Remember, RAM prices in the 1980s were very expensive, so don't rant about wanting to "Punch SAM ALTMAN in the face during a shareholders meeting".... YET....

Because RAM PRICING was even worse back in the 80s due to how relatively NEW the PERSONAL COMPUTER market was back then.

So what prevented the TOI from being COST-EFFECTIVE?

Well it was the result of issues relating to RAM..... in a connected sense.

The late CHUCK PEDDLE wanted the TOI to be an 80-Column machine with full on color graphics as to allow the end user to have the visual clarity of those machines that use 80-columns since that's what most word processors and spreadsheet software are formatted for.

And this was all just to compete with then recently released APPLE II Plus in the wake of the success of both LOTUS-123 and VISICALC.

However, the 80-Columns display required the MOS 6564 Chip but that particular chip required STATIC RAM which at the time was HYPER-EXPENSIVE and using the cheaper DYNAMIC RAM was a no-go due to the constant refresh issues.

(This was before the VIC-II chip was even manufactured.)

Frustrated with the TOI project going nowhere due to the STUPID HIGH PRICE OF SRAM, JACK TRAMIEL noticed a little project that fellow employee BOB YANNES was making which was a Custom-Built computer he dubbed MicroPET. When TRAMIEL saw the MicroPET, he immediately decided to greenlight that hobby project and ordered it to be MASS-PRODUCED just in time for CES 1980.

What COMMODORE SHATNER COMMERCIAL you ask?

Well, here's said commercial below:

And not one but two of them.

The above one was just SHATNER shilling for COMMODORE, praising everything relating to how simple of a computer it was but also that it can play great games.

Speaking about VIDEO GAMES,

Here's a much more interesting Commercial below:

If you can't settle on what's better, ATARI or INTELLEVISION,

then back in 1981, you could just follow CAPTAIN KIRK's advice and say;

"GET A COMMODORE VIC20!!!! IT'S BETTER!!!!"

You can use the computer to do your Business crap, program your software, or even play video games on it.

Of course, that mantra wouldn't last long due to what's to come in 1982:

Yup. Good old, COMMODORE 64.

The only thing the C64 and the VIC 20 have in common is that they share the same peripherals to a point you can use the same tape drives, same 1541 Floppy Drives, printers, etc.

Nowadays, what with the controversies with the way both PLAYSTATION & XBOX are now being handled now, I'd probably say:

"Just build an AMD RYZEN GAMING PC with WINDOWS 11 PRO or STEAMOS 3.8! It's better."

Just as long as you ignore your WALLET's complaints or find better deals for things like RAM at Select WALMARTs or SEAGATE FIRECUDAs at a reasonable price before they get sold out... etc.

Notice I did not say PC MASTER RACE?

I just don't want to make BEN CROSHAW angry at me or at you wonderful readers of mine.

I just wanted to make this post because 2026 is the 45th Anniversary of the COMMODORE VIC20 in the USA.

It's also the 45th Anniversary of the modern x86 PC Architecture as well but that will have to wait until August.

Update as of July 24 2026:

SONY is still refusing to back down from their DIGITAL PUSH, even holding their employees hostage over spreading the news about their actions on various SOCIAL MEDIA handles.

But at least MICROSOFT is managing to RIGHT A WRONG:

They've announced backwards compatibility of their older XBOX titles for WINDOWS PCs.

So far, only 4 NICHE titles were announced but that number will grow.

Clash of coined terms who's punchlines backfired and were rewritten to mean something else-Cal Arts Style vs. PC Master Race

There are at times where people coin terms for certain things they despise and yet, years later, they become rewritten to totally mean something else rather than what that term was originally susposed to mean.

First off is

CALARTS STYLE.

This is a term to describe the MODERN AMERICAN ANIMATION aesthetic that we see nowadays.

But the term CALARTS Style didn't mean what it is today.

The term was originally coined by retired Canadian Animator JOHN K. in a long since deleted blogpost of his where when he was describing Brad Bird's THE IRON GIANT(1999)

He ruthlessly criticized the both the AMERICAN & CANADIAN side of ANIMATION for always drawing their characters in the Classic DISNEY MOLD instead of coming up with new animation styles to suit the artist's needs.

And really, who can blame him,

(We're still mad at his allegations and his rage towards his late father MICHAEL)

If you look at films from Disney's competitors from back in the day like.....

The Princess and the Goblin(1991)

Ferngully: The last rainforest(1992)

The PageMaster(1994)

Once Upon a Forest(1993)

The Thief and the Cobbler(1992 Workprint and Recobbled Cut)

Cats don't dance(1997)

Quest for Camelot(1998)

Almost all of these productions required the film to go through the realms of designing their characters in the DISNEY mold because executives are obsessed with the money as well as unseating DISNEY and making a fool out of MICHAEL EISNER...

Too bad their mantra caused these films to bomb in the BOX OFFICE.

Only a few OUTRIGHT defied the mantra such as....

BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD DO AMERICA(1996)

This mantra of his eventually moved into the realm of ALL-CGI movies where once again, the EXECUTIVES demand that the characters be in the..... PIXAR mold...

NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTS

So this meant films that had really great concept art

 They're older art gets tossed out the window and replaced with piece of shit imitations of what's hot 

And it's no wonder why when I see A.I Filters for cartoon characters, they always use the DISNEY/PIXAR style.

Somewhere along the line in 2010, 

ADVENTURE TIME showed up on CARTOON NETWORK after NICKELODEON rejected the show.

And then suddenly, many an artist in the US and CANADA decided to bank in on what made ADVENTURE TIME so successful and they deduced it was the art style.

STAR VS. THE FORCES OF EVIL

RICK & MORTY

And certain legacy characters like THE FREAK BROTHERS are redesigned to use this new art style whether the original creator likes it or not.

THE FREAK BROTHERS 

as originally illustrated by GILBERT SHELTON

THE FREAK BROTHERS

as they appear in the TUBI Series.

I, like a lot of you people who are against this mantra of the modern animation aesthetic, thought that the infamous CALARTS design was enforced by EXECUTIVES.....

But the reality is that the art style is actually enforced by the Alumni not just from CALARTS but also from the likes of those from SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS in New York.

and some from SHERIDAN COLLEGE in Canada, have also followed suit.

Now, let's switch gears and go to the gaming side which is PC MASTER RACE

Just like with CALARTS STYLE where it was JOHN K. criticizing North American artists for following DISNEY, only for it to devolve into a criticism of BEAN MOUTH DESIGNS,

PC MASTER RACE originally started as a criticism of a Factor of Gamers who think COMPUTERS are King,

only for the term to be far removed from the original intent by a REDDIT COMMUNITY.

BEN CROSHAW of ZERO PUNCTUATION fame,

originally coined the term PC MASTER RACE in a 2008 online article he wrote for THE ESCAPIST where he criticized the ELITIST attitudes he perceived amongst PC GAMERs regarding the player base for the WINDOWS port of THE WITCHER.

Here are his words from said article:

What quickly becomes obvious is that THE WITCHER is very much a PC-exclusive game, which are typically designed to be as complex and unintuitive as possible so that those dirty console-playing peasants don't ruin it for the glorious PC-gaming master race.

-Ben Croshaw

So in his words, he was poking fun at those PC GAMING ELITISTS out there.

He was criticizing the mentality of PC GAMERS for demanding that interfaces screw with our perception in favor of making games use keyboard controls though most games on PC still let you use controllers like an XBOX CONTROLLER

or Joystick like a MICROSOFT SIDEWINDER

Unfortunately for CROSHAW, the term PC MASTER RACE would wind up getting it's original meaning misconstrued by REDDITORS across WEB2.0 and later WEB3

and the term quickly became a symbol of PRIDE for them same PC GAMING ELITISTS and their SUPERIORITY of their COMPUTERS over GAME CONSOLES.

Using Dr. Livesy, Jim Hawkins, & Squire Trelawny from

 the UKRAINIAN TREASURE ISLAND(1988) 

to represent "CHADLY" PC GAMERS.

Why?

Because....

01. PC ports of games can be modded with different assets,

FAMILY GUY mod for GTA V Legacy on PC

(GTA V Enhanced doesn't support the above mods..... yet.)

02. You can change the graphics settings on the fly to suit your rigs needs,

Using CYBERPUNK 2077 as an example

03. The hardware is user upgradeable due to IBM taking the OFF-THE-SHELF approach back in 1981 when releasing the 5150 PC that year,

PC depicted is the original 5150 PC from 1981.

04. You can use any game controller as long as it conforms to USB and Bluetooth,

This needs no description as it's perfectly described above....

05. You can emulate other hardware though most emulation efforts are limited to older consoles like a SEGA GENESIS or Sony PS2 just to name a few.

KEGA FUSION playing EARTHWORM JIM

PCSX2 playing SHADOW OF THE COLLOSUS    

It's clear many years later that BEN CROWSHAW now regrets coining the term because the term was to criticize a mentality, only for it to be context to mean the opposite in the ensuing years and that not only drove him insane but also made him want to RAGE against the factor of people who support the idiom now.

For example, when he was questioned about it the PC GAMING community during the release of KINGDOM COME: DELIVERANCE in 2018,

He blurted out a profane response to his dislike of the PCMR Community and their arrogance.

I'm not going to use his words regarding PCMR so....

Instead, I'll quote from CROSHAW about his regrets:

"It was intended to be ironic, to illustrate what I perceived at the time to be an elitist attitude among a certain kind of PC gamer. People who invest in expensive gaming PCs and continually spend money to make sure the tech in their brightly-lit tower cases is up to date. Who actually prefer games that are temperamental to get running and that have complicated keyboard interfaces, just because it discourages new or 'casual' players who will in some way taint the entire community with their presence. I meant it as a dig."

Nothing short of the 

2008 Great Recession,

2020-2023 COVID Semiconductor Shortage,

and now the 

2025-2028 RAM Shortage/AI Price Hikes for Consumer Ram and flash storage.....

Is enough to put an end to the PC MASTER RACE idiom just to finally give CROSHAW some closure without driving him up the drywall....

And I just noticed something in that above quote from BEN CROSHAW:

Who actually prefer games that are temperamental to get running.

TEMPERMENTAL, huh?

I've been there.

My very first PROPER PC game INCOMING,

I remember how temperamental that game was getting to run on my family's PCs back in the day but to be honest, it was COMPAQ's fault for bundling it with my PRESARIO 5477

thinking it could run on INTEL's integrated AGP chipset but in reality, you needed a 3DFX Voodoo 3 AGP GPU to run that thing with the best framerates.

Instead, I got a game that either refused to run, or it ran like PIGCRAP with a pitch-black sky which made me wait 25 years until I got paid for a version on STEAM that works in MODERN WINDOWS.

Oh well, it pays to make you ponder about your childhood wish fulfillments and whatnot.

STEAM MACHINE News 01-Lights of Doom Deja vu, Windows Drivers, & reviving an old computer friend of mine

As if the gaming industry getting hit with DOOMSCROLL-happy news like 

SONY's refusal to back off their DIGITAL PUSH for PLAYSTATION GAMES

or MICROSOFT laying off several AMERICAN STAFF....

is enough to make people quote "BAD NEWS NOBODY" in FARNSWORTH's voice

Just without a Supercollider 

SUPER-EXPLODING you through several layers of walls that is

The less than stellar Sales Performance of the 2nd Gen STEAM MACHINE now has people who've bought the machine dealing with something that is reigniting some bad memories circa 2006-2008:

Why is this DEJA VU for many gamers?

Because it seems to remind people of the infamous RED RING OF DEATH issues that plagued the XBOX 360 back in the mid-2000s.

But the red LED of....... DOOM?.....

Is not really that farfetched due to the..... COMPUTER..... itself being based on x64 based components from AMD, both on the CPU and the GPU side of things.

The red LED strip appearing on the MACHINE is just a sign of the Computer performing it's MEMORY TRAINING.

Memory Training is when a motherboard has to train itself, the CPU, and the MEMORY CONTROLLER whenever they'res new RAM MODULES installed.....

Or whenever the computer needs to access that RAM no matter what.

You look at your motherboard and see the DRAM LEDS or a DISPLAY CODE to determine the RAM.

That's what MEMORY TRAINING is all about.

So no need to worry. 

It's not an issue with the GPU since unlike the XBOX 360, it's not a ball-soldered problem due to the STEAM MACHINE using an APU these days.

Also on a much lighter and somewhat humorous note,

I've also read that it's possible to install WINDOWS 11 into the STEAM MACHINE

NO....DUDE..... SERIOUSLY!!!!

I'm not making this up!

Because of the x64 nature of the hardware, the STEAM MACHINE is perfectly capable of running WINDOWS 11 on it..... with the right drivers that is.

VALVE has announced official Driver support for the STEAM MACHINE about a couple of days since making this blog post....

But the CAVEAT is that if you do install WIN11, 

(or even TINY11 which is a lightweight version of regular Windows 11 Pro)

The install will completely wipe the STEAMOS install....

So I guess that means no DUAL-BOOTING huh.....

And even VALVE is not recommending it despite distributing the drivers themselves.

Doesn't matter though since many people aren't impressed with the Specs of the STEAM MACHINE anyway...

What they are more impressed with is the fact that the official DRIVER SUPPORT for AMD RADEON & INTEL ARC make it so that it's now possible to build your own STEAM MACHINE and install STEAMOS on said build with NO STRINGS ATTACHED.

Though for now, the drivers seem tailored to APUs which makes sense since STEAMOS was originally made to work well with the AMD VAN-GOGH APU that's on the STEAM DECK.

For now, NVIDIA Drivers only work for WINDOWS and a few cherry-picked LINUX Distros

However, VALVE is committed to changing that sometime around NEW YEARS 2027.

As a matter of fact, here's a surprise:

Yes, I still have my old MAVERICK WARHAWK RTX 5900X AM4 build from 2023 before I made the switch to AM5 with my current MAVERICK FALCON 7900RT build which currently runs an AMD RYZEN 9 9950X3D CPU.

So the WARHAWK still has it's old parts which include my MSI motherboard, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900x CPU, Corsair 850W power supply, DEEPCOOL Air Cooler, all that jazz....

Only problem is that It's got no GPU due to having long since donated my old ZOTAC 3060 to my Church and a lot of the AM4 Ryzen CPUs don't have integrated graphics and that includes the 5900x in there.

So the plan is to buy an AMD RADEON GPU for this system...

But I'll have to limit it to 315MM or less due to the how horizontally short of a case this old BITFENIX Mid Tower Case is.

As you can see, the greater goal would be to convert my old MAVERICK WARHAWK into my very own STEAM MACHINE that I can use to run steam games running STEAMOS.

And yes, I'll be using RADEON because....

01. STEAMOS at the moment mostly supports AMD RADEON & INTEL ARC drivers out of the box with no problems

02. I can't bring myself to get an ARC card even with the best BATTLEMAGE cards out there.

03. RADEON is CANADIAN as The tech originally was made by ATI of MARKHAM, ONTARIO before the AMERICAN AMD bought them in 2006.... so buying a RADEON card is somewhat supporting my country.

If the STEAMOS route turns out to be a bust due to DRIVERS, then I can instead install BAZZITE on the old MAVERICK WARHAWK and just run STEAM Big-Screen Mode that way.

APOLOGIES for this off the cuff update that looks like it's in the same vein as my old MAVERICK QUICKIES but I've gotten sick of them QUICKIES as of late so doing these updates in a more TOPIC SPECIFIC format is a nice break for me.

There are stuff I really want to point out that interest me whether 

GOOD, BAD or UGLY.

(Totally not a reference to SERGIO LEONES' DOLLARS TRILOGY here)

Though after seeing videos from JAYZTWOCENTS, often hosted by his coworker PHIL, 

I might just instead install BAZZITE on the WARHAWK build.

?????

Why not the FALCON? WHY DOES THE FALCON HAVE TO REMAIN WITH WINDOWS 11 INSTEAD OF BAZZITE?

Because the FALCON 7900RT is also my ANIMATION/Art Computer so I need WINDOWS 11 to remain on the SANDISK 1TB SSD.

ADOBE dissing Linux aside,

I've read that both TOONBOOM and AUTODESK are also extremely picky about what LINUX DISTROS they want to support out of the box for their software.

Specifically ANIMATION SOFTWARE prefer REDHAT over any other distro out there.

Update as of AUGUST 7 2026:

I've installed BATOCERA LINUX on the MAVERICK WARHAWK AM4 BUILD.