Do You Think THEC64 is as Popular as it Was In 2018..?

Feeling in a contemplative mood tonight, so will ramble :-)

I agree about the term "maxi", I prefer it too, short and to the point. Detractors say it reminds them of the name of some female sanitary product, but I don't think that negative connotation exists globally, just some regions where the sanitary product was heavily promoted. I have vague distant memories of such a product in Australia too, but it seems like an age ago since I saw an ad for it, so I didn't feel the "maxi" term is immediately associated with that product anymore.

As for popularity comparison of the two versions, feel like the mini was a great hit, considering how minimal promotion/advertising it had. I do believe the stories of it running out of stock on retailers shelves and RGL having to produce more stock to top up shelves. Some detractors say that it wasn't a hit because they saw them everywhere on shelves, concluding that nobody wanted them, so retailers had to drop prices significantly. I don't think that's a fair measure of success. If that is what equates to success, RGL would have simply not manufactured any more, limited supply, and gotten news headlines like "c64 mini proves to be so popular, it's out of stock" (a bit like the hype Nintendo got out of the initial limited amount of NES mini). I feel RGL, instead wanted to make sure that everyone that wanted one could get one. Good on them for that.

As for TheC64 maxi, personally, I've enjoyed this version more, the real keyboard, the large, eye-catching packaging, it does a great job in recreating those original childhood memories. I feel like stock was limited in Australia compared to the mini. So part of me wonders whether retailers here that overstocked on the mini and felt like they got a bit burnt by that then held back on the supply of maxi's. If so, that's a shame, as it will skew the sense of popularity towards the mini.

In the fb forums, I do sense there are people that are willing to "make do" with a mini, until they can find a way to source themselves a maxi.

But then again, I also hear some are perfectly happy with the mini and see no need in getting a maxi. So it makes me feel like there are some c64 folk that are happy to simply relive the gaming aspect of the c64 era, and are happy not to need to type cryptic commands like LOAD "*",8,1 to make it happen :-)

And then there are folks that have strong memories of typing programs out of books/magazines, writing their own programs, I can understand why the maxi will resonate for them.

There are even some that have more unique experiences they'd like to relive, such as wiring up their own hobby electronics to the user port, dialing up a BBS, using GEOS with a mouse, printing out banners with Print Master. Alas, the Maxi can't make all these things a reality, but perhaps there could be modders one day that crave such things and try to find a way to do it :-) Some might point out alternatives to TheC64 Maxi (U64, perhaps even the Mega65 might get a user port). Yeah, fair call, those are options too. But if someone wants to make do with their C64 maxi and see how far they can push its boundaries, good on them too :-)

I also feel like another factor in popularity is how to maintain the interest of people that buy the mini or the maxi. Sure, they buy it, they get the nostalgia hit, relive their childhood memories, but then where to? Back to their Playstations, Nintendos and Xboxes? Or is there something that can renew their interest, new modern c64 games to sample perhaps? Have some fun with writing their own BASIC programs? Or challenging themselves further with assembly? Writing a c64 game? Drawing some cool PETSCII artwork? Dabbling with some music composition software to make your own SID melody? Or even write a cool mod for the emulator to add some extra facilities you've been craving? I think all of that is awesome, it's great to see people doing cool and new things with their c64's and sharing it, sharing their passion and enthusiasm, as that is what keeps these systems alive, we all love to see what cool new thing people do next with it :-) And I hope that enthusiasm endures for us and propagates, fingers crossed :-)