I have five main units (one CIB), four power adapters, RF module, two VG-200 AQ joysticks and Commodore VIC1020 expander unit.
type computer
country USA
year 1981
os Commodore Basic, assembler
cpu MOS 6202
speed 1,01 MHz
ram 5 KB
rom 20 KB
graphic 20×23
colors 16
sound 3 voice generators
ports user port, cassette, serial, video port, module port, joystick
The Commodore VIC-20 — The First Million-Selling Home Computer
Released in June 1980 in Japan and 1981 in North America and Europe, the Commodore VIC-20 was the world’s first home computer to sell one million units — a milestone that established home computing as a genuine mass-market phenomenon rather than a hobbyist niche. Priced at $299.95 at launch (falling to $99 within two years), it offered a colour display, sound capabilities, and BASIC in ROM in a keyboard-only unit that connected to a television. Its television commercial featuring William Shatner asking ”Why buy just a video game?” became one of computing’s most remembered marketing campaigns.
The VIC Chip
The VIC-20’s name came from its Video Interface Chip (VIC), the MOS 6560/6561 custom chip that handled colour graphics and sound. The VIC provided 16 colours, a 22×23 character text display (expandable to 320×200 pixels in bitmap mode), and three-voice sound plus one noise channel — modest by later standards but impressive for a $300 machine in 1981. The VIC chip was designed by Al Charpentier and Charles Winterble, and its success directly led Commodore to commission the more powerful VIC-II for the Commodore 64.
Memory Limitations
The VIC-20’s 5 KB of RAM (3.5 KB available to BASIC) was its most significant limitation, constraining what programs could accomplish and frustrating users who wanted to write more complex software. Commodore and third-party manufacturers offered memory expansion cartridges (3 KB, 8 KB, 16 KB, and 32 KB) that addressed this limitation, and much of the VIC-20’s software library assumed at least an 8 KB expansion. Despite the limited base RAM, skilled programmers produced impressive games and applications for the platform — the constraint bred creativity.
The Gateway Computer
The VIC-20’s most important role was as a gateway machine — the first computer for millions of people who went on to become programmers, engineers, and technology professionals. Its low price made it accessible to families who could not afford the Apple II or TRS-80, and its BASIC programming environment encouraged experimentation. Many of the programmers who created the seminal games and software of the 1980s and 1990s began their computing journeys on a VIC-20. In this sense, the VIC-20’s contribution to the technology industry far exceeded what its modest specifications might suggest.