Design case history: The Commodore 64: The `world´s greatest¿ video-game chips became the basis for the world´s most popular personal computer

The design and development of the Commodore 64 64-kilobyte home computer are chronicled. An account is given of the steps taken in developing the sound chip and the graphics chip. Despite complaints about quality control and the industry´s slowest disk drive, the Commodore 64 has been an unparalleled success, pushing a number of its competitors out of the market. The designers of the Commodore 64 believe they came up with many significant advances because of the freedom they enjoyed during the early stages of the project.