| Released in 1981 in Europe, the Commodore VIC-20 was one of the first truly affordable home computers and a major commercial success for Commodore. Originally launched in Japan in late 1980 as the VIC-1001 and in the US in early 1981, it quickly became known for its user-friendliness and colorful graphics capabilities. With a retail price low enough to compete with game consoles, the VIC-20 was marketed as “The Friendly Computer.” It featured a full-sized keyboard, cartridge expansion, and composite video output, making it appealing both to gamers and hobbyists. Although it had only 5 KB of usable RAM, clever programming and a large software library—including many games—made the most of its limitations. The VIC-20 laid the foundation for Commodore’s later success with the C64 and introduced millions of people to home computing for the first time. |
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