The video chip was called the VIC-II. The VIC was in the VIC-20. They are similar in operation but not compatible.
Digital joysticks were best for most games. It's too bad no one brought out a game pad as they are better for some games. A second fire button could have been added. There were analog joysticks available but typically for special software such as flight simulators. It is too bad Commodore didn't put out an analog stick to encourage their use in driving and flight games. The joystick industry would have ran with it and would have brought out lots of them.
The VIC-20 didn't have a built-in assembler either. Jack wasn't a computer user so he didn't see them as being important and was more focused on keeping the prices low, especially for the home models. Commodore did release ML monitors and even the Super Expanders on cartridge for the VIC-20 and C64.
The IBM PC only won because it was built from off-the-shelf parts, meaning the hardware was effectively open source. Once the BIOS was cloned, there was no way anyone else could keep up. The only survivor is Apple and they almost didn't make it. If the CP/M machines had time to become mainstream on 16-bit processors before the IBM PC was cloned, it might have won and Digital Research might have become what Microsoft has.
Digital joysticks were best for most games. It's too bad no one brought out a game pad as they are better for some games. A second fire button could have been added. There were analog joysticks available but typically for special software such as flight simulators. It is too bad Commodore didn't put out an analog stick to encourage their use in driving and flight games. The joystick industry would have ran with it and would have brought out lots of them.
The VIC-20 didn't have a built-in assembler either. Jack wasn't a computer user so he didn't see them as being important and was more focused on keeping the prices low, especially for the home models. Commodore did release ML monitors and even the Super Expanders on cartridge for the VIC-20 and C64.
The IBM PC only won because it was built from off-the-shelf parts, meaning the hardware was effectively open source. Once the BIOS was cloned, there was no way anyone else could keep up. The only survivor is Apple and they almost didn't make it. If the CP/M machines had time to become mainstream on 16-bit processors before the IBM PC was cloned, it might have won and Digital Research might have become what Microsoft has.