I purchased my MMC64 device back in 2005, or there about. At the time, it was the most affordable device I could find to get D64 disk images onto physical floppy disks. You see, just a couple of years before this, I was discovering that there was a growing collection of Commodore games available for downloading off of the Internet. I also discovered that you could play these disk images (D64) on a C64 emulator - in this case, VICE. But, I had a real C64 and wondered if there was a way for me to play these games on the real thing.

After a lot of research, I did come across a few options, but they usually meant something expensive that I'd have to import from Europe or the UK. Of all the devices I learned about, the MMC64 seemed to be a perfect balance between cost and functionality. From what I could tell, it would do exactly what I wanted, get a D64 onto a floppy disk.

Back then, I really didn't know much about the nuances with disk images and the differences between PAL and NTSC. Up until then, I really never had to give it much thought, as all of my disk sharing was done with friends in the areas I lived, or downloaded from BBSs in Canada and the US. So, when I first started using the MMC64 to create my floppy disks, it bewildered me as to why some D64s I tried to convert would not run on my C64, yet play just fine on the emulator. It also wasn't until sometime later I learned about all of the different file types of the C64 scene, like CRTs, TAPs, T64s, G64s, and PRGs.

Looking back at those days (oh my gosh, fifteen years ago now!), it's clear that I really didn't utilize my MMC64 to it's full potential. I read in the user guide that it could run PRGs and T64s right from the memory card, but I had no idea of how to make such files or where I could get them. I knew about D64s and, unfortunately, that was my focus.

But today, I know a lot more about this subject and have taken some time to reacquaint myself with my MMC64 and actually start to take advantage of all of the functionality this little SD card reader has to offer. To me, it is the original SD2IEC peripheral device for the C64, even though it operates via the C64's cartridge port.

Although in the beginning, the ability to write to and from floppy disk was the MMC64's primary function I was interested in, today its ability to run PRGs directly from the SD card is the most useful to me. It's very convenient to be able to save an NTSC friendly PRG of a game to the SD card then immediately run it on my C128 (in C64 mode) without having to do anything more to it. And, now that I know how to extract the PRGs from a D64 file, this is the easiest way for me to play games (the single load type, obviously) that I download from the Net on the original hardware. So, now I find myself going through my library of D64s and extract every single-load PRG game from them that I can.

The other function I find myself frequently using on the MMC64 these days is the SID player. Again, thanks to the Internet, I have a growing collection of SID files, which the MMC64 can play directly. So, if I'm in the mood to listen to some good old fashion SID tunes, I can just load up the SD card with them and have the C128 play them to my hearts content, using a real SID chip.

Lastly, a feature that I never even considered for the longest time is using T64 or TAP files on my original hardware. But, with the use of a plug-in, the MMC64 has the ability to run those, too. There aren't many games I have that are just in tape format, but there are a few. Rather than trying to get those recorded to an actual cassette to play on my C128, running them via the MMC64 is just so convenient. I just kick myself for not discovering these functions back in the days when I first got it. Oh well, live and learn, I guess.

This isn't all that the MMC64 can do, it can also display images in several different formats, like Koala and Doodle files, as well as play low quality mono WAV files. It also has a limited ability of running cartridge CRT images, too. So, it is a pretty versatile C64 peripheral.

Today there are many ways of playing new content on vintage C64s with several peripherals to choose from. But, as with everything it seems these days, the cost of these devices can be a little on the high side. It's too bad more simpler and less expensive solutions, like the MMC64, aren't still made available.

For historical reference, you can find out more information about the MMC64, here.

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