Editing Commodore Datasette (section)

== Popularity ==
[[file:Datassette clone.jpg|thumb|One of the few clones, a Phonemark model 4403]]

The Datasette was more popular outside than inside the United States. [[U.S. Gold]], which imported American computer games to Britain, often had to wait until they were converted from disk because most British Commodore 64 owners used tape,<ref name="anderson198506">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/zzap64-magazine-002/ZZap_64_Issue_002_1985_Jun#page/n45/mode/2up | title=On top of the US Goldmine | work=Zzap!64 | date=June 1985 | access-date=26 October 2013 | author=Anderson, Chris | pages=46–48 | type=interview}}</ref><ref name="pountain198501">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_10-01_1985-01_Through_The_Hourglass | title=The Amstrad CPC 464 | work=BYTE | date=January 1985 | access-date=27 October 2013 | author=Pountain, Dick | pages=[https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_10-01_1985-01_Through_The_Hourglass/page/n402 401]}}</ref> while the US magazine ''[[Compute!'s Gazette]]'' reported that by 1983 "90 percent of new Commodore 64 owners bought a disk drive with their computer".<ref name="halfhill198312">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1983-12-computegazette/Compute_Gazette_Issue_06_1983_Dec#page/n7/mode/2up | title=The Editor's Notes | work=Compute!'s Gazette | date=Dec 1983 | access-date=6 February 2016 | author=Halfhill, Tom | pages=6 | type=editorial}}</ref> ''[[Computer Gaming World]]'' reported in 1986 that British cassette-based software had failed in the United States because "97% of the Commodore systems in the USA have disk drives";<ref name="wagner198608">{{cite magazine | title=The Commodore Key | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=August 1986 | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1986&pub=2&id=30 | access-date=1 November 2013 | author=Wagner, Roy | pages=28}}</ref> by contrast, [[MicroProse]] reported in 1987 that 80% of its 100,000 sales of ''[[Gunship (video game)|Gunship]]'' in the UK were on cassette.<ref name="brooks198711">{{cite magazine | title=Titans of the Computer Gaming World / MicroProse | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=November 1987 | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1987&pub=2&id=41 | access-date=2 November 2013 | author=Brooks, M. Evan | pages=16}}</ref> In the United States disk drives quickly became standard, despite the 1541 costing roughly five times as much as a Datasette. In most parts of Europe, the Datasette was the medium of choice for several years after its launch, although floppy disk drives were generally available. The inexpensive and widely available audio cassettes made the Datasette a good choice for the budget-aware home computer mass market.