Misplaced Pages

#256743

68-598: The development was operated by NEC Electronic Device Business Group, ASCII ( Microsoft dealer in Japan) and Cybernet Kogyo, a subsidiary of Kyocera . Far ahead of its time and too costly, PC-100 did not sell well. A complete set with the printer PC-PR201 that could print alphabet, hiragana , katakana and kanji , came to nearly ¥1 million. For comparison, the Nintendo Family Computer released in July of

136-583: A hardcoded character set and keyboard scan code handling algorithm . While MSX has full application software compatibility at the firmware (BIOS) level, due to minor hardware differences, replacement of the BIOS with another from a different computer may return incorrect scan code translations and result in incorrect behaviour of the keyboard subsystem for the application software. In 2011, AGE Labs introduced Language Pack firmware, aiming to make each model support several localizations. In AGE Labs' GR8BIT kit ,

204-566: A Dutch company Bazix announced they had become the representatives of MSX Association in Europe , being the English contact for any questions regarding the MSX trademarks, copyrights, and licensing. On October 17, 2006, Bazix launched WOOMB.Net, a website selling MSX games in English and other languages, with a selection of 14 games. In Japan, game sales began earlier, through Project EGG. WOOMB.Net

272-460: A commercial failure, and very few titles were released on the format. Source files for development of the MSX cartridges are available from AGE Labs for EAGLE . Early MSX models did not have a built-in disk drive, so software were initially published on cartridge and cassette tape. Mitsumi QuickDisks were originally launched as a proprietary extension for the MSX in early 1984, but they never really caught on, as they were quickly surpassed by

340-434: A company of his own in 1992, named Impress . On November 26, 2001, CSK Corporation and Unison Capital Partners L.P. announced the approval of transferring the control of its subsidiary ASCII to Unison Capital Partners L.P., effective on March 30, 2002, as part of a strategy to focus CSK's operations on B2B enterprises. The transfer was approved on December 21, 2001. As a part of deal, ASCII's outstanding debt owed to CSK

408-514: A custom IC known as " MSX-Engine ", which integrated glue logic , 8255 PPI, YM2149 compatible sound chip and more, sometimes even the Z80 CPU. However, almost all MSX systems used a professional keyboard instead of a chiclet keyboard , driving up the price compared to the original SV-328. Consequently, these components alongside Microsoft's MSX BASIC made the MSX a competitive, though somewhat expensive, home computer package. On June 27, 1983,

476-605: A group of fans developed the MSX Mini Replica. It is a 1:2 scale reproduction of the Philips VG-8020 computer compatible with the software of the MSX, MSX2, MSX2+, and TurboR generations. It incorporates 2 USB ports, an HDMI video output and internally uses the same hardware as the C64 Mini . Connecting an additional peripheral called MSX Player allows it to run original games on ROM cartridges. The MSXVR

544-590: A new and short-lived kind of software cracking : converting . Since the MSX games were unplayable on the SV-328 computer, SV-328 crackers developed a method of modifying the (MSX) games to make them work on the SV-328. In most cases, this included downloading the MSX BIOS to the SV-328 from tape or floppy disk. Spectravideo later launched the SVI-728 which completely adhered to the MSX standard. The Sega SG-1000 ,

612-606: A particular series. The Electronic Device Business Group developed the PC-8801 for consumers who wanted to use it for both hobby and business. The Information Processing Business Group began developing the PC-9801 specialized for business market. By 1983, the Japanese personal computer industry grew greatly, and its distribution network became complex. It caused the problem for NEC that each group competed to sell its own product to

680-485: A reconfiguration program under MSX-DOS. The "one chip-MSX" also has two USB connectors that can be used after adding some supporting VHDL code. In 2011, AGE Labs announced GR8BIT, a do-it-yourself kit for building an MSX computer. The kit, licensed by the MSX Licensing Corporation, is targeted to those wanting to learn about computer hardware. It includes all the necessary components to assemble

748-415: A single industry-standard for home computers. Inspired by the success of VHS as a standard for video cassette recorders , many Japanese electronics manufacturers (Including GoldStar , Philips and Spectravideo ) built and promoted MSX computers. Any piece of hardware or software with the MSX logo on it was compatible with MSX products from other manufacturers. In particular, the expansion cartridge format

SECTION 10

#1732780144257

816-599: A successful crowdfunding campaign, an IoT device resembling a Game Boy with a keyboard, the MSX0, was revealed, intended for IoT uses, alongside the base MSX3 unit. Plans also call for a supercomputer, the MSX Turbo X 128, based around the concept of clusters. The keyboard is a functionally separate unit which could be connected by non-multiplexed and multiplexed interfaces. Multiplexed keyboard units feature additional data direction line, allowing sending scan line number to

884-400: A wide variety of peripherals could be connected. Regular game cartridges are about the size of an audio cassette (so-called "Konami size"). Despite their higher cost, this was a popular format due to its reliability and ease of use. Around 1985, Hudson Soft released the credit card-sized Bee Card , which was meant as a cheaper and more convenient alternative to ROM cartridges. But it was

952-532: A working MSX2-compatible computer except for an ATX chassis, power supply, floppy drive, hard disk, PS/2 keyboard, and monitor. Some of the Korean forum members who made Zemmix Neo created a new MSX-compatible called Mini IQ3000 Cutie, which has similar features to Daewoo Electronics' Korean-made MSX2 model, the IQ-2000. It is based on 1ChipMSX but has some special features like 'Scan Line Generator', which improves

1020-501: Is a computer released in 2020 and compatible with the MSX family of computers. Like the latest Zemmix game consoles, it is also based on a Raspberry Pi card with additional circuitry to connect the original MSX peripherals. In 2022, Nishi announced an official revival of the MSX computer standard dubbed the MSX3, to be implemented in multiple configurations, including an upgrade cartridge to existing MSX computers. Later, in 2023 following

1088-484: Is fully transparent to the applications, allowing use of the controller unit with different MSX-compatible machines and for different localization setups. MSX standard requires at least 1 cartridge slot, most MSX models have 2. These slots are interchangeable, so in most cases it makes no difference in which slot a cartridge is inserted. The physical connector is a 50 pin (2 × 25 contacts), standard 2.54 mm (0.1 inch) pitch edge connector . Using these cartridge slots,

1156-451: Is housed in a box made out of transparent blue plastic, and can be used with a standard monitor (or TV) and a PC keyboard. It has two MSX cartridge slots and supports the audio extensions MSX-MUSIC and SCC+. A SD/MMC-flashcard can be used as an external storage medium, emulating a disk drive and can be used to boot MSX-DOS . Due to its VHDL programmable hardware, it is possible to give the device new hardware extensions simply by running

1224-426: Is regularly queried to identify the state of the keys on the line; query speed is identified by the system interrupt frequency. Such organization allows system to sense state of each key, not exhibiting notorious problem with 8042 microcontroller -based keyboards when pressing several keys simultaneously (usually more than 3) generates wrong input characters, or renders inability to sense the press of more keys. Due to

1292-636: The Derby Stallion video game series, the MSX computer, and the RPG Maker line of programming software. ASCII was founded in 1977 by Kazuhiko Nishi and Keiichiro Tsukamoto. Originally the publisher of a magazine with the same name, ASCII , talks between Bill Gates and Nishi led to the creation of Microsoft's first overseas sales office, ASCII Microsoft , in 1978. In 1980, ASCII made 1.2 billion yen of sales from licensing Microsoft BASIC . It

1360-818: The Metal Gear series were originally released for MSX hardware. In the early 1980s, most home computers manufactured in Japan such as the NEC PC-6001 and PC-8000 series, Fujitsu 's FM-7 and FM-8 , and Hitachi 's Basic Master featured a variant of the Microsoft BASIC interpreter integrated into their on-board ROMs . The hardware design of these computers and the various dialects of their BASICs were incompatible. Other Japanese consumer electronics firms such as Panasonic , Canon , Casio , Yamaha , Pioneer , and Sanyo were searching for ways to enter

1428-538: The 8-bit home computer line, and Nippon Electric's Information Processing Business Group to handle the 16-bit personal computer line. The Electronic Device Business Group passed off their personal computer business to NEC Home Electronics. NEC Home Electronics discontinued development of the PC-100, PC-6000 series , PC-6600 series and PC-8000 series, and these lines were merged into the PC-8800 series to concentrate on

SECTION 20

#1732780144257

1496-515: The AY-3-8910 chip manufactured by General Instrument (GI), and an Intel 8255 Programmable Peripheral Interface (PPI) chip was used for parallel I/O such as the keyboard. The choice of these components was shared by many other home computers and games consoles of the period, such as the ColecoVision and Sega SG-1000 video game systems. To reduce overall system cost, many MSX models used

1564-685: The Amstrad CPC sold 3 million units, and the Tandy TRS-80 Model 1 sold 250,000 units. A Sony MSX2 machine was launched into space to the Russian Mir space station. The system MSX most closely resembled was the Spectravideo SV-328 home computer (Spectravideo even claimed to be "MSX compatible" in advertisements before the actual launch of MSX systems, but it was not completely compatible with it). This led to

1632-766: The Memotech MTX , the Tatung Einstein , and the ColecoVision all have many similarities with the MSX1 standard, but none are fully compatible with it. Porting games between those systems is somewhat easy. It was also very common to port games from the ZX Spectrum to the MSX, since both have the same CPU, the Spectrum 128 had the same soundchip, and the ZX Spectrum's graphic mode could be easily emulated on

1700-524: The Soviet Union , and Cuba , where they were widely used in schools. In total, 9 million MSX computers were sold in Japan, making it relatively popular. However, the MSX did not become the worldwide standard envisioned because of limited adoption in other markets. Before the MSX's lack of success in these markets became apparent, US manufacturer Commodore Business Machines overhauled its product line in

1768-469: The 1980s, ASCII became active in the development and publishing of software and peripherals for popular consoles such as the Family Computer and Mega Drive . After Microsoft's public stock offering in 1986, Microsoft founded its own Japanese subsidiary, Microsoft Co., Ltd. , traded as Microsoft Kabushiki Kaisha (MSKK), and dissolved its partnership with ASCII. At around the same time, the company

1836-653: The Language Pack is installed by default in place of the Kanji -ROM. It allows changing the character set and keyboard layout of the machine at startup between Japanese, Russian, International and Portuguese locales. It also gives the ability to change locales during machine operation using the newly introduced LANG command in BASIC. The selected locale setting is stored into the unused RTC NVRAM memory space. Several popular video game franchises were established on

1904-541: The MSX TurboR was released, which used the new custom 16-bit R800 microprocessor developed by ASCII Corporation intended for the MSX3, but features such as DMA and 24-bit addressing were disabled. Like the MSX2+, the MSX TurboR was exclusively released in Japan. By the time the MSX TurboR standard was announced in 1990, only Panasonic was manufacturing MSX computers. Its initial model FS-A1ST met with moderate success, but

1972-485: The MSX was formally announced during a press conference, and a slew of big Japanese firms declared their plans to introduce the machines. The Japanese companies avoided the intensely competitive U.S. home computer market, which was in the throes of a Commodore -led price war . Only Spectravideo and Yamaha briefly marketed MSX machines in the U.S. Spectravideo's MSX enjoyed very little success, and Yamaha's CX5M model, built to interface with various types of MIDI equipment,

2040-487: The MSX's screen-2 mode. Many Roland S-series audio/music digital sampler/synthesizer keyboards and rack module units are based on the MSX operating system. This includes the earlier 12-bit sample resolution models S-50, S-330, S-550, W-30, and later 16-bit sample resolution models S-770, S-750, SP-700, and S-760. Most of these models included (or could be expanded with) color video outputs to display monitors, as well as MSX-compatible mouse ports. By default, MSX machines have

2108-535: The MSX: Others received various installments on the MSX, including several titles unique to the system or largely reworked versions of games on other formats: * Clones or unlicensed equipment. In 2001, Kazuhiko Nishi initiated a MSX revival around an official MSX emulator called MSXPLAYer. This is the only official MSX emulator as all MSX copyrights are maintained by the MSX Association. In 2004,

NEC PC-100 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2176-593: The Panasonic (previously named National) CF-3300. In Europe, a range of Philips MSX2 systems NMS 8230, 8235, 8245, 8250 and above featured either 360 or 720 KB 3.5-inch floppy drives. In 1985, the MSX2 was released, and these systems often (but not always) also included a built-in 3.5-inch disk drive. Consequently, the popular media for games and other software shifted to floppy disks. The MSX-DOS disk operating system had binary compatibility with CP/M , but used

2244-561: The United States. The meaning of the acronym MSX remains a matter of debate. In 2001, Kazuhiko Nishi recalled that many assumed that it was derived from "Microsoft Extended", referring to the built-in Microsoft Extended BASIC ( MSX BASIC ). Others believed that it stood for "Matsushita-Sony". Nishi said that the team's original definition was "Machines with Software eXchangeability", although in 1985 he said it

2312-402: The United States. Before the great success of Nintendo 's Family Computer , MSX was the platform for which major Japanese game studios such as Konami and Hudson Soft produced video games. The Metal Gear series , for example, was first written for MSX hardware. MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It

2380-415: The adapter board to connect a PS/2 keyboard to the multiplexed MSX keyboard interface. The firmware embedded into its ATTiny chip was tailored for Daewoo CPC machines. In 2011, AGE Labs embedded a PS/2 keyboard controller unit, based on Microchip microcontroller, into its GR8BIT do-it-yourself machine. Its firmware is developed to directly convert PS/2 scan codes to the MSX keyboard scan codes. Thus it

2448-408: The company continued to suffer from accumulated debts, until an arrangement was made that CSK Corporation would execute a major investment into ASCII in 1997. In the mid-1990s, ASCII acquired the company Something Good, and renamed it to ASCII Something Good , through which they developed three Sega Saturn games: AI Shogi (1995), AI Igo (1997), AI Shogi 2 (1998). ASCII originally used

2516-493: The development of home computers. While they were competing for videotape formats , Nobuyuki Idei of Sony accepted his proposal. Idei thought Sony should cooperate with Panasonic on its development because the SMC-70 , Sony's first personal computer, faced difficulty in the market when Sony started their computer business. Maeda also wanted to invite NEC, but NEC chose to go its own way. Nishi proposed MSX as an attempt to create

2584-626: The early 1980s and introduced models such as the Plus/4 and Commodore 16 , that were intended to better compete with the features of MSX computers. In comparison with rival 8-bit computers, the Commodore 64 is estimated to have sold 12.5–17 million units worldwide, the Apple II sold 6 million units, the ZX Spectrum over 5 million units, the Atari 8-bit computers sold at least 4 million units,

2652-457: The form of a cartridge containing the disk interface electronics and a BIOS extension ROM (the floppy disk drive interface), connected to an external case with the drive. In South America, many of these systems used a 5.25 in (133 mm) floppy disk drive, but in Europe, 3.5 in (89 mm) drives were more popular. In Japan, some MSX1 systems included a built-in 3.5-inch disk drive, like

2720-468: The home computer market. ASCII Corporation ASCII Corporation, Ltd. was a Japanese publishing company based in Chiyoda, Tokyo . It became a subsidiary of Kadokawa Group Holdings in 2004, and merged with another Kadokawa subsidiary MediaWorks on April 1, 2008, becoming ASCII Media Works . The company published Monthly ASCII as the main publication. ASCII is best known for creating

2788-506: The keyboard scan being controlled by the system interrupts, one of the troubleshooting hints when an MSX machine does not display any image (assuming power is present) is to press the CAPS key to see if the respective LED toggles. If it does not toggle, the system is likely suffering a more serious problem than just lack of image on the screen (i.e. the problem with video cable or video display interface in overall). In 2009, Kamil Karimov designed

NEC PC-100 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2856-589: The keyboard using same data lines used for return scan code, decreasing overall number of wires between keyboard and machine. Non-multiplexed interface is usually used for internal keyboards (and some external keyboards, like Panasonic CF-3300); multiplexed interface is used for external keyboards (e.g. in Yamaha YIS805 model). The keyboard is organized as a matrix with maximum 11 input lines and 8 output lines, accounting for maximum 88 keys (including all control, numerical and alphanumerical keys). Each scan line

2924-632: The largest electronics companies. In the late 1970s, the company investigated other business areas outside of home appliances. Panasonic also saw potential in the recent microcomputer revolution . One of Panasonic's distributors, Yamagata National, told Panasonic's president, Toshihiko Yamashita: Recently, NEC 's personal computers sell well in Yamagata too, and our dealers also request merchandise. However, we must purchase not only personal computers, but also home appliances from NEC. I think Matsushita also need develop personal computers. Yamashita ordered

2992-527: The name ASCII Media Works , effective on April 1, 2008. The merger was approved in 2008. On January 10, 2010, the formerly named ASCII company MediaLeaves was merged into Enterbrain, dissolving the last of the ASCII entity. MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII on June 16, 1983. It was conceived and marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-president at Microsoft Japan and director at ASCII Corporation. Nishi conceived

3060-575: The name Nexoft on early American releases. In 1991, they renamed Nexoft to ASCII Entertainment , although releases around this time used the Asciiware name. To focus on supporting the interactive entertainment channel in America, startup company Agetec (for "Ascii Game Entertainment Technology") was spun off as an independent corporation in 1998 and later became a fully independent publisher one year later. Co-founder Tsukamoto had left ASCII to create

3128-429: The new home computer market. Major Japanese electronics companies entered the computer market in the 1960s, and Panasonic (Matsushita Electric Industrial) was also developing mainframe computers . The Japanese economy was facing a recession after the 1964 Summer Olympics and Panasonic decided to exit the computer business and focus on home appliances. The decision was a huge success, and Panasonic grew to become one of

3196-402: The project as an attempt to create unified standards among various home computing system manufacturers of the period. MSX systems were popular in Japan and several other countries. It is difficult to determine how many MSX computers were sold worldwide, but eventually, 5 million MSX-based units were sold in Japan alone. Despite Microsoft's involvement, few MSX-based machines were released in

3264-506: The public was a Mitsubishi ML-8000, released on October 21, 1983, thus marking its official release date. MSX systems were popular in Japan and several other countries. There are differing accounts of MSX sales. One source claims 9 million MSX units were sold worldwide, including 7 million in Japan alone, whereas ASCII corporation founder Kazuhiko Nishi claims that 3 million were sold in Japan, and 1 million overseas. Despite Microsoft's involvement, few MSX-based machines were released in

3332-461: The quality of the video display, and 'Multi Language Support' that allows it to support two languages. By default, the machine operates using the Korean version of MSX displaying the Korean font, but if the 'del' key is pressed during booting it will operate in Japanese mode. Even though the default mode is Korean, the default font allocation table is Japanese, and will show Japanese characters when executing Japanese version software programs. In 2019,

3400-482: The resulting V9990 E-VDP III as a video-chipset for PC VGA graphic cards, with moderate success. In Japan, South Korea, Argentina, and Brazil, the MSX was the preeminent home computer system of the 1980s. It was also fairly popular in continental Europe , especially in the Netherlands and Spain. Classrooms full of networked Yamaha MSX computers were used for teaching informatics in schools in some Arab countries,

3468-529: The same FAT file system as MS-DOS . Its user commands were also similar to early MS-DOS versions. In this way, Microsoft could promote MSX for home use while promoting MS-DOS based personal computers in office environments. The MSX 3.5-inch floppy disks are directly compatible with MS-DOS (although some details like file undeletion and boot sector code were different). Like MS-DOS 1, MSX disks (formatted) under MSX-DOS 1 have no support for subdirectories . In September 2012, AGE Labs extended

SECTION 50

#1732780144257

3536-501: The same chain. Their biggest competitor was each group in the company, and they contested for the leadership. One software company's president recalled the sales section of PC-9801 often said "Down with the 88!". The PC-100 and PC-9801F were released at the same time, and the problem surfaced. A store manager complained he couldn't determine which salesperson to follow. In December 1983, NEC decided to consolidate personal computer business into two divisions: NEC Home Electronics to oversee

3604-433: The same time, Spectravideo contacted Microsoft in order to obtain software for their new home computer. Nishi went to Hong Kong to meet with Spectravideo, and suggested some improvements to its prototype. Spectravideo's president, Harry Fox, was willing to accept Nishi's proposals. Nishi conceived to create a unified standard based on its machine, and Maeda agreed with his idea. Nishi wanted to involve Panasonic and Sony in

3672-479: The same year was only ¥14,800 and the vaunted Apple Lisa 2 sold for ¥2.2 million. The cheaper PC-9801F2 also by NEC outsold it. NEC phased out the PC-100 due to reorganization of its business units rather than its technical issues. The Electronic Device Business Group launched the PC-8001 in 1979, making NEC the biggest PC vendor in Japan. However, the Japanese personal computer industry had just begun, and it

3740-504: The standard by including support for 1.44Mb 3.5-inch format. The 1.44Mb diskette size goes in two configurations: Standard (1 sector per cluster, 9 FAT sectors), and Compatible (4 sectors per cluster, 3 FAT sectors). MSX computers are emulated on many platforms today. Early MSX emulators were often based on the code of the pioneer fMSX , a portable MSX emulator by Marat Fayzullin. Many emulators removed Fayzullin's Z80 emulation code entirely in later versions to avoid legal problems, as at

3808-563: The standard floppy disk interface released a few months later. Only a handful of titles were released in this format. Sony also created a battery backed RAM cartridge the HBI-55 "data cartridge" in 1984 for some computers in their "Hit-Bit" line of MSX systems, that could be used to store programs or data as an alternative to cassette tapes. Many Yamaha Music software are also compatible with this cartridge. Traditional floppy disk drives were made available for MSX in 1984, either built-in or in

3876-500: The upgraded model FS-A1GT introduced in 1991 sold poorly due to its high retail cost of 99800 yen (about 740 USD at the time). Production of the TurboR ended in 1993 when Panasonic decided to focus on the release of 3DO . The VDP was eventually delivered in 1992, two years after its planned deadline, by which time the market had moved on. In an attempt to reduce its financial loss, Yamaha stripped nearly all V9958 compatibility and marketed

3944-409: The vice president, Shunkichi Kisaka, to develop a personal computer, and Kisaka called on Kazuyasu Maeda of Matsushita R&D Center. Maeda requested Nishi to assist with the development. They were already close to each other. When they met at a seminar held by NEC, they noticed both were from Kobe and had graduated from the same university. They often talked to each other about home computers. At

4012-417: Was 40 percent of Microsoft's sales, and Nishi became Microsoft's Vice President of Sales for Far East. In 1983, ASCII and Microsoft introduced the MSX , a standardized specification for 8-bit home computers. In 1984, ASCII entered the semiconductor business, followed by a further expansion into commercial online service in 1985 under the brand of ASCII-NET. As the popularity of home video game systems soared in

4080-483: Was also obliged to reform itself as a result of its aggressive diversification in the first half of the 1980s. The company went public in 1989. ASCII's revenue in its fiscal year ending March 1996 was 56 billion yen, broken down by sectors: publications (52.5% or 27.0 billion yen), game entertainment (27.8% or 14.3 billion yen), systems and semiconductors (10.8% or 6 billion yen) and others. Despite its struggles to remain focused on its core businesses,

4148-503: Was billed more as a digital music tool than a standard personal computer. MSX spawned four generations. The first three, MSX (1983), MSX2 (1985), and MSX2+ (1988), were all 8-bit computers based on the Z80 microprocessor. The MSX2+ was exclusively released in Japan. A new MSX3 was originally scheduled to be released in 1990, but delays in the development of its Yamaha-designed VDP caused it to miss its time to market deadline. In its place,

SECTION 60

#1732780144257

4216-473: Was forgiven, and under Unison's control, the ASCII's Enterbrain and IT publishing divisions would maintain autonomy, while ASCII was restructured to concentrate on PC and IT publishing businesses. On May 28, 2002, Unison Media Partners announced ASCII became a fully owned subsidiary of via share exchange, and ASCII would be delisted, effective on October 1, 2002. On November 18, 2002, the Astroarts subsidiary

4284-512: Was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi , the director at ASCII Corporation. Microsoft and Nishi conceived the project as an attempt to create unified standards among various home computing system manufacturers of the period, in the same fashion as the VHS standard for home video tape machines. The first MSX computer sold to

4352-529: Was named after the MX missile . According to his book in 2020, he considered the name of the new standard should consist of three letters, like VHS . He felt "MSX" was fit because it means "the next of Microsoft", and it also contains the first letters of Matsushita ( Panasonic ) and Sony. Before the success of Nintendo 's Family Computer , the MSX was the platform that major Japanese game studios such as Konami and Hudson Soft developed for. The first two games in

4420-535: Was part of the standard; any MSX expansion or game cartridge would work in any MSX computer. Nishi's standard was built around the Spectravideo SV-328 computer. The standard consisted primarily of several off-the-shelf parts; the main CPU was a 3.58 MHz Zilog Z80 , the Texas Instruments TMS9918 graphics chip with 16 KB of dedicated VRAM , sound and partial I/O support was provided by

4488-498: Was renamed to ASCII, while ASCII was renamed to MediaLeaves. The former Astroarts subsidiary would inherit the publishing business of the former ASCII. On January 29, 2004, Unison Capital Partners, L.P. announced the sale of ASCII's parent company MediaLeaves to Kadokawa Group Holdings , to be completed in March 2004. On September 27, 2007, Kadokawa Group Holdings announced the merger between subsidiaries MediaWorks and ASCII under

4556-508: Was the English counterpart of this and other Japanese services offered by D4 Enterprise , which also announced in August 2006 the launch of a new MSX2 compatible system called the " one chip-MSX ", a system based on an Altera Cyclone EP1C12Q240C8 FPGA . The one chip-MSX" is similar in concept to the C-One , a Commodore 64 clone also built on the basis of a single FPGA chip. The new MSX system

4624-496: Was unclear which market would grow. Other large computer manufacturers, IBM Japan and Fujitsu , had not focused on the personal computer industry yet. Hitachi and Sharp released home computers for hobbyists. Sord and Oki Electric Industry released personal computers for small-business sector. In 1981, NEC expanded personal computer lines into three groups: NEC Home Electronics, Information Processing Business Group and Electronic Device Business Group, with each specializing in

#256743