Tomb of the Unknown Computer

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Tomb of the Unknown Computer.



This is basically a thread to speak of ancient and forgotten computers without clogging the phorum. Because American, British and French computers are already covered, I'll probably use it to speak of Japanese and Eastern European systems. Visitors are welcome, and the ghosts of these ancient system will surely appreciate a few words of remembrance, appreciation or a fresh bouquet of flowers.

 

The first computer I'd like to mention is the NEC PC-6001 . It seems like a sensible choice, given that the site already offers games for the NEC PC-88 and the NEC PC-98.

A quick recap: The NEC PC-88 were a series of 8-bit domestic computers, while the PC-98 were 16-bit computers designed for offices, although they found a place in homes during the 1990s.

The PC-6001 were a series of earlier 8-bit computers sold from 1981 in Japan, the USA and Europe. They targeted home users and were based on the Zilog Z80 CPU. One could say they were designed as cheap, versatile systems.



Towards 1983 NEC decided to put some order in their computer lines. Until then, their subsidiaries had been manufactoring four different and unrelated series. They decided that from then on NEC Home Electronics would manufacture 8-bit computers, while Information Processing Group would do the same with 16-bit computers. And one of the first decisions taken by NEC Home Electronics was to cease production of the PC-6000 , PC-6600 and PC-8000 series in order to focus on the newer PC-88 models.


Technical specifications.

CPU: NEC µPD780C-1 running at 3.8MHz. It's a Zilog Z80 clone.

RAM: 16 Kb.

Video chip: M5C6847P-1 co-processor, compatible with the Motorola MC6847 used by the TRS-80 Color Computer and the Dragon 32/64 .

Graphic modes: 32x16 characters with 4 colors, semi-graphic mode with 64x48 pixels and 9 colors, graphics with 128x192 pixels and 4 colors and 256x192 with white and green colors only.

Sound: General Instruments AY-3-8910, identical to the one used in the Amstrad CPC , MSX and 128k ZX Spectrum models.

Storage: Cartridge and cassette (external unit).

These specifications refer to the first models in the series, the PC-6001 .

The next model was the PC-6001mkII , with several differences: fullstroke keyboard, 64 Kb. RAM, a voice synth and slightly different graphic modes: 40x20 characters, semi-graphic mode with a 80x80 resolution and 15 colors, and graphics at either 160x200 and 15 colors, or 320x200 and 4 colors. They could also use 5 and 1/4 disk drives.

Finally, the PC-6601 models are almost identical to the PC-6001mkII, but now they use an integrated 3'5 disk drive.


The Games.

For computers with such a short lifespan, the PC-6001 has a decent library. The website MobyGames covers around 74 titles, and my Neo Kobe set has pretty much the same number.

Among them there are classics such as Amidar , Choplifter , Galaxian and Lode Runner . Of especial interst are the games that Nintendo licensed for this generation of Japanese computers, such as Donkey Kong 3 , Mario Bros. Special or Punch Ball Mario Bros.

In both cases, these games are not unique, as they often have PC-88 , Sharp X1 and MSX versions.


Emulation.

Apart from MAME / MESS , I know of two decent emulators for this system. The first one is PC6001VX , and the second is PC6001.EXE , which is part of the Common Source Project , a group of emulators for Japanese machines maintained by Takeda .

One peculiarity of this system when it comes to games is that there seems to be quite the variation between computer models. Which is why many games have a code embedded in their filenames, something like {m5p3} .

This translates as "Use BASIC 5 and 3 memory pages" to run this game.

The BASIC number relates to the BASIC menu option shown in PC-6001mkII and upper models, which was used to maintain compatibility with older machines.



See what I mean?

As for the "memory pages", the PC-6001 shared the system and video RAM. Which means that at every startup the computer will ask for those:



So yes, first we need to set up a PC-6001mkII or better model in our emulator, and then enter the right options for every game.

Once we've done this, tapes load with the CLOAD and RUN commands.





Or MON and R-0 if the program is written in machine code.

A usual, cartridges load automatically after a reset, and disks... well, disks I have no idea on how to run those, but luckily most games seem to come on tape.

 

Today let's talk about the Sony SMC-777 computer from 1983.



Unlike most computers we're used to see in these threads, this wasn't an ordinary domestic computer. It was a very powerful and pretty expensive computer that found a niche in video tasks. It also wasn't the first of its kind, but a replacement for the similar SMC 70G . Both computers also have the honor of being among the first to employ 3'5 disk drives.

Some websites refer to the SMC-777 as a powered-up MSX computer. They are some hardware similarities -both computers use the Zilog Z80 architecture- but I'd say part of the confusion comes from the fact that Sony advertised the SMC-777 as part of their Hit-Bit line, as if it was just another MSX computer.



As advertised.

Anyway, no, the SMC-77 is not MSX compatible, nor it seems to share video or sound chips with the MSX, or run MSX-BASIC.


Technical specs.

CPU: Zilog Z80A @ 4 Mhz.
RAM: 64 Kb. + 32 Kb. video RAM.
SO: CP/M v2.2
Graphics: 320x200 and 16 colors or 640x200 and 4 colors. 4,096 color palette.
Sonido: 3 sound channels + 1 noise channel.
Storage: 3'5 disk drive. Disks were one-sided and could carry as much as 437.5 Kb.

I wish I knew more about the dedicated video and sound chips, as it would help me understand what Sony had in mind with this.


Emulation.

The only emulator I know for this system is MAME / MESS . The BIOS files are easily identified: smc77.zip .

As for games, there are only a bunch of them, like a dozen. It seems that such an especialized machine didn't have developers waiting in line. And also some of its games may still waiting to be dumped. But what we have is pretty impressive, the games look amazing for an 8-bit computer from 1983.

And even better, they load automatically, without having to enter any commands.


Choplifter


Striz BH


Zeblock 2

 

I was familiar with Casio wristwatches, Casio calculators and even Casio keyboards (hello, Casio PT-82). Casio computers? Apparently those exist too. Like the Casio PV-2000 .



It's a 1983 computer with many points in common with the MSX. Casio released it just a few months after they had to hastily retire from stores the Casio PV-1000 , which wasn't a home computer but rather an UFO-shaped videoconsole. Unfortunately for Casio, they happened to release just at the same time as Nintendo released their Famicom / Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega released the SG-1000 . Some sources say the PV-1000 was only on sale for a few weeks before it was retired.



"It's just some bad luck", somebody at Casio may have thought. So they released the PV-2000 computer shortly afterwards. But seemingly Casio was the victim of some kind of voodoo curse, because the MSX computers arrived shortly after and rendered their computer obsolete.

This time, Casio bounced back from the fiasco with more style. If the world gives you lemons, make lemonade, and if they want MSX make your own. So Casio jumped on the MSX bandwagon and by 1984 they already had their own first MSX model, the PV-7 .


Technical specs.

CPU: Zilog Z80A @ 3.58 MHz
RAM: 8 Kb. plus 16 Kb. Video RAM.
Video Chip: TMS9918, capable of displaying 256x192 graphics with 16 colors.
Sound Chips: SN76489 PSG.

It seems like the PV-2000 was designed as an entry-level computer or gaming platform. And as we said before, this hardware was pretty similar to the first generation of MSX machines. They only differ in the sound chip (the MSX used the General Instruments AY-3-8910 ), memory mapping BIOS and BASIC.

A very distinctive feature of the PV-2000 is the thin plastic layout sitting on top of the membrane keyboard. Apparently they deteriorate quickly and they are the main reason why units in working condition are hard to find these days. I know, right? Who the hell makes a computer for kids with such a flimsy keyboard?


Emulation.

For such a crude and limited machine, we have some variety of emulation options. First of all, naturally, there's MAME / MESS . Then there's the Common Source Project maintained by Takeda and even a dedicated emulator called Emugaki .

Personally I'd rather use MAME / MESS or DSP Emulator , a Spanish multi-emulator that also supports a variety of arcade machines, computers and videoconsoles.



In all cases we are restricted to the five (!) launch cartridges, which are: Front Line , Galaga , Pachinko - UFO , Rakugaki and Roc'n Rope .


Front Line


Galaga

As for Casio, AFAIK they managed not to screw up again until 1995, when they released the Casio Loopy , a 32-bit videoconsole targeted to women. And women, naturally, disagreed.

 

Tiki-100 was a desktop home/personal computer manufactured by Tiki Data of Oslo, Norway. The computer was launched in the spring of 1984 under the original name Kontiki-100, and was first and foremost intended for the emerging educational sector, especially for primary schools. Early prototypes had 4 KB ROM, and the '100' in the machine's name was based on the total KB amount of memory.

Mostly educational games like these.

Tiki 100 - Wikipedia

MAME gameplay:

(That game didnt age well )

Some what of a commercial failure given the price of 12000 NOK in 1984. Would be 37000 NOK today adjusted for inflation. (3345 USD). Only sold to schools directly. After that the company went on to sell IBM compatibles for a few years before shutting down.

 

The keyboard seems made with TENTE pieces xD

TENTE was a variant of LEGO, with much smaller pieces.

Luckily, I was never the "victim" of any of those systems. By the time they introduced computers in my highschool they were PC Compatibles with 286 CPUs. We just learned how to write very primitive BASIC programs. Well, that and how to play "Gorillas".

 

I think I'm going to use the next messages to the Sharp computers that came before the X68000 , their universally beloved 16-bit computer. Of course, there are plenty of those, so I think I'll limit myself to the ones I've also emulated. Those would be the Sharp MZ-700 , MZ-800 , MZ-2500 and the X1 / X1 Turbo.



Starting with the MZ-700 from 1982, I learned of it by pure chance. Because I'm a child from the 80s, and the first computers that got my attention were the ZX Spectrum, the Amstrad CPC, the C64 and the MSX. But some time ago I was visited by an older cousin who happens to work with computers. And being the kind of person I am, we soon were talking about our experiences with ancient hardware. He had lots of funny stories about the topic, such as having to carry your programs in a stack of cards, but what surprised me the most to learn is that his first computer had been an 8-bit Sharp of some kind, which he later confirmed to me was an MZ-700 .

I should mention first that the MZ-700 (and the later models I'll be covering) is part of a long series of computers by Sharp that are all over the place. It includes models like the MZ-80K (1979), which is a monochrome, all-in-one machine that reminds me of the Tandy TRS-80 and the Commodore PET , or the MZ-3500 from 1983, which is a PC clone but runs under two Zilog Z80a processors, meaning it's CP/M compatible but can't run DOS. And, no, these different Sharp MZ computers are not compatible with each others.

They also seem to have appeared in other countries apart from Japan, such as the UK or the USA.


A Sharp MZ-80K computer

Back to the MZ-700 , they ran on a Zilog Z80A CPU (which actually was a Sharp LH-0080 clone) and shipped with 64 Kb. RAM. They had two very distinctive features. First, there's a plotter embedded into the case. A plotter is a very basic type of printer, and at this point they could only print the crudest graphics.

And then, there are the graphic modes, or lack of them. The MZ-700 had a text mode capable of 40x25 characters and a semi-graphic mode capable of 50x80 pixels with 8 colors. "Semi-graphic" implies that the computer couldn't generate graphics from scratch. Rather than program their own, developers had to use the 512 symbols included in the ROM to create any type of graphics. This wasn't that strange at the time. Computers such as the Mattel Aquarius did the same thing.

The rest of computer especifications were also pretty barebones: sound came through an internal speaker with only one channel, and no OS appeared upon booting the computer, the user had to provide one. At least the machines were CP/M compatible, but only when attached to an external disk drive.

These MZ-700 series were replaced by the MZ-800 (known as the MZ-1500 in Japan) series in 1984.



Although externally they resemble the previous series a lot, they're not 100% compatible with them, just like the MZ-700 weren't entirely compatible with the MZ-80K .

Internally they still have 64 Kb. RAM, but they trade the old Sharp Zilog clones for real Z80A s. However, the bigger changes are in the graphics and the sound departments. The MZ-800 adds two new graphic modes, 320x200x4 and 640x200x2, both with vertical hardware scroll, and also new sound hardware with 3 sound channels and an extra noise channel.


Emulation.

As usual, MAME / MESS is perhaps the most common option for running MZ-700/800 programs. And as usual, it's way simpler to employ a dedicated emulator, such as Sharp MZ-800 Emulator .

We start the emulator with MZ800.BAT , and after a few seconds the following screen will appear:



We choose the C: Cassette tape option and load a tape image. Unlike other computers, we don't need to type a thing.

The MZ-700 game library consists of around 80 games, which is not bad. However, I find it hard to enjoy thos primitive graphics. Or semi-graphics:


Bomberman


Super Puck Man

The MZ-800 has better games to offer, but unfortunately you won't find them in the TOSEC sets. At least not yet. But if you dig around you'll find ports of some 8-bit classics, such as Abu Simbel Profanation , Arkanoid , several of the Dizzy games or Way of the Exploding Fist :


Abu Simbel Profanation


Way of the Exploding Fist

We've seen worse, am I right?

 

The Sharp MZ-2500 arrived in 1985, and they're one of the most powerful 8-bit computers ever made.



Just like the MZ-800 did over the MZ-700, they greatly improve performance. So much that it is sometimes referred to as Super MZ.

They have a Zilog Z80B CPU running at 6 Mhz., a new memory controller and shipped with 128 Kb. RAM that could be upgraded to 256 Kb. The biggest upgrade was the video chip, now capable of graphics at 320×200 with 256 colors, 320×200 with 16 colors, 640×200 with 16 colors and 640×400 with 4 colors.

But machines with 256 Kb. added an extra mode, 320×400 and 256 colors, while improving the 320×200, 640×200 and 640×400 with 16 simultaneous colors.

The sound was equally impressive, with a Yamaha YM2203 sound chip providing 3 PSG sound channels and 3 FM channels.

As usual with Sharp, no OS appeared after booting up the computer, just a basic IPL that allowed the user to load programs. BASIC, assembler and Pascal languages were available, but had to be load separately from tape or disk.

Sharp tried to marke this new model as a gaming platform, but not too many developers followed their cue. Despite this, some games exist that take advantage of its capabilities, like Penguin-kun Wars, Xevious or Ys III: Wanderers from Ys.

We emulate the MZ-2500 with either MAME / MESS or MZ2500.EXE from the Common Source Project. Games are available from their MAME software list and usually come in the form of disk images.

Their usage is easy, we just insert the disk images and reset the computer. If the game consists of two or more disk images, we insert the first two in the first two disk drives.


Back to the Future


Penguin-kun Wars


Xevious


Ys III: Wanderers from Ys

The MZ-2500 was not a success, but some of its characteristics would be inherited by their replacement, the Sharp X1 / X1 Turbo.

 

Today it's the turn of the Sharp X1 and X1 Turbo .



I thought these computers were the successors of the Sharp MZ series, but it seems that they coexisted for many years. The first X1 was released in 1982, and they were sold until 1988. It seems that the MZ series was made by a different division of Sharp than the X1 . Also, while the MZ were exported to the UK and Germany the X1 was never sold outside Japan. What they have in common is the concept of "clean computer", meaning no OS is loaded at startup, just an IPL that looks for programs to run. This allowed for more flexibility -the user loaded whatever they wanted separately- and left more free RAM for programs.

During its lifespan the X1 competed against the NEC PC-88 computers. Several revisions of the X1 exist. The X1 Turbo adds a 640x400 graphic mode and other improvements, and the X1 Turbo Z a 320x200 graphic mode with 4096 colors and 6 FM sound channels.

Finally, the X1 Twin is a X1 and NEC PC-Engine / TurboGrafx-16 hybrid. It was the final X1 model before the series were replaced by the Sharp X68000 in 1987.


Technical specs.

CPU: Sharp Z80A @ 4 Mhz.
RAM: 64 Kb (128 Kb. in Turbo Z models).
VRAM: 4 Kb., which could be upgraded to 48 Kb. 96 Kb. in Turbo and Turbo Z models.
Graphics : 320x200 and 640x200 with 8 simultaneous colors.
Sound: PSG 3 voices.

As previously stated, the X1 Turbo adds a 640x400 graphic mode, and the X1 Turbo Z has an extra 320x200 graphic mode with 4096 colors and extra 6 FM sound channels.

The X1 had some unusual graphic capabilities. Their monitors included a TV tuner and the computer output could be superimposed on TV. The character font was also programmable and the video RAM used bank switching technology. These characteristics made the X1 a very powerful machine for games.

Programs were loaded from either tape or disk. First X1 models had an embedded tape recorder, while later models have 5 and 1/4 disk drives instead. The tape unit was very sophisticated for its time, being able to stop, rewind and look for files automatically. It was almost as good as a floppy disk!

The red color scheme became quickly identifiable with this computer line, and it's easy to see why. These computers look great in red.




Emulation.

Naturally, MAME / MESS has support for these machines. But I'd rather use the x1.exe and x1turbo.exe binaries from the Common Source Project . The required BIOS are listed on the x1twin_turbo.txt file. Since the X1 Turbo model is mostly X1 compatible it's better to launch games from the former.

Loading programs is very easy. As I mentioned earlier, the IPL will load at startup and search for programs in the disk and tape units.



Once found, they will load immediately. Some tapes, though, require to be loaded from BASIC. In those cases we insert a HuBASIC disk image (version CZ-8CB01 is fine), then the tape image and enter the instruction RUN" . Or LOAD"FileName" followed by RUN .





The TOSEC sets consist of around 120 tape games and 18 disk games. But if you really want the good stuff search for the Neo Kobe set. As usual, there's some overlapping with other Japanese 8-bit computers of the period, but who cares.

Games are usually controlled with the numeric keyboard plus SPACE, Z, or X.


1942


Dragon Slayer


Gradius


Tetris


Ys: The Vanished Omens

 

I never thought I'd call the Sharp X68000 an "unknown" computer, but here we are.



The X68000 was released in 1987 and it succeeds the Sharp X1 / X1 Turbo computer line. It's a brand new 16-bit computer based on the Motorola 68000 CPU, and a machine far more powerful than western equivalents such as the Atari ST or the Amiga 500. Its different models were sold until 1993, but never outside of Japan.

In the west the X68000 is best know for its arcade-perfect ports of games from Capcom, Sega and Konami. However those are only a small part of the whole X68000 library. The most common games are either adventures or RPG games in Japanese, while fighting games with bishōjo aesthetics are also ubiquitous.


Lipstick Adventure 3


Queen of Duelist: Gaiden Alpha


Srider Hiryu


The hardware:

CPU: Hitachi HD68HC000 @ 10 MHz (Models from 1987 to 1991)
Motorola 68000 @ 16 MHz (Models from 1991 to 1992)
Motorola MC68EC030 (32 bits) @ 25 MHz (1993 X68030 models only)

Co-processor : Oki MSM80C51 MCU

Graphics Chips: Sharp-Hudson Custom Chipset
CYNTHIA Jr Sprite Controller, VINAS CRT Controller, VSOP Video
Controller, RESERVE Video Data Selector (First models)
CYNTHIA Sprite Controller, VICON CRT Controller, VIPS Video
Controller, CATHY Video Data Selector (Models from 1988 to 1993)

Available graphic modes: 256×240 pixels with 16 to 65.536 colors
256×256 pixels with 16 to 65.536 colors
512×240 pixels with 16 to 65.536 colors
512×256 pixels with 16 to 65.536 colors
512×512 pixels with 16 to 65.536 colors
640 ×480 pixels with 16 to 64 colors
768×512 pixels with 16 to 64 colors
1024×1024 pixels with 16 to 64 colors

The graphics hardware was also capable of hardware scroll, priority control, superpositions, dual tilemap background layers and sprite flipping.

Sound Chips: Yamaha YM2151, capable of FM Synthesis and 8 channels
Yamaha YM3012: Floating point DAC with Stereo output Oki MSM6258: 4-bit ADPCM mono mono output at 22 kHz


RAM: From 1 Mb. to 4 Mb. Expandable up to 12 Mb.

Storage: Two 5'25 floppy units with 1.2 Mb. capacity.
Two 3'5 floppy units with 1.44 Mb. capacity (in Compact models).
Optional harddrives between 20 and 80 Mb., with either SASI or SCSI interfaces.

This hardware is very close to what arcade machines were used at the time. In fact, some companies used the X68000 to develop their arcades, such as Capcom with their CPS1 games.

Most games and applications will run on 2 Mb. RAM machines.

The X68000, like the Sharp MZ and X1 series before, boots to a very limited IPL, enough to run most disk programs.

Ths time however "real" OSes were also provided, in the shape of Human68k (with a command-line interface reminiscent of DOS ) and either Visual Shell or SX-WINDOW (graphic interfaces).


SX-WINDOW


Emulation:

I'd say that right now the best emulators for the system are either XM6 TypeG or XM6 Pro-68k . In this guide we'll use the first one. We'll also need the BIOS from the computer, which you can find elsewhere.

Now comes a step that I read about ages ago, and I don't know if it is still essential. No matter what emulator we use, first we need to download a Human68k system disk (it is available here ) and boot the computer with it.

Once, it's done, we enter the command SWITCH to access the BIOS settings:



Basically we change the MEMORY value to 12 Mb, the SRAM value to Ramdisk , the XCHG value to 7 and HD_MAX to 4 .

These options configure the maximum of RAM available, make it easier to find obscure keyboard symbols and set the maximum of harddrive slots to 4.

We save the new values with the last option and, very important , we switch off the computer using the SWITCH OFF menu option so the SRAM is saved as well.

Now we can load our favorite games! They usually come in the shape of floppy disk images (extensions XDf or DIM among others) and we insert them in the two floppy drive slots. If a game consists of two or more floppy images, we always insert the first two.


Akumajou Dracula

But if you can, seek out the harddrive images from the Neo Kobe set. They load much faster and you won't have to keep switching floppies.

In XM6 TypeG we change harddrive images from here:



The games are controlled with either joysticks (or the numeric pad plus A, S, D and so on) or the mouse.

Also, don't forget to check out the game options the first time you load a game. Many X68000 games allow for alternate graphic modes or MIDI outputs. Some even support the Roland MT-32 or SC-55 external synths!

This website lists many of those "hidden" options that can improve our gaming experience.


Alternate graphic modes in Strider Hiryu

 

Today it's the turn of the Fujitsu FM-7 .



The different FM-7 models were on sale in Japan from 1982 to 1988, and competed against the NEC PC-88 and the Sharp X1 / X1 Turbo . The first FM-7 was evolved from the Fujitsu FM-8 , Fujitsu's second computer targeted at business environments. In order to make the computer more palatable to home users, the FM-7 ditched the pricey bubble memory of the FM-8 and added a Texas Instrument AY-3-8910 sound chip.

Technologically speaking, the FM-7 was quite peculiar. It was based on not one but two Motorola 6809 CPU s. One worked as the computers main CPU while the second one was reserved to video. And the video itself was very advanced, with a 640x200 output with 8 simultaneous colors. RAM size was also notable, with 64 Kb. RAM plus 48 Kb. reserved for video use. These characteristics made it a very capable videogame platform, but it took some time for the FM-7 to get rid of its serious business background.

Two major revisions exist for the FM-7 . The FM77 from 1984 adds twin disk drives, and the FM77AV from 1985 expands RAM to 128 Kb., adds a 320x200x4096 video mode and includes the Yamaha YM2203 FM chip, which was optional until then. With that extra sound chip, the FM77AV has a total of 6 sound channels, 3 for PSG sound and 3 for FM sound.

As for OS, the FM-7 boots into F-BASIC , yet another variant of Microsoft BASIC. When fitted with disk drives they can also load OS9 , also employed by the Tandy CoCo and the Dragon 32/64 . Finally, a Z80 CPU addon allows for CP/M .

The FM-7 was not exported outside of Japan, with one notable exception: Spain. Fujitsu computers started appearing in that country around 1985 under the label Secroinsa , until Fujitsu absorved the company. These models had some adaptations to the Spanish market and tried to enter the educational market, as fas as I know unsuccessfully.

The Fujitsu FM-7 series was substituted by the 32-bit Fujitsu FM-Towns in 1989.


Emulation.

The FM-7 system has several active emulators, such as XM-7 Dash . Unfortunately, most of them are based on the venerable XM7 and available in Japanese only. Therefore, I'd advise to use MAME / MESS instead. Or the binaries FM7.EXE , FM77.EXE, FM77AV.EXE, FM77AV40.EXE and FM77AV40EX.EXE from the Common Source Project . Confused? Just use FM77AV.EXE .

If we got the correct BIOS files, we should see the F-BASIC welcome screen upon booting:



Tape games run with the command RUN" . If that fails, you're likely facing a program in machine code, which loads with the LOADM"",R command.




Disks on the other hand should run automatically after rebooting. If instead the cvomputer produces an annoying alarm sound, that's because the FM-7 has two boot modes, BASIC and DOS . Make sure the emulator is set in BASIC mode .

If a game refuses to run on a plain FM-7 , it might need 128 Kb. RAM. Try again with a FM77 or FM77AV model.


The game library.

Currently the website MobyGames recognizes 287 games for this platform, which matches the TOSEC sets. But you may want to get the Neo Kobe sets instead, because they may contain more obscure games. As one could expect, some titles also overlap with the PC-88 , the MSX and Sharp X1 libraries. After all, they all competed for the Japanese 8-bit market in the same era.

Let's see some of the games the FM-7 has to offer:



Dai Senryaku FM



Punch Ball Mario Bros.



Silpheed



Space Harrier

 

Today, watch Fujitsu go from 8-bit to 32-bits with the FM Towns ...


The first FM Towns arrived in 1989, with several objectives. First of all, it was to replace the aging FM-7 computers, who were suffering in sales against the latest NEC PC-88 . And second, they were to exploit the gap between the NEC PC-98 , which were very successful in business environments but had weak graphics for gaming, and the Sharp X68000 , which was its polar opposite, featuring graphic hardware comparable to arcade machines at the time.

The FM Towns design didn't come out from nowhere. They were based on an earlier Fujitsu computer, the FMR50, machines with x86/DOS architecture that had seen use as mainframe terminals and in Japanese government offices. While the FM Towns retained their architecture, they also greatly improved their multimedia capabilities with a custom graphics chip, Ricoh RF5c68 and Yamaha YM2612 sound chips and a single speed CD-ROM drive.

Just like the PC-98 , the FM Towns lost part of its uniqueness with every passing year, becoming closer to PC clones. Later models even run customized versions of Windows 3.1 and Windows 95, and can be used either as either FM Towns or DOS/V compatible machines. DOS/V was a Japanese version of DOS that could display Japanese symbols with VGA monitors. Fujitsu gave up on the FM Towns and started producing PC clones instead, abandoning the series around 1997.


The hardware.

CPU: From 80386SX @ 16 Mhz. to Pentium 90 CPUs in the final models.
RAM: 2-8 Mb. 640 Kb. VRAM.
Graphics: Fujitsu custom chip, capable of graphics from 320x200 to 720x512 pixels, with colors ranging from 16 to 32,768 colors from either 4,096 to 16 million palettes. It also had hardware sprites and scroll, and two different video modes could be overlayed.
Sound: Ricoh RF5c68 (capable of 8 PCM voices) and Yamaha YM2612 (capable of 6 FM voices) sound chips. They could also play Audio CD.
Storage: Single speed CD-ROM drive, 1-2 3.5 floppy drives. Optional harddrives using SCSI interfaces.

Although the FM Towns share many characteristics with the IBM PC and their clones, they also have many peculiarities. Software is loaded mainly from the CD-ROM drive, while harddrives are optional and in most cases, not required at all. The IPL ROM includes several system files from DOS, such as a DOS extender and our old friend MSCDEX.EXE, used to set up CD-ROM drives. Therefore, most games run directly from CD and they only need a 3.5 floppy to store settings and savegames.

The FM Towns could run versions of Windows 3.0/3.1 and 95, but their most unique OS is Towns OS , which apparently borrows heavily from DOS and Windows 3.X.



Linux and BSD distributions have also been ported to the system.

The picture at the beginning of this guide is of a first generation FM Towns . You can tell them apart because of their vertically oriented CD-ROM drives. Personally, I found the sight of a CD-ROM spinning like a washing machine very inspiring. Newer FM Towns models have their components, including drives, in the same case as the monitor.

And there's also a console-only model called the FM Towns Marty and released in 1993.




Emulation.

Let's forget about MAME / MESS for a while, and let's focus on two dedicated emulators for the system, UNZ and Tsugaru . UNZ is a terrific emulator with only one drawback, and it is that you need to load your CD images with another software - like Daemon Tools - before starting the emulator. Tsugaru is a relatively newcomer that has a very comfortable GUI for such things.

Provided that you have the necessary BIOS files, both of them show the FM Towns logo upon startup. If a suitable CD-ROM is inserted, the screen will also show an alarm clock icon while it boots.



In our case, we tried to load the Raiden Densetsu game.





Success!

Most of the FM Towns game library, as it happens with the PC-98 and the Sharp X68000 , is dedicated to visual novels -with or without erotic graphics- and Japanese-only RPG games. For us gaijins the PC and arcade ports are the real incentive. These can benefit from the excellent graphics and sound capabilities of the system while their gameplay remains accesible.

I'm talking about games such as Alone in the dark , Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , Prince of Persia , Afterburner or Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers . You won't regret checking them out.


Super Street Fighter 2: The New Challengers


Turbo OutRun

It's also worth mentioning that the LucasArts graphic adventures for the system are also supported by ScummVM and DREAMM.


Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis running under ScummVM

 

I think I'm going to end this trip through Japanese computers of the 1980s with two Hitachi machines. Hitachi is still alive and well, and I imagine that these days they must be selling PC clones and laptops, just like everyone else. In the 1980s they also had a few MSX/MSX2 models, but the two computers that caught my attention were much obscure, the MB-6890 and the MB-S1, both based on the Motorola 6809 8-bit CPU.



Starting with the Hitachi MB6890, they seem to be a series of computers for beginners sold between 1978 and 1983. They had low specs but were still quite expensive. The website OLD-COMPUTERS.COM lists the following models:

MB-6880 / Basic Master and Basic Master Level 2: CPU @ 750 KHz, 32x24 monochrome graphics.

MB-6890 / Basic Master Level 3: CPU @ 1 Mhz., 48 Kb. RAM, graphics at 80x100 / 160x100 / 160x200 / 320x200 / 640x200 resolutions with 8 colors.

MB-6885 / Basic Master Jr: CPU @ 800 Khz., 16 Kb. RAM, graphics at 64x48 and 256x192 resolutions with 8 colors.

MB-6891 / Basic Master Level 3 Mark 2: Chinese version of the Basic Master Level 3 model.

MB 6892 / Basic Master Level-3 Mark-5: With 64 Kb. RAM.

It seems that the BIOS and games for these computers remained undumped and unemulated until 2019, when the website Gaming Alexandria managed to obtain the computer BIOS and the games Bomber Man and Cannonball.

Soon after, Sasaji made public the first emulator for the system, called MARK5 Emulator.

So, in order to emulate the system, we need the BIOS (also available at Gaming Alexandria), a few game dumps and the emulator.

If the BIOS is correct we'll see the BASIC welcome screen:



The games come either in tape or disk format, the later if you got them from the MAME software list. I have no idea on how to load disks, but you can tell me here if you found out.

Tapes on the other hand are simple enough, loading with the commands LOAD and RUN. However, Bomber Man and Cannonball don't seem not to work this way. The only games I could load sucessfully were two PD games provided by Sasaji, Block and Tetris.



There's something I must be doing wrong, but I don't know what


The other Hitachi computer I wanted to bring up is the Hitachi MB-S1.



Unlike the MB-6890, the S-1 seems to have been a high end, very especialised machine. They were the second series of Hitachi computers (yes, after the MB-6890) and were sold in Japan and Australia during 1984-85. They performed very well in graphic areas, being able to process graphics at 320x200 and 640x200 resolutions with 256 colors. They seem to have been developed with 3D modelling in mind, and their competition in this market were the Sharp X1 and NEC PC-98 computers. However, they also employed Motorola 6809 CPUs, remaining 8-bit computers.


Japanese ad

These seem to be their technical specs:

CPU: Motorola 68B09E @ 1-2 Mhz.
RAM: 106 Kb. that could be expanded up to 618 Kb.
Almacenamiento: External tape unit, optional 5.25 floppy drives.
OS: Hitachi BASIC S1 by Microsoft.

Regarding emulation, we must thank again the efforts by Gaming Alexandria and Sasaji. Because it seems the BIOS of the machine wasn't dumped until 2019, and the same with games. The staff at GA think there are 57 games available for the system, but so far only 4 of them have been dumped.

In order to emulate the MB-S1 we'll need the S1 Model 05 Emulator by Sasaji, plus the game and BIOS dumps from GA. If you have trouble finding them, the files are also available from Archive.org.

As before, when we start the emulator we'll be greeted by the BASIC interpreter. And the games, being tape dumps, load with the LOAD and RUN commands. This time I had no issues whatsoever:





Of the games dumped (Mario Bros. Special, Nuts & Milk, Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom and Yakyuu-Kyou / Play Ball) my favorite is Mario Bros. Special. It's a sequel of sorts to the first Mario Bros. coin-op and is available for several platform, most of those Japanese computers of the era. We must find the exit to every screen, and the mechanics change from stage to stage. The first one for instance involves moving platforms and a combination of the levers found at the top.



Quite decent for a business computer, don't you think?

 

Japanese Border Guard: I hope you enjoyed your time in Japan. DO NOT visit us again.
Neville: But--
Japanese Border Guard: Needless to say, if you set your foot in Japanese territory again, there will be consequences.
Neville: But I already said I was sorry.
Japanese Border Guard: I have my orders.
Neville: I didn't plan to be rude, or dismissive towards your culture. Which I really appreciate, by the way. You could even argue I've been of some service to your country by talking about your old computers. And I was the first person in my group to watch Takeshi Kitano movies.
Japanese Border Guard: I'm under the impression you think you can talk your way out of this. You can't. Leave our territory. NOW.
Neville: Look, all I said is that "ice cucumber" is not a proper soda flavor. I didn't even taste it! So it's not like I said it tasted bad or anything, just--
Japanese Border Guard: Security!

SOME TIME LATER, SOMEWHERE IN EASTERN EUROPE

I think I'm going to dedicate my next messages to some obscure computers from Eastern Europe. During the 1980s countries such as Hungary, Croacia or Eslovakia belonged to the area of influence of the former USSR. In most cases, this meant western computers were unavailable to their users or prohibitively expensive. To fill this void, then came the computers manufactured in those countries, usually in small quantities in order to be used by the administration or for educational purpuses.

Note that I don't expect to tackle Russian machines because there's very little I know about those, apart from the ZX Spectrum clones.

My first message will be about the Hungarian Microkey Primo from 1984.



This 8-bit computer was designed to be used in schools, although it seems it saw some domestic use as well. At first it only had monochrome graphics, but newer models known as pro Primo have color graphics.


Technical specs:

CPU: U880A (GDR Z80A) @ 2'5 Mhz. Could be modified to run at 3'5 Mhz.
RAM: 16-48 Kb.
Gráficos: 16x42 text mode. Graphic mode with a 192x256 resolution. Both monochrome.
Sonido: Internal speaker.
OS: BASIC interpreter.

Software was loaded from an external tape unit, and in the case of the advanced B-64 model, from a Commodore VC1541 disk drive as well. The B-64 was also the only model with a mechanical keyboard, the rest use membrane keyboards.

The CPU is an unlicensed Zilog Z80 clone. Use of unlicensed components was usual in East Europe at the time, since there was a blockade on western technology.

These especifications are pretty basic when compared to their western equivalents, which would be the Commodore VIC-20 and C64 .


Emulation.

As usual, we can emulate the Primo with MAME / MESS . In which case we will need the primoa32.zip , primoa48.zip , primoa64.zip , primob32.zip , primob48.zip , primob64.zip and primoc64.zip files.

Unfortunately, I still don't know the commands to load programs, so in this guide we'll be using Ultimo emulator by Grósz Attila instead.



With this emulator we don't need to bother about collecting BIOS files or learning BASIC commands, because we can start everything with the File --> Autoload option.



As for games, I'd say we have around 60 titles. Most of the are ports of western hits such as Centipede (above) or Manic Miner (below):

 

This beauty here is the PEL Varazdin Orao , made in Croacia in 1984.



It was an 8-bit computer designed for the educational market, and it was used in schools from Croacia and Vojvodina between 1985 and 1991, when it ceased production. The Orao (eagle) substituted the Galeb (seagull) from the same manufacturer. Both were based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were made in very small quantities, which makes them pretty rare. The sources I've consulted mention a total 250 Galeb computers and two Orao per school. The figures of the Orao are not to be trusted, because it was also sold as a domestic computer.


Technical specs:

CPU: MOS Technology 6502 @ 1 MHz. It was the cheapest of the 8-bit CPUs and also equipped by the Commodore 8-bit machines or the Apple II.
RAM: 16 and 32 Kb. models. It could be upgraded to 64.
OS: Orao BASIC.
Graphics: 32x32 text mode, 256x265 pixels graphic mode, both monochrome.
Sound: Internal speaker?

The machine didn't boot directly into BASIC, but instead to a monitor that was actually a rudimentary assembler language. The BASIC itself was pretty similar to the ones developed by Microsoft for other computers of the same era.

Software was loaded through external tape or disk units.


Emulation:

For such a remote system we have some solid emulation options. As usual, MAME / MESS comes to the rescue, but it's better to use a dedicated emulator. I heard of Orao Emulator by Josip Perusanec, Marat Fayzullin and Alex Krasivsky through another website, and this looks like its official website , although I'm not very sure. The BIOS has to be downloaded separately.

After starting the program we'll only get a black screen. We only see the assembler interpreter after clicking on the "play" button:



If we want BASIC, we need to enter either BC or B C000 .



And we load games with LMEM"" or LOAD"" .



We have a total of 30 games. Many of these are clones of western hits of the era, such as Breakout or International Karate . I've seen worse, much worse.





Before closing the emulator we need to click on the "play" button, which now has changed to a "stop" signal.

 

A long time ago, I told you the story of the Enterprise 64/128 . It was a lovely 8-bit computer that arrived to the UK at the wrong time to make any lasting impression.



When it reached the stores in 1985 the market was already filled with machines such as the Commodore 64 , the ZX Spectrum and the Amstrad CPC , and all of them had an established user base and plenty of software available. Enterprise manufactured around 80,000 computers, but even those didn't sell, and 20,000 of them were exported to Hungary. There the computer did better, earning a small but enthusiastic ammount of users.

I was succesful enough for local entrepeneurs to take a second look at the machine, and decide on marketing a cheaper version for the less affluent Hungarians. This is how the Videoton TV-Computer was born.



It appeared in 1986 and got rid of the most expensive components of the Enterprise, such as their dedicated sound and video chips. And the RAM size was reduced to 32 or 64 Kb. So no, these computers are not compatible with software written for the Enterprise 64/128. They are their own system.

The TV-Computer was successful enough. It sold around 12,000 units and was used together with the Microkey Primo in Hungarian schools. Unfortunately it seems like it wasn't as reliable, and the Primo ended up completely replacing it.


Hardware specs.

CPU: Z80 @ 3.125 Mhz.
RAM: 32-64 Kb.
Video RAM: 16-64 Kb., depending on the model.
Graphics: HD46505SP co-processor, capable of a 64x24 text mode and 128x240 (with 16 colors), 256x240 (with 4 colors) and 512x240 (2 colors) graphic modes.
Sonido: 1 channel.
OS: TVC BASIC, UPM (a CP/M variant) and VT-DOS (compatible with DOS 3.10)
Storage: External tape or disk units.
Other: Two joystick ports, a cartridge slot and 4 8 Kb expansion slots.

Being a licensed clone, the TV-Computer didn't need to disguise its origins. The case has a similar disposition than the one from the Enterprise , with a small joystick on the bottom left corner, although much less sophisticated that the original. The most obvious difference with the Enterprise, apart from the color and its utilitarian look, is that they moved the expansion slots to the upper right corner. The metalic tabs need to be removed in order to use them:




Emulation.

Once upon a time, there was this computer that was so obscure than even MAME / MESS didn't support it. What we do have is a dedicated emulator called WinTVC by Attila Grósz.



It's entirely in Hungarian, but you can run games with the File --> Autostart file... option. If you need to know the commands for loading stuff, it seems that RUN is all we need.

Speaking of games, the TOSEC set includes 200 tape images ready to use. It's actually a larger library than the Enterprise 's! Most of them seem like amateur games, though. I'm under the impression that there were no commercial games for the machine, but rather amateur programmers who sold their creations through mail.

And some of those creations look like colorful clones of past acquaitances.

 

Lately I've been thinking on how slanted my views on many of these machines could be. Over the years and thanks to emulation I've been able to try multiple systems. And I'm indeed thankful that emulators exist, but I'm also aware that sometimes they can affect how a system is perceived. In particular, using an emulator often mitigates the faults and technical issues of the original machines. I never got my programs erased because a Coleco Adam was sitting nearby. I never had to type any program in a rubber keyboard, like many ZX Spectrum users had to, and so far none of my emulated computers has hung or overheated.

I was reminded of all these while reading the opinions on the Tesla PMD 85 on OLD-COMPUTERS.COM, and thinking how different my experience had been while emulating the computer on my multi-processor PC clone with a gaming keyboard. It certainly makes you see things under a different light.



The PMD 85 were a series a Czechoslovakian 8-bit computers manufactured between 1985 and 1988 by Tesla Bratislava . It seems that despite belonging to the Communist block, Czechoslovakia could have acquired computer from western countries. The obstacle on this occasion was not political, but rather pecuniary. So instead Czechs decided to create their own computers based on the Intel 8080 CPU . This CPU had been around since the 1970s, so it wasn't exactly cutting edge. It belongs in cash registers, calculators and such. It was also a predecessor of the x86 architecture and influenced the creation of assembler language.

The end result, though, was a poorly finished computer that only reached the general public in small quantities. Most of them ended up in schools or in factories, they were used to keep inventory or do the accounting. But the PMD 85 was also one of the platforms that kickedstarted the Czeck gaming industry, together with the Spectrum and the Atari 8-bit computers .

So, how was using a Tesla PMD-85 computer? Let the survivors speak.

It also seems these machines were prone to overheating. So it's no surprise that the Tesla got replaced by Didaktik clones starting from 1986, at least in schools. But note that the Didaktik machines starting with the Gama models are no longer Tesla compatible, but ZX Spectrum clones instead.




Tecnical specs:

CPU: MHB 8080A (Intel 8080 clone) @ 2,048 MHz.
RAM: 48 KB (Mod. 1), 56 KB (Mod. 2A), 64 KB (Mod. 3)
ROM: 4 KB (Mod. 1, 2A), 8 KB (Mod. 3)
Graphics: 25x48 text mode and 288x256 (with 4 fixed colors) graphic mode, but model PMD 85-3 allowed for 8 colors.
Sound: 1 channel.

The most usual programming language was BASIC G, which can be inserted in the picture at the top. But cartridges with PASCAL, assembler and LOGO were also available.

The machine was designed so it could be used with any regular TV, but until the PMD-85-3 model they didn't have a color output.


Emulation:

As usual, MAME / MESS offers Tesla emulation, but we'll be using a dedicated emulator called PMD 85 Emulator .

Said emulator welcomes us with a simple system monitor. This is what we get if we don't insert any cartridge in the machine.



Programs are loaded from tape, which uses the PTP format. We insert them from the File --> Open tape... menu, and if they're OK we'll get a tape scheme:



Now, in order to load the program we want, we need to type MGLD XX , XX being the number by the filename. For instance, if we want to load MANIC2+3 we'll enter MGLD 03 . Then we click on the file and we press PLAY:




This will take care for the programs written in machine code, those showing a ? symbol in the tape scheme. For BASIC programs, which show a > symbol, we'll need to insert a BASIC cartridge (we do that from the Tools --> Settings --> Change model --> Insert ROM module option) and we type LOAD XX .

There's even a third type of programs, those written in PASCAL. Those carry a P and need a PASCAL language cart inserted. They run with C FILENAME followed by C .

We have around 40 games, plus a few utilities, such as word and image processing and a CP/M variant called MIKROS . The games seem like clones of western titles such as Arkanoid , Lode Runner or Dizzy . As they said in "Jurassic Park", life finds a way. And if such way involved programming the games themselves in order to play them, the Czech surely followed it.

I didn't get all these programs from a TOSEC set or any MAME Sofware List, but rather from the Tesla PMD 85 Infoserver website, the same hosting the emulator.

As for color, only model PMD-85-3 supported it. You need to enable it from the Tools --> Settings --> View settings option.



Here you can see the difference with the game Arkanoid :