Tokugawa Corporate Forums

If you were to divide the major Japanese Retro PCs by software compatibility, what lines would you draw? So far I'm thinking:

NEC PC-8001 Series
NEC PC-8801 Series
NEC PC-88 VA Series
NEC PC-6001 Series
NEC PC-6601 Series?
NEC PC-9801 Series
NEC PC-9821 Series?

Fujitsu FM-7 Series
Fujitsu FM-77 Series
Fujitsu FM-77AV Series?
Fujitsu FM-TOWNS Series

Sharp MZ-80K Series?
Sharp MZ-700 Series?
Sharp MZ-80B Series?
Sharp MZ-2500 Series
Sharp X1 Series
Sharp X68000 Series

For example, no PC-8001s can run PC-8801 software (specifically, games), and not all PC-8001 software will run on PC-8801s, so I've separated them.

Thoughts? Is the 6601 just a 6001mkIISR in disguise?

Why?

None of the database programs I could find worked quite well enough, and there aren't enough English [or just non-Japanese] resources, so I threw MediaWiki on a flash drive and I'll be working on it in my spare time, until it gets decent enough to throw up onto the web.

So, basically, what do you guys consider to be the major Japanese PC gaming platforms of the 1980's and 1990's? Or even.. all of them. If they had a commercially-released game.

EDIT: Or would it basically be this, minus the bare motherboard kit PCs? Haha.. I may not have enough room for them all on the front page...!

Can't believe that you forget to include MSX machines!, specially when talking about compatibility

MSX tried to fill the gap between the, mostly, expensive computers with high resolution displays able to manage kanjis and the pocket of the japanese families. They were designed to be cheap computers.
Of course they finallly evolved to more powerful and expensive as well computers...

The PC-8801 models are compatible, not sure about their backward compatibility with PC-8001 models. As I don't have any PC-9801 model, can't speak about them.
The basic PC-6601 is simply a 6001MkII with 3.5" drive. The SR line added the "singing" ability to the already designed, speech synthesis. The PC-6601SR was the top of the line: speech synthesis, two drives, wireless keyboard, easier superimposing capabilities, etc. An absolutely gorgeus machine

If I'm not wrong, MZ Sharp machines are mostly compatibles with the old MZ-80 family; X1 are not (in fact were designed by a different tech branch of Sharp).
Of course, the X68K models must be put apart from the others.

The FM77 Fujitsu machines are compatible; but never tried FM7 software. I suposse that they're able to run it. FM-Towns are different machines in a similar vein as the X68K.

_________________
Japanese computers fan!

Cool list. I don't think you want to include all of those. A lot are business machines with very few games, and no decent source for info. Unless Takeda will put up some screenshots, you'll have a hard time finding data (or, even images of games). If you have a source you could make the effort I guess,, but you need to be clear to yourself what you're trying to achieve and include .The early MZ-machines had European releases with some degree of software support and you find images, would you consider those Japanese platforms etc.

MZ-line goes something like this:

MZ-80K
MZ-700 (backwards compatible)
MZ-800 (Europe, backwards compatible)
MZ-1500 (Japan, backwards compatible to MZ-700)


MZ-80B
MZ-2000/2200 (backwards compatible)
MZ-2500 (might be backwards compatible, can't confirm)

+ business machines

You can safely group the PC-9821 with the PC-9801, they're really not that different when it comes to DOS games.


You can narrow it down to a pretty short list then. For many of the early computers, the only games were amateur-made, maybe from a sample program printed in a magazine.

The major computer series are:
NEC PC-6000 series, PC-8000/8800 series, PC-9800 series
Sharp MZ-80K series, MZ-700/800/1200/1500 series, MZ-2000 series, X1 series, X68000 (I don't know about compatibility between MZ computers, it's complicated)
Fujitsu FM-7/8 series, FM Towns

Minor stuff (only a handful of games per system):
Sord M5
Sony SMC-777
Tomy Pyuta
Sega SC-3000
National JR series
Bandai RX-78 Gundam (I'm not even a big Gundam fan but I want one of these so much)
Casio PV-2000
Toshiba Pasopia series (pre-MSX)

...and of course the MSX, but there's plenty of English information on that.