MSX

MSX is a standard for home computers, announced in June 1983 by the Japanese company ASCII and Microsoft. It was led by Kazuhiko Nishi, who wanted a single platform that many manufacturers could build, so that software would run on any of their machines.

Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Yamaha, Toshiba, Sanyo, Canon and many other companies made MSX computers. They all share the same basic design: a Z80 processor, a Texas Instruments video chip, a General Instrument AY-3-8910 sound chip and MSX BASIC, written by Microsoft. Games and programs could be loaded from cartridges, cassettes or disks.

The standard was updated several times. MSX2 arrived in 1985 with a more capable Yamaha video chip, MSX2+ in 1988, and the MSX turbo R in 1990 with a much faster R800 processor. About five million MSX computers were sold, most of them in Japan, and the standard was also popular in the Netherlands, Spain, Brazil, South Korea and the Middle East.

Konami was one of the biggest MSX publishers. Metal Gear, Nemesis (Gradius), Knightmare and Space Manbow all appeared on MSX, and so did an early Bomberman game and Compile’s Aleste series.

openMSX is the most accurate MSX emulator today. It emulates hundreds of real MSX machines and extensions, from the first MSX1 computers to the turbo R. blueMSX, which also covers the ColecoVision, was a popular alternative but has not been updated since 2009.