MSX Computers - Scrolling, Sprites, and Stereotypes

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  • Опубликовано: 7 июн 2024
  • Crash course in the four generations of MSX computers with a focus on scrolling, sprites, media, sound, homebrew, and patches. Shed your assumptions. Know the machine.
    If you would like to support this channel, here is a link to the Displaced Gamers Patreon page - / displacedgamers
    Twitter: / displacedgamers
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    #MSX #Computers #retro
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Комментарии • 899

  • @grauwsaur
    @grauwsaur 4 года назад +467

    Awesome video about MSX, and it’s been a pleasure being involved in the creation of it!

    • @tiaoferreira
      @tiaoferreira 4 года назад +16

      Wow! what were your part on the project?

    • @grauwsaur
      @grauwsaur 4 года назад +50

      @@tiaoferreira I’ve provided some informational, fact-checking and proofwatching services :). Also I shot some of the photos and helped extracting the sprites for the OR colour segment.

    • @kevinbbadd
      @kevinbbadd 2 года назад +2

      msux

    • @FlexoShootFlexo
      @FlexoShootFlexo Год назад +2

      If Laurens was involved, then you know it's a well-researched, quality video

  • @user-sz9fg8xj8r
    @user-sz9fg8xj8r 4 года назад +505

    I am a Japanese who grew up playing MSX. Thank you for spreading the wonders of MSX. At the time, Konami did a lot of great work on MSX with limited performance.

    • @diekus5388
      @diekus5388 4 года назад +34

      Thanks to the Japanese for creating the system that I enjoy so much as a child! (and manga, by the way) MSX was quite popular in many countries, here in Spain, for example...although we suffered many spectrum ports. In the late eighties, Japanese games only came from direct import, like my beloved Nemesis 3 cartridge. From France I have some games, like Demonia (G&G clone) and in the Soviet Union it was used in schools to learn computer science. Ah, my old Sony MSX1 still works, 36 years after releasing it, that was the good Japanese electronics!

    • @guisampaio2008
      @guisampaio2008 4 года назад +20

      So sad konami became what it is now.

    • @Anderson_101
      @Anderson_101 3 года назад +12

      I grew up with an MSX too, I’m from Spain.

    • @phazonclash
      @phazonclash 3 года назад +9

      As a Canadian, I never played MSX. To be fair, none of these systems were very popular here in Canada. We had the Atari, Coleco, Intellivision, and later came Nintendo and Sega (and it was an awesome, eye-opening experience). The most "exotic" console I ever owned was the PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16 here in North America). These days I discover a new console that existed in the 80s-90s every week or so :P
      Thanks Japan for all the incredible systems and games you created over the years!

    • @abcxyz15000
      @abcxyz15000 3 года назад +10

      MSX was big in Spain in the 1980s!

  • @JohnHassink
    @JohnHassink 4 года назад +246

    Not even at half of the video, but I had to pause it just to commend your work right now.
    I had a "5 Misconceptions About MSX" video planned, but I see it's not needed anymore. You did all the work, and a much better job at that than I would have done.
    What a well made, informative and entertaining video. You rule.

    • @DisplacedGamers
      @DisplacedGamers  4 года назад +59

      Thanks, John. I say - Go for it! Don't let this video stop you from making yours.

    • @AshtonCoolman
      @AshtonCoolman 4 года назад +18

      Yes I want to see your video too!

    • @JohnHassink
      @JohnHassink 4 года назад +32

      @@AshtonCoolman That's super nice to hear! It for sure inspires me to finish it after all. Thank you.

  • @cleidsonaraujopeixoto163
    @cleidsonaraujopeixoto163 4 года назад +118

    I grew up with the MSX. I still develop for It. It is a VERY cherished machine here in Brazil.
    From the depths of my soul, thank You.

    • @mobcont8335
      @mobcont8335 3 года назад +3

      Eita sério mesmo? Eu sei que o mega drive fez sucesso aqui, mas não sabia do MSX não

    • @priscillaasagiri4913
      @priscillaasagiri4913 3 года назад +7

      Foi a muito tempo. Eu tinha um Hotbit e a maioria dos meus amigos tinham ele. Uns com mais grana tinham o da Gradiente, que era mais bonito.

    • @Nikku4211
      @Nikku4211 3 года назад +3

      Did you also grow up with the TecToy Master System?

    • @cleidsonaraujopeixoto163
      @cleidsonaraujopeixoto163 3 года назад +1

      @@Nikku4211 Yep!

    • @Vespyr_
      @Vespyr_ 3 года назад

      @@priscillaasagiri4913 Priss! (My love!)... I mean, hey there. How's it going? Ahem... You um. come here often?

  • @mylifeingaming
    @mylifeingaming 4 года назад +195

    [Coury] Insanely well made video. My knowledge of the MSX was pretty basic, and this definitely gave me a whole new appreciation for the way games were made for it.

    • @Vanessaira-Retro
      @Vanessaira-Retro 4 года назад +6

      MSX, "BASIC" Coury, are you trying to get in on my pun!?!

    • @nororengo286
      @nororengo286 3 года назад +6

      "My Life in Gaming: MSX 101.

    • @jehareis7350
      @jehareis7350 3 года назад +3

      @@Vanessaira-Retro MSX-DOS ! 😊

  • @CardboardSliver
    @CardboardSliver 4 года назад +164

    MSX Turbo R sounds more like a car than a computer

    • @hahasamian8010
      @hahasamian8010 3 года назад +1

      CRDBRDSLV-VVVV

    • @dutchdykefinger
      @dutchdykefinger 3 года назад +1

      xr31 turbo nutter bastard
      (it's a reference to a cheat code of an amiga game)

    • @pychoncy
      @pychoncy 3 года назад +4

      Yes, the Bentley Turbo R

    • @stephenbianchi7141
      @stephenbianchi7141 2 года назад +2

      @@dutchdykefinger which is a reference to Loadsamoney Harry Enfield's Ford Escort XR3i Turbo Nutter Bastard with the license plate "AR5E".

    • @cosettapessa6417
      @cosettapessa6417 Год назад

      Mitsubishi

  • @HarryPalmerOrchestra
    @HarryPalmerOrchestra 3 года назад +114

    "The enemy of art is the absence of limitations."

    • @Legend64Project
      @Legend64Project 3 года назад +3

      A mantra we should all live by.

    • @genekwagmyrsingh9433
      @genekwagmyrsingh9433 3 года назад +6

      Only if you lack vision.

    • @thefoundationagent61
      @thefoundationagent61 3 года назад +8

      Nah the enemy of art is excessive standardization.

    • @mikeluna2026
      @mikeluna2026 2 года назад +2

      ​@@genekwagmyrsingh9433 I guess, but I think it applies perfectly even today... Any developers working on platforms with more limited resources like Nintendo, VR or mobile (or in general some indies) tend to look for more creative solutions for their limitations, the games tend to look and feel more distinct. Hardship is the mother of invention. On the other hand PC and AAA games for most platforms tend to look and feel the same. Specially with the realistic art trend. Tons and tons of samey looking games, often with samey gameplay. Unreal Engine's free Quixel stuff and the incoming lod technology in the next version will just make this more prevalent in the industry (adding lots of indies just using the same assets over and over again due to easy access...).

    • @tvalenca
      @tvalenca 2 года назад +4

      that's exactly what Hideo Kojima said about Metal Gear... Because MSX machines didn't supported many sprites on the same row, he did it more as a stealth than action game. If it went as an action game maybe we wouldn't have so many games from this franchise.

  • @RyiSnow
    @RyiSnow 4 года назад +44

    What an amazing video! As a Japanese guy who grew up in 80s, heard about MSX all the time but never owned it... this whole episode was so interesting and also kind of filled one of the spots in my childhood because I was always interested in MSX... The effort that you put into this video is just beyond my imagination. Thank you so much for making this.

    • @KairuHakubi
      @KairuHakubi 3 года назад +2

      It's super educational, right? I had no idea region-based changes that detect your machine had such an old origin

  • @neoasura
    @neoasura 4 года назад +37

    I remember seeing pictures of Final Fantasy on MSX in magazines WAY back in the day when it first came out on the NES. I was so jealous of Japan at that time, from the screen shots, it looked like an enhanced port.

  • @Capullation76
    @Capullation76 4 года назад +9

    I’m an MSX2 kid. I played Salamander for months. Thanks for this awesome video.

  • @strafefox
    @strafefox 4 года назад +26

    Brilliant in-depth video! Thanks for giving the MSX some love! It was my favorite gaming system back in the 80s, so many great memories playing all those amazing games. Maze of Galious still is my favorite game. You know what, the scrolling in games like Nemesis2 and Knightmare never bothered us back in the day, to be honest we hardly noticed it as that was our only point of reference and in my opinion didn't take away from the playablitiy of these games. We had a friend in the noghbourhood who always bought the latest Konami releases, I think he had 80% of their games up until 1988. We also played a lot of games from cassette, although mostly illegal copies of earlier Konami titles like Pipols, Sky Jaquar and the whole Olympic series but a few other releases as well like Feud and Scooter. Bubble Bobble, Rastan Saga and Andorogynus were other non-konami games we loved to play.

    • @null_state
      @null_state 3 года назад +3

      Agreed. What a sweet video. Also, strafefox, your channel is one of my favorites for sure.

    • @strafefox
      @strafefox 3 года назад +3

      @@null_state Thanks! that's very cool to hear!

  • @sambushman6089
    @sambushman6089 Год назад +3

    This might be my favorite video on RUclips. Its informative, clear, and speaks to a lovable computer platform with lots of nuance. The world is a better place because this video exists

  • @dizzy8283
    @dizzy8283 4 года назад +69

    It was a very popular machine here in South America. Knightmare is still up there as one of my all time favorites.

    • @joshi_6887
      @joshi_6887 4 года назад +8

      yeah i went on some brazilian sites, and they make OVERWHELMING STUFF! they made a video cartridge that lets you play an almost arcade perfect conversion of Ghosts n' Goblins (1985) on an MSX2+ or turbo R!

    • @ManuelBilderbeek
      @ManuelBilderbeek 4 года назад

      @@joshi_6887 that cartridge is a clone of the 1995 GFX9000 by Sunrise in Europe though! But it's great they made it, so it can be bought again.

    • @joshi_6887
      @joshi_6887 4 года назад

      Manuel Bilderbeek which is better then when using like a FS-A1ST or GT? GFX9000 or technobytes V9990 powergraph lite or powergraph(no longer produced :( )

    • @ManuelBilderbeek
      @ManuelBilderbeek 4 года назад

      @@joshi_6887 the turboR just gives the game much more CPU power to make better use of the fast V9990

    • @ManuelBilderbeek
      @ManuelBilderbeek 4 года назад

      Note that the author also got it working full speed on a regular MSX2 with V9990 extension: ruclips.net/video/a_MCUbquQYc/видео.html

  • @m3nguele
    @m3nguele 4 года назад +29

    21:31 found my new way of experiencing OG FF's music

    • @Wyrdwad
      @Wyrdwad 4 года назад +9

      The MSX Final Fantasy soundtrack is SO GOOD. Microcabin were absolute wizards with OPLL, and what they did with Uematsu's music is nothing short of remarkable. Check out the battle theme and the airship theme, if you get a chance -- those two in particular really show off what they can do.

    • @mattigator600
      @mattigator600 4 года назад +2

      That's what I came to comment on 😀
      Listening to the vid and when I heard that ... real attention getter!

    • @skins4thewin
      @skins4thewin 4 года назад

      That and the Dragon Quest MSX games were one of the reasons I got into the MSX :)

  • @BubblegumCrash332
    @BubblegumCrash332 4 года назад +144

    Why did Japan get the coolest looking computers. That Sony MSX 2 with the red disk drive looks better then most modern PCs

    • @ManuelBilderbeek
      @ManuelBilderbeek 4 года назад +32

      Not only Japan... In the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, France, Italy, South America, several Arabic countries, Korea and Russia we also got them :)

    • @AndreSilva-de2cd
      @AndreSilva-de2cd 3 года назад +9

      Sony HB -F1XD

    • @Atomhaz
      @Atomhaz 3 года назад +11

      Good thing we got the terrible beige that turns yellow in America :(

    • @blorbb5398
      @blorbb5398 3 года назад +8

      Yes, the industrial design of some MSX computers is amazing

    • @jehareis7350
      @jehareis7350 3 года назад +1

      @@ManuelBilderbeek It's an invasion...

  • @user-ed2nt2wx1l
    @user-ed2nt2wx1l 3 года назад +11

    Hi, I'm Korean. In the 1980s, Samsung and GoldStar (now LG) also launched MSX 1 computers in Korea. What's interesting is that the Samsung MSX model was SPC-800 and the GoldStar model was FC-80. At that time, Samsung and LG computer model numbers were often similar. The two Korean electronics companies were still competing. Daewoo launched the MSX2 computer (CPC-300 IQ-2000) and it was a dream computer for me at the time. I had a clone of Apple ][ +.

  • @NeoGee77
    @NeoGee77 3 года назад +4

    Being Dutch, I grew up on our MSX2 and I was never jealous of friends that had a NES. So many awesome memories. Ow and Salamander is one of the hardest games due to the lack of smooth scrolling - one of the few games I never finished back then. Cool vid!

  • @diekus5388
    @diekus5388 4 года назад +37

    When I started watching the video, I raised an eyebrow...what has a North American to tell me, an European who still has his MSX1 working, of the MSX standard...but hey, let's see what this guys says. I admit it, I was competly wrong, really liked the video, found it very complete and enjoyable and I see that you have a good knowledge of my first and favourite computer system on the other side of the world. You have gained a new suscriptor from Spain. Greetings!

    • @genekwagmyrsingh9433
      @genekwagmyrsingh9433 3 года назад +3

      Yeah, you should stop assuming what people know. As an American I've had to embarrass quite a few people from the rest of the world with my extensive football knowledge. The internet has made most things accessible to most people.

  • @RaptorShadow
    @RaptorShadow 4 года назад +36

    This just reinforces to me what a big deal smooth scrolling was on the PC in the early 90s. People forget what a huge deal even the first Commander Keen was.

    • @bookoflists
      @bookoflists 2 года назад

      Honestly, was it? I was just beginning gaming during the period Keen 1 was released. As kids we thought it was cool that he had a helmet on his head and that it was free to play. I only learned about the "scrolling" tech decades later through iD software biographies (so can't help but wonder how much we view the past through the lens of iD's contribution). Prince of Persia was a wonder though.

    • @Kyle1444
      @Kyle1444 2 года назад +4

      @@bookoflists Commander keen wasnt free? Piracy was just so normal, nobody bought games. Everyone and their uncle after the 90's rolled around, had access to pirated games on PC and Playstation, because it required no special hardware like cartridges from likes of nintendo

    • @bookoflists
      @bookoflists 2 года назад +8

      @@Kyle1444 The first ep of Keen was free under Apogee's shareware model. Had to pay for 2 and 3, though some pirated them.

    • @vurpo7080
      @vurpo7080 2 года назад +9

      Smooth scrolling was even the reason id software was even founded. John Carmack developed a way to scroll graphics smoothly on the PC, and they founded id software to develop a game based on it. They first proposed to Nintendo to develop a port of SMB3 for the PC, but then developed Keen when Nintendo declined.

    • @Beansman-gp3ws
      @Beansman-gp3ws 2 года назад +4

      @@Kyle1444 Man, people really don't know what shareware is anymore?

  • @chrisd6287
    @chrisd6287 2 года назад +1

    Am I the only person here that has zero programming experience yet finds all of this content immensely entertaining?

  • @TheGunmanChannel
    @TheGunmanChannel 4 года назад +75

    Interesting video full of stuff I don't need to know 😜

  • @DanJackson1977
    @DanJackson1977 2 года назад +11

    After seeing Gaming Historian's history of the DOS Megaman port(s).. I can say that's gotta be one of the most misunderstood and unfairly maligned games ever. It wasn't "low effort".. it was a labor of love, made by exactly one person. Yeah, it shows that one person did all the work, but it's a miracle it was possible at all.

  • @kennylauderdale_en
    @kennylauderdale_en 3 года назад +24

    I've heard those SONY Video Titlers that you used for home made VHS tapes were actually reskinned MSX computers. Any truth to that?

    • @NoelComiX
      @NoelComiX 2 года назад +3

      Kenny!

    • @NoelComiX
      @NoelComiX 2 года назад

      Some say the Pony Metal UGAIM game will be finished on this super computer.

    • @matiasd.7755
      @matiasd.7755 2 года назад

      The 9918 video chip in the MSX was a massively avalaible product back then. It featured overlaying its video output onto some other video source. So I'm pretty sure many of those video titlers had one built in. But I can't tell for sure about the products from Sony...

    • @tvalenca
      @tvalenca 2 года назад +3

      True, there are some SONY and Panasonic Video Titlers that are indeed "reskinned MSX computers" (but not every one of them). Because the TMS9918 had genlocking capabilities that both V9938 and V9958 inherited, you just needed a few components to make a V99x8 video titler, and the most common machine with a V99x8 VDP was the MSX...
      Also, there were some MSX machines with built in superimposing capabilities, so very little R&D were necessary to release those standalone MSX-based Video Titlers...

    • @grauwsaur
      @grauwsaur 2 года назад +1

      Yes, the Sony XV-J550, XV-J555, XV-J770, XV-J777 and XV-T550 video titlers were MSX2 computers in disguise.

  • @evertonc1448
    @evertonc1448 3 года назад +11

    I got a Hotbit MSX when I was a kid back in the 90's here in Brazil, my mother was a cleaning lady and got the machine because one of her bosses was going to trash it. Back in the days, basically no poor brazilians had contact with computers, it took some years for me and my friends actually learn how to fully use the machine and play games on it, we even learned some MSX Basic from the manual. Pretty neat stuff, that computer is the responsible for actually giving me a skill (coding) and it's what prevented me from becoming yet another nobody or criminal like a lot of kids from where I came from, it kept me away from the street life.
    I still have the machine nowadays and it still works perfectly.

  • @xXTheoLinuxXx
    @xXTheoLinuxXx 3 года назад +1

    There was another media storage for the MSX, called "Quick Disk", at least I saw them in magazines at that time. It was like a little single sided (2.8 inch) floppy who could hold 64k of data on each side. I had the same kind of drive for my Sharp MZ 800. I have 3 MSX 1 computers and 1 MSX2, and tons of good memories, so this video makes me smile :)

  • @isaactanner6403
    @isaactanner6403 Год назад +1

    Im from Brasil !! My childhood was MSX !! MSXORG web site still creating stuff for !!!
    Brasil and Spain were 2 other places (Japan ofcourse) were MSX was a fever !!
    Was created here a kind of cartridge called MEGARAM used to expand memory without to open case or to modify eletronics !!
    Fantastic video !!!

  • @lustechsource5197
    @lustechsource5197 4 года назад +18

    Great video! I never played the MSX but I did have the stereotype that there was no smooth scrolling on the MSX. I was shocked how good the scrolling was in River Raid

    • @DisplacedGamers
      @DisplacedGamers  4 года назад +7

      I was shocked as well!

    • @Deep_wolf
      @Deep_wolf 4 года назад

      I think its even better than on 2600.

    • @mvl71
      @mvl71 4 года назад

      @@DisplacedGamers Just today I posted a comment on an entirely different subject about looking at things for years and actually _seeing_ them for the first time. River Raid having smooth scrolling is one such thing. It's this video that made me realize that it's a very old MSX1 game with, as mentioned before, smooth scrolling. Looked at it for years, seeing it only now. Well done!

    • @ManuelBilderbeek
      @ManuelBilderbeek 4 года назад

      Scrolling in a game like Pippols is also pretty good. Check it out!

  • @RegalPixelKing
    @RegalPixelKing 4 года назад +91

    The biggest problem with the MSX family is something that is not really even its own fault, that being: Most MSX games never left Japan. It was an impressive piece of hardware with some classics that I never got to experience, but I'm not sure if I will ever get my full enjoyment out of the MSX library because of that.

    • @visker81
      @visker81 4 года назад +19

      MSX was popular in Europe , had no issues getting software in Belgium/Netherlands/Germany.

    • @_Thrackerzod
      @_Thrackerzod 4 года назад +11

      Fortunately there are translation patches for many popular Japanese exclusive games and more are being created all the time.

    • @ahrichards5241
      @ahrichards5241 3 года назад +2

      i'm a weeaboo so i like that aspect

    • @brrebrresen1367
      @brrebrresen1367 3 года назад +2

      @@visker81 as popular as Philips CDi was. no problem getting hold of one or programs, the quality on the other hand is a different story...
      (unless your in Scandinavia... almost no MSX's here else from ones people have taken with em home from abroad)

  • @Aboveup
    @Aboveup 4 года назад +3

    Absolute treasure trove of information in this video. I had no idea how involved the MSX rabbit hole went, and it's a system I've been meaning to dip my toes into for a while now. Excellent work.

  • @ERIMATAIMY
    @ERIMATAIMY 4 года назад +11

    17:50 That idea maybe inspired Sega for Sonic 3 & Knuckles for its lock-on technology, but when I heard that, my first though is Sega Lock-On. Incredible video about the MSX, as many, my information was pretty basic, but thanks to you, I have even more appreciation for the impressive hardware that encompasses it and some of its ingenious games.

  • @ManuelBilderbeek
    @ManuelBilderbeek 4 года назад +15

    Wow, wow, wow! This is absolutely the best introduction video to MSX I have ever seen! It's comprehensive, correct, entertaining... Very impressed. Spread the word, this video is a must-watch. (And hi, Laurens!)

  • @svdubl
    @svdubl 3 года назад +2

    Wow. thank for the love for MSX. it certainly deserves such detailed and multi-faceted review!

  • @ImperatorGrausam
    @ImperatorGrausam 3 года назад +5

    I actually did make a video on the MSX some time ago (not on this channel) and I did talk about the scrolling stereotype. One shooter that comes to mind when you think awesome scrolling on the MSX1 is Hype, by the Bytebusters. I actually got an MSX for my 15th birthday (it was obsolete by the time but I had an interest) with the game on it. It was an AX230 model.
    What I also wanted to mention was that here where I live, Arabia, the MSX was popular in the 80s. I asked my parents about it, my mom owned one. It's one of the machines that's dear to me.

  • @Sergei_Agarkoff
    @Sergei_Agarkoff 3 года назад +1

    Another thanks from Russia.
    Started with MSX1 at 1986 - the machines bought to equip the computer training classes at schools and universities.
    Later had a chance to try MSX2 (with the subROM and other additions)
    Still have paper copy of ASCII's specs for MSX2 - about 300-400 pages

  • @Bt3615
    @Bt3615 4 года назад

    Excellent video and probably the best retrospective about the system on youtube. Keep up the good work!

  • @ldalipis
    @ldalipis 4 года назад +2

    You got the best technical videos man. Thanks!

  • @dany3356
    @dany3356 3 года назад

    What a complete and well structured video you made, congratulations!!!

  • @JohnRiggs
    @JohnRiggs 4 года назад +1

    Thanks for this! I've never had but always wanted to collect for MSX. Some neat games on it,for sure.

  • @MapleMilk
    @MapleMilk 4 года назад +3

    Probably the most dense video about the MSX I'll watch this year
    Great job

  • @MarkOfBitcoin
    @MarkOfBitcoin Год назад

    By far the most comprehensive MSX video out there! just amazing. And if this is just scratcging the surface, please do more!

  • @s-phere
    @s-phere 3 года назад

    you've got something for everyone in this video. thanks so much for going in-depth -- I enjoyed the whole thing, but was particularly interested in sound sources. excellent job!

  • @losalfajoresok
    @losalfajoresok 4 года назад +6

    this was pure joy, I live in Argentina and these machines kinda had a brief moment of success but never knew they could do so much!

  • @Beefster09
    @Beefster09 4 года назад +8

    17:46 - TIL that La Mulana (original / fake MSX) was referencing a real phenomenon with cartridge combinations.

  • @phazonlord0098
    @phazonlord0098 4 года назад +1

    Man you consistently keeps delivering the best and highest quality breakdown of technicalities when it's comes to gaming, controllers or even video outputs. This one is just as excepcional, I barely knew anything about the MSX but now it's kinda of a very neat plataform.

  • @chalelis
    @chalelis 2 года назад

    What a amazing video I found!!! Kudos+++ for you. Thanks for being us one of the best MSX videos on RUclips.

  • @rt00155e
    @rt00155e 4 года назад +1

    Amazing job. Thank you for the time and effort, it was an eye-opener video.

  • @DevilsHandyman
    @DevilsHandyman 3 года назад

    I love how informative your videos are. I'm glad i discovered your channel.

  • @ThePalfh
    @ThePalfh 4 года назад +1

    Awesome rundown! Yes, this is how it is, thanks for making this knowledge so easily available!

  • @FelipeWalker2
    @FelipeWalker2 4 года назад +2

    This is one of the reasons why I still come to youtube. I don't know shit about hardware and software, but these factoids, examples, trivias and curiosities (like how parodius came to be) are fascinating to me. Thx man.

  • @dandeliondew
    @dandeliondew 4 года назад

    Amazing, informative and crazy high production values that make understanding all this information so much easier! :) Subscribed!

  • @CezarWagenheimer
    @CezarWagenheimer 2 года назад +1

    Thanks for one of the best videos about the MSX!

  • @fernandocollazo8705
    @fernandocollazo8705 3 года назад

    The best MSX explanation video ever! Awesome research and you really got the spirit of this wonderful computer standard. Please, do more videos like this ... perhaps a part two

  • @kwizzeh
    @kwizzeh 2 года назад +2

    The biggest reason I got into the MSX family during lockdown was because of the OPL1/L/M/NA/NB chips. I fell in love with the sound and just started deep diving on game soundtracks which led to me trying out some games, many of them J-rpgs. Micro Cabin titles in particular with their soundtracks and how about their rather decent attempt at porting Final Fantasy to it. I found it amazing that many elements of it's arranged soundtrack because of the PSG and OP chips would find their way and influence how Uematsu to expand in his later arrangements.

  • @henrimedot
    @henrimedot 2 года назад +1

    What a great video. I didn't know that much about the MSX. Thanks a lot!

  • @Pai3000
    @Pai3000 4 года назад

    Fantastic video man. I love these series of computers since I was a kid. Thank you very much!!

  • @MeitsMSX
    @MeitsMSX 4 года назад +1

    Very rare to see such a nice video about this system. Please do more as it was a pleasure to watch.

  • @hugovarani
    @hugovarani 2 года назад

    This video was recommended by RUclips and I took a look.
    What a surprise it was not disappointing, but informative and really cool! Nice job!

  • @Zebpro
    @Zebpro 4 года назад +1

    What an MSX video there, fantastic work.
    The MSX introduced me to video games and computer things back in 86.
    Thanks for showing the world MSX is way more than just choppy scrolling!!! ;-)

  • @jamesthenabignumber
    @jamesthenabignumber 3 года назад

    This was an amazing video! I knew almost nothing about the MSX before and now I have enough information to explore for a long time! Thank you.

  • @josephmastromarino4458
    @josephmastromarino4458 4 года назад +1

    Indeed, mission accomplished. I got overwhelmed exploring it on the MiSTer and wanted to know more about it, thank you for making this!

  • @thomas_xsg
    @thomas_xsg 2 года назад +1

    I owned all MSX's back in the day except the Turbo R and watching this makes me feel nostalgic. Thanks for putting this together.

  • @Leeki85
    @Leeki85 4 года назад +14

    Consoles since NES had strict release policy, so developers took more time to make and polish games. Console hardware was also longer on the market so programmers got more time to learn how to fully utilize it.
    Computers in general were different. Each hardware had a 2-5 years lifetime and even though it was possible to target older hardware, competition was releasing new great looking games for newer hardware and it was hard to sell games supporting older hardware.
    Consoles were also built to be similar to arcade machines, making ports quite easy. Computers most often were made for productivity and gaming was their secondary use. It was mostly seen in PC, where hardware features for games were very limited. CGA had nothing, but EGA and VGA had hardware scrolling which was just a simple offsetting of memory window.
    Amiga had great features, but they were so much different than what was found on Sega Genesis or SNES, that console or arcade ports were mostly bad. Fortunately Amiga had great community and many groundbreaking games were developed for it. Amiga was very popular in Europe where no one is denying how great it was, but console gamers from USA think that Amiga couldn't compete against Genesis or SNES. In fact Amiga had games that PSX was the first console that had enough RAM to run them (UFO: Enemy Unknown for example).
    When Amiga ended PC take it's place with 486 machines getting really good support and had their limits pushed very far. However 386 and 286 machines never really got chance to shine. 286 was abandoned really quickly with "32-bit protected mode" games that didn't even run on 286. Even though 386 could run pretty much all 486 games, they run very badly.
    There's very few games that pushed the 386. One of them is Golf simulator "Links 386" that had even 386 in it's name. Game that had 640x480 256 colors graphics making use of SVGA new modes.
    In recent years we got some great games that showed oldest PC XT and Tandy 1000 capabilities, and hopefully we will see some homebrew work that will make 386 shine. For example, there's a missing link between Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. Game that would had more features than Wolf 3D and run fast enough to be playable on 386.
    Planet X3 for PC and Tandy 1000 is great example of what can be achieved. Tandy 1000 is a great target for homebrew. It's a platform that has 256 KB of RAM. More than 8-bit machines, but not in the 16-bit territory. It has also some unique hardware features and limitations.
    PC 386 is for more advanced programmers, since pushing it's limits requires to use advanced math in making 3D graphics. 2D graphics is trivial on 386. It's great in what it can do, but smooth parallax scrolling isn't viable(with some clever tricks it is!). 386 CPUs were much faster than what consoles had. Add 2-4 MB of RAM and you have a machine that is stuck between 16-bit and 32-bit era.
    Retro hardware still has plenty of opportunities to amaze us and in 10-30 years many great things will happen.

    • @tvalenca
      @tvalenca 2 года назад

      I don't think EGA and VGA had direct HW scrolling. Both (and CGA as well) had bitmapped graphics, if you see any kind of scroll on any DOS game it is software, not hardware.

    • @Leeki85
      @Leeki85 2 года назад +1

      @@tvalenca Just look for specification or find EGA/VGA programming articles. Hardware scrolling was simply done by offsetting the framebuffer. This allowed to just update edges, like on NES. However on consoles you had to update tile map and on PC you had to redraw on framebuffer. This was still very fast.
      VGA had additional features, like split-screen which allowed to draw bottom part of the screen from another VRAM location.
      Epic Pinball is a great example how to use VGA hardware features. It stores full pinball tables in VRAM and then scrolls the window, achieving solid 70 FPS (VHA had 70 Hz output at 400p) on slow hardware. It also uses VGA split-screen to display bottom bar.
      Lemmings 1 and 2 show how much of a difference VGA hardware features makes. Lemmings 1 has choppy scrolling, while Lemmings 2 are super smooth 70 FPS game.
      VGA had also other features, like writing 4 bytes in VRAM with single byte write. This was used in Wolfenstein 3D for quickly clear the screen or in Another World to fill polygons. This was so fast that Another World had lower hardware requirements in the end than developers aimed for.
      However this features weren't used that often. Developers started implementing them in 1991, but very soon 486 PCs with VLB graphics cards become a standard which were fast enough to just draw everything in software. In other words, speed gains from hardware features weren't worth the additional code complexity and limitations they introduced.

  • @Wyrdwad
    @Wyrdwad 4 года назад +2

    Best and most informative video about the MSX I've ever seen. Superb job!

  • @maxmouse713
    @maxmouse713 2 года назад +1

    I just watched the whole video. I never would have thought the MSX was capable of such wonders until I saw the video. Thank you for imparting this knowledge. Some of those RPGs looked pretty interesting. I might try them someday.

  • @travismartinez2471
    @travismartinez2471 3 года назад

    Such a well made video, the effort of your work shows.

  • @sharifalhumaid8537
    @sharifalhumaid8537 Месяц назад

    I grew up using MSX computers, and I really appreciate this thoroughly prepared video. Impressive work.

  • @alien9737
    @alien9737 3 года назад +1

    Fantastic video that clarifies the different variants.

  • @Sg-gg8dp
    @Sg-gg8dp 4 года назад +1

    Best MSX video ever !!! Congratulations.

  • @-Steven-
    @-Steven- 4 года назад +6

    Nice video, a few links showing us where to find some of the said patches and more info would have been nice but i guess thats what google is for. Thanks for your hard work and info.

  • @ecernosoft3096
    @ecernosoft3096 Год назад

    This is one of the videos that I watch over and over..... because damn, your videos are awesome.

  • @bearmatic
    @bearmatic 4 года назад

    Extremely well put togheter, thourough and beautiful! I've learned so much of this elusive platform. Thank you! Subbed, of course.

  • @Pikelhaizen
    @Pikelhaizen 4 года назад

    This is probably one of the best MSX videos to date. Explains everything and kills the myth of the MSX "bad scrolling". Nicely done!

  • @Vanessaira-Retro
    @Vanessaira-Retro 4 года назад +1

    This is an amazing video. Well done! I have always had love and respect for the MSX since learning about it so long ago. Being a massive Konami fan and understanding the classics, of Salamander, Gradius, Castlevania, Metal Gear, and more getting their chance to shine on this get microcomputer. I am fortunate to have a Turbo R and I really should get around to using it more.

  • @Anderson_101
    @Anderson_101 3 года назад +1

    I am truly overwhelmed. Thank you Sir for giving me all this knowledge about my most beloved system.

  • @skins4thewin
    @skins4thewin 3 года назад

    This was fantastic! Very interesting and informative! Thanks for making this!

  • @ViktorSarge
    @ViktorSarge 2 года назад +1

    I grew up with C64, Sega Master System and Amiga and it seems MSX sure would have been a worthy addition to the collection.

  • @RJdeKeizer
    @RJdeKeizer 4 года назад +11

    Great video, thanks! In the Netherlands, we called ZX Spectrum games who were converted to the MSX having the 'English disease'. Poorly coloured graphics and most of them did not even add support for the cursor keys on the MSX.

    • @DisplacedGamers
      @DisplacedGamers  4 года назад

      Ouch!

    • @diecarro79
      @diecarro79 4 года назад +5

      More like "Spanish disease", I'm afraid. Many (all?) of these conversions (even of UK games) were done in Spain, as there were the developers who had the know-how to produce these quick conversions. Mainly due to there being much more MSX machines in Spain than in the UK, I suppose.

    • @JesterEric
      @JesterEric 4 года назад +1

      At the time I was just pleased to have any games available. It was not a particularly popular system in the U.K. To port a Spectrum game developers like Gremlin Graphics just needed to change the video display routines, add joystick support and emulate the Spectrum bleeper. I remember reading in retro gamer magazine that the game Jack the Nipper was ported to MSX in an afternoon on Gremlins development system.

    • @ManuelBilderbeek
      @ManuelBilderbeek 4 года назад +3

      This term was actually coined by the Dutch MSX Computer Magazine, I think.

    • @anglosaxon361
      @anglosaxon361 3 года назад

      "Green Beret" had the "English disease"

  • @SwampWater
    @SwampWater 3 года назад

    Such a wonderful, in-depth video. I hope you do more like it in the future.

  • @ArtofBrandonTruster
    @ArtofBrandonTruster 3 года назад

    I love all of the in and outs of game design. Thanks for sharing.

  • @DoomKitty3000
    @DoomKitty3000 4 года назад +1

    Super interesting video, the part on sprite and colour limitations was especially cool!

  • @st1ka
    @st1ka 4 года назад +1

    Well this video was amazing. Thank you so much for the amazing work

  • @TheRealShedLife
    @TheRealShedLife 4 года назад +1

    Fascinating. Had no idea this thing even existed. I like this presentation as it covers the entire evolution of this platform including the numerous and impressive upgrades, improvements, and homebrews.

  • @Zarkovision
    @Zarkovision Год назад

    Thank you, just the video I needed! I've got an MSX 2 machine a couple of weeks ago, without much knowledge of this system. Now I can really start!

  • @JustAnotherMatt420
    @JustAnotherMatt420 4 года назад

    First video I've seen from your channel. I'm HOOKED. I grew up in this era of gaming and I got got flooded with memories! Excellent vidya and even better channel! Subbed!

  • @kristoferstoll587
    @kristoferstoll587 4 года назад

    You should have way more subscribers... Your content is excellent and I love every video you put out. Great stuff!

  • @teldinn
    @teldinn 3 года назад

    Great video! As a kid, 25+ years ago, I used to have a Brazilain MSX 1 computer modified into a MSX 2+ and I loved that system. So many great memories of games, painting software, and prgramming on that machine. The MSX, and MSX 2 via hardware mods of MSX 1 machines, were very popular in Brazil for many years; I had many friends with those systems. I was in Japan last year and saw many MSX machines in retro computer stores in Akihabara, and one day I want to own a Turbo R and play all the games that didn't make it to Brazil!

  • @juancalderon1315
    @juancalderon1315 2 года назад

    Thanks for this very well done video. Got myself a 2+ recently and I wasn't sure what to do besides playing the games I used to in my MSX1. Now I'm looking forward to playing that updated Salamander.

  • @nostartia
    @nostartia 3 года назад +1

    I've always wanted to explore the MSX, given my unconditional love for 90s Konami. It can be intimidating in the beginning so it took me a long time to actually start playing some of its later games and now I'm addicted to Quarth for example

  • @FindecanorNotGmail
    @FindecanorNotGmail 4 года назад +6

    The MSX2 is cooler than I thought.
    The C64 did both horizontal and vertical scrolling seemingly the same way as the MSX2 did horizontal scrolling, but the graphics chip would block off the borders itself, thus not wasting a sprite on it. I sure wish it had the sprite OR:ing trick though, although, you could put a black sprite as outline over a lower-res multicolour sprite.

    • @tvalenca
      @tvalenca 2 года назад +1

      the MSX2+ has native horizontal scrolling without the need of that trick.

  • @maximilianprivrat
    @maximilianprivrat 4 года назад +1

    Really compliments for this amazing video! I have all MSX models but thanks your video now I understand better the differences!

  • @JolandaSmulders-mp8jf
    @JolandaSmulders-mp8jf Месяц назад

    Best MSX information I have ever seen!! Thank you very much!

  • @alpharoid3358
    @alpharoid3358 4 года назад +1

    Incredible coverage! Thanks for the effort, I never knew this much about the MSX... and I'm named after an MSX1 game. 😄

  • @YiChuan
    @YiChuan 4 года назад +5

    Greetings from Brazil! The MSX was really popular here. It made an important part of my childhood and influenced me to pursue a career in STEM.
    The video is great! Probably one of the best I've seen about the MSX, alongside the Game Sack review. Since your video is much more technical, I think the two videos complement each other nicely. The only problem with it is that it will contribute to increase MSX prices even further... ;-)

  • @einokeskitalo3217
    @einokeskitalo3217 2 года назад

    One of the best videos I have seen on RUclips.

  • @belteshazzar-der
    @belteshazzar-der 3 года назад

    Yo, just discovered your channel my dude. This is some top notch quality content. Subscribed

  • @dantemendes8041
    @dantemendes8041 4 года назад +1

    Fantastic video, you covered everything, even the patches which added smooth scrolling (among other things) to the Konami Gradius saga.
    Which are an essential topic to address the "bad scrolling" issue. And you showed (briefly) those Super Mario World and Street Fighter 2 ports which are possibly the biggest "system pushers" in the history of game development for retro systems!

  • @dodgykebaab
    @dodgykebaab 2 года назад +1

    What a fantastic video.
    I came in with only a basic understanding of the MSX, and I left having learnt a lot about the Platform.
    The combination of Konami carts was really interesting, and as someone who grew up playing the Spectrum, thank you for pronouncing ZX Spectrum correctly 👍🏻

  • @stevethefishdotnet
    @stevethefishdotnet 2 года назад +1

    Very informative. Thanks for this. The Game Sack video on the MSX was a good primer, but your video really delves deep into the system.

  • @recklesflam1ngo968
    @recklesflam1ngo968 4 года назад

    Awesome video! Love this kind of stuff

  • @artrag1
    @artrag1 4 года назад +3

    Very good work, nice to see my Uridium and the SCC voice player in it. Thanks!