PC-88


/wiki/PC-88work

In the 1980s, Western personal computers were scarce in the Japanese market, in large part because they were not equipped to handle Japanese characters. Instead, Japanese electronics companies like Sharp and Fujitsu marketed their own brands of personal computers, and many others sold the MSX. But NEC, the company which later developed the Turbografx16 console, dominated the Japanese PC market with its PC-8801 series. Introduced in 1981, the PC88 (as the system is commonly known) held sway until the 16-bit NEC PC-9801 gradually displaced it in the late 1980s.

Over a dozen different models of the PC-8801 were made. The PC-88VA/VA2/VA3 deserves special mention: it was a 16-bit machine which tried to bridge the gap between the PC-8801 and PC-9801, and also appeal to gamers with graphical capabilities superior to both. However, the NEC TurboGrafx-16 console, introduced the same year, took away a lot of interest (confusingly, "PC-Engine" was also the name of the PC-88VA's operating system), and the PC-88VA failed to catch on as Japanese gamers looking for a more powerful 16-bit system generally preferred the Sharp X68000.

Notable videogame developers Enix, Game Arts and Nihon Falcom all released their first games on the PC 88.

Specifications

  • The PC-8801's CPU was a 4 MHz NEC µPD780, which was updated in 1986 and later using a 8 MHz µPD70008. Both were compatible with the Z 80 A found in the MSX.
  • The PC-88VA used instead a NEC µPD9002 (8 MHz), a custom 16-bit processor compatible with both the Z 80 A and the V30 CPU which NEC was using in its PC-9801 models.

Games for the PC88
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