Too bad the MSX was mostly Japanese thing.
Europe had mostly "home comuters" before the 286/VGA era.
North Ametica had that PCjr thing with the Tandy 1000.
Most PC unification occured in late 80s early 90s. And in europe Amiga died totally when Windows 95 was released.

This of course makes sense, because the PC was never meant to be a home computer (with perhaps the exception of the PC junior).

I think same. While historians make it sound as if the first IBM PC was sort of a godsent and a tribute to IBM's ingenuity, I see it a bit differently.
To my understanding, the IBM PC was just an CP/M computer on 8088 basis.
Nothing bad, but nothing outstanding either.

It's just an oversized, but minimalistic single board computer.
Way back in the 70s, many hobbyists built such computers.
Albeit with an intended maximum of 64KB instead of 640KB.

The IBM MDA was not much different than a "CRT device" (character generator) of an Z80/8080 based CP/M computer.
And instead of an ASCII keyboard, IBM came up with a proprietary keyboard interface.
Probably borrowed from an older terminal or computer at IBM.

So yeah, the original IBM PC could have been built by radio amateurs at a local ham club or by students at an university.

Edit: Here's the proof. Pictures of a prototype of the IBM PC 5150 built on alarge veroboard.
Every electronic hobbyist could have built the 5150 motherboard with some patience.
https://www.elektronikpraxis.de/der-ibm-pc-ty … -5150-a-324853/

The most creative thing was probably to implement something similar to CP/M's BIOS in a ROM chip and use edge connectors for expansion like the Apple II did.

Otherwise, there wasn't much remarkable about the IBM PC.
The chassis, the build quality and the open design (off the shelf parts, BIOS for abstraction) were most impressive.

The motherboard, though, really wasn't much.
It's essentially either the minimum or maximum configuration mentioned in i8086/i8088 datasheet.

The IBM AT was much more sophisticated, but barely gets recognition.
Except in Japan maybe, because ATs with VGA graphics running DOS became "DOS/V" computers.

Edit: That being said, there's some degree of uncertainity I do struggle with.
The IBM ROM BASIC and the cassette interface were very home computer - like.
Maybe it was sort of a backup plan, to allow users to use the IBM PC as a BASIC computer if everything fails.

But these home computer specific things had been removed in later time.
ROM BASIC became Advanced BASIC (by using DOS loader/extender thingy) and then GW-BASIC.
The cassette interface had been removed in 5160..

Edit: I vaguely remember that MSX1 stilll had some CP/M-80 compatibilty being left intact.
MSX-DOS 1 could run CP/M programs, I think.

Also interesting, the Robotron BIC A5105 was an MSX machine, at heart.
There were many other MSX computers that weren't being recongnized as such.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bildungscompute … robotron_A_5105

Edit: There's also a really cool DOS/MSX hybrid, the Spectra Video SV838.
It had MSX2 video and MSX sound, in addition to CGA graphics and i8088 processor.

http://msxbanzai.tni.nl/curiosity.html

Re: Is Canabalt DOS demake possible?

Edit: https://www.rigpix.com/vcomp/spectravideo_svi838xpress16.htm

Edit:

The overall impression is like a merger between a C64 an EGA XT/PC with an OPL chip and a wedge shaped home computer form factor […]
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The overall impression is like a merger between a C64 an EGA XT/PC with an OPL chip and a wedge shaped home computer form factor.
Many models have a cartridge slot as well as a (build in) 3.5inch FDD drive.
The game library has a lot of overlap with the C64, early PC titles as well as NES games. But it also has a lot of unique platform specific titles as well.
All the things that are missing from the early XT machines such as great sound more colors and great titles are already there starting in 1983.
So - in some sense the MSX platform feels like a lost or forgotten ancestor to the modern Wintel world.
Fascinating machines!

Yes, MSX was/is very interesting.
MSX1 was like C64/ZX Spectrum, while MSX2/MSX2+ were more like the Sega Master System.
Snatcher comes to mind as an excellent MSX2 game, probably because I love sci-fi and because it got an English translations many years ago. :D
Good MSX1 games also existed, like Arctic Adventure or Parodius.
Some Japanese adventures in monochrome seem to have been on MSX1, too.
MSX and Apple II emulators had been early speciemen on Windows 3.x, too.
I've taken some MSX screenshots in my older thread over here.

Cyberdyne wrote on 2025-03-18, 03:43:

Too bad the MSX was mostly Japanese thing.

This is not true. MSX enjoyed decent success in many European countries, especially in Netherlands most likely due to the fact that Philips produced several MSX and MSX2 computers and was the domestic option. It was a decent success in many other countries too, although it couldn't in most cased match Commodore 64 and brits had also their own popular 8-bit micros like Sinclair Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, both which had variying success in other parts of the continent.

Besides Japan, MSX was really popular in Brazil, Middle-East and SE Asia. It is difficult to estimate the numbers of different MSX systems sold as systems were produced by several companies, but it is estimated that 5 million units sold in Japan alone. Brasilian estimates alone are around 400 thousand units. As a whole, MSX family and computers made by plethora of manufacturers probably come as a clear second most sold 8-bit computer after C64. But there is very little clear evidence, because there were just so many manufacturers which also targeted different markets.

The main thing why MSX wasn't top player outisde of the Japan in many markets is that it arrived relatively late, being introduced in late 1983. MSX1 was hardly a ground braking architecture by that point and it heavily resembles that of ColecoVision, SEGA SC-3000/SG-1000 and Spectravideo 328, which was largely a basis for MSX standard. If MSX would've been launched as what was to be the MSX2 (introduced in 1985), it would've probably had bigger impact as the specs were much more advanced compared to most rivalries. MSX2+ in 1988 improved things again, but this again was too late considering the growing 16-bit market and those computers were only released in Japan. Most software by that point also targeted popular MSX2 and as the rule of the lowest denominator, most games didn't support MSX2+ features. Then there was also of course the Turbo R standard introduced in 1990, which again was too late and couple of models were only released in Japan.

MSX is indeed a great platform and I highly recommend everyone interested in 8-bit micros to get one, preferably MSX2 or better to get improved capabilites and a system with 128kb RAM (or expandable to 128kB) and dual cartridge slots. I have Sony HB-F1XV MSX2+ with RAM upgraded to 2MB (With Carnivore 4MB RAM) and it is a stunning little computer. You are immediately at home with MSX-DOS as the CPM and MS-DOS heritage is more than just superficial. MSX also received many addons, such as sound and video chip modules. Many are produced by hobbyists also today. You also have flashcart type of options which practically remove the floppy hassle out of the equation, although file transfers from the PC are a piece of cake due to FAT file system. Game library is amazing and many well known game series started with MSX, such as Metal Gear, and many Japanese only games have received english translations if and when they weren't released in west.

MSX as a whole is one of the most underrated family of home computers and often easily overlooked by many current hobbyists.

Hi. There's a website about MSX market share.
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-bright-life-of-th … ns-underdog-pc/

I suppose by "Europe" some people at first may think of the few core countries of western Europe at the time (political map).

France, Italy, UK, Germany.. Spain, too, maybe.

These are (were) the main languages shown in old PAL NES/SNES games, for example.
(Interestingly, Brazil is shown also in PC version of same game used as an example here.)

I'm not saying that this is "political correct" by any means,
but it would maybe explain why countries such as Netherlands, Norway, Sweden or Belgium didn't made it into concouisness.

Btw, there's an 1984 episode of The Computer Chronicles , "Japanese PCs"..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbh1XP4kCT4