SlimeGooGoo
Banned
The Japanese PC that ran the original Metal Gear is coming back after 30 years of extinction
The MSX's co-creator is back with a new model, the MSX3, and it's coming this year.
www.pcgamer.com
D4 Enterprise is a Japanese video game publisher that specialises in game preservation, and operates Project EGG. Its aim is to get MSX games on modern platforms, essentially, and keep the rich history of the hardware alive.
The "next-generation MSX" is somewhat in keeping with that, but the intention also seems to be a machine that is more than just a hobbyist nostalgia piece. It has an Arm-based CPU and supports the C, Python, and LISP languages. The project began as an expansion board which could be installed in the slot of an MSX or MSX2, but is now going to be released as a standalone device with an optional bay slot for DVDs / Blu-Ray disks.
Nishi writes that he had considered making "1-chip" MSX hardware in the old days, but decided that at the time the potential solutions didn't offer enough power. He confirms that the new machine will be backwards-compatible. "Of course old MSX logoed software will run for future MSX," writes Nishi. He also thinks that folk programming should begin using more modern tools: "I will perhaps be asking all potential users stop writing z80 and r800 code anymore and write only on high level tools for 64 bit VM code for long term binary compatibility. VM64 will run on X86, ARM32, ARM64, RISC V."
More details on the MSX3 will follow this summer, and Nishi says there will be three products available by the end of the year: The MSX Engine 3 "for OEM and hobby system builders", a 'Pro' and a 'Light' MSX3 keyboard, and MSX 3 IOT cartridge to be used standalone or in concert with MSX or MSX2 hardware.