Salt and Vineger on that?

The One Chip MSX. Never heard of it? Neither had I until earlier today.

This machine has sold so well in Japan that it's getting a European release.

Briefly, MSX was an attempt to standardise 8 bit computing, much like Microsoft did with Windows for PC's, and incidentally it was Microsoft behind the MSX proposition, by allowing any manufacturer to build computers with MSX architecture. Toshiba, Phillips and Sony have all created MSX computers.

Although never hugely popular or successful in the UK the MSX did enjoy some popularity during the 8bit heyday and boasted some great and exclusive games including the first Metal Gear. Surprisingly MSX has remained popular and continued to be supported by hardcore fans, bedroom coders and even commercial developers. The MSX format just wouldn't lie down and die like so many 8 bit computers. 2001 saw a major revival with the creation of a perfect emulator, MSXPLAYer, supported by a decent amount of commercial games that could be downloaded from the internet. The commercial success of MSXPLAYer has meant more and more games being created. This has all contributed to the creation of the One Chip MSX.

There isn't a lot to see at the Offical Home Page of the One Chip MSX. Nothing more than the picture at the top of this blog entry in fact but the European One Chip MSX is being manufactured by a Netherlands based electronics company called Bazix and they have a lot more for you to read and look at.

From the Bazix website, "Back to basics, yet ready for the future: The One Chip MSX. Out of the box, this computer is compatible with the MSX1 and MSX2 standard, for which many classic games were released since its introduction to the consumer market in 1983. You will enjoy hours of gameplay with this machine for which new software is regularly released, even today.

The One Chip MSX is a lot more than just an MSX computer. The core of the One Chip MSX is an Altera Cyclone EP1C12Q240C8N FPGA chip, which is a Programmable Logic Device. This means that the functionality of the chip can be altered partially, or even completely, at any time, using a programming language called VHDL. This opens a wide range of possibilities, such as extending the MSX standard with new features, or even implementing your favorite classic computer or console in the FPGA chip. So, without making any physical hardware modifications, you can gain control over what the One Chip MSX actually does." Click HERE for more.

I'm sorry to say that if you want one you're too late. I'm dangling a carrot that you're never going to reach. Showing you the stable that the horse already bolted from. Believe it or not Bazixs have sold all of the first batch of machines before they're even built and are taking no more pre-orders. There's no word of a second batch but you can bet they'll make more if the demand continues. There's a newsletter you can sign up to if you'd like to get your hands on one from the second batch.

Gameov3r has a Toshiba MSX in the cellar. It's a cool piece of retro hardware. He has some cool cartridge games for it too but he won't let any of us use it. He keeps it all to himself the miserable old..... Anyway, I'm not sure I'd want to buy a retro MSX never mind a new One... Chip MSX. Would you?