MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII on June 16, 1983. It was conceived and marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then vice-president at Microsoft and director at ASCII Corporation. Nishi conceived the project as an attempt to create unified standards among various home computing system manufacturers of the period, in the same fashion as the VHS standard for home video tape machines.

All MSX Games from A to Z.

List of all games for MSX

Anyone conversant with home computers will know precisely why the MSX was worth waiting for.

The sheer proliferation of computer and software systems flooding the market loudly underlined the need for a unified standard. So the major companies jointly developed a single computer and software system. The result — MSX — the format that will be standard for all time.

GRAPHICS
Maximum resolution of 256 x 192 pixels with all 16 colours available on the screen at the same time. 32 sprites in two sizes and two magnifications allowing easy creation of “3D” graphics. 255 pre-defined characters all of which can be used as straight text or easily mixed with graphics.

SOUND
Three independent channels which can be output through the TV loudspeakers at any volume, individually or simultaneously at any of the available 8 octaves. All three channels can use the “noise generator” for stunning sound effects.

KEYBOARD
73 keys, ergonomically designed for many hours of fatigue free use. Large cursor control keys which are excellent for programme editing and game playing. 5 function keys giving 10 pre-defined functions which can easily be redefined from BASIC using the “KEY” command.

BASIC
MSX BASIC is quite possibly the most refined version of the original language. There is a complete set of commands for creating graphics and sounds, manipulating text and moving sprites. In addition to this there are built-in interrupt routines for detecting sprite collisions, function key selections and joy-stick fire buttons.

EXPANSION
The Mitsubishi 64k ML-F80 and 32k ML-F48 are both equipped with 2 cartridge ports, 2 joy-stick ports and a electronics compatible parallel interface. It is through these devices that the MSX can be expanded for use with disk drives, printers, serial interfaces, and other peripherals.

SOFTWARE CASSETTES
The MSX system can save data onto cassette at 1200 or 2400 baud and unlike other home computers, the Mitsubishi F-Series can be used with a normal cassette recorder for this purpose. When you put all of those features together, with the knowledge that Mitsubishi is the largest manufacturer of Mainframe computers in Japan, those in the know will immediately recognise the true potential of the Mitsubishi F-Series.

FOR THE CHILDREN
There is education, particularly computer education. In a world where computer literacy is now of foremost importance, MSX offers a broad base of educational software. With simple programmes for the very young through complex programs for older students like language learning.
Also, the graphics system of the Mitsubishi computer ensures that the MSX versions of your favorite games are reproduced with incredible speed and accuracy. Undoubtedly, the MSX is the format of the future and will become the byword for computer education and entertainment.