jhd Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 According to Business Week magazine, for June 11, 1984 p. 114 "Serious software helps the home computer grow up", Synapse, Activision, and Epyx are all developing MSX software. Unfortunately, no titles were mentioned, nor were any other details provided. Did any of these firms ever release anything for the MSX-line? Given the very limited North American market, I suspect not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhan Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 No, not really. I think there was some crap released in Canada with the Yamaha CX5M model. but, no ,nothin else really. I'll be releasing a game one of these days! www.aetherbyte.com/dk.php YEAH !!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 According to Business Week magazine, for June 11, 1984 p. 114 "Serious software helps the home computer grow up", Synapse, Activision, and Epyx are all developing MSX software. Unfortunately, no titles were mentioned, nor were any other details provided. Did any of these firms ever release anything for the MSX-line? Given the very limited North American market, I suspect not. Epyx, and Activision both released titles for MSX. I think Synapse died before releasing any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhan Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Yes, Epyx released like, 4 games, and they were all pretty crappy. None of their good RPG titles made it over. There were some of the "games" games, and a 4x4 game. All of them are pretty bland. AFAIK: Activision only put Pitall 1 and 2 on the MSX. they are the only 2 games I ever came across and bought Pony Canyon published them. IIRC, Activision put them out themselves, on tape. Probably because they didn't have access to the cartridge manufacturing resources since they're USA-bound. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 (edited) Appears like Pony Canyon got licenses from Activision, them also published Keystone Kapers, Alcazar, Beamrider, Ghostbusters and a lot of titles. Search in this database http://www.generation-msx.nl/msxdb/ Of course mostly for European/Japanese market as MSX didn't have success in North America. Edited July 17, 2012 by nanochess 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhan Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Wow, I must have been full-retard while posting yesterday, considering I have Beamrider and Alcazar sitting right next to me lol. However, I think the only games Activision ACTUALLY did themselves, was Pitfall 1 and 2. I think the rest were kind of given over to others. I could be wrong. i probably am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I suspect Pitfall 1 and 2 were Colecovision ports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Appears like Pony Canyon got licenses from Activision, them also published Keystone Kapers, Alcazar, Beamrider, Ghostbusters and a lot of titles. Search in this database http://www.generation-msx.nl/msxdb/ Of course mostly for European/Japanese market as MSX didn't have success in North America. Wasn't Spectravideo the only company to release an MSX machine in the US and it was off the market in under a year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 Wasn't Spectravideo the only company to release an MSX machine in the US and it was off the market in under a year? I've never seen one in person, but the adds for Spectravideo seemed to be everywhere for a time; I distinctly recall the joystick built into the console, beside the keyboard. I also recall seeing adds in the mid-1980s for a Yahama (or possibly Sony) computer that was specifically marketed to musicians -- it included hardware to interface with various keyboards, etc. This one may not have made it to market, but it was definitely advertised in the trade press (Keyboard magazine). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Wasn't Spectravideo the only company to release an MSX machine in the US and it was off the market in under a year? I've never seen one in person, but the adds for Spectravideo seemed to be everywhere for a time; I distinctly recall the joystick built into the console, beside the keyboard. I also recall seeing adds in the mid-1980s for a Yahama (or possibly Sony) computer that was specifically marketed to musicians -- it included hardware to interface with various keyboards, etc. This one may not have made it to market, but it was definitely advertised in the trade press (Keyboard magazine). The Spectravideo with the joystick was pretty much the basis of the MSX design, but it's not fully compatible. I was referring to the SVI-728. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Looks like both of you were right -- according to the MSX article on Wikipedia: "Only Spectravideo and Yamaha briefly marketed MSX machines in the U.S. Spectravideo's MSX enjoyed very little success, and Yamaha's CX5M model, built to interface with various types of MIDI equipment, was billed more as a digital music tool than a standard personal computer." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhan Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Did the CX5M even come out here? I thought it only showed up in Canada Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Did the CX5M even come out here? I thought it only showed up in Canada eBay Auction -- Item Number: 190691797413 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkhan Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Did the CX5M even come out here? I thought it only showed up in Canada eBay Auction -- Item Number: 190691797413 well dang, if that's all it takes for something to be released in the USA, I guess all the MSX computers were released in the USA! I looked it up via actual resources. It was available here, I guess. I know a few years back I read something about the CX5M with regards to Canada. The hell if I remember what it was about. It wasn't overly important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Appears like Pony Canyon got licenses from Activision, them also published Keystone Kapers, Alcazar, Beamrider, Ghostbusters and a lot of titles. Search in this database http://www.generation-msx.nl/msxdb/ Of course mostly for European/Japanese market as MSX didn't have success in North America. Wasn't Spectravideo the only company to release an MSX machine in the US and it was off the market in under a year? It come very late, when Colecovision already had capitalized the market. The Spectravideo had same video chip, same processor, same sound chip and more expensive and besides it had scarce games and was not compatible with MSX until the SVI-738. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulBlazer Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I know Wiki is not always accurate, but what I quoted does jive with what I've read at other places. I saw a writeup about the Spectravision American MSX computer on another computer site, but can't find the link right now. Suffice it to say that the MSX was only sold here in the States for a short time in very limited ammounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Did the CX5M even come out here? I thought it only showed up in Canada eBay Auction -- Item Number: 190691797413 well dang, if that's all it takes for something to be released in the USA, I guess all the MSX computers were released in the USA! Or you could just ask the seller if it's a USA NTSC model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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