The Japanese PC that ran the original Metal Gear is coming back after 30 years of extinction

pcgamer.com:

The MSX PC is barely known in the West, but it was Microsoft Japan's big 1980s play for parts of the Asian computer market. A joint project with the ASCII Corporation, the MSX was an attempt to create a 'standard' PC architecture in the same way that VHS had become the de facto videotape format.

The first MSX systems were manufactured by Mitsubishi and launched in October 1983 in Japan (though the whole point was that any company could manufacture them, which many including Sony did). Seven million MSX machines would be sold in Japan over the next years, making it both a viable games platform (the Metal Gear series began on MSX2) and a part of the cultural fabric. It was always an underdog(opens in new tab), but beloved in its day.

The co-founder of ASCII corporation is the extraordinarily accomplished engineer Kazuhiko Nishi(opens in new tab), who as well as co-designing the MSX is a creator, a businessman, and a professor. The other co-creator is Kazuyasu Maeda, who was from Matsushita R&D. There were four generations of MSX hardware, with the last being 1990's MSXTurboR (discontinued in 1993). The anticipated MSX3 never materialised.

ASCII became defunct following a 2008 merger, but Nishi has now designed something remarkable in partnership with D4 Enterprise: the standalone MSX3, to be launched later this year.

Dear Friends,D4E president Mr. Suzuki agreed today they will launch 1 chip MSX 3 as their primary console for the EGG. As a option, will have a bay slot for DVDR or BDXLR and will support for CD, DVD, BD, BDUHD. Announcement for 1 chip MSX 3 by the end of summer.best regards, pic.twitter.com/oDUFIFT2waJune 23, 2022

D4 Enterprise is a Japanese video game publisher that specialises in game preservation, and