Here is my opinion on a new MSX computer.
What is MSX then?
Not easy to define, as it is very difficult to state what MSX really is.
>From what i see in this mailinglist it is close to religion, a believe in a
myth, a way of life, etc etc.
For me the MSX is the standard for hardware and software as defined by the
founders and documented in the Technical documents by Ascii for MSX-1, 2 and
2+.
Those standards, expanding on and incorporating the older standards are the
basis of the success up till now and the lack of new standards was the cause
of the decline.
So MSX is frozen in time somewhere around 1990.
Marketing power and MSX
It will be up to the market if a new MSX ever will be a reality.
So for a big commercial organization will put millions in development and
will activate other companies to develop software (and thats where the
success of any computerbased device starts) there must be a potential in the
already competing worlds of PC's and game consoles.
By current technical standards the MSX 1/2/2+ is very old. The software that
runs on the MSX is, well lets put it friendly, quite weak compared to the
technical advances of user interface and possibilities (we are close to
realtime 3d natural interfaces).
So if the MSX as brand will revive, the hardware and operating system, the
style guides, the software all will have to be new and very powerful. Very
deep down there the old MSX compatibility might be there (quite certainly in
emulation), but for the new user it will be 3d video, great audio, high res,
much cpu power and killer software that will count.
So when you are the marketing president of for example Panasonic? Do you see
millions of dollar income after spending millions on development and
marketing a new MSX computer? Don't use emotional arguments, think up a
business plan based on market possibilities and the chance to get a piece of
the enormous computerbased business.
A brave business man with lots of dollars might, made enthousiastic by
people with impact from for example the MSX scene. So if our japanese MSX
friends are doing that: i hope they succeed.
Why bother with MSX?
Would i buy a new MSX?
Not for running old MSX software, my MSXes still do fine and if they fail
they are available secondhand very very cheap.
Maybe if it offered new possibilities in ways not available on PC's or game
consoles.
Do i think MSX is dead?
Yes, i think in business terms it is dead since Philips and Sony and the
other hardware, software companies and magazines left the arena where no
money was earned anymore. Nobody today is making a living out of it.
No, MSX will live as long as the old hardware is still working, and amateurs
like us keep having fun with it.
Why do i bother with MSX then? For me it is a hobby, and a hobby is not
necessarily profitable or meaningfull.
It IS fun, i discuss with nice people, have a good subject for a webpage.
And it brings back memories of those days when discovering MSX and seeing
new developments was such great fun.
My teenage children, discovering the computer have access to PC's,
Playstations, Nintendo's and my collection of MSX machines. Guess what
computer they prefer for games: the PC and the Playstation. They have no
emotional bonds with MSX and judge the outdated MSX graphics and sound as
'yesterdays toys'.
And myself? I kept the MSX running because i do video editing. But the 8280
is no longer in use for that purpose, in fact the whole collection of video
and audio equipment is no longer used, i do all of it on the PC platform:
powerfull hardware and software. So the MSX is back to a real hobby and not
a computer i depend upon. But it will be MSX Forever for me!
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