One Chip MSX available outside Japan

On May 20th, ASCII opened up their Japanese One Chip MSX pre-order page and started taking orders on the new MSX computer from Japanese MSX fans.

Today, an important step in the MSX revival was taken. For the first time, a product resulting from the MSX revival has become available, officially, outside the Japanese market. As of today, the One Chip MSX can also be pre-ordered from outside Japan with Bazix, the Dutch company that represents MSX Association outside the Japanese market.

According to the One Chip MSX page on the Bazix website, their One Chip MSX will come with an English manual, a 220V adapter or 110V converter plug and a simple casing. The One Chip MSX can be pre-ordered right here for € 189,- (about $225,-) including VAT. Thanks to FPGA technology, the functionality of the device can be changed without performing any physical hardware modifications. An upgrade to make the device completely MSX2 compatible will be released in the future.

Needless to say this is a great step for the international MSX community, as the One Chip MSX is the first MSX computer to be officially distributed outside the Japanese market since the MSX2, which was introduced more than 20 years ago.

Relevant link: One Chip MSX information page at Bazix

Comments (37)

By djh1697

Paladin (843)

10-07-2005, 10:05

Ouch! Nice device, nice price! Too much for any sort of MSX revival

By Google

By Latok

msx guru (3022)

10-07-2005, 10:14

Well, it's a niche product, not too much in my opinion I think this is great news!

By Grauw

Paragon (1797)

10-07-2005, 12:26

Finally! ^_^

But, you say € 189,- including VAT, but when I pre-order it gives me a total of € 198.81...?

By Bart

Paragon (1415)

10-07-2005, 12:26

Shipping?

By snout

Ambassador (13693)

10-07-2005, 12:26

please do note the 'ex shipping'

By Grauw

Paragon (1797)

10-07-2005, 12:27

Oh, I guess those are the shipping costs. Uh, can I pick it up at a fair instead?

~Grauw

By snout

Ambassador (13693)

10-07-2005, 12:27

^_^

By Ivan

Scribe (8942)

10-07-2005, 12:44

I hope that soon will be available a C64 upgrade kit. Forget that shit of MSX2.

By snout

Ambassador (13693)

10-07-2005, 12:46

Grauw: For the time being, Bazix are only to distribute One Chip MSX computers by directly shipping them to the customers who ordered them.

Ivan: Blasphemy! ^_^

By poke-1,170

Paragon (1605)

10-07-2005, 15:52

ivan the terrible

By djh1697

Paladin (843)

10-07-2005, 19:18

Question? Since USB is not within the MSX specification, what will the USB ports be used for?

By snout

Ambassador (13693)

10-07-2005, 19:24

djh - using VHDL you can adapt the funtionality of the One Chip MSX. With an USB connection to the board, you can attach a lot of equipment to it. Use your imagination, I'd say

By SaebaMSX

Hero (533)

10-07-2005, 19:59

I preordered the "japanese" version and surely I will order this Bazix version too. I am sure that I won't be the only one doing it, will I?

But let me know something and sorry if it was answered before... Why does it only include composite output? Perhaps VGA will be a solution in the near future, but not having RGB won't be a problem here in Europe? It could be just the typical question when you had v9958 with only colours through RGB... or was it that my F700 (v9938) just had colours through RGB?

I can't wait to get that nice piece of hardware. By the way, what is meant with simple casing?

By snout

Ambassador (13693)

10-07-2005, 20:39

Saeba: there's a VGA connector on the One Chip MSX, rest assured...

As for the simple casing: the casing of the One Chip MSX will not be very expensive, so don't expect designs like these to make it this time ;) Something like the Game Reader is more feasible. However, as soon as a casing has been selected, you'll read about it at ASCII, Bazix and the MRC news for sure :)

By karloch

Scribe (1750)

11-07-2005, 02:49

I'm a bit worried about the pre-orders numbers... 2006 units and just 40 days to reach the 5000. I have already placed my order to Bazix, but... will we reach that number? C'mon guys, a brand new MSX is there for just 189 euro (how much did you pay for your MSX in the 80's?), go and reserve your new, upgraded MSX computer now!!!!

By Latok

msx guru (3022)

11-07-2005, 11:21

About the casing. Ok, it'll be simple. But it simply NEEDS some specifications. Power switch button, holes for all the connections. Being a casing for a complete computer, it can not be that simple in itself.

By Tanni

Hero (552)

11-07-2005, 11:30

What's a VAT?

In Europe, there are now 230 V power supply!

By Samor

Paragon (1363)

11-07-2005, 12:50

you guys need some quick international fame, for this to succeed.

any ideas on how to make this big news even bigger?

By Latok

msx guru (3022)

11-07-2005, 12:58

Tanni: VAT ist nur Steuer.

And again something about the price.....189 euro isn't too much for a complete computer, it's really cheap!! It's a scene related product, no mass production. Look at the Sunrise hardware, they sell hardware for similar prices, but that's nowhere near a complete computer!

By Haze

Expert (75)

11-07-2005, 13:04

Someone should report this on to big sites, such as Tweakers.net. Plenty of geeks and hardware freaks who'd love to get their hands on a machine like this, I can imagine. And that should boost pre-orders a bit.

By Latok

msx guru (3022)

11-07-2005, 13:05

Indeed, it's interesting enough for a larger audience. Problem will be attracting it, though. And Bazix needs credibility as well. There's no real product yet. That's a disadvantage.

By sunrise

Paragon (1090)

11-07-2005, 14:35

Latok, that's billshit
Our highest price is for the Moonsound and based on 25 copies not on 5000.
The cf-interface and all others not come even close to this !

By sunrise

Paragon (1090)

11-07-2005, 14:38

Furthermore, I consider to stop forever !

By Samor

Paragon (1363)

11-07-2005, 15:04

I don't think Latok meant to criticise, he just made a comparison (allthough it's kind of a bad one).

By Haohmaru

Paladin (719)

11-07-2005, 15:05

'189 euro isn't too much for a complete computer'

I agree. But the One Chip MSX in it's current form is not complete.

@sunrise: care to explain? we'd hate to see you go

By Latok

msx guru (3022)

11-07-2005, 15:06

Indeed, I didn't mean to criticise, Rob. Not at all. I have very much respect for Sunrise and all what you are doing. Please don't misunderstand me. I was indeed just trying to compare things to eachother.

By Latok

msx guru (3022)

11-07-2005, 15:08

To make things more clear, I don't think Sunrise hardware is overpriced or something. Actually, I don't quite understand why you're angry, but believe me, everything I said about Sunrise, I meant it in the most positive way

By Samor

Paragon (1363)

11-07-2005, 15:15

you guys should try and get it posted on slashdot.

hey, it's worth a shot, isn't it?

By Tanni

Hero (552)

11-07-2005, 15:21

To compare prices, visit www.digilentinc.com/! Spartan 3 Starter Board: $99!

I don't know what it is in euro, I don't know if the Xilinx FGPA chip is comparable to the one from Altera, but we should take into account, that MSX Association must make some money to go on with the MSX revival.

By Tanni

Hero (552)

11-07-2005, 15:23

Latok: Danke für die Auskunft!

By andete

Expert (91)

11-07-2005, 15:25

Will the MSX2 upgrade be available for free or will it come at additional cost?

Is the programmable chip code released under a liberal license (GPL or BSD)?

Are the MSX ROMS part of the product as a ROM or part of the programmable chip?

By sunrise

Paragon (1090)

11-07-2005, 15:39

I have no appetite anymore , so get lost !

By snout

Ambassador (13693)

11-07-2005, 18:45

Although I can imagine that and why Sunrise is reacting this way, I don't think Latok had the intention to be negative about Sunrise, but he was trying to make a fair comparison. The only references we have when it comes to MSX hardware are Obsonet (~ €50), CompactFlash (~ €65,-), GFX9000 (€134,-) and the Moonsound (~€172 with 1024kB SRAM). One can only conclude that a sale price of € 189,- for the One Chip MSX is more or less in line with these hardware expansions. That doesn't imply that Sunrise hardware or the One Chip MSX is (too) expensive, though, and I'm absolutely sure Latok did not have the intention to imply that either.

As for the many questions: Bazix plans to publish a small FAQ in the near future in which these and many other questions are being answered. Please understand the OCM is still in full development, so although a casing and details on the VHDL coding and its licensing have not been announced yet, they will be as soon as there is any certainty about it.

Samor: press release is going out this evening... all I can promise is Slashdot will receive one. Rest is up to them

By Latok

msx guru (3022)

11-07-2005, 19:01

I already said it. I didn't have any intention of being negative about Sunrise. Sunrise hardware is just the only reference I have and these prices are indeed in line with the One Chip MSX pricing. That's all. Again, sunrise, if I hurt your feelings in some way or another, my apologies!

By MSX Resource Center

Paladin (986)

12-07-2005, 03:09

At last an english page about 1CM! :-) It's also good to hear that questions about casing and code licensing will be answered soon. I believe that making everything clear about 1CM will help to increase the sales. Things are getting better and better. :-)

By Arjan

Paladin (693)

16-07-2005, 12:27

Tanni: The Spartan 3 Starter Board has just ~4000 LE's (compared to OCM's 12000). The versions with ~8500 and ~20000 have $20 / $50 extra costs. This board has only 1MB while OCM has 32MB. Furthermore, the Spartan 3 doesn't have USB, no composite video output, no audio outputs, no SD/MMC card slot and of course no MSX Joystick port and MSX Cartridge slot. There are some more differences of course (some in favour of the Spartan 3, some in favour of the OCM) but overall I'd say the OCM is better and is prices just right!

By Tanni

Hero (552)

18-07-2005, 16:29

Yes, that's why I posted the link!

One Chip MSX available outside Japan

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