It's been a while since we heard news about the Western Edition of the 1chipMSX. Finally, after a long deafening silence Bazix has sent out a mailing with news regarding their efforts to bring this Western Edition to us. The main aspects of this mailing were the following:

Earlier this month a meeting between representatives of MSX Association, ESE Artists Factory and Bazix took place in Tokyo, Japan. During this meeting, the status and future of the Western 1chipMSX Project was discussed. As we already knew, several changes have taken place in the organizations of the parties involved - especially in the organization of D4 Enterprise, the Japanese company that produced the 1chipMSX for the Japanese market. As D4E focuses more and more on digital software distribution, it didn't seem probable for this company to become responsible for the Western 1chipMSX after all, so Bazix came to the conclusion that it would be better to focus on production of the Western 1chipMSX elsewhere.

Together with MSX Association and ESE Artists Factory Bazix have discussed the changes that have to be made to make the 1chipMSX suitable for commercial distribution on the Western market, as well as some possible improvements compared to the Japanese version. Next, they have started looking around for companies that can produce the Western 1chipMSX. In the coming weeks, Bazix expect to receive several quotes which will be compared and discussed with their Japanese partners. They will also try to investigate the effect of some of the discussed improvements to the 1chipMSX design on production costs. After carefully weighing all options they will select a final design for the Western 1chipMSX.

On the new website www.onechipmsx.com Bazix will soon launch a blog on which the process of the Western 1chipMSX project can be followed. Naturally, Bazix will also keep informing their customers via their 1chipMSX mailinglist. As an added bonus, people who have pre-ordered the 1chipMSX in the past will get priority treatment over those who didn't as soon as the ordering period for the Western 1chipMSX opens. But of course, also people who didn't pre-order will get their chance to obtain a One Chip MSX when it becomes available.

Relevant link: Bazix

Amusement Center have re-released the PC-9801 version of Falcom's RPG Sorcerian in Project EGG. Sorcerian was released for MSX2 in 1991.

Relevant link: Sorcerian in Project EGG

TNI members Albert Beevendorp and Patriek Lesparre have put together a section on MSX Banzai dedicated to the 1ChipMSX. This brandnew section deals with: DIP switches, special keys, loading System ROMs from SD-card, description of the boot procedure (IPL ROM), known issues and VGA Connector Pin-out information.

Relevant link: MSX Banzai

A few days ago, MSX User Edwin Velds placed an in-depth text on our forum, with instructions on how to resurrect a 1chipMSX. If the 1chipMSX won't boot anymore due faulty VHDL code, you can't resurrect the machine using software, and a standard cable is a tad expensive. Edwin provided us with a scheme for the parallel port and instructions on how to proceed using the software. If all goes well, your 1brickMSX should turn into a 1chipMSX again!

As of today, we've added this text to our article section, where it can easily be found. If you have information, tutorials and other instructions you wish to share with the MSX world in form of an article, feel free to submit text and related media to articles@msx.org and we will process it. We have translators, so your article doesn't need to be written in English if you're not comfortable with this language.

Relevant link: 1chipMSX resurrection guide

Source: RetroPC

In December 2002 the MSX revival kicked off with the release of ASCII MSX Magazine 1. The magazine, that contained a CD-ROM with MSXPLAYer and several software titles sold very well and was followed by two other editions of the magazine. RetroPC have spotted a nice box for those who collected all three editions of the magazine.

Relevant link: MSX Magazine collectors box

The French MSX community portal MSX Café has published a dossier on the One Chip MSX, the new FPGA based MSX computer of which we still hope to see a Western/English release in the future. The dossier handles the Japanese OCM, produced by D4 Enterprise, and shows specifications and several pictures of the new MSX in action.

Relevant link: 1chipMSX dossier on MSX Café

Yesterday, Bazix have informed their customers and people subscribed to the One Chip MSX Newsletter that the production of the One Chip MSX for the Western Market has, unfortunately, been postponed until further notice. D4 Enterprise was not able to produce the 'Western Market' batch before the end of Spring 2007, as initially intended.

The hardware design of the One Chip MSX is currently under investigation and alteration. Reasons are RoHS compliancy of the ciruit board, component availability and costs. Also a different, transparent casing is preferred for the Western edition. This modified One Chip MSX, produced for distribution on the Western market, is likely to be distributed as a 'limited edition' in Japan as well. Bazix is to inform their customers and potential customers subscribed to the One Chip MSX Newsletter about the status of this project when more concrete information becomes available.

Relevant link: One Chip MSX website at Bazix

The XtalSoft game Crimson III was just added to the Project Egg catalogue. Members of this Japanese retro-gaming service can now buy the re-release of this Japanese MSX2 game from 1990 for ¥ 735. (roughly € 4.50 / $ 6.00 at current exchange rates)

Relevant link: Crimson III on Project Egg

HRA has released an SCC Interpolation Control tool for the One Chip MSX that allowes you to alter the SCC interpolation settings when using HRA's set of One Chip MSX updates which has been named One Chip MSX-KAI. He further mentions that in order to improve the VDP model of the One Chip MSX, the recently added turboR counter might have to be removed in the future.

Relevant link: HRA's One Chip MSX notes

HRA has released a new patch for the One Chip MSX VHDL code, changing the following:

• Added a turboR (S1990) compatible 16-bit counter on port E6h/E7h
• Improved SCC+ compatibility, activated with DIP Switch 3
• Added SD/MMC activity LED
• Added DIP-Switch state leds for switch 3 and 6
• Improved wave sound quality
• Tweaked low-pass filter
• Increased main RAM to 2MB
• Improved OPLL (MSX-MUSIC) sound quality
• Improved SCC accuracy (interpolation)

The patches and further documentation (in Japanese) can be found on HRA's One Chip MSX website. The Italian MSX user KdL has been kind enough to release a new version (2.1) of his OCM PLD Pack which contains a compiled version of this update and documentation in English.

Relevant link: HRA's One Chip MSX website