Line #26 Platform/PC98


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/168958pc98.png]]
2
3	The '''NEC PC-9801''' (which later became the PC-9821) was, loosely speaking, the Japanese equivalent of the Platform/IBMPersonalComputer, from 1982 until the late 1990s. Like the IBM PC (and Fujitsu's competing Platform/FMTowns line), it used Intel 80x86 or equivalent UsefulNotes/{{C\|entralProcessingUnit}}PUs, and could run versions of MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows, but was otherwise not 100% IBM-compatible. For more details, see [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-9800_series the other Wiki's article]].
4
5	When released in the early 1980s, the PC-98 was considerably advanced for its time, featuring higher resolutions (initially up to 640x400) than Western computers of that era, and while the audio quality of a base unit was a beeper that's identical to the one used on the IBM PC, better audio quality could be added on using Yamaha FM synthesis soundcards, which were almost always sold bundled with the machine. The PC-98 eventually sold over 18 million units in Japan alone by 1999, making it one of the best-selling computer systems of the 20th century, rivaled only by the Platform/{{Commodore 64}} (17 million units) and the Platform/IBMPersonalComputer in sales. There were also PC-98 clones manufactured by Toshiba and Seiko Epson[[note]]although Seiko Epson was exceptionally unfortunate as they have only been advertising the machines as coming soon and have not yet started selling their machines when NEC’s lawyers came, thus stopping their plans before it made them a single cent[[/note]], although NEC did sue them for their effort in cloning the device. The clones are also why NEC started [[MediaNotes/CopyProtection copy-protecting]] their OEM versions of MS-DOS.
6
7	The characteristic dithered look of PC-98 games is due to the system's idiosyncratic display hardware, namely a pretty anemic Video RAM. Due to the need to display Japanese text with its complex characters, the developers were forced to use high-resolution video mode, which didn't have much of a color depth — early models could show only 8 colors in 640×400 high-res mode[[note]]the mode was given the fan nickname of JEGA- Japanese EGA- by fans. NEC would make this mode one of the many mandatory screen modes in the VESA specification when they formed the standard, which caused it to be co-opted over to the IBM PC compatible world by the mid-90s[[/note]], powered by a pair of NEC [=µPD7220=] GDC chips. The same problem plagued early [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer IBM PC]]'s high-resolution EGA and VGA modes, which were initially not so popular with Western-developed games, but while Western text looked at least somewhat readable in low-res modes, Japanese developers were left without such respite.
8
9	The PC-98's contribution to Japanese video game history is a checkered one. Most earlier games for the system were essentially Platform/PC88 games running on a faster 16-bit CPU (and identical video hardware). By the time the PC-98 overtook the PC-88 and Platform/{{MSX}}, the tide of the MediaNotes/PCVsConsole battle in Japan was turning heavily in favor of consoles (including NEC's[=/=]Creator/HudsonSoft's Platform/PCEngine). A few important PC-oriented companies, including Creator/{{Compile}}, Creator/{{Falcom}} and Creator/{{Koei\|Tecmo}}, maintained support of the PC-98, though even they started developing many of their important titles for consoles. What ended up thriving on the PC-98 was not so much action games (though [[DoujinSoft indie developers]] made some remarkable efforts) as [=RPGs=] (mainly [[EasternRPG native]] as well as [[WesternRPG Western]]), TurnBasedStrategy games, {{Visual Novel}}s, and (overlapping with the previous categories) {{Eroge}}. In fact, the PC-98's game library most likely contains a greater proportion of H-games than that of any other platform (beware of {{NSFW}} images likely to turn up in searches). By the 1990s, the PC-98 had a very large library of video games, with thousands of titles, though [[NoExportForYou only a small fraction of these games were ever released outside of Japan]].
10
11	Oh yeah, and the ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' series started here. So there's that, too.
12
13	The PC-98's main computer rivals in Japan were the Platform/SharpX68000 and Platform/FMTowns, released in 1987 and 1989, respectively. Despite the X68000 and FM Towns both being considerably more powerful (almost MediaNotes/ArcadeGame quality, in fact) than the PC-98, neither computer was able to dethrone the PC-98 as the Japanese market leader (but the X68000 did come close). It wasn't until the late 1990s that the IBM PC finally ended the PC-98's reign over the Japanese PC market. Despite that, and NEC's later commitment to the IBM-compatible standards, [[FranchiseZombie they didn't discontinue the PC-98 till 2003]], which at that time the platform was pretty much dead in Japan.
14
15	An attempt to export the PC-98 platform was made early in the machine's life, believe it or not. The platform were sold outside Japan under the APC (''Advanced Personal Computer'') series moniker by NEC, specifically APC-III. Their status of being PC-compatible-but-not-quite caused quite the headache to unaware buyers and ultimately caused the platform to fail outside Japan- while most basic text mode programs made for the IBM PC like [=WordStar=] and Lotus 1-2-3 would run without issues on the platform, and while the APC machines do emulate the PC CGA video modes in a bid by NEC to increase compatibility, games and programs that expected the hardware addresses to be identical to that of a PC and tried to access them directly would act up and cause things like spontaneous reboots and hardlocks. NEC quickly discontinued export of the PC-98 platform and started making true PC compatibles for markets outside Japan soon after. Additionally, the fact that NEC’s copies of MS-DOS were copy-protected to ensure it won’t boot on non-PC-98 (and thus non-APC) computers led to further misunderstandings and further contributed to the platform failing outside Japan.[[note]]NEC had incorporated a check for certain signatures in their BIOS that forces the OS to reboot if the signature was not found, in an attempt to thwart clone makers, after seeing how IBM’s hold on the PC market imploded due to clones in the west and upon learning that Toshiba had cloned the PC-98 and Epson was planning on doing so. This led to misconception that PC-98 had a different hardware address arrangement and bootloader requirement than a FM-Towns or stock IBM PC, and thus required a specialized version of MS-DOS that will not boot on other systems and vice-versa.[[/note]]
16
17	The PC-98 platform, like its cousin the PC, was also a constantly evolving platform, and followed an identical CPU evolution path (ending with using a Pentium processor). Like its western counterpart, the base audio is just a PC speaker hooked up to a timer, with better audio added on via a card for the expansion slot. While the west's standard for audio cards went to third party sound card manufacturers like Adlib (which used a Yamaha [=YM3812=]) then Creative Lab’s [=SoundBlaster=][[note]]IBM's marketing for their own sound cards were business oriented- with the audio card being pitched as for telephony and specialist use, and the music card being pitched towards professional musicians, and thus were priced exorbitantly and had little to no support from games in the market[[/note]], things were somewhat different in the east where the sound cards were made by NEC themselves and sold as a bundle with the PC-98 machine[[note]]Unlike IBM in the west, NEC's marketing pushed home multimedia and gaming as potential uses for the sound card. Although in another parallel with the PC, clones were also abundant[[/note]]- the defacto sound card for the PC-98 is one with a Yamaha [=YM2203=] chip, and later a Yamaha [=YM2608=]. NEC would also eventually discontinue support for the distinct Yamaha audio cards and proprietary graphics chip for a Crystal WSS-compatible audio card (which uses the new Audio Modem Riser slot introduced with the AC'97 specification) and Cirrus Logic video chipset, although the longevity of the C-Bus meant one could still add the audio cards back if needed(however, these sound cards were not supported in Windows). Some models even started gaining support for Western hardware like PCI cards[[https://nicole.express/2021/valuestar-in-the-valuesky.html]]. And Creative Labs ultimately even made a [=SoundBlaster=] variant that has the C-Bus connector, opening up the computer to running western games with sound. Ultimately, it could be argued that the PC-98 platform simply folded back into the mainstream PC platform as the last models too ran Windows - first Windows 95, then Windows 98, and ultimately Windows 2000. And because Windows abstracts the hardware from software, software written for PC-98 Windows will run the same on IBM PC Compatible Windows[[note]]However, the OS kernel and bootloader itself is different- Windows installation media meant for a PC-98 cannot be used to install Windows on a IBM PC Compatible and vice-versa.[[/note]] Likewise, the anemic 640x400 8-color mode was absorbed into the VESA standards specification and became supported on countless graphics cards that followed the VESA specification. Furthermore, the addition of the sleep and soft-on ability of ACPI-enabled desktops where the machine could be powered on and put to sleep from the keyboard were also ported from later PC-98 machines, prior to that these features were exclusive to laptops. The group of keys on a desktop keyboard that enables these features were even unofficially named "Keyboard 98", a name used by several manufacturers to this day.
18
19	NEC continued selling IBM-based [=PCs=] in Japan, after they retired the PC-98 line for good. In terms of change, they have forgone the proprietary BIOS for the predecessors for global PC-compatible ones and use the regular Windows for the Western computers (even foregoing DOS/V as modern versions of Windows support the Japanese language natively) and with the same kernel and bootloader you'd find in a Western PC, and today use an UEFI firmware that is identical to the Western counterparts, thus practically making them indistinguishable from other modern [=PCs=] of different makers. The changes in Windows' support for hardware, beginning with Windows XP nullifying PC-98 support, made the platform completely obsolete and led to the aforementioned discontinuation.
20
21	----
22	!!Technical Specifications
23
24	[[foldercontrol]]
25	[[folder: PC-9801/APC-III]]
26	* Intel 8086 or compatible NEC V30 clocked at 4.77MHz
27	** Has a socket for an optional Intel 8087 maths co-processor
28	* [=2x=] NEC [=µPD7220=] GDC
29	** The primary [=µPD7220=] is used for generating text characters while the secondary [=µPD7220=] is used for rendering graphics.
30	** Supports all PC CGA modes plus an extra graphics mode with 8 colors from a palette of 4096 at [=640x400=]. Can be expanded to get 256 colors from a palette of 4096 at [=640x400=] at the expense of using more system RAM if you have an EMS card to offset- the JEGA driver for Windows 3.1 actually uses the 256 color mode.
31	** Also supports hardware assisted scrolling, integer scaling and blitting over a decade before the features became available on western [=PCs=].
32	* Timer-driven PC Speaker, single channel PWM.
33	** PC-9801-26 3-channel FM+3 channel PSG card can be added on via C-Bus and one is often sold as a bundle with the machine. Certain models have the PC-9801-26 integrated into the motherboard.
34	** Other possible add-on sound cards are a C-Bus version of the Roland LAPC-I sound card and C-Bus versions of the [=SoundBlaster=] series of sound cards.
35	* 2x 5.25" floppy drive; Double Sided, Double Density as standard.
36	** A 20MB hard drive can be purchased as an extra.
37	* 128k standard, 640k maximum
38	** C-Bus EMS cards do exist and can be purchased to add even more memory to the machine, these cards use the C-Bus slot but otherwise works just like their western ISA counterparts.
39	* C-Bus slots- a 100-pin expansion slot that is incompatible with the ISA standard used in the west. Usually used for EMS RAM cards, hard drive adapters, network adapters and sound cards.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder: PC-9821]]
43	* Intel Pentium, up to 233MHz
44	* Cirrus Logic SVGA graphics, VESA BIOS Extensions 1.0 compliant.
45	* Up to [=128MB=] of EDO RAM.
46	* Timer-driven PC Speaker, single channel PWM.
47	** Crystal [=CS4231-based=] sound card, connected to the motherboard via a Audio Modem Riser slot. Windows Sound System and AC'97 compliant.
48	** PC-9801-73, PC-9801-86 or PC-9801-118 sound card optional.
49	** Other possible add-on sound cards are a C-Bus version of the Roland LAPC-I sound card and even C-Bus versions of the [=SoundBlaster=] series of sound cards.
50	* 2x 3.5" [=MF2HD=] disks, 1.44MB
51	* IDE hard drive of up to 120GB in size.
52	* IDE [=8x=] CD-ROM drive standard
53	* C-Bus slots- a 100-pin expansion slot that is incompatible with the ISA standard used in the west. Usually used for SCSI adapters, network adapters and sound cards.
54	* Certain models may have a single low profile PCI slot for use with any PCI cards that fit.
55	[[/folder]]
56	----
57	!!Games that originally appeared on the PC-98 include:
58	[[index]]
59	* ''[[VideoGame/EVOSearchForEden 4.6 Billion Year Story: The Theory of Evolution]]''
60	* ''A-Train II'', ''III'', ''IV''
61	* ''VideoGame/{{Brandish}}''
62	* ''VideoGame/{{Briganty}}''
63	* ''VideoGame/CobraMission''
64	* ''VideoGame/{{Corpse Party\|PC98}}''
65	* ''[[VideoGame/DeadOfTheBrain Dead Of The Brain 1]]''
66	* ''VideoGame/DeadOfTheBrain2''
67	* ''VisualNovel/{{Doukyusei}}''
68	* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''
69	* ''Dragon Knight'' series
70	** ''[[VideoGame/KnightsOfXentar Dragon Knight III: Knights of Xentar]]''
71	* ''VideoGame/DragonSlayer'' series
72	* ''VideoGame/DungeonMaster II: Skullkeep''
73	* ''VideoGame/{{Edge 1993}}''
74	* ''[[VideoGame/{{Enchanter}} Enchanter: Wakaki Madōshi no Shirén]]''
75	* ''EVE Burst Error''
76	* ''Farland Story''
77	* ''VideoGame/FlameZapperKotsujin''
78	* ''VideoGame/GagharvTrilogy''
79	* ''VideoGame/GitenMegamiTensei''
80	* ''Legend of Heroes'' series
81	* ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari A-R-S''
82	* ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}''
83	* ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest2TheVengeance''
84	* ''VideoGame/PopfulMail''
85	* ''VideoGame/PowerDolls''
86	* ''VideoGame/PrincessMaker''
87	** ''Princess Maker 2''
88	* ''Raid Wind'' (from the creator who went on to form SITER SKAIN and produce ''The Tale of ALLTYNEX'' series)
89	* ''Literature/RedStormRising''
90	* ''VideoGame/{{Rusty}}''
91	* ''Sotsugyou''
92	* ''[[Anime/CaptainHarlock Space Pirate Captain Harlock]]'' [[http://animekritik.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/battling-together-with-captain-harlock/]]
93	* ''StarCruiser''
94	* ''Steam-Hearts''
95	* ''VideoGame/SwordDancer''
96	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject''
97	** ''VideoGame/TouhouReiidenHighlyResponsiveToPrayers''
98	** ''VideoGame/TouhouFuumarokuTheStoryOfEasternWonderland''
99	** ''VideoGame/TouhouYumejikuuPhantasmagoriaOfDimDream''
100	** ''VideoGame/TouhouGensokyoLotusLandStory''
101	** ''VideoGame/TouhouKaikidanMysticSquare''
102	* ''Totsugeki! Mix'' (a spiritual successor to ''Rusty'')
103	* ''VideoGame/UnchartedWatersNewHorizons''
104	* ''[[VideoGame/AdvancedVariableGeo Variable Geo]]''
105	* ''VisualNovel/VirginAngel''
106	* ''VideoGame/WrestleAngels''
107	* ''VisualNovel/YuNo''
108	* ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'':
109	** ''VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen''
110	** ''VideoGame/YsIIAncientYsVanishedTheFinalChapter''
111	** ''VideoGame/YsIIIWanderersFromYs''
112	!!Ports:
113	* ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark''
114	* ''VideoGame/DejaVu1985''
115	* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''
116	* ''VideoGame/{{Elvira}}''
117	* ''VideoGame/{{Gods}}''
118	* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder''
119	* ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}}''
120	* ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari 1-2-3''
121	* ''VideoGame/SuperRealMahjong''
122	** ''Super Real Mahjong PII & PIII''
123	** ''Super Real Mahjong PIV''
124	* ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}''
125	* ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D''
126	[[/index]]

Context Platform / PC98