Advice on Japanese Computers

[Bandit LOAF]

Hello everyone!

My retro-gaming passion is putting together a setup to play every port of every “Wing Commander” game. It has been a great hobby the last few years, and I’ve had a great time hunting down obscure PC parts and figuring out how to get the best output from every console… but now it’s time to move on to the scary part: Japanese computers.

As far as I’ve been able to discover, there were five Wing Commander games ported to proprietary Japanese PCs: four for the FM Towns (Wing Commander, The Secret Missions, Wing Commander II and Wing Commander Armada) and one for the NEC PC9821 (Wing Commander Armada.) I’m guessing that means I need to find/import/learn two different computers.

You folks seem to be genuine experts on this sort of thing, so I’ll go right out and ask… where do I start? How do I find out which FM Towns and PC9821 I need… and then what’s the secret to actually getting one?

[SuperDeadite]

The secret to getting one is spend money lol.

Anyway, most cheap FM Towns machines are 386x16mhz, which is fine for WC1 and the Secret Missions, but too slow for the sequels, hence you'll want one of the 486 machines. Also the original doesn't need an HDD, but the Secret Missions and after require HDD install. So you will want a machine that comes with a Towns OS 2.1 CD. Finally be sure you get a shit load of RAM, as otherwise the loading times will be unbearable. On my 10mb machine, loads are very frequent, but on my 36mb machine it cuts them down by half or so. For joysticks, the Sharp/Micomsoft Cyberstick is the only one they support, and it works beautifully so you'll want that as well.

Honestly though I don't really see the point, the WC games are just the DOS versions but with the CD audio instead of MIDI. The voice overs are all in Japanese, but the text can be set to English. Getting a Towns machine is very expensive, and also quite difficult to use if you don't speak Japanese, installing games into Towns OS is incredibly convoluted.

[Bandit LOAF]

Thank you! Very cool to find someone who knows their stuff, and these games in particular.

I know it seems crazy to put so much money and effort into ports that are pretty much the same as the original… but what can I say, I’m a Wing nut. (I’m working on Star Citizen, and seeing everybody in the world upgrading their modern PCs to the hilt just makes me want to get out there and finish my Wing Commander setup once and for all.)

Money isn’t a blocker, but I am curious what I should be looking to pay. Are Yahoo auctions the best source? I’ve used a deputy service before (to find the games themselves) but never for anything as heavy as a computer. (I also have some friends in Japan I can probably rely on once I know what I’m looking for, if there’s some other good source for these machines!)

(And learning all this is half the fun of the project, anyway. Already excited about there being another joystick out there I should pick up.)

[Shou]

Sourcing Towns hardware from Yahoo is pretty much your only choice these days.

If you want to go all of the way, Strike Commander is on Towns as well.

[rancor]

I have 2 PC98's I'll GIVE you if you'll just pay shipping. I got half a dozen in an office that we bought, and I can't bear to throw them away (or afford to for that matter). They're not in the best condition, and I'm not even sure they work but they're yours if you want one (or both). Keep in mind that they are built like Soviet tanks, and surface shipping will most likely be the most economical.. but you'll have to wait ~5 weeks. PM me for pics.

[SuperDeadite]

Oh by the way, according to some old Japanese lists, there was a special version called Wing Commander Light, which was a stripped down version of the game specifically for the Marty Console. I've never seen a copy though, good chance it was mail-order only from Fujitsu. Probably the holy grail for a serious WC fan...

[SuperDeadite]

I have 2 PC98's I'll GIVE you if you'll just pay shipping. I got half a dozen in an office that we bought, and I can't bear to throw them away (or afford to for that matter). They're not in the best condition, and I'm not even sure they work but they're yours if you want one (or both). Keep in mind that they are built like Soviet tanks, and surface shipping will most likely be the most economical.. but you'll have to wait ~5 weeks. PM me for pics.

Have you ever opened them up? 9801's used those awful Varta Barrel Batteries, they often leak and kill the mobo.... Though if your machines are 9821s they will be coin cells, so no issues normally.

[Ed Oscuro]

I have 2 PC98's I'll GIVE you if you'll just pay shipping. I got half a dozen in an office that we bought, and I can't bear to throw them away (or afford to for that matter). They're not in the best condition, and I'm not even sure they work but they're yours if you want one (or both). Keep in mind that they are built like Soviet tanks, and surface shipping will most likely be the most economical.. but you'll have to wait ~5 weeks. PM me for pics.

Do you know how much shipping costs? Kinda tempted here...

[Bandit LOAF]

I took the plunge and made my first FM Towns purchase on Yahoo - an FM Towns II SJ2. As best I can tell, this is a 486/66 model for schools. Looking forward to taking it apart and learning what else I'll need to track down!

Oh by the way, according to some old Japanese lists, there was a special version called Wing Commander Light, which was a stripped down version of the game specifically for the Marty Console. I've never seen a copy though, good chance it was mail-order only from Fujitsu. Probably the holy grail for a serious WC fan...

Now that is VERY interesting! I had never heard that... I'll start searching! I'm in touch with the guy who produced Origin's FM Towns ports, I'll try and find out if he has any memory of it.

Speaking of Japanese lists, has anyone ever seen a port of Privateer for the PC98? I've found it mentioned once on a Japanese website, but can't find anything else about it (and it doesn't seem to show up in contemporary catalogs.)

(The true holy grail for Wing Commander fans is the Super Famicom port of Wing Commander II, which was completed but never sold! It's been further obscured by the confusing fact that it would have been the /third/ Wing Commander for the SNES. But there's a prototype out there somewhere!)

[SuperDeadite]

The SJ2 did not include an HDD out of the box. Sold as an optional extra. I really hope the one you bought had one added. Internal HDDs are standard SCSI, however they connect to the mobo using a proprietary adapter cable which is basically impossible to purchase by itself these days. You could also use an external drive though.

[rancor]

Though if your machines are 9821s they will be coin cells, so no issues normally.

They're both 9821s. xb10 models.

[drauch]

I have 2 PC98's I'll GIVE you if you'll just pay shipping. I got half a dozen in an office that we bought, and I can't bear to throw them away (or afford to for that matter). They're not in the best condition, and I'm not even sure they work but they're yours if you want one (or both). Keep in mind that they are built like Soviet tanks, and surface shipping will most likely be the most economical.. but you'll have to wait ~5 weeks. PM me for pics.

Do you know how much shipping costs? Kinda tempted here...

Yeah, I'm a hoarder/mascohist as well. I know it will become a Japanese exclusive foot stool, but yeah, kinda interested.

[rockleevk]

First of all, hi everyone! New member around here... Really wanted to meet a community where FM-TOWNS and NEC stuff is being talked about, i'm satisfied now.

I wanted to ask you 2 things:
- Yahoo! is the only way to get FM-TOWNS Fresh or another TOWNS with 486?
- About the 2 PC-9821, they alredy have been sent, because i've been searching a lot for one of those PC's to play some of the games I have when a friend of mine had it before he sold the PC98 TT.TT

Thank you for all your help and advice!