MSX

MSX

Sony MSX, Model HitBit 10-P
Developer	Microsoft Japan, Sanyo
Manufacturer	National, Sony, Pioneer, Panasonic, Samsung, Sharp, Philips, Canon, Yamaha, Toshiba, Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Casio
Type	Home computer
Release date	1983 (MSX)
Discontinued	1993 (MSXturboR)
Operating system	MSX-DOS / MSX BASIC
CPU	Zilog Z80
Memory	8-512 KB

MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, first announced by Microsoft on June 16, 1983, and marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation. Microsoft conceived the project as an attempt to create unified standards among various hardware makers of the period.

They were popular in Japan and several other countries. It is difficult to estimate how many MSX computers were sold worldwide, but eventually 5 million MSX-based units were sold in Japan alone. Despite Microsoft's involvement, the MSX-based machines were seldom released in the United States.

Before the great success of Nintendo's Family Computer, MSX was the platform for which major Japanese game studios, such as Konami and Hudson Soft, produced video games. The Metal Gear series, for example, was originally written for MSX hardware.

The exact meaning of the "MSX" abbreviation remains a matter of debate. At the time, most people seemed to agree it meant "MicroSoft eXtended", referring to the built-in "Microsoft eXtended BASIC" (MSX-BASIC), specifically adapted by Microsoft for the MSX system. Another suggested source for the abbreviation was Matsushita-Sony. However, according to Kazuhiko Nishi, the team used "Machines with Software eXchangeability" during its development. In 1985, Kazuhiko Nishi said that he named MSX after the MX missile.

In the early 1980s, most home computers manufactured in Japan such as the NEC PC-6001 and PC-8000 series, Fujitsu's FM-7 and FM-8, and Hitachi's Basic Master featured a variant of the Microsoft BASIC interpreter integrated into their on-board ROMs. The hardware design of these computers and the various dialects of their BASICs were incompatible. Other Japanese consumer electronics firms such as Panasonic, Canon, Casio, Yamaha, Pioneer, and Sanyo were searching for ways to enter the new home computer market.