Retroarch: NEC PC-98 Emulator Tutorial

Channel:

Ace1000ks1975

Subscribers:

11,400

Published on September 4, 2022 6:09:56 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCXpEoLyp9U

Game:

RetroArch (2022)

Category:

Tutorial

Duration: 26:18

1,990 views

35

█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█▀█
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
[Synopsis]

This video shows you how to configure and run the NEC PC-98 computer emulator on Retroarch. A little background about the NEC PC-98 series of computers is that it was only released in Japan. The first model was released as the PC-9801 in 1982, and it was based on a Intel 8086 processor with about 128 kb of ram. It was basically a I.B.M. clone using a Microsoft DOS or Windows operating systems. The only distinguishing part of this computer would be the audio starting from 1985 and onward. Before 1985, the PC-98 computers used PC speakers, but after 1985 it used its own custom audio chip called the Yamaha YM2203 FM synthesis. This audio chip was a lot better than Sound Blaster or Adlib, and you can hear how good the audio is when you play games on it. It also used its own graphics adapter, which could display 16 colors out of 4096 colors at a 640 x 400 resolution for the PC-9801s that came out in 1985. It was comparable to VGA which had a maximum resolution of 640 x 480, which could display 16 colors out of 262,144 colors. In 1985, VGA in the PC world was very very expensive, and very few people could afford it back in 1985.

The PC-98 series had its own BIOS and firmware, so you can't exactly call it a IBM clone. The PC-98XX computers had its own BIOS which made it proprietary, and this is what made this computer not compatible with a IBM PC at the time. On the other hand, a IBM clone computer used a BIOS which was similar to a real IBM computer. Thus, you can run all the programs a IBM PC can run on a IBM clone computer. However, the NEC PC-98XX computer had its own versions of Microsoft DOS, and Microsoft Windows. Since the BIOS was different from IBM and IBM clones, you couldn't use a Microsoft DOS O.S. made for a IBM on a NEC PC-98 computer. It was kind of like Tandy computers where it was a IBM like clone, but it couldn't run IBM software. Back in the 1980s, IBM clone computers could run all the programs a real IBM computer could run. This was not the case for the NEC PC-98, Fujitsu FM Towns computer, or with Tandy computers. The reason for that was because they had different BIOS roms.

The NEC PC-98XX computers weren't used just for games, but this platform did have some very good games for a computer. This platform had a lot of RPG type games based on Manga which was very popular in Japan. Just like the Ultima series were very popular in PC platforms in the USA, Canada, and other Western countries at the time. The RPG games on the NEC PC-98XX were better in terms of graphics and audio. The NEC PC-98XX had some really good arcade style games as well, and this is something the PC gaming world lacked in the 1980s, and even up to the 1990s.

The NEC PC-98XX series evolved with the times by getting more RAM, faster CPUs, CD-ROM drives, GUI based operating systems, better graphics cards, hard drives, etc. Most of the parts that it used were standard computer IBM compatible PC components. It wasn't anything proprietary with its own unique CPU, components, or anything like that. It was basically a IBM clone with its own BIOS which wasn't compatible with the IBM or IBM clone world.

The NEC PC-98XX computers were produced from 1982 to 2000, so it had a 18 year run with the first processor being a Intel 80086 to a Intel Celeron 433(Pentium II with less cache memory). The total number of all variants of this computer that were sold was about 18 million units in a 18 year period. It was a commercially successful computer, like Commodore series which sold about 17 million units from 1980 to 1994. The first model was the NEC PC-9801, and the last model was the PC-9821Ra43. In the end, everything gravitated towards the PC clone market, and all the closed platforms, like the NEC PC-98 series, Tandy series, and FM Town Series all went by the wayside, because of Microsoft's Windows 95 and cheap IBM compatible hardware. The platform that wins in the computing world is the platform that has the most and best software. That is with the exception of Apple computers which was its own closed platform and survives to this very day.
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
[Links]

♠ Information about NEC PC-98 emulator in relation to Retroarch
• https://docs.libretro.com/library/neko_project_ii_kai/
♠ NEC PC-98 BIOS Files
• https://bit.ly/3ep0OOT
♦ My Abandonware
• https://www.myabandonware.com/
♦ NEC PC-98 Game Library
• https://archive.org/details/PC98GAMELIBRARY
♦ NEC PC-98 Software Dump (Contains various programs and Operating Systems)
• https://archive.org/details/Pc-98SoftwareDump
♣ For more Retroarch Videos
• https://bit.ly/3QlfQCu
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█▄█

Other Statistics