The PC-8800 series (Japanese: PC-8800シリーズ, Hepburn: Pī Sī Hassen Happyaku Sirīzu), commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 in Japan, where it became very popular.
NEC's American subsidiary, NEC Home Electronics (USA), marketed variations of the PC-8800 in the United States.[1][2]
Model list[]
| Released year | Model name | Model | CPU | RAM | VRAM | N mode | V1 mode | V2 mode | V3 mode | Sound | Atari D-sub 9-pin I/O port | FDD | CD-ROM | Operating system | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | PC-8801 | NEC µPD780 4 MHz | 64 KB | 48 KB | y | y | n | n | Internal beeper like in the IBM PC or the original Sinclair Spectrum. | n | n | n | NEC PowerMOS | n | ||
| 1983 | PC-8801mkII | model 10 | NEC µPD780 4 MHz | 64 KB | 48 KB | y | y | n | n | Internal beeper and YM2149F (through beeper) | n | n | none | NEC PowerMOS or Amstrad Monitor System | n | |
| model 20 | 1× 5.25" 2D | |||||||||||||||
| model 30 | 2× 5.25" 2D | |||||||||||||||
| 1985 | PC-8801mkII SR | model 10 | NEC µPD780 4 MHz | 64 KB | 48 KB | y | y | y | n | FM (YM2203) Mono | y | y | none | NEC PowerMOS or Amstrad Monitor System | The V2 mode that is necessary to play most PC-88 games is introduced. | |
| model 20 | 1× 5.25" 2D | |||||||||||||||
| model 30 | 2× 5.25" 2D | |||||||||||||||
| PC-8801mkII TR | NEC µPD780 4 MHz | 64 KB | 48 KB | y | y | y | n | FM (YM2203) Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2D | n | Amstrad Monitor System | PC-8801 mkII SR with 300 bit/s modem | |||
| PC-8801mkII FR | model 10 | NEC µPD780 4 MHz | 64 KB | 48 KB | n | y | y | n | FM (YM2203) Mono | y | none | n | Amstrad Monitor System | Cost reduced version of PC-8801mkIISR | ||
| model 20 | 1× 5.25" 2D | |||||||||||||||
| model 30 | 2× 5.25" 2D | |||||||||||||||
| PC-8801mkII MR | NEC µPD780 4 MHz | 192 KB | 48 KB | n | y | y | n | FM (YM2203) Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2HD | n | Amstrad Monitor System | FDD 2D->2HD | |||
| 1986 | PC-8801 FH | model 10 | NEC µPD70008 8 MHz | 64 KB | 48 KB | n | y | y | n | FM (YM2203) Mono | y | none | n | NEC MOS | 88FR CPU upgrade | |
| model 20 | 1× 5.25" 2D | |||||||||||||||
| model 30 | 2× 5.25" 2D | |||||||||||||||
| PC-8801 MH | NEC µPD70008 8 MHz | 192 KB | 48 KB | n | y | y | n | FM (YM2203) Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2HD | n | NEC PowerMOS | 88MR CPU upgrade | |||
| 1987 | PC-88 VA | NEC V50 (µPD9002) 8 MHz | 512 KB | 256 KB | n | y | y | y | FM (YM2203) Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2HD | n | NEC PowerMOS | CPU upgrade (8-bit to 16-bit) | ||
| PC-8801 FA | NEC µPD70008 8 MHz | 64 KB | 48 KB | n | y | y | n | FM (YM2608) Stereo + ADPCM Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2D | n | NEC PowerMOS | sound card upgrade (88FH + sound board2(Yamaha YM2608)) | |||
| PC-8801 MA | NEC µPD70008 8 MHz | 192 KB | 48 KB | n | y | y | n | FM (YM2608) Stereo + ADPCM Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2HD | n | NEC PowerMOS | sound card upgrade (88MH + sound board2(Yamaha YM2608)) | |||
| 1988 | PC-88 VA2 | NEC V50 (µPD9002) 8 MHz | 512 KB | 256 KB | n | y | y | y | FM (YM2608) Stereo + ADPCM Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2HD | n | NEC PowerMOS | |||
| PC-88 VA3 | NEC V50 (µPD9002) 8 MHz | 512 KB | 256 KB | n | y | y | y | FM (YM2608) Stereo + ADPCM Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2HD / 1× 3.5" 2TD | n | NEC PowerMOS | add 2TD FDD | |||
| PC-8801 FE | NEC µPD70008 8 MHz | 64 KB | 48 KB | n | y | y | n | FM (YM2203) Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2D | n | NEC PowerMOS | TV(NTSC) output (composit video), del external I/O | |||
| PC-8801 MA2 | NEC µPD70008 8 MHz | 192 KB | 48 KB | n | y | y | n | FM (YM2608) Stereo + ADPCM Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2HD | n | NEC PowerMOS | 88MA model change | |||
| 1989 | PC-8801 FE2 | NEC µPD70008 8 MHz | 64 KB | 48 KB | n | y | y | n | FM (YM2203) Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2D | n | NEC PowerMOS | 88FE model change | ||
| PC-8801 MC | model 1 | NEC µPD70008 8 MHz | 192 KB | 48 KB | n | y | y | n | FM (YM2608) Stereo + ADPCM Mono | y | 2× 5.25" 2HD | (option) | NEC PowerMOS | |||
| model 2 | 2× 5.25" 2HD | y | ||||||||||||||
Hardware[]
For its time, the PC-8801SR (V2-mode) had a high display resolution, but could only display 8 out of 512 colors simultaneously. The 640 × 400 mode was monochrome only. Its sound-producing capabilities were also more advanced than other machines of the time.
- N mode: PC-8000 series compatible graphic mode
- V1 mode: 640 × 200 8 colors, 640 × 400 2 colors
- V2 mode: 640 × 200 8 out of 512 colors, 640 × 400 2 out of 512 colors
- V3 mode: 640 × 200: 65536 colors, 640 × 400: 256 out of 65536 colors, 320 × 200: 65536 colors, 320 × 400: 64 out of 65536 colors
- PC-8801/PC8801mkII
- PC-8801mkIISR/TR/FR/MR
- PC-8801FH/MH/FE/FE2
- PC-8801FA/MA/MA2/MC
- PC-88VA/VA2/VA3
A part of software corresponds to YM2608 and ADPCM. (ex: Snatcher)
Software[]
Companies that produced exclusive software for the NEC PC-8801 included Enix, Square, Sega, Nihon Falcom, Bandai, HAL Laboratory, ASCII, Pony Canyon, Technology and Entertainment Software, Wolf Team, Dempa, Champion Soft, Starcraft, Micro Cabin, PSK, and Bothtec. Certain games produced for the PC-8801 had a shared release with the MSX, such as those produced by Game Arts, ELF Corporation, and Konami. Many popular series first appeared on the NEC PC-8801, including Snatcher, Thexder, Dragon Slayer, RPG Maker, and Ys.
Nintendo licensed Hudson Soft to port some of Nintendo's Family Computer games for the system, including Excitebike, Balloon Fight, Tennis, Donkey Kong 3, Golf, and Ice Climber, as well as new editions of Mario Bros. called Mario Bros. Special and Punch Ball Mario Bros. and a unique Super Mario Bros. game for the computer, Super Mario Bros. Special.
The computer also had its own BASIC dialect, N88-BASIC.
References[]
- ↑ "New Products". Info World (Infoworld Media Group Inc.): 52. May 1984. https://books.google.com/books?id=uS4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA52&dq=pc-8801. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
- ↑ "NEC PC-8800 personal computer system (evaluation)". Creative Computing 9 (11): 28. November 1983. http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v9n11/28_NEC_PC8800_personal_comp.php. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
Further reading[]
- NEC µPD72070 - Floppy Disk Controller Specification Version 2.0. 2.0 preliminary. NEC Corporation. October 1991. http://dec8.info/Apple/uPD72070.pdf. Retrieved 2017-03-20. (A floppy-disk controller supporting 2TD (triple density) diskettes)
External links[]
- [1]
- System Information emulation site for retro Japanese computers
- OLD-COMPUTERS.COM: The Museum: NEC PC-8801
- NEC PC-8801 info page popular games, tags and developers at uvlist.net
- NEC PC-8801 MK II commercial on YouTube
- NEC PC-8801MA FA commercial on YouTube
- A list of downloadable PC88 emulators
| Preceded by NEC PC-8001 NEC PC-6001 NEC PC-6601 |
NEC Personal Computers | Succeeded by NEC PC-9801 |