(TEXTO EN INGLES)
Since I received questions about the new MSX, I will hereby write my
answer.
The representative of the Japanese MSX-group Frontline, mister Yokoi, has
already obtained ASCII's permission for the development of a new MSX. But,
the problem is the VDP. It's that the copyrights of the VDP are held by
Yamaha. It's possible to negotiate with Yamaha about the use of the VDP.
The fact is, that right now the ESE Artists' Factory uses a software
technology like FPGA and is advancing the development of a new VDP. If
this
succeeds, it will become possible to put this new VDP into the new MSX.
However
,
if there are negotiations going on before the completion of this VDP, we
will
end up not being able to use this new VDP. That is because there will be
written official documents that say that in the past, negotiations between
Yamaha and us concerning the use of the VDP have been held. In case these
official documents remain, there is the possibility of a trial in which
Yamaha will claim that we have offended the patent of the VDP, which we
will
most probably lose. However, by the time we have the new VDP using the
software technology completed without having priorly negotiated with
Yamaha
concerning the use of the VDP, we can put the new VDP into the new MSX
without
being sued by Yamaha. This case is similar to the trial about the
PlayStation
emulator, which was won by the emulator party. It all depends on whether
the ESE Artists' Factory will be able to develop this new VDP or not.
We have also visited the MSX fair held in Tilburg, The Netherlands, this
year. Actually we had hoped to be able to present the information
concerning
this project at the Tilburg fair, but unfortunately we didn't really have
the opportunity to do so. Japanese MSX fairs are huge meeting places where
all the MSX groups gather, but at the Tilburg fair, all the MSX groups
were
divided in several rooms. Therefore, it was hard to get everyone's
attention.
We had also hoped to interchange thoughts with Sunrise and Leonardo Padial
from Spain about which kind of CPU and soundchip will be implemented and
what kind of harddisk interface could be used best, but it seemed to us
that they had very little interest in this new MSX project.
The company that will be responsible for the sale of the new MSX will most
probably become Panasonic.
In earlier days, a company named Sharp developed a great computer called
X68000 in Japan, but Sharp has unfortunately stopped the production and
sale of this X68000. But, thanks to the firmly rooted X68000 users, the
X68000's BIOS and OS have become free. Therefore, it has become possible
to freely distribute this BIOS, OS and the like via Internet. Viewing this
movement, there have been formed groups in Japan that want to make the
BIOS
of the MSX also free. These groups are existing apart of Frontline.
You can acquire information at the website below. But ofcourse, it's
written
in Japanese...
http://www.activemsx.net/free/index.html
Written by: Kuniji Ikeda
Translated by: Rieks Warendorp Torringa.
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Last update: 3 June 2000 - ICQ Number: 25855133
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