The NEC PC-8801MC - Another use for your TurboGrafX CD rom drive (PC-88 Paradise)

[@hellbreakfast]

My wife and I are going through your back catalogue rn, so expect lots of thumbs up from two different accounts :3 I'm pretty surprised that some of these don't have massive scads of likes, because you're one of the few channels doing things on these machines. I've always had such interest in these foreign computers from before my time- they're these mystery boxes I'll never actually touch irl. Thanks for putting out these mini-documentaries about games and their histories. I'm really curious as to what brought you to Japan.

[@Co_dD]

Wondeful video, it's hard to find a better way to present a personal system with all the general info. True gold between all shinny clickbait hype retro fever. Thanks for the Dead of the Brain video, .........well, thanks for all the videos.

[@madson-web]

What a pretty machine! Love how that soundboard sounds.

[@Ephemeral9090]

Your videos are too beautiful for this world ;_; I just love how you go into every last bit of detail, and listening to how you struggle and finally get stuff to work is really interesting. Thank you so much for all the work!

[@sma7530]

I'm fixing my CD-ROM2 on my PC Engine Briefcase and I literally said, 'Wow !' when I saw you slot it in the top of your PC-88

[@PierreVonStaines]

That CD-Rom drive is a nice shade of morning wee.

[@Butterstix2014]

12:51 omg I love Susumu Matsushita’s art

[@yuyukawa9104]

What a wonderful computer.

[@davidbringham4869]

You are my favorite youtuber of all time

[@astrades2601]

I liked those detailed presentation of this old exotic computer. It was interesting new portion of knowledge for me. And the computer itself is looking great for my opinion.

[@jeremym9011]

This is an awesome find! If only if I can find more KOEI games that used the CD disc, because I love their soundtracks, along with the DIOS game CD soundtrack.

[@pappatrue4015]

Thanks a lot for the history lesson and for showing your setup, that was very interesting! I think I've said this on another video of yours, but I've always been a console gamer, so it's really cool to get an insight into the other side of the spectrum, so to speak. Truly a lovely channel you've got here!

[@RyuHayabusa06]

Cool video! I remember seeing pics of the PC Engine CD unit being used on a Japanese PC but I didn't know it was this model. I love learning about old obscure Japanese hardware like this.

[@RyuHayabusa06]

Basement Brothers Cool, I've always been interested in Japanese PC stuff. So many of my favorite games originated on them like Ys, Snatcher, Policenauts, Metal Gear, etc. I have a small collection of these games but need to get more hardware.

[@RetroTuna]

Thanks for showing this great little computer, been trying out some of the games on mister loving final crisis and been enjoying you game videos.

[@Michirin9801]

What an awesome machine! I never knew the PC-88 line ever had any kind of CD support... Until now of course... Nice video ^^

[@VisiV]

I was putting off watching this one because it was dated a long time back, but that’s silly of me. Great video.

[@terrythe2dmaniac71]

A very informative and well made video my friend, keep up the good work 👍🌸🌸

[@retro-rock3067]

Also it’s the Nec Pc-88 40th Anniversary and its also Nec Pc-60/66 40th Anniversary also

[@BasementBrothers]

Good point! The original model of the PC-8801 was released in 1981, wasn't it. Happy anniversary, PC-88!

[@retro-rock3067]

@@BasementBrothers and it now turns 40 years old this year so how will we celebrate this 40 year old japanese Pc and lets not forget the Nec Pc-6001

[@retro-rock3067]

@@BasementBrothers You should make a video of you playing 20 games that where on the Nec pc 88 because we all have to give respect to it

[@douglasalves4892]

Very nice video about one of my favorites computers !

[@MessiahProphylaxis]

NEC was obsessed with faux vent holes, as was the style at the time.

[@TheGeoffers08]

Brilliant video. I (hopefully) have one of these on the way. Out of interest, have you ever looked at a gotek alternative to the floppy drives?

[@miked4377]

i absolutley love that machine!!!!!!!!!!!

[@goldlink_]

Please do you know what Falcom games worked with BGM CDs ? Thanks !

[@Alianger]

11:30 So that's synced up with the gameplay? In that case that's the first fully orchestral game OST

[@BasementBrothers]

Yep. It plays the game tracks when its supposed to. Don't know if it's the first fully orchestral game OST though.

[@Alianger]

@@BasementBrothers Seems like it unless you count OSTs using synthesized instruments. There's just that one quiz game for mac from the same year: /watch?v=zGtk0NSbsLM

[@quarkbent9165]

Thanks for the look at the machine. The NEC lines are a bit too remote for me, geographically and financially so it's nice to get a peek at them. On the topic of yellowing, my main concern is... well, isn't it a sign of plastic degradation? The colour shift seems besides the point (to me, at least). Regardless, I've often wondered how best to preserve plastics like this, since unlike other material formats, not only do they change colour over time, they can degrade and get very brittle. I still wonder if consumer grade plastics for things like hardware should have a lacquered preservative layer or something but I'm not a mechanical engineer so what do I know :)

[@BasementBrothers]

Indeed, old yellowed plastic can be quite brittle, but I would reckon that whitening is likely to only make it even more brittle. In any case, to me these old machines are made to be used... at least as long as they still work. Thanks for watching.

[@quarkbent9165]

@@BasementBrothers I have no idea what's even involved in whitening plastic, but with cast mould polymers, well... I can't imagine it doing the material many favours. Yeah, might as well enjoy them while they last, that's for sure! On that note, thanks for putting this stuff up while they do :)

[@Butterstix2014]

5:53 They had a whole ROM for Kanji I can’t even imagine what a Chinese PC of that time might’ve needed especially in Taiwan or Hong Kong 😭

[@spartanx5806]

i might get one!! good job

[@marktheshark274]

Pretty interesting video. I'm surprised that the PC-88 has CD-Rom support. How common is it for home computers to have CD-Rom support back in the 80's?

[@Alianger]

FM Towns had it from 1989 onwards

[@cosettapessa6417]

Not common

[@retro-rock3067]

I have a lot of emulators of Japanese pc’s and a lot of games and I’m still looking for the Samsung spc-1500 emulator and games

[@RodrigoGarciaCarmona]

Awesome video! Thanks for giving us a deep look at this machine. By the way, where did you find the 2 rows VGA cable to JP-21?

[@RodrigoGarciaCarmona]

Thanks!

[@Esteban_LeGrafx]

Magnificent video. Bravo. :) (1) I love seeing the advertisements with the timeline. (2) Is that the PC-88/98 mascot? Or was it just part of a specific promotion/marketing campaign? I ask because it has a very similar art-style to the "mascots" for PCE Gekkan Magazine and PCE Dengeki Magazine... so I was trying to figure out if it was simply a "trend" of the 80's (employed by many companies, perhaps even across various industries), or a marketing tactic that only a few companies used. The character design and airbrush(?) aesthetic is very familiar, though. (3) The moment of glory (no spoilers) was absolutely perfect. PERFECT. Were the sound effects all from Ys? I loved seeing the actual hardware docking...in the future, maybe include bonus footage (after credits) of docking from various angles? (4) The display for CD player...does that image ever change (blue sky with clouds?)... (for example, pressing SELECT on PCE changes the color palette, holding SELECT down creates a trippy, psychedelic "show"....wondering if PC-8801MC had any hidden goodies in there) (5) MC = Media Center? Or never really specified? (6) Major respect for defending the yellowed hardware.

[@douglasalves4892]

For the Mascot, it's normal, the artist is Susumu Matsushita, who make Famitsu Covers ! www.susumumatsushita.com/

[@khaihoan4032]

can you share the Dios and Teitoku no Ketsudan backup images CDRom of PC88? I tried to look for them but can't find anywhere

[@BasementBrothers]

I don't have DIOS. It is barely known to exist at all. No one has an image. And Teitoku no Ketsudan is not a CD-ROM. It is a music CD.

[@khaihoan4032]

@@BasementBrothers thank you for the info. so I think CD Takarabako and Mirrors are enough for this system

[@Alianger]

Was there cd music on the dictionary disc and demo disc?

[@hakureicirno6059]

Well, is it possible to burn a common PC-88 floppy image onto a CD-R and boot from it? Since it is not easy to read&write 5.25 inch floppy disks on modern PCs, If that is possible, that will be much easier to transfer games and programs to the PC-8801MC.

[@ryanschrafel9576]

What game(s) did you get the background music from? The FM instrumentation sounds like it came from The Revenge of Shinobi. Edit: Never mind. I found out that it’s from Misty Blue.

[@_rmaze_quiambao5215]

It looks sturdy. And heavy! What's the weight approx?

[@hakureicirno6059]

That seems to be way too bulky for a 8-bit computer.

[@Addition2]

A quick question, for this PC, do people usually used the keyboard to play their games, or the controller?

[@BasementBrothers]

Most action games support the controller.

[@Addition2]

@@BasementBrothers Yeah but, what do people usually used for playing PC-88 games?

[@BasementBrothers]

I don't know what other people do. But it is easy to plug a controller into any PC-88 that has FM sound, and compatible controllers were easily available. There are certainly people though, who for whatever reason, prefer playing action games with the keyboard.

[@Addition2]

@@BasementBrothers Okay, fair enough. I also want to comment that depending on the configurations, sometimes keyboard can be easier and precise than controllers. But.... this is PC-88, so I don't think precision is going to be a reason for that.

[@BasementBrothers]

Sure! Depends on the game. In my more recent Xanadu video I talk about how the "double jumps" are sometimes easier to do with the keyboard.

[@billychristmas]

This is the best.

[@retropalooza]

Impressive

[@SeñorDossierOficial]

I love that tune in the first minutes in your video ^

[@miyaP999]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXrYZYyjg9Gda5o

[@PersianImm0rtal]

Where can you buy PC-8801?

[@Nukle0n]

Looks like the motherboard has a battery, I'd be worried about that starting to leak someday, might be worth getting that removed or replaced.

[@BasementBrothers]

As I mentioned in the video, the photo of the motherboard shown isn't mine. I did remove the battery on mine right away when I got it. The BIOS settings reset every time I power it off, and it shows an error screen every time it powers up that you have to reset to get past. I like it that way though. Thanks for watching!

[@Nukle0n]

@@BasementBrothers Ah I didn't mean to say that it was your motherboard, just that if you hadn't opened it then presumably it'd still be there, good to hear you removed it.

[@BasementBrothers]

I always edit the videos to make it look like I just insert the disks and press power to boot up. But in fact I actually get an error screen with an ear-piercing beep sound that I have to reset through before it boots. Still not adding a new battery though. :)

[@Nukle0n]

@@BasementBrothers yeah probably not worth it. I know a lot of people don't bother to add one to their Amigas after removing the omg battery because it only handles the clock, all the other settings are on floppy or hard drive

[@BasementBrothers]

On the PC-8801MC it saves the soft dip settings like the CPU speed, but for the majority of games I play the default settings are perfect anyway. If I need to play a 4mhz game I don't mind changing it manually when I power up.

[@PixelReality1]

Groovy

[@billychristmas]

Did anyone ever tell you you sound like the English VA for Jet from Cowboy Bebop?

[@BasementBrothers]

lol, no. Do I?

[@billychristmas]

@@BasementBrothers yeah, in a lot of ways, lol.

[@TheZombieCurryKid]

Instead of using direct hd video you should have filmed a crt to show game footage. (My opinion.)

[@BasementBrothers]

I don't have a CRT. In fact, I don't even have that LCD monitor that appears in the video anymore. Now I only have the HDMI upscaler. I know some people really love CRT's, but I'm not really one of them. Plus, CRT's just take up way too much space when you live in a small Tokyo apartment.

[@BasementBrothers]

[Neo-Alec] Even though I now own a reasonably good camera, my attempts to film a CRT can be seen in many of my recent Neo Geo videos on this channel. Sure, it's my fault, but once you see how those turned out, I think you'll change your mind.

[@tigheklory]

I know you didn't want to open your computer, but you might want to remove that battery before it leaks all over the motherboard.

[@BasementBrothers]

Definitely! I took it right out as soon as I bought the system! I don't know if you can tell, but at 5:05 you can see a little round hole in upper-right part of the metal plate which is where the battery was. Mine is absent. The battery you can see at 5:28 is on somebody else's motherboard. These images aren't mine. Thanks for watching!

[@unspacy110]

man if you don't want in your yellowed plastic and become brittle and break

[@jeremygregorio7472]

When I was a kid I saw an article with a cable that would allow you to connect a turbo Duo to a dos compatible PC. I think if NEC you could have actually made this work with PCs and maybe the Amiga and MacIntosh back in the day they might have gotten some traction on the CD unit in America. As it stands it was just too much money to play games that were marginally better and sometimes worse... I mean yeah Ys Book I&II is great, but within a year or two you've had stuff like final fantasy 2 and in another year or two you had stuff like final fantasy 3 and Chrono trigger. And even before that you still had stuff like sword of vermilion and Phantasy Star 2.

[@jesusrios9482]

It doesn't play PC engine games or PC CD game so this thing is absolutely worthless.