Talk About Micom Basic Magazine

[@soundsonority]

こんにちは。日本語でコメントして良いのかどうか分かりませんが私も読んでいました。 ところでボスのスーパーコーラスＣＥ３００を貴方様にお譲りしたのは私です。 お元気そうで何よりです。その節はありがとうございました。 NECのPC88FAはいまだに所有しています。

[@megaflux7144]

thank you for putting a tangible example of my childhood memories on youtube. we used to spend every weekend 3 manning the magazines so we could make the games and then we would have to turn the computer off sunday night so we could go to school (we didnt have a tape drive if you can imagine). what a great time.

[@Claidheambmor]

Cannot believe it's taken me so long to find your channel, been a fan of your music since the Mega Drive. Streets of Rage and Shinobi were a huge part of my childhood.

[@shibacho]

私もベーマガで育ったうちの一人だと思いますが、確かにこのようにまとまって説明されたビデオはなかったと思います。このような貴重な情報を世界に向けて発信してくれてありがとうございます。

[@yuyukawa9104]

I am so glad you're making videos like this now. Old computers and computer history always fascinated me even though I am only 19.

[@Jiterdomer]

You're the best composer in the history of video gaming.

[@elfinie_perspective]

ベーマガにはイラストを2回掲載していただきました。とても懐かしいです。プログラムも音楽も毎月楽しみでした。素敵な動画をありがとうございます。

[@davidsaintcyr3384]

thanks yuzo! when we got our mega drive here in NYC, 1992 the music of bare knuckle inspired us greatly.

[@lucaspam]

Priceless information and thank you very much for taking the time to make this video in english. Again, it's priceless information.

[@elziepsilon4475]

Whoa, I had no idea a magazine like this existed. Source codes for games printed on paper and published for peope to buy and put into their own computers? It blows my mind. It's like Lego blocks, but with games. And the music scores for the sound effects must have been incredibly helpful for learning how to write your own. Amazing stuff.

[@yuzokoshiro2631]

yes, they put into their own computers. it really took a lot of time to type in the cord. if you want to pause the typing on the way, you have to save the data in the cassette tape and it also takes a long time...you really need patience.

[@Justin-TPG]

We had similar in the UK in the ‘80s before the focus became more heavily on game reviews. Mostly for the popular 8-bits here: ZX Spectrum, C64 and Amstrad. Occasionally MSX and Dragon 32. Often the magazine code had errors so you could either wait until next month for a correction or use your wits and work it out for yourself :)

[@Foricon]

I knew that back in the days you could find software on magazines even here in Europe, but I never saw a videogame music score in a magazine, and with sound effects too! It's incredible. Also, as an amateur music maker, I'd love a little guide for Mucom88 in future, and I'm sure lots of other people do too!

[@taka7732]

Great work.YK-2.Thank you for speaking for me back then! I remember MicomBASIC magazine called Be-Maga.

[@TheLindberg1999]

マイコンBASICマガジンがその後のゲーム業界に与えた影響を、編集部側であった古代さんが自らお話することに意義を感じます。ありがとうございます。 Mr.Yuzo Koshiro ,by yourself, told Micom Basic Magazine made enormusly impacts to later Video Game Makers. I felt it is what a greatful significance! Thank you so much.

[@ShiryuGL]

Thank you for this video, brought back many lovely memories of magazines with BASIC and Assembly programs my father used to pick up over here in Portugal full of ZX Spectrum secrets. Keep up the great work, I am quite enjoying these 'origins' videos of yours.

[@ldrelick]

Absolutely amazing video... I picked up a copy of Micom Basic when I was at Beep! in Akihabara last year and it was so cool seeing all the programs people would type by hand. Retro Japanese computers are not really very known stateside so I love when people spread the word out on how influential they were.

[@jasonerty]

Cool video, I find it very interesting to learn about the history behind the game industry from the perspective of a composer like this. I loved the Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle music when I was young, and was happy when I played Etrian Odyssey/Sekaiju No MeiQ years ago and saw your name in the credits again.

[@themadmallard]

7:46 Yes! That would be really great if you made videos about that. Especially if you talked about a specific game, or a type/style of music in each video and about ideas for making instrument sounds.

[@videopsybeam7220]

I second this, especially since there's virtually no documentation on MUCOM88 in English, to the best of my knowledge.

[@twinkletale5548]

Not only you are a legend to the World of Gaming, but a fantastic explainer of PC Fundamentals and Knowledge of Japanese 80s Culture! Many thanks for your thorough explaination. Koshiro-san!!!! I look forward to watching your other videos in the near future! :)

[@play_history]

This is really amazing Koshiro-san! I love to see where developers got their influences and I can see that the Namco edition of Micom BASIC must have been incredible for you and many other composers in Japan. In America we had a hard time coming up with as good sound effects for our arcade machines and knowledge was not shared. I appreciate that you have taken the time to make these videos and share your passion for creating music and games!

[@JoaoMarcos-bk7yt]

Thank you so much, Koshiro-san! It is certainly more than an honor to be able to know more about how things were in the game industry in Japan, specially from your perspective and your eyes. It is super interesting too! Thank you, thank you, thank you sooooo much for creating the OpenMucom88! It is really magical to be able to hear and make music the way you did, sir! Please, by all means, do more videos and if I may suggest, it would be amazing to know more about your music creation process. Your soundtracks always caught my ears and I am sure thousands if not millions of other players too!

[@mattsephton]

Thanks so much! I love this insight and look forward to the next insights about the Japanese gaming industry "back in the day".

[@Gamestation30X6]

This brings back memories of typing in programs from magazines on my Commodore 64 in the early 80s. And cassette tape drives. Micom Basic looks cooler than what I recall of Compute! or Byte or whatnot in the US.

[@TimPower1]

That is very cool and interesting. I wish there would have been a magazine like this in Germany at that time, but there wasn't. No wonder why so many brilliant game artists (programmers, designers and composers) came from Japan.

[@madelinelesko675]

Mr. Koshiro, thank you for all of your amazing music. I am especially fond of your work in the Etrian Odyssey series. My current favorites are Cherry Tree Bridge, Approaching Rocks, and Waterfall Woodlands. Your music helps make the many hours needed to complete a game truly enjoyable. Thank you for the hard work, and I look forward to listening to your future endeavors!

[@AlviEao]

Very interesting and informative video! I wasn't able to comment sooner, but I've always loved your music time and again. When it comes to video game soundtracks, you are the music maestro. Thank you so much for sharing, Koshiro-san!

[@Meteotrance]

Wow that old magazine was a gold mine of information, we got something similar in France with Tilt magasine, but Amiga and Atari St and C64 where the only kings before the PC became the mainstream computer that every european developer use to learn or making there game, the choice in Japan was insane ! Thanks for sharing your mucon 88 on pc now, i personaly use some tracker like deflemask or open MPT for module stuff, but it's more conveniant for me to use a Cubase like software im using that since the Atari version but i switch for Reason Studio to focus more on music making, without midi constraint, especialy since i work with real instruments and my rock band mate.

[@FloatingDogs]

Amazing video with such interesting story. I'm more than excited for the next video! Thanks Yuzo for sharing this with us!

[@minzy421]

With great composers comes with great music 🎶🎶🎶

[@DatBashy]

Super interesting! You clearly put a lot of effort into this. Thank you very much for sharing videos with us!

[@Happytreefriendsfan3]

I can't fathom how you do it, but you are hands down the best video game composer ever, I've relistened to some of your tracks an insane amount of times, especially "China Town" from "The Revenge of Shinobi". Thanks for sharing this story, all the best.

[@mellowtron9221]

Yuzo, you are a god! Your music is always amazing and now you are making the most interesting and informational game videos I’ve ever seen! Thank you so much 😊

[@theoccasionalsongwriter]

Yuzo, I'm big fan, and loved the Streets of Rage music from Sega Genesis since I was 7 years old. I'm 35 years old now. it's amazing to hear you share this knowledge of magazines from back in the day, as well the technology involved back then. It's so cool. And your english is very good! Thank you so much and I'm so happy to finally see you on KZbin, 28 years later! Onward!

[@elektrikhd]

I love these videos, and it's so great to see this type of excitement about music, I can really feel it coming through. I haven't met many people who share that sort of feeling when it comes to the specifics of game music--my friends usually stop paying attention after a minute XD

[@iriquoisplinski]

Hi Yuzo, I recently discovered your channel and especially loved your last two posts. I had seen some of your interviews, but I was very positively surprised by your English, it is very nice to hear directly from you your ideas and opinions about music, I always had the impression that in the interviews the subtitles did not match exactly what you were saying. I'm 33 years old and I was a kid when I first played Streets of Rage, today when I think about who I am and the things I like I know that that game with those scenarios and those songs that are more than good and inspiring had a huge impact. cultural my life, they defined the kind of music I hear today and the person I am. That's why I tell you THANK YOU for your work, the word that comes to mind when I hear the main theme of Streets of Rage is inspiration. I hope you make more videos like these and that you are more and more present in social media so we can get to know you more, know your upcoming projects, know your history and keep in touch with you as this is a huge satisfaction. Thank you Koshiro!

[@Yuzoboy]

Love these kinds of videos, especially from you!

[@LinVGMPlaylists]

Your passion inspires me. It was nice to learn about a bit of history on game making in Japan too, that sounds like fun :)

[@Iceferno]

Very fascinating video. I liked how both the game code and soundtrack score were provided in the magazines. That's not something I've ever seen before. Oh, and I downloaded the MUCOM88 when you put it out on Twitter but it's quite an overwhelming program, so I look forward to your video guide in future. :)

[@creativecatproductions]

This video is fantastic. I’ll be sharing it with my son later. I teach him about computers and this is worthwhile material. My brother is about your age and he used to tell me about similar computer magazines here In the US for the commodore home computers. It would come with pages of text written in basic that would allow you to play various games. He said he spent hours trying to get them to work, since making mistakes was so easy. Anyway, thanks for this video

[@shuraamano]

Oh yes, make a video how to create. I adore your work in Etrian Odyssey, top notch, the reason I stayed within the franchise.

[@RyuHayabusa06]

Great video! Thank you for the information about these magazines. I've read about them before but seeing them is amazing. I've heard about contests held by these magazines, with winners sometimes getting jobs with game companies. Thanks again, Koshiro-San.

[@kumrogames]

Super cool! I develop for modern consoles and also got my start learning from game listings in computer magazines in the US (compute and computes gazette). It's neat that you got a job at your favorite magazine early on!

[@frivera7049]

AMAZING! Thank you for sharing your journey in video game music. Legacy of the Wizard is what brought me here. Can you share you're experience on that?

[@sunrespecter9874]

What a cool video! Thank you so much for sharing this information!

[@Coroice]

Awesome video (and it also applies to the previous one)! I knew there were magazines containing source codes for games and programs back when personal computers were starting to get popular, but it's awesome that some of them also contained music sheets for the BGM and sound effects. Also, while it has already been said by other people, I think it's really great to see a renowned composer such as you sharing their experience and knowledge directly to their audience. Doubly so when considering you are speaking English here while you could be speaking Japanese instead. Thank you for making these videos. As an Etrian Odyssey fan and aspiring composer, I'm really looking forward to watching a MUCOM88 tutorial. I'm sure you have lots of tips and technical details to share thanks to your career :D

[@edmocaldas]

THX so much, Koshiro-san! 💙♩

[@Tarokawai]

I lived in same era. It reminds me the glorious days.

[@relu419]

You're the master of FM for games, Koshiro. Thanks for your acknowledge and works.

[@victorndende5981]

Awesome video. Didn't knew about this channel, I came gère because Kamiya retweeted your post on Twitter. Now I'm subscribed 😍

[@Soundole]

This was so fascinating to hear! Thanks for sharing this story and your perspectives, I'd love to hear more discussions like this in the future if you ever feel like making more :)

[@eddieloius4592]

That's really interesting! Thanks for sharing!

[@df7348]

ALL ABOUT Namco、今でも大切に本棚に保管してます。

[@pepelepirate]

This is amazing I never knew magazines like this existed!

[@shinkoro]

大変興味深いお話を聞くことができ、感服しました。むかし遠藤雅伸さんが「ビデオゲームは総合芸術」と表現されていました。まさにその通りだと思います。 「オールアバウトnamco」はプレイステーションでナムコミュージアムシリーズが出ていた頃、東京ゲームショーのnamcoブースで改訂版が即売されていたので購入しました。 古代さんが動画内で話されていたように楽譜もありましたし、むしろ「攻略記事はオマケです」的な扱いだったような笑 でもそれが良いんです。 僕は黄金時代とまで賞賛された８０年代namcoゲームが大好きですから。

[@shirou9237]

おーこれは貴重ですね。いろんなパソコン雑誌があって、パソコンオタクはみんな夢中で読んでたと思うけど、サブストーリーとして忘れられていくのかもしれない。当時の雰囲気を伝える証言としてちゃんと語ってる動画はあまりないかもしれませんね。

[@mikekrow]

You should definitely make the how to use Mucom88 videos. This was pretty amazing!

[@AndrewTSq]

that magazine was on another level :D love it!.

[@NightpireVideos]

Amazing history lesson, thank you!

[@cynicismIncarnate]

If anyone wants to try BASIC today, I've seen Smile BASIC on the 3ds, Wii u, and Switch. I don't know where else Smile BASIC is. Thanks for the video, Mr. Koshiro

[@zr0cool]

I feel like I've seen some of these magazines floating around the Video Game Bar A Button in Ueno. I don't think we had many of these more technical magazines in the US but it definitely would have been an interesting read during my childhood.

[@Vltros]

Wow! What an awesome insight into japanese game programming. Not many videos from the Japanese perspective are made. Hope to see more videos like this!

[@bigoof9654]

This may be a glorified guess but I think that version of the death sound comes from Super Pac-Man and Pac&Pal. I could be remembering incorrectly however. Amazing video Koshiro-San. I honestly never knew about this magazine before watching this video.

[@deletaintekontot]

That indeed sounds like a great and interesting magazine! Thank you for sharing this information about it :)

[@psychochasm]

Thanks for the video. Its awesome.

[@googleboughtmee]

More videos like this please!

[@seanhennessy3968]

I don't know how I would have completed Mega Man Battle Network 4 without that official guide book. Online guides were around then, of course, but weren't the be-all-end-all source of information. Things have changed a lot even within my lifespan. Edit: I missed a good quarter of the video while I was reminiscing! Time to start paying attention!

[@r3nsk1]

Thanks, nice informative video again Mr. Koshiro (keep 'em coming!) :) 3:29 : what's that?? 魔城伝説 II (Majōdensetsu II)? But it's definitely *not* the 'Knightmare II' we know in the West, does look closer to the original 'Knightmare' though.. :)

[@r3nsk1]

Answering myself: twitter.com/arc_hound/status/1059862121352175616 Do you still have the beta/alpha(?) in your possession Koshiro-sama? I'm sure a lot of people would be interested to have a look at it :)

[@SaltedMallows]

So you're telling me, people used to buy magazines with the entire code of a game in them and the only way to actually play it was to code it yourself, and that was actually normal?

[@rebirthof4-waysli]

I know back during the Apple ][e time, I was very heavy into programming in general, hell, who remembers: Nibble Magazine / Softdisk to name a few.

[@thisoldgamer590]

Sheesh. Programming would've been a fun experience learning though that, especially with the music tracks provided in those editions. Also, itching for the Etrian Odyssey on Switch!

[@iameod]

you are a fantastic human being

[@ClbnaVGM]

Wow! Very interesting indeed :)Thank you so much for this as it is pure gold. I am familiar with your work since 1991 when I got my import Jap Megadrive. Last year it was really cool to see you perform in Paris for the DITC show. Honestly, I downloaded Mucom Windows but i have no clue how to use this program since I dont know any BASIC langage. I remember when I was a kid in the mid 80's, my dad used to type for hours code on a Texas TI 99A which resulted in a single static graphics (Lucky Luke in plain yellow background), that would made my day back then !!!I would love to see the process of how to make a tune (classic stuff like revenge of shinobi, Bare Knuckle )with MML Basic langage.

[@yuzokoshiro2631]

As I said in this video, I'm going to explain how to use Mucom88 in the future. Thanks!

[@LAVERTUEG]

Wow that was so interresting. Thanks for sharing this with us!

[@tachy1669]

当時ベーマガの愛読者で、YK-2さんの記事が掲載され始めた頃も読んでました。8801を持っている人が周りにおらず、掲載記事を羨ましく（恨めしく？）読んでいました。

[@lo12hpo13]

オーバーフローのコーナーに1回載ったときは嬉しかったなぁ。

[@leonidaschryssinas1723]

awesome Master Yuzo, sharin' !!!

[@zs4883]

This is so interesting! Can you still find these magazines? I love the idea of programming games and music from Basic. I hope you share more memories from working at Micom!

[@MagicMikeXx]

You are a LEGEND!!!!

[@Meteotrance]

You should talk about Y's music also Shenmue i think you are involve with the music of those titles, right ?

[@Onechip2]

Do you have some MSX computer? I love ost fron Streets Of Rage I and II . But i remenber too musics from Ys saga and Dragon Slayer IV Draslay Family :)

[@ChiptunedRaijin]

The Slap Fight MD soundtrack is interesting. I am surprised no one ever talks about it.

[@GameTechRefuge]

Great video. love your work. +1 subscription. Awesome channel.

[@eu2489]

Talk About Micom Basic Magazine という動画タイトル自体が、電波新聞社のAll About ○○○シリーズへのオマージュなのかな？と勝手に想像してニヤリとしました(笑) 動画内でAll About Namco も紹介されてますし

[@mouthghost6529]

Another great video ! We had similar magazines to this in the UK but they seemed to die off around the early 90s. My favourite was one called Sinclair User. It started me off coding with my ZX Spectrum :D I am actually in Tokyo next week - Would you recommend any music or computer history museums to visit?

[@yuzokoshiro2631]

There are many old PC shops in Akihabara like BEEP, Surugaya, etc... also if you want to see the old arcade games, the following links might help you. I don't know the game museum kinds of things in Tokyo, though... en.compathy.net/magazine/2016/07/09/the-10-best-japanese-arcades-in-tokyo/ www.touristinjapan.com/retro-arcade-gaming-in-tokyo/

[@mouthghost6529]

@@yuzokoshiro2631 Thanks, I think I will check out Tokyo Game Bar when i'm in Akihabara next week

[@Zero1Zero1]

Thank you for these videos. It is great to learn about video games from Japan. I have a Micomsoft video processor. The logo looks similar. Is it the same company?

[@yuzokoshiro2631]

Yes, they are the same!

[@thepirategamerboy12]

May I ask, how did you compose the soundtrack to the PC-98 game Gage? It's pretty neat how in that game there are sound effects taken directly from Streets of Rage.

[@tdelfino2509]

Pretty sure the Pac-Man sound effect is the Famicom/NES version, not the arcade version

[@rchiproportion]

⭐️

[@techstore]

Hey Koshiro san do you know the music programmer of golden axe? Nakabayashi Tohru san i wanna watch interview of this guy too.

[@techstore]

can i donwload the magazines somewhere?

[@SergioN5K]

THANKS

[@Per0lus]

Very interesting! Reminds me of the computer magazine in Sweden called "Datormagazin". It also included code, and I learned some programming through it. I believe Datormagazin had a strong influence on computer interested people in Sweden 80s & early 90s.

[@syphon_filter84]

Composer God

[@BenevolentChum]

Thanks for supporting type-in history! I have converted a number of games from micomBASIC, such as "Tacle Penguin" 04/1988 and "Manbiki Shounen" 07/1982. The early 80s Japanese type-in scene was amazing! "Pitman" by Yutaka Isokawa 1985 and "Heiankyo Alien" by T.S.G. 1979 were also ground breakers. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXK5eXV9r7dnkJI

[@davshan8482]

What are your thoughts on JASRAC? I think it killed Japan music industry