3 ms·

IMO the Sharp x68K sports one of the coolest designs of the 80s. > A BeBox, if you’re not aware is a weird little computer from the mid-90s, and could have bee

IMO the Sharp x68K sports one of the coolest designs of the 80s. > A BeBox, if you’re not aware is a weird little computer from the mid-90s, and could have been the basis for OS X. About 2000 were ever made, making this one of the rarest vintage computers. Unobtanium, basically. So... just like the Raspberry Pi that's inside the tiny case.

bitwize 4y ago
The Sharp X68000 was a legendary computer in Japan, and has a similar reputation as a gaming and graphical powerhouse to the Amiga in the West. Graphics-wise, it surpassed the Amiga -- it had honest-to-goodness arcade graphics hardware allowing for 100% faithful conversions of late 80s and early 90s arcade games. There was even a Castlevania game on the X68000 that wouldn't see a release on other platforms until a PlayStation release late in that system's life. In the first episode of Battle Programmer Shirase, a representative of "Eibin Corporation" comes to the title character asking for help with a cyberterrorist who is holding their company hostage and demanding that they bring back their "EX68" computer line (to which Shirase replies that he wishes that they would bring it back too). Note that "eibin" means "sharpness" in Japanese. That's the X68000's reputation, to the point that it warrants nerdy references in anime decades after the system's heyday.
- irusensei 4y ago
  I haven't watched that anime yet. I also never even came close to the real thing. What I do know is that one popular picture of the black X68k alongside a matching monitor and keyboard are to me the embodiment of the cool industrial/utilitarian late 80s computer design. The computer tower case looks like some premium stackable industrial equipment. The only thing I can think of that achieves similar iconic level is the PowerMac G5 "cheese grate" tower.
  - bitwize 4y ago
    I was just saying, the cool case houses an even more awesome system. And it had soft eject 5 1/4" floppy drives!

bitwize 4y ago

The Sharp X68000 was a legendary computer in Japan, and has a similar reputation as a gaming and graphical powerhouse to the Amiga in the West. Graphics-wise, it surpassed the Amiga -- it had honest-to-goodness arcade graphics hardware allowing for 100% faithful conversions of late 80s and early 90s arcade games. There was even a Castlevania game on the X68000 that wouldn't see a release on other platforms until a PlayStation release late in that system's life. In the first episode of Battle Programmer Shirase, a representative of "Eibin Corporation" comes to the title character asking for help with a cyberterrorist who is holding their company hostage and demanding that they bring back their "EX68" computer line (to which Shirase replies that he wishes that they would bring it back too). Note that "eibin" means "sharpness" in Japanese. That's the X68000's reputation, to the point that it warrants nerdy references in anime decades after the system's heyday.

irusensei 4y ago
I haven't watched that anime yet. I also never even came close to the real thing. What I do know is that one popular picture of the black X68k alongside a matching monitor and keyboard are to me the embodiment of the cool industrial/utilitarian late 80s computer design. The computer tower case looks like some premium stackable industrial equipment. The only thing I can think of that achieves similar iconic level is the PowerMac G5 "cheese grate" tower.
- bitwize 4y ago
  I was just saying, the cool case houses an even more awesome system. And it had soft eject 5 1/4" floppy drives!