My first computer, after years of hoping for a C64 (or anything really - I tried begging for a ZX81 at one point) was a Toshiba MSX. And it was good. The hardware itself was excellent, and the games were great: typically European games on tape and Japanese games on cartridges. Konami carts were particularly good but almost prohibitively expensive - £20 was an awful lot to pay for a game back then (most tapes were about £8 I think).
I’ve been hoping that MSX would join the old systems on the Wii’s Virtual Console service, and it seems I’m in luck - it’s going to happen. As well as giving the opportunity to play Penguin Aventure on a TV, the MSX will also be the first home computer on Virtual Console. Maybe we’ll be seeing BBC Model B games appear next :-)
Link: News: New formats confirmed for Virtual Console - ComputerAndVideoGames.com
(Beyond the rosy glow of nostalgia I have to admit the MSX standard wasn’t perfect: the built-in BASIC was full of useful, easy features but was horribly crufty and slow (thanks Microsoft!) All MSX systems (even the low-end Goldstar model) were much more expensive than the c64 and ZX Spectrum. Lower initial sales and uncopyable cartridges meant much less of the playground piracy that drove sales of Spectrums.)
