I'm sure folks here are aware of Namco's never seen(?) 16-Bit console system. It was said to be almost complete in summer 1989 (EGM Number 2) a release would probably have happened in 1990. the Namco console was supposedly comparable to the SuperFamicom. Even NEC was going after this Namco console, to use it as the basis for the PC Engine 2. but that deal went bad so NEC and Husdon made their own PC Engine 2, the SuperGrafx. I remember good while back someone said or suggested that Namco's 16-bit console didn't go to waste. that you can see it in the form of Namco's NA-1 board, which you can see here: http://www.system16.com/namco/hrdw_systemna1.html this board is awfully simple and clean for an arcade board. looks to me like it could have been a consumer board too. even Sega's Genesis-based System C-2, Mega Tech and Mega Play boards look more complex than Namco's NA-1 board. what do you think? any more info on Namco's 16-Bit home consumer system, any pictures of prototypes of anything related would be most welcome.
I remember seeing a very early flight game by Namco that was later turned in to Aces High or something like that in the early days of the SFC. Maybe the early screen shot of this game was in fact from Namco's machine. I really have no idea though. I do know that Taito made a CD based machine that had something to do with the Japanese cable and satellite TV channel WOWOW. The Taito machine also never saw the light of day. Yakumo
Yakumo - I have seen pictures of the Taito 16-Bit CD system, I think it is itself called WOWOW. http://darkwatcher.psxfanatics.com/console/wow.htm
One massive whole in the whole theory on this machine. Wowow is not (and never was as far as I know) a satellite company. It's cable --- the kind in the ground. Sky & Perfect are the two big Satellite guys, and I don't know if they were around in 1992.... a little too old school for me. I guess at the time transmitting games via cable as opposed to satellite was more tangible though, no? Any cable vs. satellite geek want to correct me on that?
I don't know what wowwow is but Satellite is far faster then cable should ever be for downloading information,when I have used satellite internet,I have had speeds near 50mb a sec,depending on bandwith,isp's satellite,time of day etc...Satellite's downfall is that it has to use dial up to send information to the satellite resulting in pathetic upload speeds.So for gamedownloading such as this,satellite would have been ideal especially as cable technology was still in it's infancy back then.Cable nowadays continues to get faster all the time and has the added advantage of having good upload and download speeds,bandwith permitting.(cable's way of sharing bandwith pisses alot of people off who are looking for consistent speeds both ways.)Back then as well,the army used to use satellite for internet and informatio exchange,they still do as it is effective and can be used anywhere in the world,where dsl and cable slots are not always available.Remember what internet means...International network of satellite ,radio,and phone. http://www.euroskynet.com/english/index.php?affiliate=GBR000001 a site telling you about satellite internet access they offer.
Japanese HBO for lack of a better description. You mean 50 MegaBITs a second, yeah? I've gotten 5 Megabytes a second off of a 100Mb Fiber Optic line in my old house. Obviously it doesn't always run that fast. I'm on 30Mb cable now, and I download Torrents at about 185kb - 280kb/s. Right, but was this technology out... or more to the point... in peoples homes, and directly to the point, in Japanese peoples homes at that time? Remember, this is a country that got broadband after EVERYONE (at least in developed nations). I can't imagine them being the industry leater in Satellites... which might be why the whole roof caved in on the console in the first place. I'm sure someone w/ more time than me could check out the Satellite scene in Japan at that time. I moved here in 1998, and using DirectPC (satellite internet) was pretty new in the states if I remember correctly... which would mean 8 people in Japan were beta testing it. That's b/c US ISPs are crap. As stated I get up to just under 300kb/s downloading consistently. When I want to copy a 300Mb video file from home to work, I use SSH. Home->work runs a minimum of 150kb/s but often faster. This will be painful to give up when I move. Interesting post though -- thanks for the info!
SKY/Perfect?? Theres SKY PerfecTV... http://www.lyngsat.com/packages/asia.html Having trouble remembering their only rival.
Isn't Sky Perfect TV just the Asian version of SKY TV? I know that they have Sky Sports just like Europe. Yakumo
None. DirectTV went under ages ago, and even did a deal w/ Sky Perfect to service their customers in a painlses fashion.
sorry, gigadrive i was thinking that it was the namco console....but it was the amiga 32 cd..... sorry man... :smt009
here is some info on Taito's WoWoW 16-Bit CD-ROM console: http://darkwatcher.psxfanatics.com/console/wow.htm http://members.tripod.com/~faberp/TJAW.htm
ahh that's ok. tracking down any info on the namco console is hard. I'm still looking. here is a usenet post from 1989, very breifly mentioning it: http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.games.video/msg/a5b7e73be2fe9029?dmode=source The Strange (and Rare) Videogame Pics Page mentions 16-bit and 32-bit Namco consoles: http://members.tripod.com/~faberp/Future.htm
