SNES CD history discussion

I dug out an issue of Family Computer Magazine because I remembered it had this comic in.
I have a lot of SFC magazines from the early '90s, so probably have a lot more CD-ROM related stuff, but they're a hassle to go through.
I don't have a scanner, so below are photos. I did include a translation though. Hope some people enjoy it!
The main characters are Yellow Diskun (the FDS mascot) and Black Diskun (a pirate FDS disk ). The author used to write a Mario comic, too.
[GALLERY=media, 275]Diskun by dr.slump posted Jul 10, 2015 at 2:01 AM[/GALLERY]


DISKUN'S MANGA TOPICS
(TAKASE Hiroshi)

The best thing about CD-ROM is its huge storage capacity of over 500 MB. Word is, two CD-ROM systems will be released for the Super Famicom... I wanted to know more, so I investigated!

WHAT'S THE SUPER FAMICOM CD-ROM?

Black: Zzz...

Black: Hmm!?

Black: Wh-What the!?

Black: Hey, Yellow! Big news!

Yellow: Huh?
Wiseman: Now now, what's all this fuss about?


Black: Is it true there's a Super Famicom CD-ROM coming out?

Wiseman: Hmm?
Wiseman: That's a very old newspaper...

Wiseman: Two different Super Famicom CD-ROM system are going to be released. One developed by Sony, and one co-developed by Nintendo and Phillips.

Black & Yellow: Wow! Two different systems!?

Wiseman: The PlayStation, being developed by Sony, is a combo system.

Yellow: Combo...? I wonder what it'll look like?

Black: Never mind what it looks like, it better not be expensive!

Wiseman: Well, you see how the Twin Famicom is a Famicom and a Disk System in one? Basically it'll be like that.

Wiseman: The main sales point of CD-ROM is its huge capacity...

Wiseman: It can hold up to 500 MB, you see!

Black & Yellow: 500 MB!!!

Wiseman: Sony are big on film and music, so you can expect good things on that side of things.

Wiseman: Times are changing, and people want better and better quality image and sound, you see!

Yellow: What about the other CD-ROM system?

Wiseman: Well, to find out more about that, why don't we go and visit Hongou-san? (*Yoshio Hongou, head of PR planning)


Hongou-san: Hey there, Diskun!
[Nintendo - Hongou-san]

Yellow: We came because we want you tell us about the [Super Famicom] CD-ROM!
Hongou-san: I see!

Hongou-san: Right now, we're developing a CD-ROM system in collaboration with Philips from Holland.

Yellow: What sort of company is Philips?
Black: I've got no idea!

Wiseman: They're a Dutch electronics manufacturer with lots of experience in fundamental CD-ROM technology.

Hongou-san: Exactly... Just what you'd expect from a wiseman!
Wiseman: They hold the patent for the pick-up on CD drives.

Hongou-san: So you see, the CD-ROM co-developed with Philips will be made and sold by Nintendo.

Hongou-san: If possible we want to have it ready by around next Autumn, and we're planning a simultaneous release in Japan and America.

Black: It's gonna come out in Japan and America at the same time!?
Yellow: That's amazing!

Hongou-san: The details are still a secret...

Hongou-san: But it's likely it'll use either the cartridge slot or the expansion connector.

Black: The expansion connector?

Wiseman: He's talking about the 28-pin expansion connector.
Hongou-san: That's right!

Black & Yellow: I wonder what it'll be like...


Wiseman: By the way, I have one question...

Wiseman: Will it be compatible with the PlayStation being developed by Sony?
Hongou-san: Ahah, so that's your question.

Hongou-san: To put it bluntly, at the present time...

Hongou-san: There will be no compatibility with other CD-ROM systems.
Black & Yellow: Huh!?

Hongou-san: CD-ROM games licensed by Nintendo won't work unless used on hardware made by Nintendo.

Black: Not at all?

Hongou-san: No, they won't work.

Black: Alright, tell us about the software that's gonna be coming out!

Hongou-san: I can't reveal anything at the present time.
Oww... Why does this always happen?

Hongou-san: When it's time to make announcements, they'll be published in Mario Club (*Famicom network), magazines, and so forth.
Yellow: OK!

Wiseman: It looks like we'll just have to wait for a while, then...

Wiseman: Shall we head back, then?

Girl: Eek!


Girl: What's wrong, Diskun?
Yellow: Sorry to disturb you while you're working!

Wiseman: Well, you see... blah, blah, blah...
Girl: Oh my!

Yellow: I wonder what will happen with the Super Famicom CD-ROM!

Girl: Yes, indeed...

Girl: We did a survey for FamiMaga, actually.
Black: Lemme see it!

Girl: We mainly asked developers who are releasing Famicom games...

Girl: These are the results of our survey about their future release plans.

Girl: Of course, this may well change in the future... So think of it as just for reference!

- About the Super Famicom CD-ROM (multiple answers allowed)
1. We're very interested in the CD-ROM system being co-developed by Nintendo/Phillips...............12
2. We plan to release games for the CD-ROM sytem being co-developed by Nintendo/Phillips...............9
3. We're very interested in the Sony PlayStation...............9
4. We're currently not particularly interested in CD-ROM...............0
5. No comment...............17


Yellow: So what games will be coming out?
Black: Yeah!
Girl: Well...

Girl: There are no set titles yet, but here's what we found out about genre!
Wiseman: Ohoh...

What game genres are you interested in developing for CD-ROM?
1. Action...............10
2. RPG...............11
3. Adventure...............9
4. Shooting...............5
5. Sports...............4
6. Simulation...............8
7. Puzzle...............4
8. Table (shogi, pinball, etc.)...............1
9. Adult...............1
10. Board games...............5
11. Educational software...............3
12. Other...............4
13. No comment...............3

Yellow: I hope the CD-ROM comes out soon!
Black: I'm lookin' forward to some RPGs!

Black: Pretty exciting, huh?
Yellow: Yeah, I'm gonna buy it as soon as it comes out!

Wiseman: I know there are lots of things you want, but you won't be able to buy them unless you start saving!
Yellow: Ahhhh!
Black: H-Hearing that makes my head hurt!

 

This is so weird, thanks for sharing

 

First image is broken @dr.slump - probably as you're hotlinking off another site.

Better still, (note to everyone) upload them to the media gallery - that way, we don't lose them in x months/years when you clear out your photo hosting account / shut down your hosting account / they shut it down for you / the host closes / you wipe your web server / you lose your domain (all of which have happened previously). Use the Super Nintendo category if you like, or make a folder with appropriate permissions.

 

I fixed the first image, feel free to move the rest yourself to ensure my SFC CD-ROM comic is not lost in the annals of time.

 

What a humorous comic LOL

 

It would be cool if this could help explain why the PS1 (and PS2) controller ports look similar to SFC ports, other than the fact that it was originally going to play SFC games. What I mean is, when the deal between Sony and Nintendo ended and Sony decided to build the Playstation by themselves, why didn't they change the controller port to something completely different? Was there a technical reason for it, or were they just lazy?

 

That comic is surprisingly detailed about the technical side of things for a comic!

 

I just think it's great how Hongou-san cheerfully explains that they've backstabbed Sony...

 

"It will not be compatible with other CD drives". Wow Nintendo is a cold motherfucker.

-doulomb

 

Lots of cool stuff in this thread, thanks to all the uploaders.

Probably a case of "if it ain't broke". It was just a controller port and it did the job so why overcomplicate things and spend time and money designing something completely different when they could just tweak it a bit?

 

Just wanted to chime in and point out something I should have posted on my own site years ago. Fun fact: behind the scenes alot of game console specs change mid-development. Normally these changes are kept secret, because in the end all that matters is the final product. Those of us intensely following the CD-ROM stuff in the 1990s already know this, but for the uninitiated: Over the course of its tumultuous, protracted, occasionally public development, there were at least 2 SNES CD-ROM system carts.

That's why all of these articles you've posted from 1992 or earlier show different RAM sizes compared to articles/patents/leaked documents from 1993.
The pre-1993 system, as you can see from the 1992 EGM Express article, is almost certainly FX-chip based. Note the characteristic Y-shaped 3-bus layout in the schematic. The same article says this SCCP was "developed by Nintendo" and is suitable for 3D polygon graphics. These are pretty big items that scream "Super FX". Not to mention the FX chip patent's own reference to its possible use with a CD-ROM. All they've done is replaced the ROM on the FX-chip's ROM bus with another RAM which can be filled from outside.
The 1992 Nintendo Power volume 35 article never goes out of its way to say what chips are inside, except in one breath it says 9 megabits and then later says 8. Small oversight, but probably trying to say "the SNES has 1 megabit WRAM and we're bolting on another 8 in total in the cartridge".

In 1993, particularly just prior to Nintendo Power volume 43, the decision was made to add more RAM and update the design to a 32-bit SCCP. Nintendo Power volume 43, and the subscriber bonus (extra thick) version of volume 44 go out of their way to state this new "32-bit"ness. Undoubtedly trying to differentiate from SuperFX cartridges on the horizon. This is what you see in the 1993 EGM volume 44 article you posted, and the German article.

At this point, HANDS also adopted the new role of converting bitmaps to character tiles, a role the (very custom) SuperFX ordinarily would do on its own, but the (general-purpose) V-810 does not.

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The sticker on the new SNES CD system cart that came to light says it's a 1992 model. Until we go inside, we'll never know for sure.
If someone wanted to clone this 1992 cartridge and it turns out to be the old unit, it'd be neat and very fun to own, but it wouldn't be the same as the 1993 unit.
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Now let's counter forum speculations: just because of the weird politics between Sony and Philips, folks assume there must be a 68K family CPU in here (a la CD-I) or a MIPS R3000 family member (a la 1994 Playstation).

No, this new 32-bit SCCP is most certainly NOT a MIPS R3000 or R2000. Neither of those MIPS designs has a built-in FPU, nor a 1 KByte instruction cache. But the NEC V-810 does. The V-8xx family today is a largely forgotten footnote after NEC's own MIPS products supplanted it. (Who do you think made N64's CPU?) Its V850 successor is still around in embedded form for the markets that use it, though.

 

[GALLERY=media, 280]SUPER CD - FACT OR FICTION by lumberpile posted Jul 13, 2015 at 11:30 PM[/GALLERY]

Was just flicking through my Australian Nintendo Magazine Systems and stumbled across this article.

I don't think this includes any information we don't already know but figure I'd post it up for addition to the media collection if anyone wants it