Demo cover Basic Line
1986–12
2,568 sample pagesPrimary source research
Japanese computers,
games, and sound—
reconstructed from
the sources.
Documenting the history of Japanese personal computing through magazines, catalogs, manuals, and original materials. Researching the software, the people behind it, and the technologies that made it possible.
Focus areas:PC-88MSXX1PC-98FM soundRPGsMagazines
Featured research
The Japanese RPG
From Wizardry to Dragon Quest and beyond
A multi-part research series tracing the evolution of Japanese role-playing games on home computers—from early influences and localization to original epics, systems, and sound.
Read the series
Illustrative image - 01Early Foundations1979–1982
- 02The Breakthrough1983–1986
- 03Expanding Worlds1987–1991
- 04Systems and Legacy1992 and beyond
Explore the archive
Primary-source magazine library
Explore the database
Search and discover people, companies, software, and more.
Lab
Interactive experiments
Play the Listing
Run classic BASIC listings from 1980s magazines in your browser. Explore, learn, and hear the results.
Open the experimentPC-88 BASIC (THE LISTING)
10 ' FM SOUND TEST
20 BGMPLAY
30 FOR I=0 TO 7
40 PLAY "T120 O4 L8 C";
50 NEXT
60 END▶ Run■ Stop
Latest video
Illustrative image The History of Japanese RPGs on PC
1979–1995
A deep dive into the people, systems, and games that defined a genre.
38:42 • Sample episode