Bandai RX-78

The Bandai RX-78 is a Japanese 8-bit microcomputer manufactured by Bandai.^[2][3][4][5] Its name comes from the RX-78-2 Gundam.

Bandai RX-78

Manufacturer	Bandai
Type	Home computer
Release date	July 1983 (1983-07)
Introductory price	¥59,800 (Japan) [1]
Media	Cartridges, Compact Cassette
Operating system	BS-BASIC
CPU	SHARP LH0080A (Z80A) @ 4.1 MHz
Memory	30KB RAM; 8KB ROM
Graphics	192 × 184, 27 colors
Sound	SN76489 (3× voices (4 octaves) with 1 noise generator)
Connectivity	2× Joystick, 1× RF, 1× RCA, 2× ROM cartridge
Power	10W
Predecessor	Bandai Arcadia
Successor	Playdia

It was released in July 1983,^[6][1][7] the RX-78 had a release cost of 59,800 yen,^[6][7] and was sold with a dozen of games and software, including a BASIC interpreter cartridge featuring a cassette tape interface.^[1][8]

The Bandai RX-78 was primarily a gaming machine, with two joysticks included. Software was available on cartridges^[9] or cassettes.

Specifications

The Bandai RX-78 employed a SHARP LH0080A (Zilog Z80A clone) CPU, running a clock speed of 4.1 MHz.^[10][8] It shipped with 30 KB of RAM and 8KB of ROM.^[11][8] It had two joystick ports in a proprietary format^[12] using 8-pin DIN connectors.

The computer can generate 27 colors, created from 3 levels of intensity of each RGB channel, arranged into VRAM video planes,^[13] with a maximum resolution of 192 × 184 pixels, and is capable of displaying 30 × 23 text characters using a 6 × 8 pixel font.^[8] Sound was generated by the Texas Instruments SN76489 chip, providing 3 voices in four octaves and noise generator.^[14]

Software

Software was released on ROM cartridges (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[15] and compact cassettes (Sen'you Tape Cassette).

Games

About 20 games for the Bandai RX-78 were released:^[16]

• Cannon Ball (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16]
• Card World (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16]
• Challenge Golf (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16]
• Champion Racer (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[17][16]
• Combined Fleet/ Rengo Kantai (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16][5]
• Donjara (Sen'you Tape Cassette)
• Excite Baseball (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[18][16]
• Excite Tennis (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16]
• Hamburger Shop (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[19][16]
• Fight! Ultraman/ Tatakae! Ultraman (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[20][16]
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Luna Two no Tatakai (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[21]
• Perfect Mah-jongg (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[22][16]
• The Pro-Wrestling (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[23][16]
• Sekigahara (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[24][16]
• Sheep/ Hitsuji Yaai (Sen'you Tape Cassette)^[16]
• Space Capsule (Sen'you Tape Cassette)^[16]
• Space Enemy (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[25][16]
• Super Motocross (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[26][16]
• Yellow Cab (Sen'you Tape Cassette)^[16]
• Zero Fighter/ Zerosen (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16]

Educational (Education Series)

A smaller number of non-gaming titles were released:^[16]

• ABC Tangou Game (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16]
• Graphic Sugaku (Sen'you Tape Cassette)^[27][16]
• Keisan Enshuu Drill (Sen'you Tape Cassette)^[16]
• Sansu Tsuma Zuki

Applications (Culture Series)

A smaller number of non-gaming titles were released:^[16]

• 3-Dimension Graphics (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16]
• Animation Graphics (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16]
• BS BASIC Ver.1.0 (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16]
• Creative Graphics (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16]
• Healthy Life Plan (Sen'you Tape Cassette)^[16]
• Kanji Word Processor^[16]
• Music Master (Sen'you Soft Cartridge)^[16]
• Z80 Assembler^[16]