An asteroid is a small planet-like object that is not a planet or a comet. It is larger than a meteoroid (at least 1 meter in size) and orbits the Sun either in the inner Solar System or shares Jupiter’s orbit (called Trojan asteroids). Asteroids are made of rock, metal, or ice and have no atmosphere.
Pac-Man, which was first called Puck Man in Japan, is a maze video game created in 1980 by Namco for arcade machines. It was released in Japan on May 22, 1980, and in North America by Midway Manufacturing in August 1980. In the game, the player controls Pac-Man, who must eat all the small dots inside a maze while avoiding four colored ghosts.
Space Invaders is a 1978 video game created by Taito for arcade machines. Taito first released it in Japan in July 1978 and later released it in other countries with help from Midway Manufacturing. Space Invaders was the first video game with endless gameplay and the first fixed shooter, which created a new type of game.
The Master System is an 8-bit home video game console made and designed by Sega. It was based on the Sega Mark III, which was the third version of the SG-1000 series of consoles. The Mark III was released in Japan on October 20, 1985.
The PC-9800 series, often called PC-98 or 98 (Kyū-hachi), is a group of Japanese personal computers made by NEC from 1982 to 2003. These computers used standard x86-16 and x86-32 processors but had a custom design that made them unable to work with IBM clones. Some models used NEC’s own V30 processor.
The PC-8800 series, often called PC-88, is a line of early home computers made by NEC in 1981. These computers used a type of processor called Zilog Z80 and were mainly sold in Japan. The PC-8800 series became very popular and was one of the four most important home computers in Japan during the 1980s.
The TurboGrafx-16, called the PC Engine in regions outside North America, is a home video game console created by Hudson Soft and made by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. As the first console of the fourth generation, it was introduced in Japan to compete with Nintendo’s Family Computer.
MSX is a set of standards for home computers that were introduced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. The idea was first created by Microsoft for the Japanese market and promoted together with Kazuhiko Nishi, a leader at ASCII Corporation. Microsoft and Nishi wanted to make sure that different companies making home computers used common standards, similar to how the VHS standard was used for video tape machines.
The Atari 8-bit computers, officially known as the Atari Home Computer System, were a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800 models. These computers used an 8-bit MOS Technology 6502 CPU and three custom coprocessors to support features like moving images (sprites), smooth scrolling, four audio channels, and other capabilities.
MiSTer (also called MiSTer FPGA) is a project that is free for anyone to use and improve. It works to copy old computers, game consoles, and arcade machines using special computer chips called FPGAs. This project lets software and video games run the same way they did on the original machines, using tools like mice, keyboards, joysticks, and other game controllers.