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Japanese Vintage Computer Collection


基本データとスペック
機種:Pyuta/ぴゅう太
発売日:1982年8月
CPU:TMS9995
RAM:20KB ROM/256B on-CPU RAM
既定ストレージ:tape
ブート環境:Menu, G-BASIC or graphic utility

その他のトミーの機種

The Tomy Pyuta (released in the west as Tomy Tutor) is essentially a child's toy, but it offers a pretty distinct computing experience. For starters, it was a 16-bit computer. In 1982! In addition, it comes with a pretty good variety of games, although the controllers are awkward, and for a 16-bit system, the graphics feel underwhelming.

When you turn on the computer, you have two or three options, depending on whether a game cartridge is inserted: the built-in graphic utility, G-BASIC, or the inserted cartridge. The graphics utility is really simple, at least as far as I could tell by poking around, I didn't read the manual.

G-BASIC is really distinct in that it defaults to katakana input, and (most? all of?) the commands are in katakana only. So for example, instead of GOTO 10, you type 10ニイケ (10 ni ike) or instead of IF I = 3 THEN, you use モシI = 3ナラバ (moshi I = 3 naraba), or instead of PRINT "HELLO WORLD" you type カケ "HELLO WORLD" (kake "HELLO WORLD"). It's also confusing because while 10ニイケ rearranges argument/command to match Japanese grammar, カケ"HELLO WORLD" maintains the expected BASIC order. It takes me for*ever* to type anything out!



Games can be fun, but you wouldn't expect that you were playing a 16-bit computer. 16-bit computing doesn't necessarily mean 16-bit graphics, and I suppose that may be part of it, but many games are really quite blocky, and the sound is simple. The controllers look nice enough but have a cheap feel to them. Also, it's a two-headed controller but only the standard 9-pin connector, so my friend theorized that there are no two-player simultaneous games, you have to take turns.



My favorite color is purple, so I appreciate the purple accents on the keyboard. Over the years, many of the purple keys have yellowed badly, becoming a sort of dingy brownish-gray color. Not this one, though, still very purply! The keyboard is one of the worst for typing on, though. Of its three peers in my collection, two of them - the Sega SC-3000 and Commodore MAX Machine, are a bit worse, but the Takara Game Pasokon is much better. And nearly every other computer I own has a better keyboard. But it is essentially a toy-class device, so I guess it's not a big surprise.



The manual is still in good physical condition for its age, and they used some high quality color glossy pages mixed with the less colorful but non-monochromatic standard pages, so I have a pretty favorable impression of it, but there is a looot of writing in this one. I get it, I do, but I don't like seeing writing in manuals. If it's in pencil, I usually erase, but this is red pen! I didn't photograph those pages, but they're numerous.



The box has seen better days, but I've definitely seen a lot of boxes that have had far tougher lives than this one. It still holds together well and the peeling affects the overall view of the box art minimally.



その他のトミーの機種


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