Home computers¶
Home computers shaped gaming as much as consoles — often more on the creation side (demoscene, arcade ports, eroge, homebrew). This section covers them from a preservation & repair angle, split into three schools: Europe, America, Japan. Below is the exhaustive listing (detailed pages to follow); ⭐ = high gaming value, priority target.
🇪🇺 Europe¶
| Maker | Machine(s) | Year | CPU | Gaming note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinclair (UK) | ZX80 · ZX81 | 1980-81 | Z80 | pioneers; ZX81 = 1 KB |
| Sinclair (UK) | ⭐ ZX Spectrum (16/48K · 128 · +2 · +3) | 1982-87 | Z80 | huge library, a UK/EU icon |
| Sinclair (UK) | QL | 1984 | 68008 | pro, rare |
| Amstrad (UK) | ⭐ CPC 464 / 664 / 6128 | 1984 | Z80 | massive in FR/ES; → CPC Plus |
| Amstrad (UK) | PCW (8256/8512) | 1985 | Z80 | word processor, limited games |
| Acorn (UK) | BBC Micro · Electron | 1981-83 | 6502 | UK educational reference |
| Acorn (UK) | ⭐ Archimedes | 1987 | ARM | the first consumer ARM! |
| Commodore | ⭐ Amiga (1000/500/600/1200/2000/3000/4000) | 1985-92 | 68000/020/030/040 | the 16-bit demo/game machine; → CDTV |
| Commodore | ⭐ C64 · C128 · VIC-20 · C16/Plus4 | 1980-85 | 6510/8500 | → C64GS |
| Atari | ⭐ ST / STE / Mega ST / Falcon030 | 1985-92 | 68000/030 | MIDI, demoscene, Amiga rival |
| Atari | 400/800 · XL/XE (800XL, 130XE) | 1979-85 | 6502 | 8-bit Atari |
| Thomson (FR) | ⭐ MO5 · MO6 · TO7 / TO8 / TO9 | 1984-86 | 6809 | "Plan Informatique pour Tous" (FR schools) |
| Oric (UK/FR) | Oric-1 · Atmos | 1983 | 6502 | popular in France |
| Dragon (UK/Wales) | Dragon 32 / 64 | 1982 | 6809 | close to the TRS-80 CoCo |
| MGT (UK) | SAM Coupé | 1989 | Z80 | late "super Spectrum" |
| Enterprise (UK) | 64 / 128 | 1985 | Z80 | ambitious, rare |
| Other EU | Jupiter Ace (Forth), Memotech, Camputers Lynx, Microtan, Philips P2000… | 80s | Z80/6502 | niche machines |
🇺🇸 America¶
| Maker | Machine(s) | Year | CPU | Gaming note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | ⭐ Apple II (II/II+/IIe/IIc/IIGS) | 1977-86 | 6502 / 65C816 | founder of US micro gaming (Wizardry, Karateka…) |
| Apple | Apple III · compact Macintosh (128K…SE/30) | 1980-84 | 6502 / 68000 | Mac = productivity, later games |
| Commodore | PET | 1977 | 6502 | the first Commodore (+ VIC-20/C64, see Europe) |
| Tandy / Radio Shack | TRS-80 Model I/III/4 | 1977-83 | Z80 | US mainstream |
| Tandy | ⭐ TRS-80 Color Computer (CoCo 1/2/3) · MC-10 | 1980-86 | 6809 | CoCo = a solid game platform |
| Texas Instruments | ⭐ TI-99/4A | 1981 | TMS9900 | early 16-bit, cartridge library |
| Coleco | Adam | 1983 | Z80 | ColecoVision expansion |
| IBM | ⭐ IBM PC / PCjr / compatibles | 1981-84 | 8088 | DOS gaming (CGA/EGA/VGA, AdLib/SB) |
| Mattel | Aquarius | 1983 | Z80 | short-lived |
| Timex-Sinclair | TS1000 · TS2068 | 1982-83 | Z80 | US-ified ZX |
🇯🇵 Japan¶
| Maker | Machine(s) | Year | CPU | Gaming note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSX standard (multi-brand) | ⭐ MSX · MSX2 · MSX2+ · MSX turbo R | 1983-90 | Z80 / R800 | shared standard (Sony, Panasonic, Sanyo, Toshiba, Yamaha, Casio, JVC, Philips…); Konami/Metal Gear |
| Sharp | ⭐ X68000 | 1987 | 68000 | near-perfect arcade ports (Capcom, the cult JP machine) |
| Sharp | X1 / X1 turbo · MZ (700/1500/2500) | 1982-87 | Z80 | JP games, demoscene |
| NEC | ⭐ PC-8801 (PC-88) series (mkII SR…) | 1981-85 | Z80 | Japanese RPG/AVG (Ys, Hydlide…); → PC Engine (console) |
| NEC | ⭐ PC-9801 (PC-98) series | 1982+ | 8086 → i386+ | dominant JP (business and games/eroge) |
| NEC | PC-6001 · PC-8001 | 1979-81 | Z80/µPD780 | NEC's beginnings |
| Fujitsu | ⭐ FM Towns · FM Towns Marty | 1989-93 | 386 | CD-ROM, arcade ports; Marty = console |
| Fujitsu | FM-7 / FM-8 | 1981-82 | 6809 | 8-bit JP games |
| Other JP | Sord M5, Casio, Hitachi Basic Master, Toshiba Pasopia, Bandai RX-78… | 80s | Z80/6809 | niche machines |
Detailed-page status¶
✅ All ⭐ are done — by school: Amiga, C64, VIC-20/C128, Atari ST, Atari 8-bit, ZX Spectrum, ZX80/81/QL, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Thomson, Acorn Archimedes, BBC Micro/Electron, Oric, Dragon, SAM Coupé (Europe) · Apple II, compact Macintosh, IBM PC/DOS, TI-99/4A, CoCo, TRS-80 I/III/4, Coleco Adam (America) · MSX, Sharp X68000, Sharp X1/MZ, NEC PC-88/PC-98, FM Towns, Fujitsu FM-7 (Japan). Each page follows the identification / architecture / repair format with a link to the repair Methods hub.
Niche now covered: dedicated pages for Apple III, NEC PC-6001/8001, Enterprise 64/128, Sord M5, Jupiter Ace + grouped Other European / Japanese / American pages (Memotech, Casio, Aquarius, Timex-Sinclair…). A machine deserves its own detailed page? Just ask.
Already covered (as "consoles")¶
Sources & attribution¶
- Wikipedia — per-machine articles (years, CPU) — CC-BY-SA — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_computer
- Community listings (demoscene, MSX Resource Center, Amiga/Atari/Spectrum wikis) — cited per page.
Review & corrections
How this space is used
Spotted a wrong value, an outdated procedure, a chip reference that does not match your board? Say so here, with what you observed (model, board revision, serial number, measurement). Every report is cross-checked against a source before anything changes — an unverifiable correction is published as “reported by …, not cross-checked” rather than silently applied.
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