Determining PC-9800 computers

As an continously evolving platform, the PC-9800 series creates a number of documentation issues for NEC Retro.

Different publishers took different approaches to classifying their software, often making assumptions about the state of the market at the time of release. NEC supporting the platform for nearly twenty years, and its often confusing naming scheme means mistakes are often made, and as all PC-9800 series computers are expandable, it is fully possible to upgrade an older machine to the point where it matches newer machine specifications.

NEC Retro categorises software by the minimum required specifications; typically the earliest computer that can load and run the software as intended. We define computers by how they were originally sold (i.e. in an unexpanded state); if a piece of software can be successfully loaded and run (in an expected state) on an unexpanded machine, it is deemed as "made for" that machine.

Why not treat the PC-9800 series like IBM PC compatibles?

Perhaps the closest match to the PC-9800 range is that of the IBM PC, which after gaining traction in Western nations, would become the dominant computing format worldwide. The IBM PC was also a continously updating machine, however unlike the PC-9800 series, its creator, in this case IBM, did not fully control the market. "IBM PC compatibles" were made available from third-party manufacturers as early as 1982, who would take it upon themselves to offer computers with specifications different to IBM.

As such, it is unrealistic to categorise IBM PC games by defined sets of standards. Once a range of computers were made available, customers purchasing PC games would be expected to compare individual hardware requirements with their system, e.g. CPU, RAM, disk space, media type etc. The Retro family of wikis typically choose to make a distinction between older games designed for MS-DOS and those for Microsoft Windows operating systems, but the specifications problem continues to persist with PC games to this day

NEC, meanwhile, did release defined sets of standards for its PC-9800 series, and publishers usually targeted those standards. This means, while choosing to class every piece of software as "PC-9800 series compatible" is valid, there are thousands of games, and as most are incompatible with earlier devices, it makes sense to group games into sub-categories based on NEC's defined standards.

Determining standards

A large percentage of PC-9800 series software will clearly state which computer it is targeting on its box, others will only give clues, some are deliberately vague and occasionally a box will be flat-out wrong. Tips for determining standards are as follows: