Graphics
256×240
- Resolutions
- 256×240 · 256×256 · 512×240 · 512×256 · 512×512 · 640×480 · 768×512 · 1024×1024
- Colors on screen
- 65,536
- Palette
- 65,536 colors
- Sprites
- 128
Below: Neo Geo CD 3,840 colors
Sharp X68000
Also known as X68000 · X68k
- Sharp Corporation
- Home computer
45 Sharp X68000 games, all playable free in your browser.
The X68000 is a home computer from Sharp Corporation, released only in Japan in March 1987. The first model paired a 10 MHz Hitachi HD68HC000, a Motorola 68000 equivalent, with 1 MB of RAM and two 5.25-inch floppy drives in a distinctive twin-tower case, and ran Human68k, an MS-DOS-like operating system developed for Sharp by Hudson Soft.
- First released · Japan
- 1987
- CPU
- 16-bit
- Games in the library · all playable
- 45
TIMELINE
Released in 1987
- JPJapan
Games per release year
| Year | Games |
|---|---|
| 1983 | 1 |
| 1987 | 3 |
| 1988 | 5 |
| 1989 | 1 |
| 1990 | 3 |
| 1991 | 8 |
| 1992 | 3 |
| 1993 | 3 |
| 1994 | 5 |
| 1995 | 5 |
| 1996 | 1 |
| 1998 | 2 |
| 1999 | 1 |
- MSXMSX: Oct 21, 1983 – 1993
- Amstrad CPCAmstrad CPC: Jun 21, 1984 – 1990
- Master SystemSega Master System: Oct 20, 1985 – 1996
- Atari 7800Atari 7800: May 1986 – 1992
- X68000Sharp X68000: Mar 28, 1987 – end not recorded
- PC EnginePC Engine / TurboGrafx-16: Oct 30, 1987 – Dec 16, 1994
- CPS-1Capcom CPS-1: May 13, 1988 – May 11, 1995
- GenesisSega Genesis / Mega Drive: Oct 29, 1988 – 1997
- PCE CDPC Engine CD / TurboGrafx-CD: Dec 4, 1988 – end not recorded
All 36 systems
- Atari 2600Atari 2600: Sep 1977 – 1992
- SpectrumZX Spectrum: Apr 23, 1982 – 1992
- ColecoColecoVision: Aug 1982 – 1985
- Atari 5200Atari 5200: Oct 1982 – May 21, 1984
- VectrexVectrex: Oct 1982 – Feb 1984
- NESNintendo Entertainment System: Jul 15, 1983 – Sep 25, 2003
- SG-1000Sega SG-1000: Jul 15, 1983 – Oct 1985
- MSXMSX: Oct 21, 1983 – 1993
- Amstrad CPCAmstrad CPC: Jun 21, 1984 – 1990
- Master SystemSega Master System: Oct 20, 1985 – 1996
- Atari 7800Atari 7800: May 1986 – 1992
- X68000Sharp X68000: Mar 28, 1987 – end not recorded
- PC EnginePC Engine / TurboGrafx-16: Oct 30, 1987 – Dec 16, 1994
- CPS-1Capcom CPS-1: May 13, 1988 – May 11, 1995
- GenesisSega Genesis / Mega Drive: Oct 29, 1988 – 1997
- PCE CDPC Engine CD / TurboGrafx-CD: Dec 4, 1988 – end not recorded
- Game BoyGame Boy: Apr 21, 1989 – Mar 31, 2003
- LynxAtari Lynx: Sep 1, 1989 – 1995
- Neo GeoNeo Geo: Apr 16, 1990 – 2004
- Game GearSega Game Gear: Oct 6, 1990 – Apr 30, 1997
- SNESSuper Nintendo: Nov 21, 1990 – Sep 25, 2003
- Sega CDSega CD / Mega-CD: Dec 12, 1991 – 1996
- CPS-2Capcom CPS-2: Sep 10, 1993 – Dec 22, 2003
- Neo Geo CDNeo Geo CD: Sep 9, 1994 – 1997
- 32XSega 32X: Nov 1994 – 1996
- PS1PlayStation: Dec 3, 1994 – Mar 23, 2006
- N64Nintendo 64: Jun 23, 1996 – 2002
- CPS-3Capcom CPS-3: Nov 21, 1996 – end not recorded
- NAOMISega NAOMI: 1998 – end not recorded
- GBCGame Boy Color: Oct 21, 1998 – Mar 31, 2003
- NGPCNeo Geo Pocket Color: Mar 19, 1999 – Oct 30, 2001
- PS2PlayStation 2: Mar 4, 2000 – Jan 4, 2013
- WonderSwanWonderSwan Color: Dec 9, 2000 – 2003
- GBAGame Boy Advance: Mar 21, 2001 – 2010
- OpenBOROpenBOR: 2004 – today
- TIC-80TIC-80: Mar 22, 2017 – today
A bar that fades out means the end date is unknown. Fantasy consoles and game engines are still available.
UNDER THE HOOD
Technical specifications
Processor
10MHz
- CPU
- Hitachi HD68HC000
- Core
- Motorola 68000
- Word size
- 16-bit
- Oki MSM80C51 — sub-CPU (microcontroller)
- CYNTHIA Jr/Sr, VINAS, VSOP, RESERVE (Sharp-Hudson custom) — sprite, CRT and video controllers (original model)
Original 1987 model. XVI (1991) and Compact (1992): 16 MHz; X68030 (1993): 25 MHz.
Memory
1MB
- Main RAM
- 1 MB
- Video RAM
- 1 MB
- SRAM
- 16 KB
- ROM (128 KB BIOS + 768 KB character generator)
- 1 MB
Below: GBA 288 KB · Above: Neo Geo CD 2 MB
Sound
9channels
- Chip
- Yamaha YM2151 + Oki MSM6258
Eight FM synthesis channels (YM2151) plus one 4-bit ADPCM mono channel at up to 15.6 kHz (MSM6258), mixed to stereo through a Yamaha YM3012 DAC
Sales
130,000
- Scope
- Japan, by September 1991
Media
Floppy disk
- Floppy disk
- up to 1.2 MB
- Floppy disk
- up to 1.44 MB
Launch price
¥369,000
- Japan
- ¥369,000
Family line
- Before
- Sharp X1
- This system
- Sharp X68000
THE STORY
About the X68000
Its custom graphics chipset provides hardware scrolling, tiled backgrounds and 128 sprites, with up to 65,536 colors on screen, an approach close to late-1980s arcade boards. Sound comes from a Yamaha YM2151 with eight FM channels and an Oki MSM6258 ADPCM channel. These capabilities made video games a major use of the machine, and its monitor's support for 15, 24 and 31 kHz scan rates also suited arcade boards.
The X68000 succeeded Sharp's X1 series. Later models raised the clock to 16 MHz with the XVI in 1991, and the X68030 series of 1993 moved to a 25 MHz 68EC030 processor. By September 1991 about 130,000 units had been sold.
- Up to 65,536 colors on screen at 512 × 512, with resolutions up to 1024 × 1024.
- 128 hardware sprites (32 per scan line), extendable to 512 with raster-interrupt techniques.
- 1,056 KB of VRAM split between graphics, text and sprites.
- Launched at 369,000 yen with Gradius bundled.
- Capcom's Street Fighter II for the X68000 shipped with an adapter for Super Famicom or six-button Mega Drive controllers.
THE LIBRARY
45 X68000 games on Back2OldGames
45
games, all playable right in your browser
Release years 1983–1999
<p class="lib-span">21 developers</p>Genres
Top developers
Players
34 games with a known number of players.
THE GAMES
The X68000 library
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X68000 ARCHIVETITLE · CREATOR · PUBLISHER
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Sources
Specifications and history from the sources below (Wikipedia text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; facts summarized in our own words). Library numbers come from the Back2OldGames catalog.
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