8
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
no edit summary
|Manufacturer = Fujitsu
|Generation = Fifth generation
|Release date = 19911993|Media type = CD-ROM, 3½-inch floppy disks|image = [[Image:FM-Towns-Marty-Console.jpg|230px]]}}The FM Towns Marty (エフエムタウンズマーティー efuemutaunzumātī) was a fifth-generation video game console released in 1991 1993 by Fujitsu, exclusively for the Japanese market costing roughly the equivalent of $700 USD. It was the first 32-bit home video game system, and came complete with a built in CD-ROM drive and disk drive. It was based on the earlier FM Towns computer system Fujitsu had released in 1989. The Marty was backward-compatible with older FM Towns games.
The high price kept the console from being as popular as Fujitsu desired. So did the associated image of the FM Towns with being a “kiddie computer” for children, since most of its sales went to schools and younger students. Despite this kiddie image or perhaps to help combat it, Fujitsu did little to stem the number of adult-oriented hentai games which appeared on the Towns and the Marty.
To improve the poor sales, Fujitsu released a cheaper revision, known as the FM Towns Marty 2, for 66,000 Yen around 1993 or in 1994. By the time of the Marty 2’s release, Fujitsu had effectively given up on the console. It was discontinued around the time of release for the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation.
Nowadays, the FM Towns Marty is an oddity, held up in collector circles for its obscurity, its rarity, and its quality. It stands as a true collector’s item, revealing the hidden depths of the import and retrogaming realm.
