Talk:FM Towns Marty

What Generation?

Why is this listed as a 5th generation machine? The History_of_video_game_consoles_(fifth_generation) page says that the 5th generation started with the 3DO is 1993. But the FM Towns Marty page lists it was introduced in 1991. Suso 12:32, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Because its 32-bit--Zerothis 21:51, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

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It really shouldn't be counted as 5th generation. A generation of hardware is a "A group of video game hardware that has similar capabilities and is able to play games in a similar style." FM Towns Marty is only able to play 4th generation games. It can't approach a 3DO, PlayStation, or Saturn game. It can't even handle a 32X game. It's a fourth gen machine, albeit a late release.

ZadocPaet (talk) 04:36, 24 September 2015 (UTC)

I will add that the FM Towns Marty is based on a home computer made in 1989 (early 4th generation), & there isn't even any proof the Marty had its own games.

It also came & went before all of the 5th generation competitors were out. That applies to some other systems as well, but it's still worth noting.

I went ahead & made the change. If it stays, I'll change the corresponding generation articles. TavianCLirette (talk) 09:06, 5 March 2024 (UTC)

16 MHz or 25 MHz ?

The Infobox says 25 MHz but the article says 16 MHz.--Zerothis 22:12, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Discrepancy in Date Released

Why is it listed as being released in 1991 here, but on February 16, 1993 on the Japanese Wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.245.28.21 (talk) 20:24, 10 October 2009 (UTC)

Fixed: real release date is February 20, 1993 --Kwyxz (talk) 10:05, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

32-bit?

What exactly makes the FM Towns Marty a 32-bit console? It isn't. Its 386SX has only got a 16-bit bus externally, exactly the same as the MC68000 in that respect - which e. g. was used in the Sega Mega Drive much earlier. -- Zac67 (talk) 11:52, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

The 386 is still a 32-bit CPU internally, meaning it's registers and ALU will fully store/operate on 32-bit numbers. Even though it was designed as a 32-bit architecture from the beginning, the only parts of the 68000 that are fully 32-bit are its registers. The 386 is more akin to the 68020. Wolftengu (talk) 22:13, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

My personal definition of "32-bit" is a full set of 32-bit features, including the data bus. Calling a 386SX 32-bit for its ALU alone doesn't really seem to fit, but there seems to be consent here. The 68020 is full 32-bit btw, so more comparable to the i386DX. -- Zac67 (talk) 07:37, 29 August 2011 (UTC)

Except there were computers such as the Mac II LC that used the 68020 on a 16-bit bus, an operating mode entirely supported by Motorola (as was using it or the 68000 and 68010 on an 8-bit bus). There was even a low cost version, IIRC, that only had 16 data bus pins, much like the 68008 only had 8. What does your logic say about those? The 68000, sure, still only had a 16-bit ALU, it was more a hybrid 16/32 design... I guess this also means you see the 8088 as an 8-bit processor despite essentially being a 16-bit design that has to work on an 8-bit bus? In all these cases, the core of the processor remains the same and it can run at exactly the same speed internally, particularly on any complex operations like large mults or any kind of division, it just has to pull its opcodes and operands and push its results out through a narrower pipe. In some cases that ends up being a severe enough limit on performance that it effectively can't ever saturate its input pipeline and is always IO bound, which is the case with the 8088, especially with simpler programs that stream data in and out of memory as the majority of their ops. In others, it's not as severe a problem, such as with a 68030 on a 16-bit bus but working on complex problems and running code that makes good use of its built-in cache... I'm not sure where the 386SX sits amongst those, but I did use a brace of 386SX-16's during my school days and they didn't seem vastly slower than the 486SX-25's in the next room, even though there would have been about a 3x difference in bus bandwidth between the two machines. 146.199.0.175 (talk) 14:51, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

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The name...

We've got a pretty good, sourced reason for the FM Towns range being called that... but do we have any idea about the Marty? Like, at all? 146.199.0.175 (talk) 14:52, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Possible incorrect information?

About a week ago, I noted that the Wikipedia article for the FM Towns Marty states the following under the 'Reception' heading:

"The Marty did have its own library of "Marty" specific games, but they were not enough to strengthen its niche position between video game console systems and personal computers."

After some research, I have found no evidence to indicate that there was any library of games released specifically for the Marty and NOT for the FM Towns platform as a whole. I found that this information was added, without a citation, in 2013, and upon reviewing the Japanese version of the Wikipedia article, I see no equivalent supposition. Based on what I have discovered so far, I haven't found a single example of a 'Marty specific' game. FM Towns games released after the Marty were labeled as Marty compatible where appropriate according to more sources, but that's the best I was able to find.

I am thinking of removing this information from the article, as I believe it to be potential misinformation. I have personally seen several uncited claims across the internet on personal blogs and the like that the Marty did have its own Marty specific games. If this is untrue, it is a tangible impact of misinformation on Wikipedia trickling down to the greater retro gaming community.

My simple question is as follows: does anyone have evidence of even one 'Marty specific' video game? 73.208.7.87 (talk) 20:30, 12 December 2023 (UTC)