COLLECTED BY

Organization: Archive Team

Formed in 2009, the Archive Team (not to be confused with the archive.org Archive-It Team) is a rogue archivist collective dedicated to saving copies of rapidly dying or deleted websites for the sake of history and digital heritage. The group is 100% composed of volunteers and interested parties, and has expanded into a large amount of related projects for saving online and digital history.

History is littered with hundreds of conflicts over the future of a community, group, location or business that were "resolved" when one of the parties stepped ahead and destroyed what was there. With the original point of contention destroyed, the debates would fall to the wayside. Archive Team believes that by duplicated condemned data, the conversation and debate can continue, as well as the richness and insight gained by keeping the materials. Our projects have ranged in size from a single volunteer downloading the data to a small-but-critical site, to over 100 volunteers stepping forward to acquire terabytes of user-created data to save for future generations.

The main site for Archive Team is at archiveteam.org and contains up to the date information on various projects, manifestos, plans and walkthroughs.

This collection contains the output of many Archive Team projects, both ongoing and completed. Thanks to the generous providing of disk space by the Internet Archive, multi-terabyte datasets can be made available, as well as in use by the Wayback Machine, providing a path back to lost websites and work.

Our collection has grown to the point of having sub-collections for the type of data we acquire. If you are seeking to browse the contents of these collections, the Wayback Machine is the best first stop. Otherwise, you are free to dig into the stacks to see what you may find.

The Archive Team Panic Downloads are full pulldowns of currently extant websites, meant to serve as emergency backups for needed sites that are in danger of closing, or which will be missed dearly if suddenly lost due to hard drive crashes or server failures.

Collection: ArchiveBot: The Archive Team Crowdsourced Crawler

ArchiveBot is an IRC bot designed to automate the archival of smaller websites (e.g. up to a few hundred thousand URLs). You give it a URL to start at, and it grabs all content under that URL, records it in a WARC, and then uploads that WARC to ArchiveTeam servers for eventual injection into the Internet Archive (or other archive sites).

To use ArchiveBot, drop by #archivebot on EFNet. To interact with ArchiveBot, you issue commands by typing it into the channel. Note you will need channel operator permissions in order to issue archiving jobs. The dashboard shows the sites being downloaded currently.

There is a dashboard running for the archivebot process at http://www.archivebot.com.

ArchiveBot's source code can be found at https://github.com/ArchiveTeam/ArchiveBot.

TIMESTAMPS

The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20140903010307/http://nfggames.com/games/x68k/

The X68000 is an unheard-of gem from Japan. Released around the same time as the Amiga and Atari ST, it was leagues ahead of them both in terms of design and capability. Originally released in 1987 with a 10MHz 68000 CPU and 1MB RAM, the series finished six years later with a 25MHz 68030, 4MB RAM and a 80MB HD. Earlier models used SASI (Shugart Associates System Interface) which was a forerunner to SCSI, and is almost pin compatible with early SCSI drives. Later models used real SCSI. The series favoured (And this is cool) soft-eject 5.25" floppies though there were a few "Compact" releases with 3.25" drives and smaller cases.

One of the most striking things about the system was the case - a two-halved tower bisected by a click-in/out carrying handle, reminiscent more of a mainframe computer than a PC. It was one of the first computers to feature soft-on power, where the main power supply was always on and the front-mounted power switch would only signal the machine to shut down, giving software time to save, shutdown and usually fade out the sound and the screen. Two expansion slots closely related to the ISA standard, and a host of ports as standard: 2 MSX compatible joystick ports, parallel, serial, external floppy (It could run 4 drives, two were built-in) port, 3D goggles port, as well as TV/monitor control,SASI, headphone, microphone, RGB in and out... Very advanced for the time, and in terms of design it's nearly unmatched (in my mind) to this day.

On this page you'll find all the details and differences between units, a list of some of the better games released for the system, tech specs, screenshots, and maybe more! Also, if you'd like to see what the boxes look like, you can check out the Sales page.

This article is translated to Serbo-Croatian language
by Jovana Milutinovich from Webhostinggeeks.com.

Back to NFG Games
X68000 Gallery 1
X68000 Gallery 2
X68000 Floppy Sleeve Gallery
X68000 Power Supply Repair

The actual specs of the X68000 series changed very little over the life of the system. Aside from upgrading capabilities, such as replacing the antiquated SASI with SCSI, and two different form factors (The Compact and Pro models) the specs remained the same. Clock speeds were boosted on the XVI and the X68030 was faster with a beefier processor, but things like graphic and sound hardware remained the same. This was obviously better for compatability, but without a significant upgrade path the series was doomed to extinction. Sure the new units were faster, but without new capabilities the rest of the computing universe was bound to catch up. Where the first X68000 systems were far ahead of the competition of the time, by the end of the system's lifespan it was merely the equal of other systems. The sexy case could only carry it so far.

X68000 Specs
CPU + Clock	Motorola 68000 (10MHz) - XVI 16MHz – X68030 25MHz
ROM	128KB BIOS 768KB Character Generator (16x16, 8x16, 8x8 - JIS 1 + 2)
RAM	1-4MB stock, expandable 512KB Text VRAM 512KB Graphic VRAM 32KB Sprite VRAM 16KB Static RAM
Screen Resolutions	1024x1024 Max, 256 x 256 Min
Colours	65,536 Palette. 256 Max onscreen
Sprites	16x16 pixels, 16 colours / sprite 128 sprites / screen, 16 sprites / line
Graphics Hardware	Hardware scrolling, priority control, super-impose
Sound	2ch FM Synth, 8 Octave, 8 Voice ADPCM
HDD + FDD	Varies by model, see below
Ports	See below
Expansion	2 card slots (4 on Pro models)
OS	Human68k (MS DOS-alike developed by Hudson), SX-Windows GUI
Power Input:	AC 100v, 50/60Hz
Weight	~8kg (~10kg Pro)
Source: X68000 System Manual

X68000 Models
Release	System	Price	CPU	RAM	FDD	HDD
1987	X68000	369,000	68000 (10MHz)	1MB	5.25	-	SASI
1988	X68000 ACE-HD	399,800				20MB
1988	X68000 ACE	319,800				-
1989	X68000 EXPERT	356,000		2MB		-
	X68000 EXPERT-HD	466,000		2MB		40MB
	X68000 PRO	298,000		1MB		-
	X68000 PRO-HD	408,000		1MB		40MB
1990	X68000 EXPERT II	338,000		2MB		-
	X68000 EXPERT II-HD	448,000		2MB		40MB
	X68000 PRO II	285,000		1MB		-
	X68000 PRO II-HD	395,000		1MB		40MB
	X68000 SUPER-HD	498,000		2MB		81MB	SCSI
	X68000 SUPER	348,000				-
1991	X68000 XVI	368,000	68000 (16MHz)			-
1991	X68000 XVI-HD	518,000				81MB
1992	X68000 CompactXVI	298,000			3.5	-
1993	X68030	398,000	68030 (25MHz)	4MB	5.25	-
	X68030 -HD	488,000			5.25	80MB
	X68030 Compact	388,000			3.5	-
	X68030 Compact-HD	478,000			3.5	80MB
Source: Japanese Page, Author Unknown

The X68000 series spanned 20 different models, with three different form factors and one slight case redesign. The original model, Expert, Ace + Super all shared the same dual-tower cray-like design. The XVI used the same design with a slight cosmetic modification. The pro was a horizontal desktop model, with more room internally and four expansion ports. The Compact models were single-tower vertical models approximately two thirds as wide and a little shorter than the normal towers.

All units shared the same connectors, except for the Compact units which used high-density connectors to save space. The connector for the SASI and SCSI ports is the same.

Wherever possible try and get a 2MB unit. Many games require 2MB to run, but only a tiny handful (Super Street Fighter 2 is the only one that comes to mind) require more than 2MB.

A HardDrive is not important, since all games run from floppy. If you expect to play a lot of Street Fighter or Fatal Fury, or some of the RPG games which can have up to thirteen floppies, then a HD would be wise. Keep in mind this will drastically increase the complexity of the system, as well as the amount of Japanese you'll need to know to operate it.

Like most computers of the time custom chips in the X68000 series were given fanciful names. In the below chart you can see how these chips were changed from model to model, sometimes to fix bugs or add new features, other times to combine functions into fewer parts.

X68000 Custom Chips
	X68000	Ace	Expert	Expert 2	Super	XVI	Pro	Pro 2
Memory Controller	ET	OHM	OHM2				McCOY
System Controller	BUDDHA	MESSIAH				DOSA	SCOTCH
Sprite Controller	CYNTHIA / Jr	CYNTHIA
CRT Controller	VINAS 1 + 2	VICON
Video Controller	VSOP	VIPS
Video Data Selector	RESERVE	CATHY
I/O Controller	SICILIAN	IOSC	IOSC-2		PEDEC		IOSC-2
Source: Outside X68000, SoftBank 1993

The X68000 series contained a lot of off-the-shelf parts as well, components similar to DOS PCs and other computers at the time. Chips from Zilog, Motorola, Hitachi and NEC all made their way inside. The Okidata ADPCM sound chip was also used in at least one other game console, and Yamaha was essentially the only soundchip manufacturer of any import back in the day. As was the norm back then every chip that had extra pins was put into service for another device. The printer controller also handled joystick input, the serial controller handled the mouse and the MFP had its fingers in nearly every input or output port available.

Here are two images of the mainboard and IO board of an XVI system:

X68000 Non-Custom Chips
Function	Part #	Manufacturer	Notes
Real Time Clock	RP5C15	Ricoh
Sound: FM Synth	YM2151	Yamaha	Paired with YM3012 DAC. 8 note, 2 channel, noise
Sound: ADPCM	MSM6258	Okidata	Also used in the PCFX
FDD Control	72065	NEC
HDD Control	MB89352A	Fujitsu	SCSI HDD Controller (Super, XVI + X68030)
Peripheral: Serial	z85C30	Zilog	Dual channel Serial controller. 1 for RS232, 1 for Mouse
Peripheral: Printer	8255	NEC	Printer port, joystick ports.
DMA Control	HD63450	Hitachi	DMA I/O for FDD, HDD, Expansion Slots, ADPCM Audio
MFP	68901	Motorola	Multi Function Peripheral controller. Controls monitor sync, Serial port, real-time clock, soft-power, FM Synth, IRQ, keyboard
Math Co-Pro	MC68881	Motorola	Optional. XVI has a socket for it, older units require an add-on board (often combined with RAM expansion)
Source: NFG Games + Inside X68000, SoftBank 1993

So what's the end result? Check out these screenshots from the arcade + X68000 versions of Strider, Ghouls n Ghosts, Street Fighter. Compare them to the Genesis versions for Extra Shame! There are some more Ghouls shots here.

Arcade

X68000

Genesis/MegaDrive

Sep	SEP	Oct
	03
2012	2014	2015