FM Towns Marty

[Steven Pendleton]

About 5~6 months ago I found an FM Towns Marty for about 70000 yen. It has no controllers, no cables, no box, no nothing. I went back to that same store a few days ago and it's still there, but now it's been reduced to about 40000 yen. I don't think I'm terribly interested in buying it and I know it has compatibility problems with some of the later FM Towns games, but I'm curious to know what those here who have played the Marty think about it since I don't know much about it myself.

 

I guess this could be "The Official FM Towns Marty Thread!", but I doubt that it will gain much of a following.

[+phoenixdownita]

I have one that needs sprite ram repair.

Before it broke (which was conveniently once I found a buyer, sigh!) it run fine and for LucasArt games + a few Psygnosys games and a bunch of arcade ports it's reasonable. I steered away from any jap-only games as I can't speak the language.

The floppy drive belt melts so you need a repair on that ... I think I only had 3 or 4 games that required a floppy disk one way or another, one or two just to boot, the others to be able to make progress ... for those you'd need a floppy that can support MODE3 and an OS that can handle it, Windows 7 was the last of Microsoft OSs whose format.exe utility allowed you to format those floppy properly, not sure where Linux is at these days, I believe you need support from the motherboard BIOS as well.

 

It's not a bad machine, not an outstanding machine either, no 3D capabilities to speak of, in 2D it can hold its own but it is inferior to a Sharp X68000 but "better" than the contemporary Amiga CD32, it has a 386SX so it is what it is.

 

[Austin]

Not worth it for that price, especially without a controller. Not many exclusives worth tracking down. It does have good games, and some really solid arcade conversions, but most of its library you can just play elsewhere. Splatterhouse, Bubble Bobble, Operation Wolf, Raiden, Flying Shark, Twin Cobra, Truxton II, etc.

 

Despite some good ports, it also has a lot of poor arcade conversions too. After Burner, Turbo Out Run, Galaxy Force II, etc. Though I think their quality is more a side effect of them not really being intended to be played on a Marty (basically the lowest common denominator when it comes to the FM Towns line of computers).

 

There are interesting conversions of other computer games. Lemmings, Prince of Persia, Shadow of the Beast, Alone in the Dark, etc. Getting them to run is a crapshoot. Some require a mouse, others might require a special formatted floppy disk inserted, etc.

 

It's a fun system with the right games, but for the cost it's mostly redundant. You can MAME the arcade games (or play them on other home released compilations and ports), play the computer conversions elsewhere, and after that you're not left with much else to work with.

Edited September 28, 2020 by Austin

[ColecoKing]

Biggest problem with FM towns is many games are available on any other computer and in most cases run better. Try play Alone in the Dark on FM towns you'll never come back. Fast arcade titles are too much for the machine.

If you like slower games or adventure games and a few unique exclusive japanese shooters and platform games it's nice but doing conversion that price you are saying may be a bit too steep.

[Steven Pendleton]

Thanks, everyone. So yeah, judging by what everyone here has said, it seems that my initial thoughts about the FM Towns Marty's games library were about right, then, although hearing about mechanical problems is definitely something concerning.

 

I don't think I've ever actually seen any FM Towns games for sale locally, now that I think about it, although I do not really go to the correct stores (BEEP is where I should be going, as they specialize in arcade games and computers. They have a few more X68000s in stock now! They are closed on one of my off days, unfortunately, so I can't go there as much as I'd like to), as the places that I usually go don't really specialize in computer games and focus more on consoles.

 

I find the Marty to be a rather interesting piece of hardware, but it seems that it's essentially an expensive curiosity at this point.

[Austin]

If this was the '90s it would be one thing, but so much that you can get on it can be played elsewhere now. So yeah, it's pretty redundant. It would be more palatable if the price was lower, but it's an expensive collector's piece now. Still a fun time though if you *do* have one, and I really like the controller. It has a similar tactile feel as the NES controller. Its buttons are very snappy like that controller. Great for games like Raiden and Flying Shark in particular.

 

People that are serious about diving into its library are better off tracking down an actual FM Towns computer, preferably a higher end one. Some of the games that run poorly on the Marty run significantly better on the computers, and there are a lot more available games have that won't function at all on a Marty. Maintenance can still be a pain though and it's good to know people that can service them.

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, Austin said:

If this was the '90s it would be one thing, but so much that you can get on it can be played elsewhere now. So yeah, it's pretty redundant. It would be more palatable if the price was lower, but it's an expensive collector's piece now. Still a fun time though if you *do* have one, and I really like the controller. It has a similar tactile feel as the NES controller. Its buttons are very snappy like that controller. Great for games like Raiden and Flying Shark in particular.

 

People that are serious about diving into its library are better off tracking down an actual FM Towns computer, preferably a higher end one. Some of the games that run poorly on the Marty run significantly better on the computers, and there are a lot more available games have that won't function at all on a Marty. Maintenance can still be a pain though and it's good to know people that can service them.

Yeah, I think the Marty is really something that, despite being interesting and relatively uncommon, is probably not something that's worth my money, especially given the rarity and cost of FM Towns games. Looking on ebay right now, some of those are a month of rent... or even 2 months of rent or more, in some cases! No way!

 

I mentioned before that I've never seen FM Towns games locally, but I definitely think it's at least partially since I have not specifically looked for them. I also mentioned BEEP, the old computer and arcade specialty store. I have Wednesdays off, as my company is closed on Wednesdays, but unfortunately BEEP is also closed on Wednesdays, and Wednesday is of course tomorrow. I may go to Akiba tomorrow depending on how hot it is (I'm from Alaska, so while I can go outside in the snow with nothing but a t-shirt and jeans, the heat of Tokyo summers makes me feel like I'm going to die...), so while I can't go to BEEP, there are a few other places I can check just out of curiosity.

 

Super Potato has a nice but limited amount of MSX games (I should have bought Metal Gear when they had it, but I didn't and now it's gone...) and I think a few X68000 games, but I've never checked for FM Towns there before. I highly doubt that they will have any FM Towns games and I'm not going to buy any even if they or any other stores do, but I am actually rather curious to see what I can find.

[Steven Pendleton]

Well, I went back to Surugaya today and the Marty is still there. It seems I failed to read properly, though; it's not 40000 yen because that first zero is actually a 9! No way am I paying 49000 yen for that thing. I did find a total of 6 FM Towns games, though I forget what they were. 2 of them were the same game, and the other 4 were 18+ games, which I can't say I'm interested in. 1 of them specifically said FM TOWNS MARTY on the spine, as well. Anyway, yeah, I'm not bothering with this system.

[carlsson]

Ok, the Marty was introduced in 1993 at 98000 yen. After adjusting for inflation, it is suggested to equal 104,000 yen today which seems low. Did Japan only have 6% inflation in 27 years? The corresponding number for USA is 80% in the same time period...

 

I see that sellers online expect $700 for a loose, broken Marty so 49000 yen ~= $465 for this one in untested condition might still be ... within range, though more for a collector than a gamer.

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, carlsson said:

Ok, the Marty was introduced in 1993 at 98000 yen. After adjusting for inflation, it is suggested to equal 104,000 yen today which seems low. Did Japan only have 6% inflation in 27 years? The corresponding number for USA is 80% in the same time period...

 

I see that sellers online expect $700 for a loose, broken Marty so 49000 yen ~= $465 for this one in untested condition might still be ... within range, though more for a collector than a gamer.

Well, this is supposedly using the World Bank as the source, and I can't think of a better one than that.

 

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/JPN/japan/inflation-rate-cpi

 

Anyway, yeah, I'm not going to buy that Marty. It's an interesting system, but not worth it for the amount of cash they want for it and considering its library.

[+phoenixdownita]

7 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

Well, this is supposedly using the World Bank as the source, and I can't think of a better one than that.

 

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/JPN/japan/inflation-rate-cpi

 

Anyway, yeah, I'm not going to buy that Marty. It's an interesting system, but not worth it for the amount of cash they want for it and considering its library.

Yeah Japan had periods of deflation ... crazy as when that happens there's no rush to buy stuff as "tomorrow it will be cheaper"!

[carlsson]

I realize we're quickly getting off-topic, but does that mean there practically has been no income raises in the past ~30 years, or do income and prices increase on their own, without reflecting the inflation? I tried to find a price index based calculator but all I could find was one based on the inflation which suggested that in Yen things would almost cost the same now as 30 years ago.

[+phoenixdownita]

6 hours ago, carlsson said:

I realize we're quickly getting off-topic, but does that mean there practically has been no income raises in the past ~30 years, or do income and prices increase on their own, without reflecting the inflation? I tried to find a price index based calculator but all I could find was one based on the inflation which suggested that in Yen things would almost cost the same now as 30 years ago.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2018/07/31/japans-lowflation-problem/#66ac05e03d64

"In ordinary English, this means that when prices start to rise, Mrs. Watanabe cuts spending. So firms don’t raise prices, and because they don’t want to squeeze their slim profit margins, they don’t raise wages either. Mrs. Watanabe’s income remains stagnant, so she remains hyper-sensitive to price rises. It’s a demand-deficient feedback loop that traps inflation on the floor. "

 

So it appears indeed everything stagnated for a very long time.

[+phoenixdownita]

14 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

....

Anyway, yeah, I'm not going to buy that Marty. It's an interesting system, but not worth it for the amount of cash they want for it and considering its library.

Aside from the floppies, the Marty gladly plays CD-R, and with a USB floppy that supports mode3, Windows7 and DiskImage v1.3b you can write them yourself:

 

 

format a: /a:1024 /t:77 /n:8 /u
or
format a: /fs:fat /v: /a:1024 /t:77 /n:8 /y

After you have formated the 3.5 floppy disk, you can write back disk images using DiskImage 13b Utility:

DiskImage v1.3b

These are the correct settings:

FD mode option should be “1.25M”. Click on “HD?FD(125)” button to browse for *.xdf, *.dim or *.hdm files.
If you are using Windows Vista/7, use Windows XP mode for compatibility mode

 

[Steven Pendleton]

3 hours ago, phoenixdownita said:

Aside from the floppies, the Marty gladly plays CD-R, and with a USB floppy that supports mode3, Windows7 and DiskImage v1.3b you can write them yourself:

 

 

format a: /a:1024 /t:77 /n:8 /u
or
format a: /fs:fat /v: /a:1024 /t:77 /n:8 /y

After you have formated the 3.5 floppy disk, you can write back disk images using DiskImage 13b Utility:

DiskImage v1.3b

These are the correct settings:

FD mode option should be “1.25M”. Click on “HD?FD(125)” button to browse for *.xdf, *.dim or *.hdm files.
If you are using Windows Vista/7, use Windows XP mode for compatibility mode

 

CD-R definitely helps it, I think. I do generally prefer real games for all systems, but there are a few cases where I can definitely see a benefit to CD-Rs and ROM carts, and the Marty is one of them for sure, judging by those ebay prices. I have Windows 10, though, so no floppies for me. I know it's possible to go back to 7, but then I'm not sure if I can get back to 10 from 7 for free after reverting. I should do some more research, if only to satisfy my own curiosity!

[+phoenixdownita]

20 hours ago, Steven Pendleton said:

CD-R definitely helps it, I think. I do generally prefer real games for all systems, but there are a few cases where I can definitely see a benefit to CD-Rs and ROM carts, and the Marty is one of them for sure, judging by those ebay prices. I have Windows 10, though, so no floppies for me. I know it's possible to go back to 7, but then I'm not sure if I can get back to 10 from 7 for free after reverting. I should do some more research, if only to satisfy my own curiosity!

Floppy Mode 3 is a Japan only thing (or Japan mostly, not sure it got out of there) so you may find alternatives to write 'em floppies given your location (or https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=6451.0  ).

In the west I had to scavenge a little to find an USB mode 3 floppy and hope the motherboard would just work with it (unsure if via USB that's even a thing but hey) ... so I used a very old Tecra9000 with Win7 on it to handle the transfer (that was a few years ago).

I am not sure there's anything that requires a boot floppy that I would actually miss, there's one or two LucasArt games that require a "saving" floppy but that can be formatted directly on the Marty via the menu.

 

It's not a bad "exotic" but I'd put it with the ilk of Amiga CD32, Jaguar and a few others that are really niche, it being the first CD based console preceding the CD32 by a few months is its claim to fame ... released in 1993 it beat Windows 95 a few years from being bootable from CD (not sure if 95osr2 did support it even or just win98 ... so ahead of its time ... well the CD32 booted too so ... what do I know!?)