Yamaha MSX Cartridges

[cowmando6]

I found a whole box of cartridges that look to be for the Yamaha MSX brand of computer. I have never seen these in my life and have absolutely no idea what they could be used for. Any ideas?

[Gapporin]

These are not cartridges just for the Yamaha MSX computer, even though they are manufactured by Yamaha. Any MSX cartridge can work with any MSX computer, no matter who or where the computer was manufactured. However, having said that, these were probably sold or promoted with a Yamaha computer, because Yamaha promoted their CX5M MSX computer model in the U.S. as a music tool rather than a gaming computer. It would make sense that they would create music cartridges to help achieve that goal.

As for the cartridges themselves, I'm going to go on a limb and say anywhere from $15-50 per cartridge. I realize that's a vague amount to go by, but music cartridges tend to command a little bit more than most. On the other hand, the fact that it's an application rather than a game enhancing cartridge may keep demand low.

[cowmando6]

Thanks for the info. Do you think it'd be worth it to track a Yamaha CX5 down?

[slapdash]

When you say "a whole box", do you mean you have duplicates of the three shown, or is there an entire series you have a good part of?

[cowmando6]

It's more than the three shown, I just took a pic of those for someone to have an idea of what they were. The full list is:
FM Music Composer II YRM-501 x2
FM Voicing Program II YRM-502
FM Music Macro Cartridge YRM-504
Midi Recorder Cartridge YRM-301
RX Editor YRM-302
Word Processor/STC-01 Enhancer TWE-01
FM Music Composer YRM-101
FM Voicing Program YRM-102
FM Music Macro YRM-104
They're all practically mint, save for a bit of water damage on the bottoms of some and minor wear.

[Gapporin]

Thanks for the info. Do you think it'd be worth it to track a Yamaha CX5 down?

If you want the full MSX experience, you're better off tracking down one of the many models of computers made in Japan. MSX2, MSX2+ and Turbo-R's are the way to go, but keep in mind that each tier gets costlier as well (The newly created 1chipMSX is sexy as all get out, but good luck finding one!). Like I said before, any controller, cartridge or disk made for the MSX will work in any MSX computer (that was the main reason why the MSX specification was created, in fact). The only thing to watch out for programs specifically created for the MSX2 computer -- MSX items will work in the MSX2 computer, but not vice versa. If something is used specifically for the MSX2, however, it will usually say on the packaging.

Sorry for the info dump, but it makes importing and finding equipment for an MSX computer a whole lot easier.