History of video games/Platforms/Casio Loopy

History Development thumb|upright|The Casio headquarters in Tokyo in 2006. The Loopy followed the ill-fated PV-1000 as Casio's second major attempt to enter the home video game console market. While in development, the Loopy was not initially intended to appeal to a specific demographic, with the progression to be a female oriented console being somewhat a matter of happenstance. Launch The Casio Loopy was released in Japan in October 1995 at a cost of cost 25,000 yen, and was marketed to women. First year production was expected to be 200,000 units, though little is known of actual production or sales numbers. Legacy Software development ended in November 1996, the final software released in 1997, and console production ended in December 1998. Though the Loopy was not a big success, it was a much greater success than Casio's previous console, the PV-1000. However the main legacy of the Loopy is more concerned with its reception rather than with its performance on the market. Not only was the Casio Loopy was among the most atypical consoles of the fifth generation, it is one of a select few consoles marketed to appeal to women as a specific demographic. A similar tactic of appealing to non-traditional gamers by forgoing the latest technology, and focusing on a fun and appealing hardware differentiator would later find much greater success with other consoles, such as the Nintendo Wii. Contentious discussion of the Loopy at the intersection of gaming and feminism emerged during and after the 2010's, with some finding the marketing of the Loopy as quite patronizing,Casio Loopy SV-100 https://retro-treasures.blogspot.com/2016/10/casio-loopy-sv-100.html 19 January 2021 Retro Treasures 6 October 2016 and others hailing the console as a subversion of common narratives of gaming in the 1990's. Technology thumb|The Casio Loopy Power Supply. Made in Taiwan, this power supply takes 100V 50/60Hz 50VA AC in, and outputs 24V 1.0 A DC power to the console. The inner pole is labeled positive, the outer barrel is labeled negative. In general, technology in the Casio Loopy was selected to be similar to the Super Famicom, then a market leader.Packwood Lewis In the Loopy: the story of Casio's crazy 90s console https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-07-15-in-the-loopy-the-story-of-casios-crazy-90s-console 22 October 2020 Eurogamer 15 July 2018 en This made the Loopy competitive with fourth generation consoles, but underpowered compared to other fifth generation consoles. As a result, Casio compensated for this by relying heavily on leveraging features of the console not found on competing devices. The Casio Loopy is powered by a 32 bit RISC SH-1 CPUCasio Loopy 101: 32-bit Japanese Console for Girls https://www.racketboy.com/retro/casio-loopy-101-32-bit-japanese-console-for-girls RetroGaming with Racketboy 22 October 2020 en 19 November 2010Blanchard Jonn 29 December 2017 Casio Loopy Re-enthused: world of retro https://re-enthused.com/information/casio-loopy/ 22 October 2020 clocked at 16MHz. The front of the box proudly advertises 32-bit RISC CPU, suggesting that Casio thought that marketing the Loopy as an advanced 32-bit system was a key marketing point. The Loopy has 512 kilobytes of system RAM and 192 kilobytes of video RAM, and supports up to 4 megabytes of game cartridge ROM. Most games used only 2 megabytes of ROM, with some larger titles using 3 megabytes. Games also support battery-backed RAM for save data. The console outputs graphics in 15-bit color with a maximum palette of 256 colors on screen. The graphics output is handled in part by a Sony CXA1645M RGB encoder chip.The motherboard for the Casio Loopy. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Casio-Loopy-Motherboard-FL.jpg 22 October 2020 2 June 2016 The Loopy outputs 4 channel 12 bit PCM audio. thumb|This type of controller connector is used by both the controller, and the mouse. Only one can be used at a time since there is only one port. The Loopy has a built in color thermal printer, with setting dial to adjust contrast.7 Japanese Game Consoles That Never Made it to America https://www.pcmag.com/news/7-japanese-game-consoles-that-never-made-it-to-america 22 October 2020 PCMAG en While the printer may seem like a strange choice, the ability to print custom art on stickers (Called "Seals" in the context of the LoopyLoopy by Casio – The Video Game Kraken http://videogamekraken.com/casio-loopy 20 January 2021) proved to be a fun and creative tool for play beyond video games. Output from the printer is 180 DPI resolution and is generally considered to be of good quality, and while a few game consoles of the 1990's would see optional printers released, none would match the quality of the colorful prints of the Loopy. The Loopy was about one foot long, four inches high, and weighed 3.5 pounds.Milligan Caleb Andrew Bohunicky Kyle Girly Game History on Paper ROMchip 14 July 2020 2 1 https://romchip.org/index.php/romchip-journal/article/view/105 22 October 2020 en The console is powered by a 24 volt external power supply. Optional hardware thumb|Casio Loopy with Magical Shop add on installed. The Magical Shop is an add on for the Loopy that allows for screen capture from video streams.Ashens Casio Loopy Review Ashens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNWGVtwTkiM 22 October 2020 Youtube Apr 8, 2017 The Magical Shop add on cost 14,800 yen, a significant cost at the time. The Loopy two button mouse used a trackball mechanism. Games / Software Eleven titles were released for the system.OatBob Classic Gaming: Girly Console Review: Casio Loopy - My Seal Computer SV-1000 - What about channel 4? https://www.rfgeneration.com/news/classic-gaming/System-Overview-Casio-Loopy-My-Seal-Computer-362.php 22 October 2020 www.rfgeneration.com November 17th, 2007 1995 Dream Change: Kokin-chan's Fashion Partyvideo game: Casio Loopy Dream Change: Kokin-chan's Fashion Party - Japanese Edition - Casio Computer Co., Ltd. https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/video-game-casio-loopy-dream-change-kokin-chan-s-fashion-party-japanese-edition/sQHK7_jpVRhL1g Google Arts & Culture 22 October 2020 en Anime Land - Character and scene creation software.Anime Land (あにめらんど) - Software - Game - Computing History https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/46788/Anime-Land-(-12354-12395-12417-12425-12435-12393-)/ www.computinghistory.org.uk 22 October 2020 Magical ShopFEMICOM Magical Shop http://www.femicom.org/collection/magical-shop/ www.femicom.org 22 October 2020 - Video capture to image manipulator to sticker software. PC Collection - Suite containing 10 creative, supernatural, or productivity applications supporting the mouse.PC Collection (パソコン・コレクション) - Software - Game - Computing History https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/46791/PC-Collection-(-12497-12477-12467-12531-12539-12467-12524-12463-12471-12519-12531-)/ www.computinghistory.org.uk 22 October 2020 Lupiton no Wonder Palette - Art application. FEMICOM Lupiton no Wonder Palette http://www.femicom.org/collection/lupiton-no-wonder-palette/ www.femicom.org 22 October 2020 Wanwan Aijou Monogatari - Game featuring a dogFEMICOM Wanwan Aijou Monogatari http://www.femicom.org/collection/wanwan-aijou-monogatari/ www.femicom.org 22 October 2020 named Peach. Worked on by Kenji Terada.Wan Wan Aijō Monogatari (1995) Casio Loopy credits https://www.mobygames.com/game/casio-loopy/wan-wan-aij-monogatari/credits MobyGames 22 October 2020 HARIHARI Seal Paradise - Sticker printing game.FEMICOM HARIHARI Seal Paradise http://www.femicom.org/collection/harihari-seal-paradise/ www.femicom.org 22 October 2020 Nigaoe Artist - Caricature art applicationFEMICOM Nigaoe Artist http://www.femicom.org/collection/nigaoe-artist/ www.femicom.org 22 October 2020Casio Loopy - Nigaoe Artist / 似顔絵アーティスト Intro Movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epN0QuVJpF4 22 October 2020 1996 Loopy Town no Oheya ga Hoshii! - Life simulation game with room decoration, jobs, and a pet.FEMICOM Loopy Town no Oheya ga Hoshii! http://www.femicom.org/collection/loopy-town-no-oheya-ga-hoshii/ www.femicom.org 22 October 2020 The game was worked on by Kenji Terada, a writer on the first three Final Fantasy games.Kenji Terada, writer for early Final Fantasy games, worked on a little-known Animal Crossing-like game in the 1990s http://www.femicom.org/research/kenji-terada-writer-for-early-final-fantasy-games/ 22 October 2020 www.femicom.org Little RomanceFEMICOM Little Romance http://www.femicom.org/collection/little-romance/ www.femicom.org 22 October 2020 - Dating simulator. 1997 Chakurakun no Omajinai ParadiseFEMICOM Chakurakun no Omajinai Paradise http://www.femicom.org/collection/chakurakun-no-omajinai-paradise/ www.femicom.org 22 October 2020 - Charm and spell making program. Gallery Console Controller Tape Mechanism Internals Variants Preservation As of October 2020 an incomplete skeleton Loopy driver exists for MAME.mamedev/mame https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/a1d35e5abf431e03e06d55b96379a3b14753ed4d/src/mame/drivers/casloopy.cpp GitHub 22 October 2020 en References Casio Loopy Casio Loopy 2100%__NOTOC__