We never directly compared the performance with the PlayStation." In addition, we adopted a PCM sound source to reproduce good sound. In order to improve the computing performance, Loopy adopted a 32-bit microcomputer. The mainstream game consoles back then used 16-bit microcomputers. We did not aim for the same kind of console, but we did study those consoles in the light of dealing with video images and aimed at the performance of the SNES, which had the highest market share.
CASIO LOOPY FOR SALE PC
Interestingly, they looked to the older 16-bit consoles during development: "At the time, Nintendo's Super-Famicom, Sega's Mega Drive and NEC's PC Engine were the big three game consoles. The 32-bit Loopy was released in October 1995, nearly a year after the PlayStation, so I asked how the Loopy compared with Sony's console in terms of specs. The Casio Loopy in all its amoeba-like glory (all Loopy pics courtesy of Quang Nguyen). Unfortunately, due to schedule clashes and the eight-hour time difference, I couldn't speak to them in person, but they agreed to answer a few questions by email. The Casio PR department was happy to help me find out more information on the Loopy, and after an extensive search, they found two engineers who worked on the console 20-odd years ago: Tetsuya Hayashi and Kunihiro Matsubara. He reckons a boxed console on its own would now sell for between £130 and £160, with an unboxed one going for maybe £60-90. Quang Nguyen is one such collector: he paid £180 for a boxed Casio Loopy and four games back in 2013, but he told me that prices have been steadily rising since then. Thanks to its short lifetime and exclusivity to Japan, the Loopy is extremely rare on these shores and has become something of a prize possession among British retro game collectors. When I contacted Casio to find out more details about the Loopy, they were surprised that someone so far from Japan would remember their strange console from more than 20 years ago.īut I'm not the only person to show interest in this obscure piece of Japanese gaming history.
The Loopy wasn't the first home console released by Casio - that would be the ill-fated PV-1000 from 1983 - but it was certainly the last. But as a collection of ideas, it's fascinating, a ragtag novelty that may well have been ahead of its time if it wasn't so scatty.ĭon't be surprised if you've never heard of the Loopy - it was only ever released in Japan, its life limited to a couple of years before it disappeared into obscurity. As a gaming machine, the Casio Loopy isn't particularly good.
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