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A rarely seen MSX computer

Posted by in Fun, Hardware, MSX, Retro, Technology | May 27, 2015

This is an interesting find. Let me give you some background first:

In order to get your driver’s license in Spain you need to pass a test called psicotécnico. This test is designed to ensure that your hand-eye coordination and response times are normal. When I took the test many years ago, it consisted on a computer attached to a couple of foot switches and a couple of handles. On the screen there were a couple of bars that you could move horizontally independently from each other using the handles. The screen kept scrolling down simulating a couple of roads, and your mission was to keep both bars inside the road at all times.

The Spanish government ordered these systems exclusively from a company called ASDE (and they still do).

What’s interesting is that the computer they used was an MSX2. When I took the test they had a Philips NMS8245, but it seems that they also used computers from Sony. Everybody who got a driver’s license in Spain in the 80-90s had to go and play with this MSX.

Today somebody on Facebook found this: there’s one of these units for sale, complete with the controllers and software (a cartridge screwed into the top slot):

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Nowadays these machines aren’t in use anymore. They’ve been replaced with a newer system, but it seems that the controllers are basically still the same:

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The new Driver-Test set. Probably running on a custom-built PC.

Here’s a video of a test in progress. The MSX version was exactly the same:

Seeing this machine brought back some nice memories. :-)

Update: a friend on Facebook reports that these MSX are still in use in some examination centers.

7 comments on “A rarely seen MSX computer

  1. Apart from Philips and Sony, they also used Mitsubishi MSX2 computers. I did my driver test in 1992 in Mataró, a city not far from Barcelona, with it.

    • It checks if you can do more that one thing at same time. Some thing very usual when you are driving, because you have to take attention to many things (the road, other cars, your speed, traffic signals, etc)

  2. The last time I saw one of these was in the late 90s. It was a Sony HB-F9S and what shocked me most was that the cartridge was actually screwed to the computer!

  3. Pingback: Domingão do Ag0ny: Esse MSX é realmente raro! | Retrocomputaria Plus

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