<s>
The	O
is	O
a	O
Japanese	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
,	O
built	O
by	O
Fujitsu	O
from	O
February	O
1989	O
to	O
the	O
summer	O
of	O
1997	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1993	O
,	O
the	O
FM	B-Device
Towns	I-Device
Marty	I-Device
was	O
released	O
,	O
a	O
game	O
console	O
compatible	O
with	O
existing	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
"	O
FM	B-Application
"	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
name	O
means	O
"	O
Fujitsu	O
Micro	O
"	O
like	O
their	O
earlier	O
products	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
"	O
Towns	O
"	O
part	O
is	O
derived	O
from	O
the	O
code	O
name	O
the	O
system	O
was	O
assigned	O
while	O
in	O
development	O
,	O
"	O
Townes	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fujitsu	O
decided	O
to	O
release	O
a	O
new	O
home	O
computer	O
after	O
the	O
FM-7	B-Device
was	O
technologically	O
overcome	O
by	O
NEC	O
's	O
PC-8801	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
life	O
of	O
the	O
FM-7	B-Device
,	O
Fujitsu	O
learnt	O
that	O
software	O
sales	O
drove	O
hardware	O
sales	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
acquire	O
usable	O
software	O
quickly	O
,	O
the	O
new	O
computer	O
was	O
to	O
be	O
based	O
on	O
Fujitsu	O
's	O
"	O
FMR50	O
"	O
system	O
architecture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FMR50	O
system	O
,	O
released	O
at	O
1986	O
,	O
was	O
another	O
x86/DOS	O
-based	O
computer	O
similar	O
to	O
NEC	O
's	O
popular	O
PC-9801	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
hundreds	O
of	O
software	O
packages	O
available	O
for	O
the	O
FMR	O
,	O
including	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
,	O
WordStar	B-Application
,	O
Multiplan	B-Device
,	O
and	O
dBASE	O
III	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
this	O
basis	O
of	O
compatibility	O
,	O
the	O
more	O
multimedia-friendly	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
was	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NEC	O
's	O
PC-9801	B-Operating_System
computers	O
were	O
widespread	O
and	O
dominated	O
in	O
the	O
1980s	O
,	O
at	O
one	O
point	O
reaching	O
70%	O
of	O
the	O
16/32	O
-bit	O
computer	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
early	O
models	O
had	O
limited	O
graphics	O
(	O
640×400	O
with	O
16	O
of	O
4096	O
colors	O
)	O
and	O
sounds	O
(	O
4-operator/3	O
voice	O
monaural	O
FM	B-Application
sounds	O
+	O
3	O
channel	O
SSG	O
sounds	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Just	O
as	O
Commodore	O
saw	O
an	O
opening	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
in	O
some	O
global	O
markets	O
against	O
the	O
IBM	O
PC	O
,	O
a	O
computer	O
with	O
improved	O
graphics	O
and	O
sound	O
was	O
considered	O
to	O
overcome	O
the	O
PC-9801	B-Operating_System
in	O
the	O
home-use	O
field	O
in	O
Japan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
many	O
multimedia	O
innovations	O
for	O
its	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
was	O
that	O
system	O
,	O
though	O
for	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
reasons	O
it	O
never	O
broke	O
far	O
beyond	O
the	O
boundaries	O
of	O
its	O
niche	O
market	O
status	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
the	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
lost	O
much	O
of	O
its	O
uniqueness	O
by	O
adding	O
a	O
DOS/V	B-Application
(	O
PC	O
clone	O
plus	O
DOS	B-Device
with	O
native	O
Japanese	O
language	O
support	O
)	O
compatibility	O
mode	O
switch	O
,	O
until	O
Fujitsu	O
finally	O
discontinued	O
making	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
specific	O
hardware	O
and	O
software	O
and	O
moved	O
to	O
focus	O
on	O
the	O
IBM	O
PC	O
clones	O
(	O
Fujitsu	O
FMV	O
)	O
that	O
many	O
Japanese	O
manufacturerswho	O
previously	O
were	O
not	O
players	O
in	O
the	O
PC	O
marketwere	O
building	O
by	O
the	O
mid	O
to	O
late	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
this	O
day	O
,	O
Fujitsu	O
is	O
known	O
for	O
its	O
laptop	O
PCs	B-Device
globally	O
,	O
and	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
(	O
and	O
Marty	O
)	O
users	O
have	O
been	O
relegated	O
to	O
a	O
small	O
community	O
of	O
aficionados	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
variants	O
were	O
built	O
;	O
the	O
first	O
system	O
(	O
FM	B-Application
TOWNS	O
model1	O
and	O
model2	O
)	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
an	O
Intel	O
80386DX	B-General_Concept
processor	O
running	O
at	O
a	O
clock	O
speed	O
of	O
16	O
MHz	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
option	O
of	O
adding	O
an	O
80387	O
FPU	B-General_Concept
,	O
features	O
one	O
or	O
two	O
megabytes	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
(	O
with	O
a	O
possible	O
maximum	O
of	O
6MB	O
)	O
,	O
one	O
or	O
two	O
3.5	B-Device
"	I-Device
floppy	I-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	O
,	O
a	O
PCMCIA	B-Architecture
memory	B-General_Concept
card	O
slot	O
and	O
a	O
single-speed	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Its	O
package	O
includes	O
a	O
gamepad	O
,	O
a	O
mouse	B-Device
and	O
a	O
microphone	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
earlier	O
,	O
more	O
distinctive	O
models	O
featuring	O
a	O
vertical	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
tray	I-Device
on	O
the	O
front	O
of	O
the	O
case	O
(	O
model1	O
,	O
model2	O
,	O
1F	O
,	O
2F	O
,	O
1H	O
,	O
2H	O
,	O
10F	O
and	O
20F	O
)	O
were	O
often	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
the	O
"	O
Gray	O
"	O
Towns	O
,	O
and	O
were	O
the	O
ones	O
most	O
directly	O
associated	O
with	O
the	O
"	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
"	O
brand	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
featured	O
3	O
memory	B-General_Concept
expansion	O
slots	O
and	O
used	O
72-pin	O
non-parity	O
SIMMs	O
with	O
a	O
required	O
timing	O
of	O
100ns	O
or	O
less	O
and	O
a	O
recommended	O
timing	O
of	O
60ns	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OS	O
is	O
loaded	O
from	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
by	O
default	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
SCSI	O
Centronics	O
50/SCSI-1/Full	O
-Pitch	O
port	O
is	O
provided	O
for	O
connecting	O
external	O
SCSI	O
disk	O
drives	O
,	O
and	O
is	O
the	O
most	O
common	O
way	O
to	O
connect	O
a	O
hard	O
drive	O
to	O
an	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
PC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
video	O
output	O
is	O
15kHz	O
RGB	O
(	O
though	O
some	O
programs	O
used	O
a	O
31kHz	O
mode	O
)	O
using	O
the	O
same	O
DB15	O
connector	O
and	O
pinouts	O
as	O
the	O
PC-9801	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
used	O
is	O
Windows	B-Application
3.0/3.1/95	O
and	O
a	O
graphical	O
OS	O
called	O
Towns	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
,	O
based	O
on	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
the	O
Phar	O
Lap	O
DOS	B-Device
extender	I-Device
(	O
RUN386.EXE	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
games	O
for	O
the	O
system	O
were	O
written	O
in	O
protected	B-Application
mode	I-Application
Assembly	B-Language
and	O
C	B-Language
using	O
the	O
Phar	O
Lap	O
DOS	B-Device
extender	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
games	O
usually	O
utilize	O
the	O
Towns	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
API	B-General_Concept
(	O
TBIOS	O
)	O
for	O
handling	O
several	O
graphic	O
modes	O
,	O
sprites	O
,	O
sounds	O
,	O
a	O
mouse	B-Device
,	O
gamepads	O
,	O
and	O
CD-audio	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
is	O
capable	O
of	O
booting	O
its	O
graphical	O
Towns	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
straight	O
from	O
CD	O
in	O
1989	O
-	O
two	O
years	O
before	O
Amiga	B-Device
CDTV	I-Device
booted	O
its	O
GUI-based	O
AmigaOS	O
1.3	O
from	O
internal	O
CD	O
drive	O
and	O
the	O
CD-bootable	O
System	B-Operating_System
7	I-Operating_System
was	O
released	O
for	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
in	O
1991	O
,	O
and	O
five	O
years	O
before	O
the	O
El	B-Device
Torito	I-Device
specification	O
standardized	O
boot-CDs	O
on	O
IBM	O
PC	O
compatibles	O
in	O
1994	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
boot	O
the	O
system	O
from	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
,	O
the	O
FM	B-Application
TOWNS	O
has	O
a	O
"	O
hidden	O
C	B-Language
:	O
"	O
ROM	B-Device
drive	O
in	O
which	O
a	O
minimum	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
system	O
,	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
driver	O
and	O
MSCDEX.EXE	O
are	O
installed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
minimal	O
DOS	B-Device
system	O
runs	O
first	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
system	O
reads	O
and	O
executes	O
the	O
Towns	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
IPL	O
stored	O
in	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
after	O
that	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Towns	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
CD-ROM	B-Device
has	O
an	O
IPL	O
,	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
system	O
(	O
IO.SYS	O
)	O
,	O
DOS	B-Device
extender	I-Device
,	O
and	O
Towns	O
API	B-General_Concept
(	O
TBIOS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
minimal	O
DOS	B-Device
system	O
that	O
allows	O
the	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
drive	O
to	O
be	O
accessed	O
is	O
contained	O
in	O
a	O
system	O
ROM	B-Device
;	O
this	O
,	O
coupled	O
with	O
Fujitsu	O
's	O
decision	O
to	O
charge	O
only	O
a	O
minimal	O
license	O
fee	O
for	O
the	O
inclusion	O
of	O
a	O
bare-bones	O
Towns	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
on	O
game	O
CD-ROMs	B-Device
,	O
allows	O
game	O
developers	O
to	O
make	O
games	O
bootable	O
directly	O
from	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
without	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
a	O
boot	O
floppy	B-Device
or	O
hard	O
disk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
distributions	O
have	O
also	O
been	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
system	O
,	O
including	O
Debian	O
and	O
Gentoo	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
features	O
a	O
custom	O
Fujitsu	O
graphics	O
chip	O
,	O
enabling	O
video	O
modes	O
ranging	O
from	O
320×200	O
to	O
720×512	O
resolutions	O
,	O
with	O
16	O
to	O
32,768	O
simultaneous	O
colors	O
out	O
of	O
a	O
possible	O
4096	O
to	O
16	O
million	O
(	O
depending	O
on	O
the	O
video	O
mode	O
)	O
;	O
most	O
of	O
these	O
video	O
modes	O
have	O
two	O
memory	B-General_Concept
pages	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
it	O
allows	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
up	O
to	O
1024	O
sprites	O
of	O
16×16	O
pixels	B-Algorithm
each	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
has	O
a	O
built-in	O
font	O
ROM	B-Device
for	O
the	O
display	O
of	O
kanji	O
characters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
has	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
overlay	O
different	O
video	O
modes	O
;	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
320×200	O
video	O
mode	O
with	O
32,768	O
colors	O
can	O
be	O
overlaid	O
with	O
a	O
640×480	B-General_Concept
mode	O
using	O
16	O
colors	O
,	O
which	O
allows	O
games	O
to	O
combine	O
high-color	O
graphics	O
with	O
high-resolution	O
kanji	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
uses	O
640KB	O
of	O
video	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
including	O
512KB	O
VRAM	O
and	O
128KB	O
sprite	B-General_Concept
RAM	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
latter	O
is	O
useful	O
for	O
action	B-Application
games	I-Application
,	O
though	O
the	O
sprite	O
function	O
is	O
not	O
as	O
advanced	O
as	O
that	O
of	O
rival	O
32-bit	O
computer	O
,	O
the	O
Sharp	B-Device
X68000	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
system	O
is	O
able	O
to	O
play	O
regular	O
audio	O
CDs	O
,	O
and	O
also	O
supports	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
8	O
PCM	B-Algorithm
voices	O
and	O
6	O
FM	B-Application
channels	O
,	O
using	O
the	O
Ricoh	O
RF5c68	O
and	O
Yamaha	O
YM2612	O
sound	O
chips	O
,	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Games	O
on	O
the	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
regularly	O
use	O
Red	O
Book	O
Audio	O
CD	O
music	O
tracks	O
,	O
especially	O
if	O
they	O
are	O
designed	O
specifically	O
for	O
the	O
Fujitsu	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Games	O
ported	O
from	O
the	O
PC-9801	B-Operating_System
,	O
for	O
instance	O
,	O
might	O
have	O
used	O
only	O
PCM/FM	O
music	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
a	O
novelty	O
and	O
innovation	O
far	O
ahead	O
of	O
other	O
PCs	B-Device
of	O
the	O
time	O
made	O
possible	O
by	O
the	O
standard	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
drive	O
found	O
in	O
every	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
notably	O
used	O
in	O
Fujitsu	O
's	O
FM	B-Application
Towns	O
computer	O
series	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
Sega	O
's	O
System	O
18	O
and	O
System	O
32	O
arcade	O
game	O
system	O
boards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
RF5c68	O
supports	O
eight	O
8-bit	O
PCM	B-Algorithm
channels	O
,	O
with	O
19.6	O
kHz	O
or	O
variable	O
sampling	O
rate	O
.	O
</s>
