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History
In the early 1980s, Casio was one of the most respected brands in electronics. Known mostly for its scientific calculators, electronic watches and musical instruments, Casio decided to jump on the video game craze in 1982 with the release of a few handheld games. The handhelds did fairly well, and in 1983 Casio flooded the market with them.
Building on this recent success, Casio decided to extend its reach and release two other devices to appeal to gamers: the PV-1000, a dedicated video game system, and the PV-2000, a computer loosely based on the MSX standard. The PV-1000 did very poorly and was discontinued fairly quickly. Casio doubled down on the computer segment and in 1984 released two MSX-compatible computers, the PV-7 and PV-16. Neither had enough memory to fully support all MSX titles (8 KB and 16 KB respectively), although the PV-16’s memory could be extended to 24 KB. In any case, the computer line was not successful enough to justify its existence, and Casio pulled out of this segment completely.
Casio remained actively invested in the handheld game segment and began to cross-pollinate its product lines. It released gaming watches and added games to its calculators. In the early 1990s, Casio struck gold with its digital assistants. These were incredibly successful and encouraged Casio to experiment with other devices in this segment, which is how it entered the world of the personal diary. Aimed at young girls, these devices were also very successful. Casio released updated versions of its diaries on a regular basis, adding more features each time, such as games, modem connectivity and infrared connectivity. Wanting to offer more devices targeting a young female audience, Casio decided to create the first video game console made especially for girls. There was, of course, the Super Lady Cassette Vision, a special edition of the Super Cassette Vision made specifically for girls, but its games were the same as on the standard system. This time, Casio wanted a system made for girls from A to Z.
Release
The Loopy was released in Japan on October 19, 1995 at an initial price of ¥25,000. The console came with a built-in thermal printer that allowed players to print seals (stickers). It was subtitled My Seal Computer SV-100 to emphasize its sticker-creation capability.
The seals came in three formats and were sold for ¥1,980:
- Standard Size (XS-11): 30 mm by 40 mm
- Mini Size (XS-14): quarter size (4 stickers per sheet)
- Video Size (XS-31): 18 mm by 148 mm
Besides the integrated thermal printer, Casio also gave the Loopy a very feminine design, with a heart logo prominently displayed on the front of the console. Casio built the Loopy around the games it wanted to release: visual novels and design games, none of which required a lot of power. Although not the top of its generation, the console itself was not bad performance-wise. It used an SH7021 CPU, similar to the one in the Sega 32X (although the 32X contains two of them), and could handle acceptable graphics for the time. However, power was never meant
to be its selling point, as all the games would have a look and feel closer to early Super NES games than to a 32-bit console. The Loopy has only one controller port, which shows that the console was never designed to support multiplayer games.
The console came in three bundles. The first was the console with a controller and no game. The second, the SV100SET-A, included two games (Anime Land and Bow-wow Puppy Love Story) and three seal cartridges. The third, the SV100SET-B, was the same but included Dream Change: Kokin-chan’s Fashion Party instead of Bow-wow Puppy Love Story. The console launched alongside five games, all priced between ¥6,000 and ¥7,000:
- Anime Land – Sticker creation software
- Dream Change: Kokin-chan’s Fashion Party – Dress-up game
- Bow-wow Puppy Love Story – Adventure game
- Caricature Artist – Caricature creation game
- HARIHARI Seal Paradise – Sticker creation software
An accessory called the Magical Shop (officially the Video Seal Word Processor Magical Shop), priced at ¥14,800, allowed players to connect any RCA video source (such as a VCR) to the Loopy, capture a screenshot and edit it before printing. The peripheral plugs into the cartridge port, like the Sega 32X, and supports other cartridges in pass-through mode via its own cartridge slot.
During 1996, Casio released four more games and introduced a new peripheral, the Loopy Mouse. All games released from that point on supported the mouse. The mouse was sold either separately or bundled with PC Collection or Lupiton’s Wonder Palette.
- PC Collection – A mini game collection containing 10 applications, including astrology, a word processor, drawing, a music composer and a horoscope
- Little Romance – Cartoon creation software
- Lupiton’s Wonder Palette – Drawing software
- I Want a Room in Loopy Town – Simulation game
Demise
By October 1996, it was clear to Casio that the Loopy was going nowhere, and the company began preparing to jump ship. In an effort to boost sales and liquidate some stock, Casio released two bundles, each including either Anime Land or Bow-wow Puppy Love Story plus a seal cartridge. The promotion was officially marketed as the “1st anniversary commemorative Loopy special set.”
In November 1996, Casio decided to stop developing new games. Only one game, Chakra-kun’s Charm Paradise (チャクラくんのおまじないパラダイス), was released after that date. Released in 1997, it was not developed by Casio but by Armat Corporation, the company that made the software for the Magical Shop. Casio continued to liquidate stock and support the Loopy hardware until December 1998.
Technical Specifications
| CPU | Hitachi SH7021 (SuperH) 32-bit RISC processor running at 16 MHz |
| Memory | 1 MB RAM |
| Graphics | 512 colors, output through an 8-bit bitmap layer |
| Audio | 4 channels, 12-bit PCM |
| Video Output | NTSC-M composite video |
| Media | ROM cartridges, with 2 MB of ROM space listed in specs |
| Controller Ports | 1 port, supporting a standard D-pad controller or a mouse sold separately |
| Printer | Built-in thermal color printer, used to make stickers from game screenshots |
| Power | 24V external power supply |
| Peripherals | Magical Shop (video capture and printing), Loopy Mouse |
Games
A total of 10 games were released for this system:
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| Anime Land あにめらんど |
Dream Change: Kokin-chan’s Fashion Party ドリームチェンジ 小金ちゃんのファッションパーティ |
Bow-wow Puppy Love Story わんわん愛情物語 |
Caricature Artist 似顔絵アーティスト |
HARIHARI Seal Paradise HARIHARIシールパラダイス |
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| PC Collection パソコン・コレクション |
Little Romance リトルロマンス |
Lupiton’s Wonder Palette ルピトンのワンダーパレット |
I Want a Room in Loopy Town ルーピータウンのおへやがほしい! |
Chakra-kun’s Charm Paradise チャクラくんのおまじないパラダイス |