Update #4 (Fri 7th Oct, 2022 14:20 BST): As spotted by Gosokkyu on Twitter, the planned October 8th spec reveal and pre-order commencement for the X68000 Z mini console has been delayed indefinitely. This is in order to improve the product & meet the expectations of fans.
As ZUIKI states in a statement on their website (as translated with Google):
"For the "X68000 Z LIMITED EDITION" which was scheduled to be announced and reserved on Saturday, October 8, 2022, we have decided to postpone the detailed announcement and pre-order start date with the aim of incorporating everyone's opinions and making products that will satisfy you more. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers and related parties who have been looking forward to it. As soon as we are fully prepared, we will inform you again from our website and official Twitter."
Obviously, this is disappointing news, but we'll keep you updated when a new date is announced.
Update #3 (Sun 18th Sep, 2022 14:00 BST): Game Watch not only has photos of the X68000 Z, but also has an interview with Mr. Yuki Yoneuchi, executive officer and general manager of the product planning department at Zuiki (it's in Japanese, but Google Translate should do the trick).
Update #2 (Wed 14 Sept 09:40): ZUIKI has officially announced the name of this mysterious console (as spotted by 4 Gamer.Net). It is called the "X68000 Z", and, you guessed it, is a mini console that is roughly 2/5th the scale of the original machine. A mockup will be shown off at the 4Gamer.Net booth at Tokyo Game Show later this month, and preorders are expected to go live on October 8th (the same day specs will be revealed). We'll update you as soon as retailers get their store pages up.
Update #1 (Thu 1 Sep, 2022 09:20): ZUIKI has released even more photos of the device on social media over the last few weeks (as reported on by 4Gamer.Net), but has still yet to make an official announcement about what the product actually is. Here's the latest look at the device, including a new look at its "pop-up" carrying handle.
Original article (Mon 8th Aug, 2022 13:00 BST):
The ever-vigilant @gosokkyu caught our attention earlier today after spotting that ZUIKI Inc, an arcade and system-on-chip (SoC) manufacturer, had tweeted a mysterious teaser for what looks to be an X68000 mini.
As @gosokkyu notes in a follow-up tweet, ZUIKI is a company that is not exactly a stranger to mini devices. It supplied the SoC for the Mega Drive Mini and the PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini, handled the OS and emulation for the Astro City Mini and Astro City Mini V, and worked extensively on the Egret II Mini from Taito. They also provided the AllWinner R16 SoC to Nintendo for the Nintendo Famicom Mini.
As a result, it definitely makes sense on paper for them to be the ones to handle a mini version of the X68000 (even if not all of these machines have been received with the same level of praise, especially in recent months).
For those unfamiliar, the X68000 was a home computer from Sharp that was released in Japan back in March 1987. It featured an OS from legendary Japanese developer and publisher Hudson Soft called Human68K and was home to "arcade-perfect" ports of games like Parodius, Final Fight, and Ghouls 'n Ghosts. It was also the original platform for Castlevania Chronicles, a remake of Castlevania (NES) with updated visuals that was later ported to the PlayStation, and had interesting exclusives like Aquales.
At the moment there are very few details about the X68000 Mini, beyond this out-of-the-blue teaser, but we're interested to hear more as there seems to be a fascinating collection of titles ZUIKI can pull from for a miniaturized release. That being said, given the computer was never sold outside of Japan, we can't see it coming to Europe or North America without you having to import it yourself.