ZUIKI has finally announced the release date for the X68000 Z Black Model — the retail version of its homage to Sharp's X68000 home computer.
As spotted by @Gosokkyu on Twitter, the device will launch on September 28th, 2023, with preorders starting at 00:00 JST on June 8th.
According to the ZUIKI website, it will be available to buy through Amazon Japan and will come in three different versions: a starter pack for ￥29,535 (roughly £170.51/$211.75), a basic pack for ￥65,780 (roughly £379.80/$471.63), and a complete pack for ￥87,780 (around £506.80/$629.38).
The starter pack includes everything you need to get going including the main unit, SD cards containing Gradius and the system disk, and a Joycard replica controller. The basic pack, meanwhile, adds a mouse and keyboard to all of the above, while the complete edition includes a working LCD monitor too and a Vol.1 collection containing various X68000 Z games from the developer ZOOM Inc. (the contents of which will be revealed on a livestream soon).
Previously, the device was only available in an early access version sent out to backers from the Japanese crowdfunding site Kibidango in two separate waves. In addition to Gradius, that version of the console also featured an SD card containing ChoRenSha 68K, which seems to be notably missing from the various product listings we've seen so far for the Black Model.
Also, something that is important to note is that the X68000 Z isn't like most other plug & play emulation consoles on the market, with the creators intending players to sideload more games onto it rather than simply being limited to a pre-approved set of titles at launch.