Anyone even own one of those things back in the day or knew some kid or something that had one? I didn't. I never saw these things even stores or toys r us back in the day in the wild. anyone else?
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It was kinda like Im guessing the Saturn of the ones genesis generation. I dont consider it at all part of the new generation as it looks so much better,
So, the TurboGraphix is one of the tragedies of the modern, western oriented, state of retro gaming. In that same breath, it’s also gaining new fans all the time.
The PC-Engine line of systems are well known for their high quality, pioneering gameplay potential, and just fun games. As a system, the PC-Engine/TurboGraphix is like if the Super Nintendo was actually a SUPER uh… Nintendo. The architecture is very similar to the Famicom, but bigger. Badder. And very flexible to make games for. The system is the FIRST 16-bit machine, dropping in 1987! Before much of the western world had even gotten the chance to get acquainted with 8-bit gaming, Japan was already at 16. The system was wildly successful in Japan, capitalizing on amazing arcade ports of popular Namco, Konami, and Tecmo games, as well as fostering its own library of original console titles. The developer that stole the show would be Hudsonsoft, who would forge the platform’s mascot: Bonk! As well, the futuristic take on that series: Zonk. And they would even bring over their Bomberman series to the PC-Engine for a number of titles!
So… why is the system such a mystery outside Japan? Well, Nintendo and SEGA both ended up getting very lucky when it came to being able to forge a worldwide audience. NEC, the creators of this system… got unlucky. They had very little western presence, so bringing the system over had them all on their own. To make matters worse, some infamously dumb decisions happened when choosing games to bring over (I’ll let somebody else tell you that tale) and the hardware lost the cute and compact design of the original in favor of a larger, clunkier design that NEC thought American gamers would want far more. Biggest issue though? SEGA. SEGA of America was HUNGRY for their 16-bit machine to succeed, and thanks to their strange licensing scheme with the Master System, they hadn’t lost any money during the 8-bit era. They poured everything they had into marketing the CRAP out of the Genesis. They made brand deals, had huge magazine ads, and ran commercials like nobody’s business. They were cutthroat, and NEC couldn’t compete. With most of their market taken by SEGA from 1989 (the American launch date) to 1991, any remaining hope for the TurboGraphix-16 was crushed by the western launch of the almighty SNES in 1991, which had hit Japan in the previous year. The PC-Engine had been created to compete with the Famicom, not hardware that was four years newer, and NEC already had a poor share of the market in the west. While they held out until around 1994 in the U.S., the battle in the west was over before it even began.
To make things worse, a European release, just called TurboGraphix, was… well, it sure happened. It went so bad that, to this day, we don’t even know where in Europe it launched. NEC didn’t have worldwide branches, so they barely got this thing out into the world at all. It’s just sad.
In spite of it all, people year on year are learning to love the PC-Engine and its vast library. The system had a Japanese run of 1987 to 1994, but games kept releasing for the unit until 1999. That’s 12 years of games, split across both the card and CD formats. And its library is good! Even in the west, despite the library lacking many must own games, some great ones still made it over!
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(Sorry to write a novel in replies. Hope you find an emulator and have fun with the library!)
So, the TurboGraphix is one of the tragedies of the modern, western oriented, state of retro gaming. In that same breath, it’s also gaining new fans all the time.
View attachment 86115
The PC-Engine line of systems are well known for their high quality, pioneering gameplay potential, and just fun games. As a system, the PC-Engine/TurboGraphix is like if the Super Nintendo was actually a SUPER uh… Nintendo. The architecture is very similar to the Famicom, but bigger. Badder. And very flexible to make games for. The system is the FIRST 16-bit machine, dropping in 1987! Before much of the western world had even gotten the chance to get acquainted with 8-bit gaming, Japan was already at 16. The system was wildly successful in Japan, capitalizing on amazing arcade ports of popular Namco, Konami, and Tecmo games, as well as fostering its own library of original console titles. The developer that stole the show would be Hudsonsoft, who would forge the platform’s mascot: Bonk! As well, the futuristic take on that series: Zonk. And they would even bring over their Bomberman series to the PC-Engine for a number of titles! View attachment 86117
So… why is the system such a mystery outside Japan? Well, Nintendo and SEGA both ended up getting very lucky when it came to being able to forge a worldwide audience. NEC, the creators of this system… got unlucky. They had very little western presence, so bringing the system over had them all on their own. To make matters worse, some infamously dumb decisions happened when choosing games to bring over (I’ll let somebody else tell you that tale) and the hardware lost the cute and compact design of the original in favor of a larger, clunkier design that NEC thought American gamers would want far more. Biggest issue though? SEGA. SEGA of America was HUNGRY for their 16-bit machine to succeed, and thanks to their strange licensing scheme with the Master System, they hadn’t lost any money during the 8-bit era. They poured everything they had into marketing the CRAP out of the Genesis. They made brand deals, had huge magazine ads, and ran commercials like nobody’s business. They were cutthroat, and NEC couldn’t compete. With most of their market taken by SEGA from 1989 (the American launch date) to 1991, any remaining hope for the TurboGraphix-16 was crushed by the western launch of the almighty SNES in 1991, which had hit Japan in the previous year. The PC-Engine had been created to compete with the Famicom, not hardware that was four years newer, and NEC already had a poor share of the market in the west. While they held out until around 1994 in the U.S., the battle in the west was over before it even began. View attachment 86118
To make things worse, a European release, just called TurboGraphix, was… well, it sure happened. It went so bad that, to this day, we don’t even know where in Europe it launched. NEC didn’t have worldwide branches, so they barely got this thing out into the world at all. It’s just sad.
In spite of it all, people year on year are learning to love the PC-Engine and its vast library. The system had a Japanese run of 1987 to 1994, but games kept releasing for the unit until 1999. That’s 12 years of games, split across both the card and CD formats. And its library is good! Even in the west, despite the library lacking many must own games, some great ones still made it over! View attachment 86120
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(Sorry to write a novel in replies. Hope you find an emulator and have fun with the library!)
Both Ares and the Retroarch cores seem to be very liked by the community, so I’d recommend checking those out!
I have to say, I’ve been discovering this system’s games myself recently, so I’m very new to the scene! And I’m very embarrassed to admit that I’ve been playing games primarily on, of all things, the Wii Virtual Console.
Look, it’s an easy solution that uses a piece of hardware I already have set up.
Both Ares and the Retroarch cores seem to be very liked by the community, so I’d recommend checking those out!
I have to say, I’ve been discovering this system’s games myself recently, so I’m very new to the scene! And I’m very embarrassed to admit that I’ve been playing games primarily on, of all things, the Wii Virtual Console.
Look, it’s an easy solution that uses a piece of hardware I already have set up.
have. Got to try it at Toys r us back when it launched. I was impressed with what I saw at the time, when the NES was still going strong. Unfortunately family barely afforded to get me and NES and later a Genesis, so no TG16 for me. Even later in life, I'd wanted to get one, but always put the thought back, focusing on other things.
My friend has a Turbo Duo to this day, along with lots of titles, even Fighting Street and Dracula X. It was with him I finally got to try those two titles.
have. Got to try it at Toys r us back when it launched. I was impressed with what I saw at the time, when the NES was still going strong. Unfortunately family barely afforded to get me and NES and later a Genesis, so no TG16 for me. Even later in life, I'd wanted to get one, but always put the thought back, focusing on other things.
My friend has a Turbo Duo to this day, along with lots of titles, even Fighting Street and Dracula X. It was with him I finally got to try those two titles.
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