NEC's Turbografx-16 History Recounted

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NEC's Turbografx-16 History Recounted

Posted by simoniker on Thursday May 27, 2004 @12:06AM from the bonk-bonkity-bonk dept.

Thanks to GameSpy for its comprehensive article discussing NEC's classic Turbografx-16 console. The article explains: "The PC-Engine went on sale in Japan in December 1987, and was the first major console launch since Nintendo's release of the Famicom in July of 1983", and muses: "The PC-Engine appealed to gamers that wanted a more arcade-like gaming experience than could be offered by the aging Famicom", before the author concludes: "If you're a fan of 8- and 16-bit games and think you've seen everything the other platforms have to offer, you might just want to take a plunge into the Turbo, and discover a whole new library of classic games."

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16 bit by Calydor · 2004-05-27 00:11 · Score: 1

IMHO, the SNES had much better games than Turbo ever did, and the emulators out there work like a charm on 99% of all games. Oh, and my first first post. Whee.

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1. Re:16 bit by 13Echo · 2004-05-27 02:10 · Score: 1
  
  You probably have never played any of the Japanese TurboGrafx (PC-Engine) games then. The library was fantastic. It's a shame that TTI and Hudson had such weird agreements and policies that prevented the truly excellent Japanese Turbo games from making it to the US. In fact, some games (like Street Fighter 2), were actually more arcade-perfect than the SNES-versions, aside from the color limitations of the TurboGrafx system.
  
  I personally longed to own a TurboExpress portable for many years. When I was young, in the early-90s, a friend had one of the amazing portables. Nearly 10 years later I was able to pick one up from TZD (www.tzd.com) for a mere $150, brand new and in the box.
  
  I also am lucky enough to have the CDROM attachment as well. It's pretty amazing hardware considering that it is about 15 years old now.
  
  In Japan, the PC Engine was a very popular machine. I would even be willing to say that it was more successful than the NES and the SNES. The PCEFX successor was too little too late, and couldn't compete with other hardware that was being released about the same time (Playstation and Saturn).
2. Re:16 bit by superpulpsicle · 2004-05-27 05:50 · Score: 1
  
  As much as I am open to new systems. Every good Turbo Fx game can be counted by a good genesis or SNES games.
  
  Blazing Laser by Star Fox or Gaiares
  Bonk Super Mario Series
  SplatterHouse Golden Axe or Final Fight
  
  The list goes on and on....
The best thing about the TG16 by vasqzr · 2004-05-27 00:44 · Score: 2, Interesting

The coolest thing was the credit-card sized games.

The worst things were the 2 button controllers and unimpressive power of the "8-bit" console.

It wasn't fully 16-bit! The sound and graphics chips were 16-bit, and the CPU was 8-bit. I remember getting in to the biggest argument with a kid over this at Toys R Us. Sad, in a way.

Here's another article
1. Re:The best thing about the TG16 by hal2814 · 2004-05-27 01:06 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  The TG-16 was already failing to capture the market before this whole not-really-16-bit argument starting gaining momentum in the video game community. It was late 1990 before EGM mentioned it. My Wal-Mart had already stopped carrying the system at this point and Toys R Us already severly limited shelf space for it.
  
  The system has a 16-bit graphics processor. It's not unfair to call it a 16-bit system since the 8-bit CPU passed most work along to other processors, but they probably should have been more upfront since bits back then are pretty much the equivalent of MHz today. Neither are a good indicator of how good the hardware architecture is, but that's what everybody pointed to when arguing over which system was better.
2. Re:The best thing about the TG16 by CoffeeJedi · 2004-05-27 01:08 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  it wasn't just you
  
  kids were adamnant back then about their favorite system, i remember the arguments we all had about the TG16 being '16 bit' or not, problem was, we as 12 year olds had NO IDEA what a 16 bit processor was, of course that didn't stop anyone from getting into PHYSICALLY VIOLENT FIGHTS over the issue. I think that the general consensus at my junior highschool was "instead of using a 16 bit processor, it uses two 8-bit ones", whatever that was suppsoed to mean
  
  --
  May you be touched by His Noodly Appendage. RAmen.
3. Re:The best thing about the TG16 by 13Echo · 2004-05-27 02:13 · Score: 1
  
  Again... It really depends on which locality you are referring to. The PC Engine was incredibly successful in Japan, even into the SNES era. It's probably TTI's local mismanagement that prevented the TG16 to really take off in the USA.
4. Re:The best thing about the TG16 by 13Echo · 2004-05-27 02:28 · Score: 1
  
  Unimpressive? You've probably never seen the superior versions of "Dracula X" and "Street Fighter 2" that were released on the PC Engine in Japan. There was a 6 button controller called the "NEC Avenue 6 Pad" that even put the SNES controller to shame.
  
  It was "16 bit" in that era. The graphics chip produced 16 bit color graphics. In fact, that was the original factor in the 16 vs 8 bit arguments. So, sure - the HU6280 was an 8 bit chip, but the graphics output was 16 bit (HU6270). The sprite display capabilities nearly rivaled the Genesis even though it was an older system. The HU6280, though 8 bit, was clocked at twice the speed (7.16 MHz) as the custom SNES 65C816 at 3.58 MHz. Even though the SNES had a color pallete of 32000 to draw from, it was still limited to using 512 color s on the screen, which is the same as the TurboGrafx and the Genesis.
5. Re:The best thing about the TG16 by Blakey+Rat · 2004-05-27 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  I hate to tell you this, but that hasn't changed at all. Look at a messageboard like the one at www.gamefaqs.com and see all the 'console wars' that go on every day.
  
  It's all stupid, anyway... XBox is obviously the best one. :)
  
  --
  Comment of the year
6. Re:The best thing about the TG16 by Paladine97 · 2004-05-27 04:42 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, the Genesis was only capable of displaying 64 colors on screen at a time which is why the SNES ended up looking a hell of a lot better.
  
  For nifty old hardware info, check Gamefaqs
7. Re:The best thing about the TG16 by jsorbie · 2004-05-27 04:48 · Score: 0
  
  I had one of these back in 1989. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that there was a hand-held companion console, that would play the same credit-card sized games that the regular console did.
  I ended up selling the thing about a year later and bought a Nintendo, because there weren't too many fun games besides "Bonk's Adventure".
8. Re:The best thing about the TG16 by king-manic · 2004-05-27 06:29 · Score: 1
  
  It's all stupid, anyway... XBox is obviously the best one. :)
  
  HArdware wise? yes it has the best general arrangement of hardware. There are things Gc does better. Some PS2 does better. Generall Xbox is better. However there isn't a single game I want thats xbox eclusive. Thsu the point is moot. Like Mac's. Nice machines. But I have nothing I need to be run, avaiable just for macs. So I have not motivaiton to switch.
  
  --
  "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
9. Re:The best thing about the TG16 by KDR_11k · 2004-05-27 07:53 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you for the practical demonstration.
  
  --
  Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
10. Re:The best thing about the TG16 by dave420 · 2004-05-28 04:53 · Score: 1
  
  and anything's changed?
Great great system by bile · 2004-05-27 00:45 · Score: 2, Insightful

Can't get much better than a Duo with an Arcade Card. The top down and side scroller shooters are wonderful. It's a real shame NEC and later TTI screwed up so badly with 3rd party support. The stuff done with that machine was awsome. First CDROM for a home console, full motion video, home development kits, modem, mouse, the Express, the poor SuperGrafx. Great stuff.
1. Re:Great great system by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-28 11:24 · Score: 0
  
  There are plenty of things better than a Duo with an Arcade card.
  
  Like a SuperGrafx with a SCD2, an AC Pro, a Kisado, and a set of AVE6s, for example. :) I don't know by what justification you say "poor" when describing the SuperGrafx, other than to describe its melancholy fate.
  
  And don't forget the LT in your list of PCE stuff. It's the one unit of the entire line that still throws people for a loop.
Good history by hal2814 · 2004-05-27 00:47 · Score: 1

I was leaning towards getting a TG-16 when it came out and the author pretty much pointed out all of the reasons why I didn't get one until they were dirt cheap (in the Atlanta Advertiser for $40 w/5 games): poor title selection, expensive CD unit, short controller cords, mediocre pack-in game (should've included China Warrior or Alien Crush instead). I love Hudson for making my favorite multiplayer game franchise (Bomberman), but this system didn't live up to its potential.

The TG-16 only has itself to blame for its demise in the US. It had a wide distribution (even had them at Wal-Mart), it was heavily advertised, and there were demo units everywhere (even at the Festival of Trees in Atlanta on its release year).
1. Re:Good history by 13Echo · 2004-05-27 02:33 · Score: 1
  
  Screw Alien Crush. Devil's Crush is probably the best of the Turbo pinball games. I've had the good fortune of getting for free from a friend of mine. It's fantastic game. I do like Alien Crush though, don't get me wrong. They are also much easier to come by.
  
  The choice of Keith Courage as a standard pack-in game was totally stupid. You couldn't *give* those things away. I think that a choice of say; Neutopia , Shock Man, or Dungeon Explorer, or a pinball game, would have been a better choice.
2. Re:Good history by king-manic · 2004-05-27 06:37 · Score: 1
  
  As a side scrollign action game, Keith Courage rocked. I'd bought it for the system if it didn't come with it... never finisehd the game. Last boss always kicked my ass.
  
  --
  "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Not the best hardware.. by chrismcdirty · 2004-05-27 00:48 · Score: 1

I had a TG-16 when I was younger. It did have some good games, but the quality of the hardware was rather lacking. While I was playing the game one day, the first controller just sort of fell out of the port. I tried to plug it back in, but half of the pins were stuck inside the machine, broken off from the rest of the unit. This was by the time the machines were no longer in production, so I couldn't just buy a new controller. But thankfully, my grandfather soldered the components together to get me playing again, when the rest of the pins that hadn't previously fallen off did so. Maybe the second time, it could be attributed to my grandfather tinkering with it, but it should never have happened the first time.

--
It's like sex, except I'm having it!
1. Re:Not the best hardware.. by N0decam · 2004-05-27 06:31 · Score: 1
  
  You can still buy new controllers for the TG today...At least in Canada. The company that distributed fot TTI in Canada was(is) called DonSal.
  
  My Mom bought a full set of them a little over a year ago.
  
  And as to the pins problem - I had that happen to one of my controllers, and I had one that the entire connector came out of the cable. In both cases I shoved them back in, and they worked ok for a bit.
Really cool system by dewc · 2004-05-27 01:02 · Score: 3, Interesting

The TG-16 still has a nice fan-base. I think the reason was that it had games no one else would release at the time. It was, in a way, ahead of it's time. It had a CDROM attachment, decent graphics that rivaled SNES and Genesis and games that worked on it's portable, Turbo Express. It had games like Snatcher, which the Sega CD came out with much later, and had the first "FMV" games with Sherlock Holmes. There's still places like Turbo Zone direct that sells new systems and there's quite a few "rare" games for it that people still seek. I don't really know what it is, but it's just different from Sega's and Nintendo's offering at the time.
Final Lap Twin by ack154 · 2004-05-27 01:50 · Score: 1

I can remember playing this game for hours and hours...

The Bonk games were cool too. I know it wasn't a popular system and all, but it was the system I had after I had Atari, so I was hooked on it.

Was really disappointing though because one day I went to ToysRUs to get a couple games and the entire TG16 section was just gone. I found out the hard way that it was discontinued and it was really annoying. /me heads over to ebay.
1. Re:Final Lap Twin by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-27 05:57 · Score: 0
  
  I also really liked "Bonks", great soundtrack. But i also remember "Bloody Wolf".
2. Re:Final Lap Twin by ack154 · 2004-05-27 07:58 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not sure I played Bloody Wolf (sounds familiar) but I loved the Bonk games.
  
  I can also remember spending hours playing Neutopia (TG16 version of Zelda). I don't think I ever finished that game though, I always got stuck at the same spot.
Classics like what, BONK? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-27 02:14 · Score: 0

Bonk was pure shite, and it's all I can remember off that system. The coolest thing was perhaps the CD-ROM accessory, since that enabled some lengthy cinematics, but not much else was worth playing on that thing.
Master System? by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-27 02:31 · Score: 1, Insightful

"The PC-Engine went on sale in Japan in December 1987, and was the first major console launch since Nintendo's release of the Famicom in July of 1983"
So the Master System wasn't a major system?
1. Re:Master System? by Necromutant · 2004-05-27 04:48 · Score: 1
  
  The Master System didn't sell so well at all here in the US... BUT It did even worse in Japan.
  
  --
  ~Necromutant
2. Re:Master System? by MegatronUK · 2004-05-28 00:12 · Score: 1
  
  ...and bizarrely was absolutely massive in Europe. Far more succesful than the NES, and had hundreds of Europe/UK only releases.
TG16 / PC-Engine by MegatronUK · 2004-05-27 02:32 · Score: 4, Informative

The thing that many people forget is that the PC-Engine was *the* most popular games console in Japan for many years, while the Turbo had a luke-warm (at best) response in the US - the uninformed usually only remember the US release.

IMO, the TG/PC-E is *the* best console from the 8 and 16-bit era; NES/Famicom, Master System, SNES/Super Famicom and MD/Genesis. I've owned (or still do) them all.

I'll admit that some of the early games are simplistic and clunky, but which console didn't have a terrible round of release titles (Altered Beast on the MD is a classic example.. utter crud, Kung Fu Kid on the SMS or the early NES games that were really crude) compared to later releases?

The later Hucards and then CD and Super CD games are in a completely different league to the first Hucards; take a look at the Macross games (both the 2036 shooter and Eternal Love Song the strategy); awesome, then there is the original (and some may say best ever computer version of the game) Devil Crush pinball game, Soldier Blade (best, imo, of the Gunhed series), a fab version of Raiden and the brilliant R-Type. Some excellent CD titles to look out for include:

Y's I/II + III & IV
Spriggan (the daddy of Aleste)
Nectaris/Neo Nectaris - forerunners of a million strategy spin-offs
Shadow of the Beast (if only for the stunning graphics and soundtrack)
Solid Force - RPG/Strategy
Side Arms
Star Parodia

There are so many great PC-Engine games that it would take forever to list them all.

Don't forget all the hardware innovations: first console with CD ROM, built in memory saves, multi-player adaptors, mouse, a portable that played the same games as the console... the PC-Engine remains a true classic; and a successful one at that (in Japan, at least).
1. Re:TG16 / PC-Engine by silicon+not+in+the+v · 2004-05-27 03:27 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  a portable that played the same games as the console
  Yup, a great feature, and I'm sure one which no other console maker will ever do again. It saps the game market. They want people to buy additional games for their portable unit to make more money. I do think it was incredible that they could make a portable with enough horsepower to play the regular games.
  
  --
  We may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode. -Capt. Mal Reynolds
2. Re:TG16 / PC-Engine by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-27 08:25 · Score: 0
  
  Dont forget Dracula X. Best CD game!!!
3. Re:TG16 / PC-Engine by GerbilSoft · 2004-05-27 15:50 · Score: 1
  
  Sega did release a portable version of the Genesis, the Sega Nomad, in 1995/96. It played regular Genesis cartridges, has an integrated 6-button controller, TV output (using a Genesis 2 video cable), second controller port, and a 320x224 passive matrix side-lit LCD screen. The only problem is the battery life: 6 AAs last for around 3 hours.
4. Re:TG16 / PC-Engine by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-28 11:46 · Score: 0
  
  PC Engine never caught up to Famicom. It was released too late for that.
  
  I have boxes upon boxes of games from this generation, both imported and (a little) domestic stuff, including all the titles you mention. And although I love my Duos and my SuperGrafx/SCD2/AC Pro, the SNES is the king of Japanese software, especially RPGs. The PCE outpaces the SNES in terms of classic shooters, though, and is a strongpoint that I appreciate greatly.
  
  And please don't mention the built-in save memory as a plus! It meant that your saves were not portable and were easily deleted (unless you had the TNK bank, which was never released outside of Japan). Imagine a Saturn without a save cart, and that's the frustrating situation that non-Japanese Turbo/PCE players were in. On either system, without a save device, you're kissing your game progress goodbye with even slight power or battery failures.
LoRdS oF tHuNdEr!!!! by acxr+is+wasted · 2004-05-27 03:11 · Score: 1

The one game I've always wanted to play for the TG16 is "Lords of Thunder," partially because I'm a big shooter fan, but mostly because of that really strange promo video they sent out for it. Anyone else remember it?

--
"Come on, let's go drink till we can't feel feelings anymore."
1. Re:LoRdS oF tHuNdEr!!!! by ReyTFox · 2004-05-27 05:38 · Score: 1
  
  What I remember is this crazy early 90s comic where they show how the TG16 will cost you less than certain "other" systems(Genesis).
2. Re:LoRdS oF tHuNdEr!!!! by MegatronUK · 2004-05-28 00:15 · Score: 1
  
  Lords of Thunder is an excellent shooter, as good as anything on the MD/Genesis. Excellent kick-ass music and fabulous graphics (well animated, screen high bosses etc.). Check out Gate of Thunder, by the same team, but sci-fi, rather than fantasy based - kicking music and great graphics. I've got both :-)
3. Re:LoRdS oF tHuNdEr!!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-28 11:54 · Score: 0
  
  Heh, I still have that video, although it's been years since I've pulled it out of my "media archive" (the storage heap-o-shame where all my classic game-related stuff is).
  
  The Thunder games are great shooters. They're the kind of stuff that had all the EGM readers drooling back in the day, when they weren't also drooling at stupid Western cartoon-licensed platformers of the time too. :/ If you have an original TG/CD combo (or maybe a Duo that was purchased used), you should try to score the American Duo pack-in disc. Both games are on it, although I haven't seen my copy of that disc in years either. Yay for sloppy laziness and very big rooms.
Long Live Bonk! (n/t) by gmhowell · 2004-05-27 04:40 · Score: 1

Well, as little text as you are allowed in a slashdot post. Much better to waste a few k in db storage and bandwidth than to allow one liners.

--
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
Best Game on TG-16... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-05-27 05:08 · Score: 0

SLAUGHTERHOUSE!!!
1. Re:Best Game on TG-16... by Necromutant · 2004-05-27 08:51 · Score: 1
  
  You mean Splatterhouse, not Slaughterhouse...
  
  --
  ~Necromutant
looks like someone... by th3space · 2004-05-27 07:18 · Score: 1

missed the joke.

--
"How like you to drag your keyboard to a gun fight." - Aaron Bedard (BANE)
Almost... by wikthemighty · 2004-05-27 07:37 · Score: 1

Almost bought a system for this game alone - would stop to play it every time I was at Toys R Us when it was there.

Did eventually pick up the sequals for the Genesis, but they just weren't quite the same...

--
"There are people who do not love their fellow human being, and I _hate_ people like that!" - Tom Lehrer
Europe? by KDR_11k · 2004-05-27 08:06 · Score: 1

I've never seen a TurboGrafx in stores here, was that thing never released in Europe or am I just too young to remember?

--
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
1. Re:Europe? by vrai · 2004-05-27 21:31 · Score: 1
  
  Sadly the PC Engine/TurboGrafx never made it to Europe. There were plans for a release, but the failure of the TG-16 in the US made them rethink. It didn't help that, in Europe, many former 8bit gamers had abandoned consoles for the Amiga and Atari ST.
2. Re:Europe? by MegatronUK · 2004-05-28 00:20 · Score: 1
  
  It *was* apparently released in europe, though most of us here never actually realised it!
  
  It seems that there was a tiny release with the US TG16 (shame, the Jap Coregrafx design would have gone down better) having a modified tv output for PAL; no-one is certain whether it was actually only released in Spain or across all of europe, certainly I can't remember any adverts for it at the time; but they do exist.
I still use my TG16, but.... by WebGangsta · 2004-05-30 03:15 · Score: 1
...but not to play games (although I could if I chose to).
The CD add-on reads CD+G discs. And this was back in the early 90's, when nobody really knew what CD+G was.
It means that today, the TG16 can be used as a basic karaoke player, assuming you have a microphone breakout box (available at the local Radio Shack) to attach the audio cables to your stereo system. (think XBox's Music Mixer without the $2 per download song charge)
And for those of you who have regular karaoke players, you might want to throw in one of these CDs just to see what might be on the disc:
- Information Society "Information Society" (if I remember correctly, one of the songs displays a recipe for chili)
- Little Feat "Representing The Mambo"
- Talking Heads "Naked"
- 10,000 Maniacs "Blind Man's Zoo"
- Lou Reed "New York"
- and more....
The TurboGrafx 16 showed amazing potential by betelgeuse68 · 2004-05-30 10:48 · Score: 1

I had a Turbo Duo, basically a Turbo Grafx16 (PC Engine in Japan) with a CD-ROM attached (all-in-one unit) and let me say this, Konami's "Castlevania: Dracula-X" was the best 2D Castlevania game I have ever played.

I thought "Dracula-X" was superior in music and graphics to the much later released "Symphony Of The Night" on the Playstation and is one of those very memorable moments in gaming from that era.

SNK's "Fatal Fury 2" and "World Heroes 2" were also ported over (for the Japanese market) and were awesome 2D fighting games.

Having played "Fatal Fury 2" on a bonafide SNK Neo Geo system (it featured oversized and ueber expensive game catridges since the code in the carts was exactly what you found in the arcade) I was stunned to see "Fatal Fury 2" on the Turbo Duo - the differences were neglible.

Alas, my best gaming experiences on the Turbo Duo were all import titles - I had the requisite "converter" to play this stuff. Most of the games released for the US market were garbage so no wonder TurboGrafx16 failed miserably in the states...

-M