TurboGrafx-16
The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation, it launched in Japan to compete with Nintendo's Family Computer, but its delayed U.S. debut placed it against the more advanced Sega Genesis and later the Super NES.
The TurboGrafx-16 features an 8-bit CPU paired with dual 16-bit graphics processors, and supports up to 482 on-screen colors from a palette of 512. The "16" in the console’s North American branding was criticized as misleading. With dimensions of, the PC Engine remains the smallest major home console ever released.
Games were initially released on HuCard cartridges, but the platform later supported additional formats requiring separate hardware: TurboGrafx-CD games on compact disc, SuperGrafx games on a new console variant, and LD-ROM² games on LaserDisc via the LaserActive, a TurboGrafx-compatible system developed by Pioneer. No configuration supported all formats simultaneously. While the TurboGrafx-CD was moderately successful, the other two formats failed to gain traction. The resulting hardware fragmentation created consumer confusion.
The PC Engine was a commercial success in Japan, receiving strong third-party support and becoming the Super Famicom's main early competitor. In contrast, the TurboGrafx-16 struggled in North America due to limited marketing, a smaller game library, and its late release. In Europe, Japanese models were grey-market imported and modified for local sale, but plans for an official release were canceled following poor U.S. performance. Over 17 hardware variants were produced, including portable models and versions integrating the CD-ROM add-on. Production of the final model ended in 1994. It was succeeded by the PC-FX, released exclusively in Japan, which was a commercial failure.
History
The PC Engine was created as a collaborative effort between Hudson Soft, who created video game software, and NEC, a company which was dominant in the Japanese personal computer market with their PC-88 and PC-98 platforms. NEC lacked the vital experience in the video gaming industry and approached numerous video game studios for support. By pure coincidence, NEC's interest in entering the lucrative video game market coincided with Hudson's failed attempt to sell designs for then-advanced graphics chips to Nintendo; in July 1985, Hudson Soft approached and pitched them a new add-on for the Famicom that played games using their patented Bee Cards, which they had experimented with on the MSX computer. Nintendo liked this concept, as it had the ability to store full games and overwrite existing ones. However, due to the cost of the technology, and the fact that they would be required to pay royalties for each card sold, Nintendo ultimately decided to pass on Hudson Soft's proposal. This eventually led to the partnership between Hudson Soft and NEC. The two companies successfully teamed up to then develop the PC Engine.The system made its debut in the Japanese market on October 30, 1987, and it was a tremendous success. The PC Engine had an elegant, "eye-catching" design, and it was very small compared to its rivals. The PC Engine sold 500,000 units in its first week of release.
The CD-ROM expansion was a major success for the CD-ROM format, selling 60,000 units in its first five months of release in Japan. By 1989, NEC had sold over consoles and more than 80,000 CD-ROM units in Japan.
In 1988, NEC decided to expand to the American market and directed its U.S. operations to develop the system for the new audience. NEC Technologies boss Keith Schaefer formed a team to test the system. They found out that there was a lack of enthusiasm in its name "PC Engine" and also felt its small size was not very suitable to American consumers who would generally prefer a larger and "futuristic" design. They decided to call the system the "TurboGrafx-16", a name representing its graphical speed and strength and its 16-bit GPU. They also completely redesigned the hardware into a large, black casing. This lengthy redesign process and NEC's questions about the system's viability in the United States delayed the TurboGrafx-16's debut.
The TurboGrafx-16 was eventually released in the New York City and Los Angeles test markets in late August 1989. However, this was two weeks after Sega of America released the Sega Genesis with a 16-bit CPU to test markets. Unlike NEC, Sega did not waste time redesigning the original Japanese Mega Drive system, making only slight aesthetic changes.
The Genesis quickly eclipsed the TurboGrafx-16 after its American debut. NEC's decision to pack-in Keith Courage in Alpha Zones, a Hudson Soft game unknown to western gamers, proved costly as Sega packed-in a port of the hit arcade title Altered Beast with the Genesis. NEC's American operations in Chicago were also overhyped about its potential and quickly produced 750,000 units, far above actual demand. This was very profitable for Hudson Soft as NEC paid Hudson Soft royalties for every console produced, whether sold or not. By 1990, it was clear that the system was performing very poorly and NEC could not compete with Nintendo and Sega's marketing.
In late 1989, NEC announced plans for a coin-op arcade video game version of the TurboGrafx-16. However, NEC cancelled the plans in early 1990.
In Europe, the console is known by its original Japanese name PC Engine, rather than its American name TurboGrafx-16. PC Engine imports from Japan drew a cult following, with a number of unauthorized PC Engine imports available along with NTSC-to-PAL adapters in the United Kingdom during the late 1980s. In 1989, a British company called Mention manufactured an adapted PAL version called the PC Engine Plus. However, the system was not officially supported by NEC. From November 1989 to 1993, PC Engine consoles as well as some add-ons were imported from Japan by French importer Sodipeng, a subsidiary of Guillemot International. This came after considerable enthusiasm in the French press. The PC Engine was largely available in France and Benelux through major retailers. It came with French language instructions and also an AV cable to enable its compatibility with SECAM television sets.
After seeing the TurboGrafx-16 falter in America, NEC decided to cancel their European releases. Units for the European markets were already produced, which were essentially US models modified to run on PAL television sets. NEC sold this stock to distributors; in the United Kingdom, Telegames released the console in 1990 in extremely limited quantities.
By March 1991, NEC claimed that it had sold 750,000 TurboGrafx-16 consoles in the United States and 500,000 CD-ROM units worldwide.
In an effort to relaunch the system in the North American market, in mid-1992 NEC and Hudson Soft transferred management of the system in North America to a new joint venture called Turbo Technologies and released the TurboDuo, an all-in-one unit that included the CD-ROM drive built in. However, the North American console gaming market continued to be dominated by the Genesis and Super NES, which was released in North America in August 1991. In May 1994, Turbo Technologies announced that it was dropping support for the Duo, though it would continue to offer repairs for existing units and provide ongoing software releases through independent companies in the U.S. and Canada.
In Japan, NEC had sold a total of PC Engine units as of 1995 of which CD-ROM² units and the Duo combied contributed as of 1996. This adds up to a total of more than PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 units sold in Japan and the United States as of 1995. The final licensed release for the PC Engine was Dead of the Brain Part 1 & 2 on June 3, 1999, on the Super CD-ROM² format.