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/vr/ - Retro Games

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File: 2.66 MB, 3320x2540, TurboGrafx-CD.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1071160 No.1071160[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

Why was the TG-16/PCE so successful in Japan yet flopped so hard in the US?

>> No.1071174

>>1071172
forgot to mention I'm also from Canada and I think it was actually more popular here in the US though

>> No.1071172

came out 1 year before the mega drive so the japs got to fully absorb its goodness and soak it all in and NEC is a FUCKING HUGE company too so they could push it hard there easy. It came out like a week or two after the genesis here though and the genesis just had the better hardware.

2 of my friends had TG16s I bought one 3 years ago because it was one of my favorites growing up. I also still played the shit out of it even before I got my own my friend and I would game dungeon explorer all the time.

>> No.1071183

1. Keith Courage in Alpha Zones was an awful choice for a pack-in game. These days we might not care as much about them, but back then they were essential. Having Bonk's Adventure as a launch title instead would have helped a great deal.

2. It was released too late. In Japan, it was released before the Mega Drive yet in the US it was reversed. Sega of America were absolutely unmatched in the art of marketing, while NEC America completely blundered their marketing campaigns.

3. The title was stupid, and not nearly as catchy as the Genesis or Super Nintendo. Also, with the US being as obsessed with bits as they were at the time, it's a bad idea to use 16-bit in the title while not actually being so.

4. The CD-attachment was undermarketed, and while Ys Book I & II was a phenomenal game, it missed a lot of classics Japan got like Rondo of Blood.

If it was handled right, it would have been a major contender in the 4th generation. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and NEC eventually backed out of the console market while nobody even noticed.

>> No.1071191

>>1071183
Bonk wasnt out by then it was out in 1990 here blazing lazers would have made a fine pack in for the time being though imo.

>> No.1071197

>>1071191
Oh you're right, confused it with the Japanese release date. Blazing Lazers would have been a great pack-in, but I guess they chose Keith Courage because it was a platformer.(which was a more popular genre at the time)

>> No.1071280

>>1071183
>1. Keith Courage in Alpha Zones was an awful choice for a pack-in game.
Maybe they should have gotten Mashin Eiyuden Wataru on TV as a tie-in promotion instead of changing the coverart and story.

>> No.1071289
File: 9 KB, 512x448, bl2.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1071289

>>1071183
If it's not 16 bit then what is it? Surely not 8 bit.

>> No.1071292
File: 858 KB, 1920x1080, daniel-bryan-goatface-sad.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1071292

>there are people out there who have never experienced the awesomeness that is the TG-16
>there are people out there that think that the TG-16 wasn't one of the best consoles of all time

>> No.1071293

>>1071289

It's like, 12 bit. That's the best way I can describe it.

>> No.1071294

>>1071289
It runs on 2 8-bit processors. It's the same "do the math" scenario that the Atari Jaguar had.

>> No.1071298

I thought it had an 8-bit CPU with a 16-bit graphics chip

>> No.1071303

Porn. Unlike Nintendo or Sega, NEC wasn't afraid to let adult content on its consoles.

>> No.1071304

>>1071294
But unlike the Jaguar it seems to actually do what it said it could. I mean it's no 16 bit but neither was the Jaguar 64 and the Jaguar only used one of its 32 bit processors to display graphics.

>> No.1071309
File: 165 KB, 800x600, PCengine.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1071309

I never understood why they took such a sleek sexy machine and turned it into a hulking piece of black plastic. The original PC Engine is beautiful.

>> No.1071313

>>1071292
If I ever bought one it would be an Express because otherwise it would be shoved in a closet and I would never get to play it, and by never I mean never. Life sucks.

>> No.1071317

>>1071309
That's the US for ya. Bigger meant better.

>> No.1071321

>>1071298

It did, that's where they pulled the 16 from.

>>1071303

I remember import companies would run ads in EGM and GamePro back then, and there would always be at least one PCE game where the screenshot was of a girl having her clothes torn off.

>> No.1071323

>>1071289
8 bit cpu, 16 bit gpu

on a seperate tangent like the neogeo was "24 bit" for whatever reason, I don't remember

On topic, I could list a million reasons how TG16 could have done better in the US. Main one being it should have never come out, and the Supergrafx should have been released instead..

>> No.1071324

>>1071309
>>1071317

thank the FCC for that.. at least I think it was them, short story long the system was too small for US standards and they deemed it an electrical hazard iirc

>> No.1071328

>>1071324
Yeah only if you had some little bitch kids that fucked everything in the house up. Or a dog.

>> No.1071336

>>1071324
The FCC shouldn't exist. Just because there are some bitchy moms out there who don't wanna monitor what their kids watch, and then blame it on the media when they end up getting caught watching it.

>> No.1071404
File: 25 KB, 256x239, 3x313.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1071404

>>1071303
Well, the PC Engine didn't have porn. There were shitty knockoffs of popular games with scantily clad women by Games Express, but those were unlicensed. They had no problem with boobs or bikinis though.

They also had no problem with blood. 3x3 Eyes on the S/ACD is a pretty good example of a very gory game.(by 1994 standards)

With the PC-FX however they did allow some hentai stuff because it was doing so poorly.

>> No.1071406

>>1071309
The original PC Engine is IMHO the sleekest sexiest console ever designed.

>> No.1071415

>>1071406
Too bad it only supports RF. With some tinkering you could replace it with RGB plus a region switch though.

>> No.1071431

>>1071324
The FCC required heavier RF shielding. It's not about shock hazard, it's about regulations involving EM interference.
Most of the extra bulk was probably for marketing purposes.
>>1071336
You're thick as shit if you think the FCC exists solely to make sure Little Timmy doesn't hear the word fuck on TV.

>> No.1071494 [DELETED] 
File: 77 KB, 640x551, PowerConsoleFullView.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1071494

Ever heard of the Power Console? This monstrosity was supposed to be an add-on for the Supergrafx. Not only does it have a steering wheel, a 16-button numerical keypad, an LED screen showing time/date and a built-in 5-player multitap, it even has a 100-yen coin slot and a 1000-yen bill feeder. Who knows what the hell they were trying to do with this thing.

>> No.1071495 [DELETED] 
File: 79 KB, 500x391, PowerTool3.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1071495

>>1071494

>> No.1071514

>>1071309
aside from the extra sheilding additional bulk was added to the board itself when they planned on putting the pack-in game directly on the board but later changed their minds.

the missing chips on the entire left side of the tg16 board and extra bulk is what remains of this idea.

>> No.1071515

The TurboGrafx-16 mostly has Shumps which are hated in the west.

>> No.1071520

>>1071514
They probably changed this because HuCards weren't expensive to make. Having Keith Courage built in wouldn't have saved as much costs(if any) as the built-in games on the SMS did.

>> No.1071526

>>1071515
are you retarded shmups were huge here for a while

>> No.1071680

>>1071404
Was Dragon Knight cut for the PC-Engine?

>> No.1071698

>>1071292
>TG-16

There is no such thing. It is the PC Engine.

>> No.1071702

>>1071698
It's the North American name. Just like the Family Computer is called NES or the Megadrive Genesis.

>> No.1071915
File: 180 KB, 800x600, Coregrafx.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1071915

neat console design you say?

>> No.1071917

Was the TG-16 ever region locked?

It looks like it comes with a CD addon. I'm just wondering if I should buy one for my PCE CD-ROM games.

>> No.1072021
File: 23 KB, 320x239, DK224.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1072021

>>1071680
Nope, it's all there for all 3 DK games.

>> No.1072043
File: 16 KB, 600x338, PC-Engine-Duo-R.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1072043

>>1071917
It's region locked for HuCard games. They swapped 4 of the pins between PCE/TG-16 games for this, but TG-16 games specifically check the console region, so it's harder to play TG-16 on PCE than vice versa.(on Turbografx you can use a converter, but for the PC Engine you also have to disable the lockout like on the NES)

Why they did this only for the PC Engine? NEC's response was that they were afraid American games would find their way back to the Japanese market and sour perception for some of the censored games between regions.

CD games however aren't region-locked at all. Your best option is to get a PC Engine Duo-R, which is reliable, can play Super CDs without a card and can be modded with a region switch to support almost every game ever released.(which excludes ACD(need an Arcade Card Duo) and Supergrafx games(only 5 games made for this))

>> No.1072065

>>1072043
Ah, cool. Much appreciated!

>> No.1072075

>>1071431
>RF shielding
That's why our systems have so much extra metal shit in them. I always take that crap out when I'm working on anything, it does nothing.

>> No.1072387

>>1071515
>shmups hated in the west
Are you too young or what?

Shmups were HUGE here in the late 80s/early 90s. They were probably the second most popular genre after action/platformer. They only began to wane in popularity when we hit the 3D era.

>> No.1072395
File: 145 KB, 640x751, r-type1[1].jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1072395

>>1071915
Yeah the PC Engines always had better console design, but I think the TG-16 had a cooler logo and packaging aesthetic.

>> No.1072403
File: 12 KB, 510x250, NEC_PC_Engine_Logo_1_a.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1072403

>>1072395
I really like the PC Engine logo, even if it was a little underutilized. The cardboard boxes for TG-16 games were really cool, but unfortunately they dropped them with the Turbo Duo/TTI transition.

>> No.1072409
File: 131 KB, 399x398, dungeon_explorer2_box_us.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1072409

>>1072395
I've never been too fond of the TTi packaging though.

>> No.1073085

>>1071323
>Main one being it should have never come out, and the Supergrafx should have been released instead..

Now that's a really interesting idea. On top of that, they could've included the Supergrafx hardware in the PCE-CD to unify the two platforms across regions.

>> No.1073117

>>1071323
>>1073085
There is only one problem: The PC Engine was released in 1987 in Japan, when the technology used for the Supergrafx wasn't there yet, or too expensive. One reason why it beat the Mega Drive in Japan was because of it's earlier release, gaining a significant market share before the Mega Drive could take them.

As for the CD idea, it could have worked, but if you use the CD unit to upgrade hardware for the Japanese market you might as well just use SCDs instead of HuCards. It could have introduced Supergrafx/ACD games though, which would have been awesome.