PC-Engine release pictures / proto hardware

[ccovell]

Hey, folks.  I scanned in a few pages of Famicom Magazine's coverage of the PCE announcement back in fall 1987.  Here they show some proto PCE hardware and games:




Check it out here: http://www.chrismcovell.com/secret/PCE_1987Q3.html

[roflmao]

Awesome!

[RR1980]

that's so neat that even before the original pc engine was released they already had plans for all those add-ons like the cd add on, the modem and the monitor which ended up coming out fort he Duo like 5 yrs later as well as the LT

[GameFreak]

I would really like a D-pad that was circular and round like that proto pic. It would be so much easier to move/shoot diagonal!

[Mathius]

I would really like a D-pad that was circular and round like that proto pic. It would be so much easier to move/shoot diagonal!

It does look kinda neat, but it kinda reminds me of the Master System d-pad which was awful.

[SuperPlay]

Chris, great stuff as always :-)

[Necromancer]

Neat stuff - thanks for sharing.

The price doesn't seem all that horrible to me either, but what did the Famicom cost at the PCE's launch and what did the Mega Drive sell for a year later?

[ccovell]

I'm not so sure about the price of the Fami in 1987, but I think it stayed the same -- 14,800 yen.  The Mega Drive debuted at 21,000 yen.  The Super Famicom came out at just a bit more than the PCE at 25,000.

The PCE-CD unit came out at 57,000 yen, by the way... 

[Mishran]

I like that d-pad. I agree, it would likely have worked great with shooters. Isn't anything wrong with the current pad though.