Writing an article like this is daunting. I like things to be precise, and I can be very picky. To save you from my wrath, I have decided to quickly skim the article
. Disclaimer: I don't know if others will be as forgiving.
On October 30th, 1987, the PC Engine was released by NEC in Japan. The system was the first ever 16-bit console (8-bit CPU, 16-bit GPU... considering the time it was released, it straddled the 8-bit and 16-bit "eras"), being released a full year earlier than the Sega MegaDrive. Fast forward 2 years to August 29th, 1989. This is when the PC Engine was released in the US with a new look and a new name, the TurboGrafx-16. The troubles for the TurboGrafx started right out of the gate in the US. Early advertising for the console touted the fact that it had graphics and sound superior to that of the Nintendo Entertainment System, but didn’t even acknowledge the existence of the Sega Genesis. While it had a one year lead over the MegaDrive in Japan, in the US the Sega Genesis was released two weeks prior to the TurboGrafx. Sega used a marketing campaign in which they smeared the TurboGrafx and mocked NEC for claiming that they had made the first 16-bit console. Due to its two week head start, its price being $10 lower, and much better advertising, the Genesis took an early lead over the TurboGrafx. Another minor fault that the TurboGrafx had was that there was only one controller port on the system while the NES and Genesis both had two ports each. If you wanted to play a multiplayer game on the TurboGrafx then you would need an accessory called the TurboTap which allowed up to 5 controllers to be plugged in.
As for the games, this is another place where the TurboGrafx’s ingenuity shined. While their competitors used bulky cartridges, the TurboGrafx used what were called HuCards. These cards were about the size of a credit card, but a little thicker, and they were packaged in a case that looks like a CD jewel case. Unfortunately for NEC, the games are another area where they were lacking. While the NES was an established console and Sega had the Master System prior to the Genesis, the TurboGrafx was the first console from NEC, and developers feared risking their money on new things. Due to this, there was virtually no third party support for the system. Most of the games released were made first party by NEC, or by their partner company Hudson Soft. This resulted in only 94 HuCard games being released for the console in the US.
One year after the release of the TurboGrafx, NEC released a handheld console called the TurboExpress. While it was not the first system with a backlit color screen, as that was the Atari Lynx, nor the second, as that was the Sega Game Gear, it was the most powerful handheld of its time and had a better quality screen than either of its competitors. The TurboExpress was yet another innovation in the video game industry, as it was the first handheld to play the same games as its console counterpart. The only other official system to do this was the Sega Nomad, which played Genesis cartridges, but that wasn’t released until 5 years later. Despite its superior quality and convenient compatibility with the same HuCards that were used on the TurboGrafx, the TurboExpress was also a failure, being held back by its excessive price that was twice the cost of a Game Gear as well as the small library of games available.
Also in 1990, NEC released an add-on for the TurboGrafx called the TurboGrafx-CD. As the name suggested, this was an expansion that allowed the console to play CDs (CD-ROM is most relevant to video games, but you can mention that it also played Red Book (standard audio CD) and CD+G (look it up!) as well), yet again making it an industry first as no other console before it had used the CD format. With the advent of CDs, this allowed for even better quality audio, as well as CD quality music, and also made way for some of the first ever “Full Motion Video” or FMV games. Another advantage to the CD expansion is that it added the ability to use composite video and stereo RCA audio output. Previously the TurboGrafx only supported RF output unless you had an accessory called the TurboBooster. In order to play CD based games you had to insert a special HuCard into the system which was called a system card. The CD expansion came with a 2.0 system card, but only 20 games (in North America?) were released that could be played with it.
As with all things TurboGrafx related, the CD expansion was also a failure. It really had too much going against it for it to possibly succeed. First of all, only people who already had a TurboGrafx would even consider getting the CD expansion, and as we know the TurboGrafx install base was rather small. Next, you have the restrictive launch price of about $400, which made it so that even most of the people who had a TurboGrafx weren’t interested in buying the CD player. And lastly, it all comes back to the games. At this time, pretty much every console out there came with at least one pack-in game, except for the TurboGrafx-CD. Also, there were only two games available for the CD player (!?) at launch, Monster Lair and Fighting Street, the latter of which is better known by its arcade title, Street Fighter. There was a bit of a silver lining for people who did fork out the cash for the CD expansion though. Unlike the HuCards, CD games were not region protected at all, so if you were able to import games from Japan (print advertisements for Japanese titles appeared in all multi-platform magazines, and even dedicated publications like TurboPlay) then you would have a much larger library to choose from including classics like “Castlevania: Rondo of Blood”.
When TurboGrafx was on its last legs NEC tried to save the system with another update, and the TurboDuo was born. Basically, the TurboDuo was a console that combined the original TurboGrafx and the CD expansion into one package while sporting an updated system BIOS and an additional 192k of memory, allowing it to play more advanced games. The TurboDuo also removed the need for the CD system card, as now you only needed to insert a disc into the console and it could be played while the HuCard slot was empty. While the TurboDuo was not technically a new system, it did cause an update to be made to the games. The discs used for the original CD based games were called CD-ROM2 discs, however the new games being released for the TurboDuo were called Super CD-ROM2 discs. In order to make these new games compatible with the original TurboGrafx-CD an updated system card was released. The new 3.0 “Super” system card had an additional memory chip inside of it that the system could use to be able to run the Super CD-ROM2 Duo games. Unfortunately, this 3.0 system card was fairly rare even when it was brand new, as virtually no retailers carried it (officially, it was distributed via mail order only) and most people were only able to get one by ordering it directly from NEC.
In order to make up for the utter lack of pack-ins with the TurboGrafx-CD, the Duo came with what amounted to 7 games on 2 CDs and one HuCard. First, you had the previously released “Ys Books I & II” on a CD-ROM2. Then a second CD, a Super CD-ROM2, included the new game “Gate of Thunder” as well as the games “Bonk’s Adventure” and “Bonk’s Revenge” which had previously been released as HuCards. This CD also had a fourth game hidden on it as an easter egg, and that game was the original “Bomberman”, which had also been released previously as a HuCard. The final game included was a randomly chosen previously released HuCard game. Unfortunately for NEC, Sega was there again to steal their thunder. Around the same time that the TurboDuo was released, Sega released the Sega-CD add-on for the Genesis. Despite the lavish pack-ins included with the Duo and the fact that the Duo and the Sega-CD had the same starting price, most people opted for the Sega-CD as they already had a Genesis and therefore saw it as just buying an accessory rather than investing in a whole new console. The TurboDuo only lasted about two years in the US before NEC finally gave up and stopped producing US consoles in 1994.
In Japan however, everything was quite different. The PC Engine was extremely popular there, as was the CD add-on, and together there were over 700 games released for the two. In fact, NEC’s console was so popular in Japan that there was actually a second generation console released called the PC-FX, but by the time it came out the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation had already been released, and NEC had lost its foothold on the Japanese market. As a result, there were only 62 games released for the console. In 1998 NEC gave up on making game consoles all together and shifted their focus to making other consumer electronic. Their partner company, Hudson Soft, continued developing games for other consoles, and was bought out by Konami in 2005.
I skimmed the article very quickly. In general, my observations:
1. Be 100% consistent with all terminology and treat them as proper nouns (TurboGrafx
-16, "System Card", etc.)
2. It might make things clearer to put some info in a chart:
System Card 2.0 --> CD-ROM2 titles.
System Card 3.0 --> CD-ROM2 and Super CD-ROM2 titles
TurboDuo consolidated TurboGrafx-16 + TurboGrafx-CD + System Card 3.0 into one package.
In Japan, there were additional System Cards, but you don't have to mention them, since your focus is on North America
3. You failed to explain how FEKA conquered the market with poison and skulduggery.
4. When explaining the "failure" of our beloved TG-16, you can explain how, in addition to NEC/TTi's shortcomings (price points, selecting games for North America, etc.), success was largely determined by marketing campaigns, marketing budgets, brand equity, third-party support, etc. Sega and Nintendo spent $$$'s for ongoing, national marketing campaigns (print and television). NEC (and later, TTi) couldn't match a fraction of these budgets. Sega's aggressive, edgy marketing, plus its strong library of sports games, really helped distinguish the Genesis in the North American market. Both Nintendo (via NES) and Sega (via arcade games primarily; SMS only helped a tiny bit) were long-established, reputable brands.
5. So, really, it's amazing the TG-16 survived for as long as it did!
6. Wait...WHAT? I find it difficult to believe this article is part of a job interview. The entire scenario seems unbelievable to me. Forgive me for being rude. I'll tell you what: I won't bring it up again.
7. OK, I lied. If this article is for a job, you might want to make a few statements sound more "objective" (especially when you discuss flaws/weaknesses).
8. Good luck.
Topic: Looking for some input on a TG16 related article I have written. (Read 438 times)