1up.com: Saving the System - TurboGrafx-16

[Black Tiger]

If MK had been released as a Turbo exclusive, reviewers and critics would have started focusing more on how crappy the play mechanics were and how frames of animation were missing and how if the game had been on the Gen or SNES it would have been much better, but since those consoles had a better game in SF2 it was no big loss.

Even if the Turbo received a MK port along side the other versions and even if it was superior all-round, the press would have still wrote about how the graphics, sound and likely gameplay were worse and pointed out stupid little things about it.

I'm not convinced any of the HuCard RPGs released in Japan would've put up good competition for SNES or GEN RPGs.

Although I don't think RPGs of any kind would have made much of a difference, by this rationale, NEC/TTi shouldn't have bothered releasing any Bonk games or really, most Turbo games.

[Arkhan]

I keep thinking mostly of HuCard stuff.. so I think of Ghost Manor. lol

I guess America at large was just too f*cking stupid at the time.

That's what happened.

Average Joe was like HUHGHGUHUHHUHHH I WANNA PLAY ME SOME NHL HAWKEY.  HUHHUHHHHH

and then parents were like OH MY GAWD TURBO? THATS DANGEROUS. MY KIDS SHOULDNT BE GOING FAST.

f*ck people.

[spenoza]

I'm not convinced any of the HuCard RPGs released in Japan would've put up good competition for SNES or GEN RPGs.

Although I don't think RPGs of any kind would have made much of a difference, by this rationale, NEC/TTi shouldn't have bothered releasing any Bonk games or really, most Turbo games.

No, I don't think any RPG releases would have changed much, but what I'm saying is, while the CD RPGs were sometimes competitive in audio and visuals, the HuCard RPGs appear to be overly simplistic, and would not have been able to compete on any level with the better RPG titles being released for the SNES and Genesis at that time. But CD RPGs wouldn't have helped much specifically because of the limited ownership base of CD units. Further, RPGs require a LOT more translation work.

No, I think many of the titles released by NEC and later TTI were, in fact, appropriate titles to release. The failure of the TG-16 in the US was as much that the games on the platform simply didn't hold as much appear to American gamers at the time as it was that NEC under-promoted the system. So many major developers weren't developing for the PCE despite how well it did in the Japanese market. Capcom snubbed it complete, choosing to license instead of develop directly. Capcom DID develop for the Genesis/Megadrive, even though the MD did miserably in Japan. Konami released some good titles on the PCE, but it could have done much more.

I'm not convinced the TG-16 was capable of doing well in the US. Does affect how much I love the system, but even if NEC had promoted it more, or if Nintendo hadn't engaged in anti-competitive practices, I'm still not sure the system would have found success.

[DragonmasterDan]

I keep thinking mostly of HuCard stuff.. so I think of Ghost Manor. lol

I guess America at large was just too f*cking stupid at the time.

That's what happened.

Average Joe was like HUHGHGUHUHHUHHH I WANNA PLAY ME SOME NHL HAWKEY.  HUHHUHHHHH

Are you sure by America you don't mean Canada in that case?

[Arkhan]

Necromancer competes well with Phantasy Star 2 and 3.

the other ones (Sindibad, Necross) certainly don't suck.

and these are all late 80s / early 90s (1990).

They hold up perfectly fine against genesis and snes rpgs from that time frame. It's not like FF4 is a frigging power house of marvelous wonder.

By the time the pretty shit was coming out on SNES, the CD library could have been launched in America in full force and bent the SNES and Genesis over the table and sent it in hard without lube.

Startling Odyssey 1 and 2, Anearth, CF3, the wizardry games, LOX 1 and 2...

[Arkhan]

I keep thinking mostly of HuCard stuff.. so I think of Ghost Manor. lol

I guess America at large was just too f*cking stupid at the time.

That's what happened.

Average Joe was like HUHGHGUHUHHUHHH I WANNA PLAY ME SOME NHL HAWKEY.  HUHHUHHHHH

Are you sure by America you don't mean Canada in that case?

lol everyone around here was apeshit for NHL hockey 93, and Joe Montana Football 94.

I myself, liked Sports Talk Baseball.

[BigusSchmuck]

lol everyone around here was apeshit for NHL hockey 93, and Joe Montana Football 94.

I myself, liked Sports Talk Baseball.

Around here it was similar except everyone liked Arch Rivals for some reason or another and Bases Loaded. Oh yeah and Nba Jam and later the NFL Blitz games. Not too many rpg lovers until about Final Fantasy 6 release (3 in the U.S at the time), but even well before that I liked rpgs...
Anyway, it would be interesting to see how well the turbo fared against other failed consoles around that time period here in the U.S...

[Joe Redifer]

and no HuCard RPGs, at all. 

Quit lying!  Final Lap Twin was one of the greatest RPGs of our time.  I now await your public apology.

[T2KFreeker]

I don't know about the RPG argument. I think people forget about a group of gamers that came from the AD&D era. Most of my friends and the like were way into RPG's on the consoles. I still remember us all thinking the Sega Master System was so much better than the Genesis because it had Phantasy Star on it! We ran through games like Shadowgate, Immortal, The Dragon Warrior Games. Zelda was HUGE. When I had my Turbo Grafx and nobody else did, we all went out looking for the Neutopia games and tried, very in Vain sadly, to find AD&D Order of the Phoenix. Also, many of the people I knew were talking about the Turbo Grafx CD system because of the Y's games and the Valis games. We all wanted the Sega CD system too after seeing Lunar the Silver Star and Shining Force CD.Those were the games that were popular here in Palmdale California. Most of the kids here thought that shooters were cool and the like but most of them liked playing those in Arcades. We thought that RPG's were cool because it was something unique to the consoles. Just a side look is all I am saying. RPG's may not have been the end all of the consoles at the time, but there were a large number of gamers that did play them and enjoy them.

Myself and a few others in my hometown were also huge RPG fans and I often saw the same people when buying second hand games through the local paper. But everyone else was playing platformers and the latest edition of NHL' .

There has always been a large number of RPG console fans, but they were always a tiny percentage of the market before FFVII. Even FFIII(VI) was supposed to have broken new ground for RPGs popularity wise, but it and Chrono Trigger and PSIV sold very poorly compared to real hits and were special cases when non-RPG fans would play them, but not hunt down other RPGs afterward.

If RPGs were popular enough before FFVII,  we would have recieved Final Fantasy 2, 3 & 5, at least Dragon Warrior 5 & 6 and Capcom would have brought over Breath of Fire 1.

Yeah, it's just too bad that the audience didn't make their voices heard more. The thing with Final Fantasy VII as well was that it impressed Graphics Whores. Not that it's a bad game, but most people that played it I knew that were "Mainstream Gamers" loved to show off the movie at the beginning of the game and that was it. Very sad. Then we got into FF VIII and I wanted to throw up. The RPG's they make now are usually crap. Sorry, but they are nowhere near as fun as they were back in the day.

[BigusSchmuck]

The RPG's they make now are usually crap. Sorry, but they are nowhere near as fun as they were back in the day.

Well except for Demise: Ascension  (we can create a whole new topic on that one ^^) and maybe the new Dragon Quest games. But yeah, I tend to agree that its all about the eye candy, not so much about the game anymore. Interactive movies (Xenosaga anyone?) seem to  be whats in now.

[Keith Courage]

I think the the turbo grafx would have done much better in the US if it had the big name games that the other systems had. If it were not for the licensing issues of third party companies only working with nintendo or sega then it would have been a different story. I know so many people who bought a snes or genesis just for Street Fighter II. No one knew they could buy it for the turbo since it was an import only. Not to mention no 6 button controller support in the US.

The other problem I think was that most people didn't see the game keith courage as this amazing new type of game. The US audience wanted more of the same(Super Mario Brothers) or at least an included two player game to get your friends in on the fun(Altered beast).

However, on the other hand one reason I like the turbografx/PC engine system is because it has all the odd games that no one has ever heard of. It's like I am tapping into this unforeseen gold mine of gaming fun.

[Arkhan]

Capcom would have brought over Breath of Fire 1.

uh.

They did.

[nat]

I'm not convinced any of the HuCard RPGs released in Japan would've put up good competition for SNES or GEN RPGs.

I don't know.

Games like Compile's Cyber Knight are pretty freakin' awesome, and a properly translated version could've done really well, I think.

[BigusSchmuck]

I don't know.

Games like Compile's Cyber Knight are pretty freakin' awesome, and a properly translated version could've done really well, I think.
 

Ohh, never seen that game before, why haven't the rom hacker translated it yet?

[spenoza]

I'm not convinced any of the HuCard RPGs released in Japan would've put up good competition for SNES or GEN RPGs.

I don't know.

Games like Compile's Cyber Knight are pretty freakin' awesome, and a properly translated version could've done really well, I think.

Except that, no matter how much die-hard RPG fans insist RPGs are all about the story, it's really about the graphics and music. The FF series started that trend, but it wasn't until FFIV on the SNES that it was really on. FFVII was just when it became more than a little blatantly obvious.

The PCE could compete at least musically with the SuperCD attachment, but the CD unit was expensive enough it would never have truly been competitive in the US. The SNES and Genesis were good enough for a lot less money.

They hold up perfectly fine against genesis and snes rpgs from that time frame. It's not like FF4 is a frigging power house of marvelous wonder.

By the time the pretty shit was coming out on SNES, the CD library could have been launched in America in full force and bent the SNES and Genesis over the table and sent it in hard without lube.

FFIV was definitely better than most of what had come before, if only a little on the graphical front, certainly on the music front, especially for a cartridge-based game. And again, the CD-ROM unit was too expensive to ever really have a chance at the mainstream in the US. For the amount of money you had to lay out to get a Duo or a Turbo and CD unit, it wasn't better enough. Well, it was better enough for me, but not for most folks. .