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

[spenoza]

To me, the third party stuff is what hurt the most. Having Capcom, Konami, etc., on board in the US would have been huge as their games were immensely popular in the late 80s/early 90s.

But those 3rd party problems existed in Japan, as well. Capcom didn't develop a single game for the PCE. All the Capcom games on PCE were converted by other companies, usually NEC Avenue, and several did make it to the US. Konami didn't hop on the bandwagon until the PCE had been out for several years. I think the first PCE release from Konami was almost the very end of 1991. Assume Konami was interested in seeing their titles released in the US at all, there would have been a 6 mo to a year delay before their games were released here, meaning we wouldn't have seen anything until summer of 1992. By that time the TG was already hurting, and I'm not sure a couple Konami shooters would have turned things around.

I think the 3rd party games the TG would have really needed in order to succeed in the US didn't exist in Japan. Basically, the TG needed solid 3rd party support within the first 2, 2.5 years of life, primarily in the form of TurboChip releases. The TG had some great games available in that span, but not enough, and certainly nothing that made the system a must-have for most of the populace.

One reason the Genesis was so popular in the US despite not having a successful history outside of the arcades was that Sega hit their software hard. Sega, like Nintendo, cut deals with publishers and provided dev tools and assistance and whatnot in an effort to get things moving. Nintendo's anti-competitive behavior didn't seem to hinder the Genesis much the way we accuse it of hurting the TG-16. I think that should illustrate to us that a Nintendo handicap didn't have to be fatal for the TG.

In fact, I think both of these points make it pretty clear that Hudson/NEC's biggest problem was a lack of creative developers with insight to a market beyond Japan. Nintendo and Sega both had very strong first party titles that really carried their systems. While many of the best games on the TG/PCE were first party, they didn't have the kind of broad appeal that Sega and Nintendo managed. Sega and Nintendo were simply much stronger first party developers than NEC/Hudson.

[Joe Redifer]

You haven't made the connection yet, even though I explained it:

GAMER SCORE is not a high score in a game.  It's the collective point total of all your lame ass achievments.  Most people with high gamer scores can't even touch the high scores on this forum.  Games don't even have scores now really.  They just have stupid little objectives that shouldn't exist in a game because they're dumb.  Games today require little skill to beat.

Do you even play the 360 and know what I am talking about?

Overall GAMER SCORE wasn't really what I was talking about.  I agree that it is nothing more than an inflated e-penis.  What I was talking about was attempting to meet each objective within the game itself.  Players seem to like it.  Even retro games released on modern consoles have trophies, etc al.  I don't think that games need them, but they can add some fun to games once you're done with them.  I see where you're coming from, though.  Most modern games are one-time playthroughs with little emphasis on replay.  Although I think there is a place for games like this, I would also be very happy if there were more "pick-up-and-play" games that weren't regulated to the download service.  But anyway, nobody is forcing anyone to get all of the achievements/trophies.  I rarely do unless I REALLY like a game (like Burnout Paradise, Uncharted 2, etc).  You can turn all notifications and evidence of achievements off on the Xbox 360.

And yes, I own and play Xbox 360 and PS3.  I even have a Wii, but f*ck that.

[Arkhan]

overall GAMER SCORE wasn't really what I was talking about.

oh. that's what I was talking about when you followed up with your witty "Space invaders has a high score" crap.



TRY TO BE RELEVANT.

[Joe Redifer]

No.

[Arkhan]

No.

how dare you irrelevantofy the thread. I think you need to get a life.

[Sadler]

 

I guess I should attempt to actually contribute something to this thread. When I think back to the games I wanted to play in the 16 bit era, it really was platformers like Bubsy and Earthworm Jim, RPGs like Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy, run 'n guns like Contra, fighting games like SF2 and beat 'em ups like TMNT. I was never too excited about Loom and Beyond Shadowgate or even OotG and Might and Magic. I had games like those on the computer, I wanted "console" games.

[Sadler]

I need to say this too: regardless of whether the box art was better in Japan (and I think in many cases this is debatable), I really don't think that had any measurable impact on TG16 sales. Have you guys ever really not bought a game because of awful box art?

[Arkhan]

I need to say this too: regardless of whether the box art was better in Japan (and I think in many cases this is debatable), I really don't think that had any measurable impact on TG16 sales. Have you guys ever really not bought a game because of awful box art?

no but I have bought awful games due to awesome box art

Deadly Towers, anyone? lol

[SignOfZeta]

I need to say this too: regardless of whether the box art was better in Japan (and I think in many cases this is debatable), I really don't think that had any measurable impact on TG16 sales. Have you guys ever really not bought a game because of awful box art?

Of course not, but I have bought the JP version of a game just to get a better box. I've done this...countless times.

[Black Tiger]

I need to say this too: regardless of whether the box art was better in Japan (and I think in many cases this is debatable), I really don't think that had any measurable impact on TG16 sales. Have you guys ever really not bought a game because of awful box art?

Especially considering that all North American consoles had lots of games with crappy cover art.

[Arkhan]

I like NES box art after MegaMan 2.

Alot of it was pretty awesome.

Ultima Exodus, Legacy of the Wizard, Contra... it was all pretty sweet.

Jackal ruled too

[geise]

When I think shitty box art Astal and Guardian Heroes come to mind.  I have always  bought games based off of the game screen shots or from actually playing it.  The TG-16's problem was it didn't have any great platformers or arcade ports, minus a few handful.  Only a couple good arcade ports of shooters no one really played outside of Japan.  Shooters were becoming a dying breed on the home consoles back then.  Around 92 everyone was wanting fighting games.  I was beginning to be in a minority still craving shooters.  RPG's weren't the big thing yet in the states.  It was just a bad time in the US for the system.  The mindset of gamers was totally different back then.  Now everyone is like "Oh, I never had a Turbo back in the day, I'm gonna check it out!"  People wanted the arcade experience at home.  The Genesis had a good amount of games that were decent ports of the arcade counter parts.  The SNES also had some popular arcade ports.

[SignOfZeta]

I think we should have a parallel discussion to this one that is about the US Saturn. I'm pretty sure that the TG16 was basically just totally doomed from the start, but I'm not sure about the Saturn.

[KingDrool]

I agree. The more I think about the whole situation with NEC launching the Turbo up against a firmly entrenched NES and a focused Genesis, the more I tend to think they were f*cked from the beginning. Granted, they could have fared slightly better if they had made a few different decisions. But I don't think 1st or even 2nd place was possible. They certainly could've made a more respectable showing to keep the momentum up for the next generation, but it's not as though they would've followed it up with the PC-FX in the States. That thing would've certainly been DOA here.

The Saturn, though? That machine could have been great here with just a few tweaks and by doing a better job of localizing games. I love that thing. The Turbo, Dreamcast, and Saturn are my three favorite consoles ever.

[spenoza]

The Saturn situation is similar, I agree, but that system wasn't doomed from the start for the US market like the TG. The Dreamcast is a whole other beast. It was a success in the US, and could have continued to be had it not fared so badly in Japan.