Turbo Duo...What went wrong?

[futureman2000]

I only vaguely recall the duo being released, and I was knee-deep in video game magazines back then. I think I remember seeing one on display at Toys R Us, but the fact that I already had a Genesis made a $300 console a no-go. I also remember being confused by it.  At the time, the only other console that I knew of that used two kinds of media was my Master System, and I had never even used the card slot on it.

[soop]

1) Compare the number of Japanese games to the number of Japanese games.  Then the number of games that were made by American software houses.  It's gonna be a problem.
2) The system is UGLY.  Why they felt the need to change something that totally wasn't broken, I will never understand.

I have no doubt that some people would have bought into, say the Japanese RPGs if translated, maybe enough to give it a small niche, but not enough.  And there are some OBVIOUS titles which should have been regionalised but never were, but the lack of American 3rd party support is probably the main problem.  Why THAT occurred, is another kettle of fish, which is covered elsewhere (thread: What would YOU do differently)

[turbokon]

I agreed with the price killing it. I remember every time we went to the mall, the first thing we would do was go to EB just to see and hold the turbo duo box. I would fantasize about playing the games because that was all I could afford. We wouldn't even dare asking our parent for it!!! If they would have excluded the packin games, maybe except for one, and drop the price in half,  I think it might of have a fighting chance.

[KingDrool]

What killed it? It was too late. Period. I think it had less to do with price than it had to do with the fact that the Turbo brand had already lost the race in America. It was a sexy console, it had (then) cutting-edge media, and a killer pack-in deal. But, it wasn't Sega or Nintendo.

[GohanX]

I agree with jlued. By the time the Duo came out here, the Turbo was done, and the duo with the packins was kind of like a hail mary that didn't work out.  That doesn't mean I wouldn't have bought one if I had $300 at the time, but I was in high school.

[DragonmasterDan]

Yep, TTI wasn't swinging for the fences like NEC was.

They realized they were marketing the platform to a niche, while the TG16 was trying to be like the NES and have a system in as many American households as possible. The Duo was really more of a "if you are really into video games, this is the hardcore system for you" product. Not to the degree that the Neo-Geo was, but really... that's a whole different business plan.

[thesteve]

i could no more swing the $399 then the $250 for the express
the TG16 was only $35 at the time and i bought a few.

[vestcoat]

The Duo was: 1) too late, 2) too expensive.

The concept, aesthetics, and pack-ins were brilliant.

The mascot change to Zonk was intended to be more 'badass' looking than Bonk, but I think overall this wasn't such a good idea.

I think I got into this with someone else recently, but Zonk wasn't a mascot change.  He looked like Bonk, rhymed with Bonk, was advertised as "Bonk's cousin from the future" or somesuch, and relied on Bonk's name recognition.  It was nothing like Sega's changes from Opa Opa to Alex Kidd to Sonic.  While Zonk was advertised heavily and featured on the Duo box, TTI never abandoned Bonk - they were busy with two different versions of Bonk 3 and were working on Bonk 4: RPG.

They realized they were marketing the platform to a niche, while the TG16 was trying to be like the NES and have a system in as many American households as possible. The Duo was really more of a "if you are really into video games, this is the hardcore system for you" product. Not to the degree that the Neo-Geo was, but really... that's a whole different business plan.

I disagree.  The Duo was very much an attempt to remain competitive in the mainstream 16-bit wars.  While the original CD-ROM2 attachment did initially cater to high-end gamers, technology was catching up by 1992, hucards were starting to look dated, and NEC needed their Super CD games to compete with the new SNES and the upcoming Sega CD. Consumers weren't interested in an unpopular, four-year-old system, an attachment, and an upgrade card, so NEC needed a sleek, all-in-one solution.  TTI certainly hyped their fancy media and superior audio, but everyone does that - the SNES box brags about its 32k colors and the Genesis plastered "16-bit" across the deck.  As for the price, again, $300 was too much, but I can see TTI's reasoning: it played two different media formats, CD players were still expensive, and it wasn't that much more than $200 for a SNES.

i could no more swing the $399 then the $250 for the express

The CD-ROM was $399, the Duo was $299.

[Black Tiger]

I don't think that the TurboDuo or the Turbo brand died early or declined prematurely. It plateaued early on and continued on for a total lifespan of about one console generation. The Duo brand was just a continued support of the Turbo fan base. Even if the TurboDuo launched with exclusives of Super Mario, Sonic, SFII, etc, it was never going to shoot up and overtake the Genesis and SNES with a year or two.

[DragonmasterDan]

I disagree.  The Duo was very much an attempt to remain competitive in the mainstream 16-bit wars.  While the original CD-ROM2 attachment did initially cater to high-end gamers, technology was catching up by 1992, hucards were starting to look dated, and NEC needed their Super CD games to compete with the new SNES and the upcoming Sega CD. Consumers weren't interested in an unpopular, four-year-old system, an attachment, and an upgrade card, so NEC needed a sleek, all-in-one solution.  TTI certainly hyped their fancy media and superior audio, but everyone does that - the SNES box brags about its 32k colors and the Genesis plastered "16-bit" across the deck.  As for the price, again, $300 was too much, but I can see TTI's reasoning: it played two different media formats, CD players were still expensive, and it wasn't that much more than $200 for a SNES.

By Summer 1992 (months before the Duo came out in October 1992) the SNES was no longer 200.00. Both the SNES and Genesis were 99.99 with core sets. Sega dropped Sonic out of the package and offered a Genesis core system for 99.99. Nintendo dropped the second controller and Mario World and countered with a 99.99 SNES shortly thereafter.

[NightWolve]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I bought my SNES for $99 with just Super Mario World. I don't remember ever seeing it for $199.

[DragonmasterDan]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I bought my SNES for $99 with just Super Mario World. I don't remember ever seeing it for $199.

At launch and until June or July of 1992 it was 199.99 with Super Mario World and two controllers. After that they released a core unit with one controller for 99.99 and I believe lowered the price of the Mario World unit.

[vestcoat]

By Summer 1992 (months before the Duo came out in October 1992) the SNES was no longer 200.00.

My point is that $299 wasn't that much more than the standard set by the SNES for a new system at launch.  (The Sega CD came out right after the Duo and was also $299, without a core console).  Most likely, the Duo was fairly expensive to manufacture and TTI thought they could keep their profit margins up and justify the price by including a bunch of pack-ins, coupons, and the trade-in/rebate offer.  In hindsight, of course, they crossed the line of affordability and it didn't work, but there's no way TTI was aiming for older or high-end gamers.

TTI was trying to pry kids away from the other 16-bit consoles.  Here's proof:
 

Likewise, all of their software advertising was standard fair.  If they were trying to appeal to a niche market in anyway it would have been obvious.

At launch and until June or July of 1992 it was 199.99 with Super Mario World and two controllers. After that they released a core unit with one controller for 99.99 and I believe lowered the price of the Mario World unit.

Correct.  Mario World dropped to $130 or $150 or something.

[xelement5x]

Was that trade in offer run by TTi?  What would they have done with a bunch of SNES and Genny consoles if everyone had started taking advantage of this?

[futureman2000]

Price points aside, there were no Turbo game rentals available in my area. That alone made buying the console a gamble, even if the price was close to a genesis/ snes.