Were CDs Cheap to Press in the 90s?

[FiftyQuid]

It makes you wonder... Would the TurboGrafx-16 been more successful if internet and online sales were available back then.  Lack of distribution through brick n' mortar stores is eliminated.  I remember Nintendo was everywhere.  I even remember see them being sold at my local convenience store.  Imagine if NEC had this level of distribution.

[Black Tiger]

I mail ordered lots of Turbo and PCE games bitd. If it was as easy as it is today, I would probably have bought all of my games online. Of course, then used games sales would have hurt NEC/TTi.

[Nando]

Babbages in Montreal (Neon Plaza to be exact) used to carry the Turbo and I recall seeing the Duo as well. In late 89 you could play the games at the store I would visit, they would even let you play games they had opened for "demo" purposes. Which was the first time I had played fighting street outside of the arcades.

[DragonmasterDan]

It makes you wonder... Would the TurboGrafx-16 been more successful if internet and online sales were available back then.  Lack of distribution through brick n' mortar stores is eliminated.  I remember Nintendo was everywhere.  I even remember see them being sold at my local convenience store.  Imagine if NEC had this level of distribution.

There was the Turbo Zone Direct mail order. Both when TTI was still around and afterwards.

[SignOfZeta]

I wasn't a huge TZD customer, but I did get several things from them, mostly imports. I'm not exactly sure when true Internet sales started with them (maybe it never happened with TTI) but that's what phones were for.

[DragonmasterDan]

I wasn't a huge TZD customer, but I did get several things from them, mostly imports. I'm not exactly sure when true Internet sales started with them (maybe it never happened with TTI) but that's what phones were for.

They had a site in the very early days of the internet. Maybe 1995 or so but you couldn't pay online. It just had a list of their inventory, their options for repairs, prices and a number to call and an address to send a check or money order to.

They later added an order form, but you would leave your phone number and they would call you for credit card info.

[SignOfZeta]

I actually mailed them money orders!

[Necromancer]

I begged my Dad to let me use his credit card. 

[Black Tiger]

TZD wouldn't sell to Canadians for years, then for a while they would, but charged something crazy like a $50 handling fee on top of shipping. Finally, once they began charging reasonable shipping prices, all that they had left (for sale to the public at least) was common games at a time when virtually all Turbo games were easy to find online.

Working Designs couldn't sell games in Canada until they jumped to Sega CD, but they were great to deal with on the phone and sold direct to me Cosmic Fantasy 2 and Exile. I got Vasteel during a trip to Seattle.

[esteban]

I mail ordered lots of Turbo and PCE games bitd. If it was as easy as it is today, I would probably have bought all of my games online. Of course, then used games sales would have hurt NEC/TTi.

Good point: the double-edged sword. NEC/TTi would have benefitted from greater (potential) reach of online sales...at least amongst the folks who were online. BUT, this would have been partially countered by the used game market (TurboList and BBS had active sales/trading via old-skool platforms without needing the fancy new browser + Internet).

Still, it seems that the "Internet era" (vs. brick-n-mortar distribution) would have been much more conducive to nurturing and supporting a niche console like TG-16/DUO. 

STATUS: Really, we should be asking ourselves, "Why the heck did big retailers like ToysRUs, EB, Software Etc, etc. continue carrying TG-16 for as long as they did? Were they truly selling enough to justify the shelf-space? Did the fact that there were SO FEW places to purchase TG-16 items actually help the handful of vendors (because it made them the "only source"; de facto)?

When Saturn launched, I remember buying discounted games at TrU (Vasteel for $10). I was simply accompanying my friend as he bought new Saturn games and was shocked that TG-16 software was still in the damn building. 

[vestcoat]

It's important to remember that you could still order games before the internet; you just had to browse the pages of EMG and VG&CE for ads and call the numbers. I ordered from BRE Software, Gamedude, Video Game Network (MN) and Game Go Round (NYC) in addition to EGM.

Still, it seems that the "Internet era" (vs. brick-n-mortar distribution) would have been much more conducive to nurturing and supporting a niche console like TG-16/DUO. 

+1. Bottom line is more TG vendors would have helped TTI move consoles = more players = Duo longevity.