How did you find out about the Turbo Grafx 16 PC Engine.

[pceslayer]

One of my best friends growing up had a TurboGrafx-16 and I would spend most of my weekends at his place playing Bomberman and Battle Royale. His dad purchased a TurboDuo Xmas of 93 with like 10 games (one of which was Magical Chase). I have very fond memories playing Exile, YS and Godzilla in his basement over the next few months.

I bought the entire collection from his dad two years ago. Well almost the entire collection, my friend had sold Magical Chase on Ebay a year earlier to pay rent... 

[esteban]

My uncle worked for Radio Shack back in the late 80s/early 90s.  He was pretty passionate about electronics in general, so he would always talk about the TG-16 and even tried convincing our parents to buy us one as an upgrade to our Sega Master System.  The Sega Master System was our baby, so we were insistent that if we COULD get a new console, it would most definitely be the Sega Genesis.  In reality though, we really couldn't imagine jumping in to the 16-bit era so soon anyway, since the prices were so high and our parents didn't have the means to buy us all the latest tech. 

As far as we knew, the debate between the TG-16 and Sega Genesis was more of a fantasy for us than anything.  The commercials for the TG-16 were cool at the time and the graphics looked really impressive, but we didn't know a single person who had it. 

To our surprise, our mom came home one day shortly afterwards with a brand new Sega Genesis that was bundled with Altered Beast.  We were so pumped and never gave the TG-16 a second thought, we were just happy to have something new after many years with the Sega Master System and exactly 5 games (Black Belt, Rastan, Shinobi and Hang-On and Safari hunt which were built in).  That was it.  If we wanted to play anything else, we would borrow from our cousins or limited number of friends who actually owned a Sega Master System.  During this time, arcades were still insanely popular, and we would often play games like Golden Axe, Street Fighter, Galaga, etc.  Street Fighter was by far our favorite Arcade game at the time, even though in hindsight it was terrible due to the unresponsive controls. 

Anyway, I'll get back to that later, as it will become very relevant soon.  For now, enter the Sega Genesis.  We had it for a grand total of 3 days before my dad found out how much my mom spent on this thing and immediately packed it up and took it back to Radio Shack.  Think about that for a second.  3 young boys who just graduated to a Sega Genesis had it ripped out of their hands and were demoted once again before they could even break the controller in.  We were shattered....in a first world problems sort of way.  My mom was always a softie though and wound up buying us an NES the week after, thinking that would appease us.  What she didn't realize was that the NES was already a dying console.  We accepted the consolation prize nonetheless, but were still bummed about losing the Genesis.   

Eventually, our uncle, who as I write this is a lot cooler than I ever gave him credit for, somehow convinced my dad to reconsider the Sega Genesis (He had given up on the TG-16) and we were once again the proud owners of Sega Genesis, this time with Mercs and Quackshot.  Those wound up being the only 2 games our parents ever bought us, but that was pretty standard back in those days.  Nobody had massive libraries of games.  You rented and traded with friends. 

I began working my first part time job at the age of 14, and started to become a bit more financially independent.  I was making very little money, but I could at least begin purchasing things for myself.  Games for the Genesis, SNES, Master System and NES could be found very very cheap now in almost any used electronics store, pawn shop, video store, etc.  I started to take an interest in collecting video games that I never had growing up; games that I had always heard of, but could never afford. 

This was a very fun period of time for me.  The hunt was on.  Oh man, did I ever love the hunt.  Finding those gems like Ys, or Phantasy Star for the Sega Master System.  I was hooked.  At the same time, I had become quite the Street Fighter player.  I started to become very nostalgic about the original Street Fighter that we had played at the old Wizard arcade many years prior.  When reminiscing with my brother about it, he told me that one of his friends used to have a home version of the original street fighter.  Thinking I knew everything there was to know about home consoles, I told him he was mistaken.  It was never released on a home console, I was sure of it.  My brother was adamant that he had played it at his friends house on a Turbo Grafx 16.  Not just that, but it was on a CD.  At this point I basically told him he was dreaming, end of discussion. 

The seed had been planted though.  I had to find out if what my brother had said was true, because if it was, the hunt was about to get more interesting.  I had contacted this friend my brother mentioned and he confirmed that he did in fact have this set-up.  A turbo grafx 16 that had a CD player attached to it with a game called Fighting Street that was actually the original Street Fighter.  I wanted this thing, but he didn't have it anymore.

A couple of years later, I was picking through an electronics store that I had frequented for old video games, and I stumbled across this console I had never seen before.  It was a Turbo Grafx 16.  FINALLY.  I hadn't seen one in person.  It didn't have any hookups, or controller or anything, but did have a card inside the card slot that said (CD) on it.  My heart skipped a beat and I thought there might be hope that the rest of this thing is laying around somewhere, but this place was a DISASTER.  Anyone in the London, Ontario area will know the place.  I asked the guy working there if had any idea where the rest of this console was and he was as useless as he ever was.  I paid $18 for the loose console with the card in it and left.  This was a bit of a milestone for me, because up until this point, the TG-16 was so nebulous. 

I get to work that evening (this was a Saturday), and I was mentioning what had happened that day to one of my co-workers.  I was working in a restaurant kitchen, and closed every Saturday with this guy.  My co-worker was in his early 30s, and was a gamer too, so when I mentioned that I had bought a TG-16 he just casually says "Oh yeah, I still have mine.  Actually, I have a Turbo Grafx 16 with CD Add-On and carrying case.  I also have this really cool system called a Turbo Duo that is basically the Turbo Grafx 16 and CD player all in one".  I didn't believe what I was hearing.  I tried concealing the fact that I had pretty much just crapped my pants.  I asked him as calmly as I could, "would you mind selling it to me?  I really want one, and the one I purchased is basically useless to me without the connections".  He said "Sure, I never play it.  I've got a bunch of games too, come take a look after work".  That must have been the longest shift EVER.  We finished up at around 1 am, and head over to his parents' place to check out his stuff.  He pulls out all of this Turbografx hardware and it was all I could do to keep my jaw from slamming against the floor.  He shows me the turbografx 16 with CD add on in the hard carrying case.  He starts pulling out games.  Legendary Axe 1 and 2, Valis II and III, and Galaga.  Everything was in pristine condition, all of the games still had their boxes.  Then, the grand finale, he shows me the Turbo Duo.  The box alone was impressive, it just looked so...advanced.  He opens it up and shows me the duo along with the games that were packed in with it.  I just could believe my eyes.  When I asked him how much, he said "I don't know, how about $200 for everything?".  I'll be honest with you guys, I didn't even know what this stuff was worth, but I didn't care.  I didn't know the going rate of a Turbo Duo.  Heck, before that night I didn't even know what the Turbo Duo was.  I agreed.  I didn't have the money on me, so he let me take the stuff home with me and pay him the next day.  I was ecstatic. 

I immediately hooked up the Duo when I got home and started playing Ys Book 1 and 2.  I couldn't put it down.  I wound up finishing that game first before moving on to anything else.  The next weekend I am walking through that same Electronics Store from a week earlier, and in my search, what do I find?  2 Turbo Grafx CD games.  Prince of Persia and.....FIGHTING STREET!  I couldn't believe it.  Oddly enough, that same day, I had also picked up Dracula X for the SNES for 7 bucks, which is hilarious since that set me down a trail to acquire the infamous Dracula X for the Duo. 

Anyway, it's getting late, and most people won't actually read this wall of text.  Not even sure if this will be coherent, but it's been fun just writing all of this down. 

The days where stuff like this happen are long gone.  Ebay has pretty much destroyed this past-time for me and most of you as well.  I have countless stories like this one.  Stories where putting in the effort to hit the pavement and hunt locally turned up some serious gaming treasures.   

I read this. 

[Tatsujin]

me too. book worthy

[Miracle_Warrior]

me too. book worthy

Nice   Glad you guys enjoyed it. 

[munchiaz]

My uncle worked for Radio Shack back in the late 80s/early 90s.  He was pretty passionate about electronics in general, so he would always talk about the TG-16 and even tried convincing our parents to buy us one as an upgrade to our Sega Master System.  The Sega Master System was our baby, so we were insistent that if we COULD get a new console, it would most definitely be the Sega Genesis.  In reality though, we really couldn't imagine jumping in to the 16-bit era so soon anyway, since the prices were so high and our parents didn't have the means to buy us all the latest tech. 

As far as we knew, the debate between the TG-16 and Sega Genesis was more of a fantasy for us than anything.  The commercials for the TG-16 were cool at the time and the graphics looked really impressive, but we didn't know a single person who had it. 

To our surprise, our mom came home one day shortly afterwards with a brand new Sega Genesis that was bundled with Altered Beast.  We were so pumped and never gave the TG-16 a second thought, we were just happy to have something new after many years with the Sega Master System and exactly 5 games (Black Belt, Rastan, Shinobi and Hang-On and Safari hunt which were built in).  That was it.  If we wanted to play anything else, we would borrow from our cousins or limited number of friends who actually owned a Sega Master System.  During this time, arcades were still insanely popular, and we would often play games like Golden Axe, Street Fighter, Galaga, etc.  Street Fighter was by far our favorite Arcade game at the time, even though in hindsight it was terrible due to the unresponsive controls. 

Anyway, I'll get back to that later, as it will become very relevant soon.  For now, enter the Sega Genesis.  We had it for a grand total of 3 days before my dad found out how much my mom spent on this thing and immediately packed it up and took it back to Radio Shack.  Think about that for a second.  3 young boys who just graduated to a Sega Genesis had it ripped out of their hands and were demoted once again before they could even break the controller in.  We were shattered....in a first world problems sort of way.  My mom was always a softie though and wound up buying us an NES the week after, thinking that would appease us.  What she didn't realize was that the NES was already a dying console.  We accepted the consolation prize nonetheless, but were still bummed about losing the Genesis.   

Eventually, our uncle, who as I write this is a lot cooler than I ever gave him credit for, somehow convinced my dad to reconsider the Sega Genesis (He had given up on the TG-16) and we were once again the proud owners of Sega Genesis, this time with Mercs and Quackshot.  Those wound up being the only 2 games our parents ever bought us, but that was pretty standard back in those days.  Nobody had massive libraries of games.  You rented and traded with friends. 

I began working my first part time job at the age of 14, and started to become a bit more financially independent.  I was making very little money, but I could at least begin purchasing things for myself.  Games for the Genesis, SNES, Master System and NES could be found very very cheap now in almost any used electronics store, pawn shop, video store, etc.  I started to take an interest in collecting video games that I never had growing up; games that I had always heard of, but could never afford. 

This was a very fun period of time for me.  The hunt was on.  Oh man, did I ever love the hunt.  Finding those gems like Ys, or Phantasy Star for the Sega Master System.  I was hooked.  At the same time, I had become quite the Street Fighter player.  I started to become very nostalgic about the original Street Fighter that we had played at the old Wizard arcade many years prior.  When reminiscing with my brother about it, he told me that one of his friends used to have a home version of the original street fighter.  Thinking I knew everything there was to know about home consoles, I told him he was mistaken.  It was never released on a home console, I was sure of it.  My brother was adamant that he had played it at his friends house on a Turbo Grafx 16.  Not just that, but it was on a CD.  At this point I basically told him he was dreaming, end of discussion. 

The seed had been planted though.  I had to find out if what my brother had said was true, because if it was, the hunt was about to get more interesting.  I had contacted this friend my brother mentioned and he confirmed that he did in fact have this set-up.  A turbo grafx 16 that had a CD player attached to it with a game called Fighting Street that was actually the original Street Fighter.  I wanted this thing, but he didn't have it anymore.

A couple of years later, I was picking through an electronics store that I had frequented for old video games, and I stumbled across this console I had never seen before.  It was a Turbo Grafx 16.  FINALLY.  I hadn't seen one in person.  It didn't have any hookups, or controller or anything, but did have a card inside the card slot that said (CD) on it.  My heart skipped a beat and I thought there might be hope that the rest of this thing is laying around somewhere, but this place was a DISASTER.  Anyone in the London, Ontario area will know the place.  I asked the guy working there if had any idea where the rest of this console was and he was as useless as he ever was.  I paid $18 for the loose console with the card in it and left.  This was a bit of a milestone for me, because up until this point, the TG-16 was so nebulous. 

I get to work that evening (this was a Saturday), and I was mentioning what had happened that day to one of my co-workers.  I was working in a restaurant kitchen, and closed every Saturday with this guy.  My co-worker was in his early 30s, and was a gamer too, so when I mentioned that I had bought a TG-16 he just casually says "Oh yeah, I still have mine.  Actually, I have a Turbo Grafx 16 with CD Add-On and carrying case.  I also have this really cool system called a Turbo Duo that is basically the Turbo Grafx 16 and CD player all in one".  I didn't believe what I was hearing.  I tried concealing the fact that I had pretty much just crapped my pants.  I asked him as calmly as I could, "would you mind selling it to me?  I really want one, and the one I purchased is basically useless to me without the connections".  He said "Sure, I never play it.  I've got a bunch of games too, come take a look after work".  That must have been the longest shift EVER.  We finished up at around 1 am, and head over to his parents' place to check out his stuff.  He pulls out all of this Turbografx hardware and it was all I could do to keep my jaw from slamming against the floor.  He shows me the turbografx 16 with CD add on in the hard carrying case.  He starts pulling out games.  Legendary Axe 1 and 2, Valis II and III, and Galaga.  Everything was in pristine condition, all of the games still had their boxes.  Then, the grand finale, he shows me the Turbo Duo.  The box alone was impressive, it just looked so...advanced.  He opens it up and shows me the duo along with the games that were packed in with it.  I just could believe my eyes.  When I asked him how much, he said "I don't know, how about $200 for everything?".  I'll be honest with you guys, I didn't even know what this stuff was worth, but I didn't care.  I didn't know the going rate of a Turbo Duo.  Heck, before that night I didn't even know what the Turbo Duo was.  I agreed.  I didn't have the money on me, so he let me take the stuff home with me and pay him the next day.  I was ecstatic. 

I immediately hooked up the Duo when I got home and started playing Ys Book 1 and 2.  I couldn't put it down.  I wound up finishing that game first before moving on to anything else.  The next weekend I am walking through that same Electronics Store from a week earlier, and in my search, what do I find?  2 Turbo Grafx CD games.  Prince of Persia and.....FIGHTING STREET!  I couldn't believe it.  Oddly enough, that same day, I had also picked up Dracula X for the SNES for 7 bucks, which is hilarious since that set me down a trail to acquire the infamous Dracula X for the Duo. 

Anyway, it's getting late, and most people won't actually read this wall of text.  Not even sure if this will be coherent, but it's been fun just writing all of this down. 

The days where stuff like this happen are long gone.  Ebay has pretty much destroyed this past-time for me and most of you as well.  I have countless stories like this one.  Stories where putting in the effort to hit the pavement and hunt locally turned up some serious gaming treasures.     

Amazing story man.

[toymachine78]

Bonk is my great great great great great great ...... great grandfather. So it was a legacy in my family. No joke.  Tru story.

[HailingTheThings]

Bonk is my great great great great great great ...... great grandfather. So it was a legacy in my family. No joke.  Tru story.

I believe it.

[SNKNostalgia]

This commercial first back 1990 watching cartoons on TV.

Later on by reading Gamepro magazines and I was on some mailing list with brochures, posters, etc...

Here's my odd experience with the TG-16 and other things I mention:

I ended up getting my TG-16 on X-mas 1991 without asking for it. I really wanted a SNES mostly or even a Genesis that year. The main reason it being a problem for me at the time was due to that I lived on a Navy base in Puerto Rico and my mom got it at Toys R Us in California while visiting my grandmother. Nobody sold TG-16 games anywhere near my location, nor did anyone that I knew owned it on or off the base. I was stuck with Keith's Courage and Final Lap Twin. I also felt robbed X-mas 1989 for getting a Lynx instead of the Genesis, lol. My parents and grandmother could never get it right. I had the same problem, two games and could not buy more games for it. I guess we could have ordered games, but I was a kid and didn't know much about doing that. My parents and I would just keep going to the Navy Exchange and KB Toys off the base to buy regular NES games till '93  .

Back to the TG-16. I enjoyed it at first, but then it got old with just two games for a year. Finally an EB games opened in a town summer of '92 just outside the base and I got Cadash. That game almost saved my deprived 16-bit ownership experience. It wasn't until 2000 and then 2006 when I actually started to get back into really enjoy the system. Well, I got a Duo US new from TZD in 2000 with Ys 1+2, Final Zone 2 and a 3-in-1 disc I picked up a few years before in a CD bin at a bargain store. That really helped. Then in 2006 I finally bought a few CD games and 30 HuCards US and JP. Ever since, I would buy a few games here and there that I really want, and I still do.

I really didn't experience the 16-bit age properly till I got a SNES in Spring '94... yeah f$%# 1994. I didn't get a Genesis and Sega CD until 1996 on the cheap, which was a year after I got my PS1 lol. Then a Neo Geo CD Toploader in '97. I went in hard when I got my first job in '97.

[420GOAT]

game pro and commercials. i remember the sweet graphics on tv, and knew i had to have one, it counted as my Christmas and Birthday gift, my parents would always do some deals like that if i wanted something pricey.

[HailingTheThings]

This commercial first back 1990 watching cartoons on TV.

Later on by reading Gamepro magazines and I was on some mailing list with brochures, posters, etc...

Here's my odd experience with the TG-16 and other things I mention:

I ended up getting my TG-16 on X-mas 1991 without asking for it. I really wanted a SNES mostly or even a Genesis that year. The main reason it being a problem for me at the time was due to that I lived on a Navy base in Puerto Rico and my mom got it at Toys R Us in California while visiting my grandmother. Nobody sold TG-16 games anywhere near my location, nor did anyone that I knew owned it on or off the base. I was stuck with Keith's Courage and Final Lap Twin. I also felt robbed X-mas 1989 for getting a Lynx instead of the Genesis, lol. My parents and grandmother could never get it right. I had the same problem, two games and could not buy more games for it. I guess we could have ordered games, but I was a kid and didn't know much about doing that. My parents and I would just keep going to the Navy Exchange and KB Toys off the base to buy regular NES games till '93  .

Back to the TG-16. I enjoyed it at first, but then it got old with just two games for a year. Finally an EB games opened in a town summer of '92 just outside the base and I got Cadash. That game almost saved my deprived 16-bit ownership experience. It wasn't until 2000 and then 2006 when I actually started to get back into really enjoy the system. Well, I got a Duo US new from TZD in 2000 with Ys 1+2, Final Zone 2 and a 3-in-1 disc I picked up a few years before in a CD bin at a bargain store. That really helped. Then in 2006 I finally bought a few CD games and 30 HuCards US and JP. Ever since, I would buy a few games here and there that I really want, and I still do.

I really didn't experience the 16-bit age properly till I got a SNES in Spring '94... yeah f$%# 1994. I didn't get a Genesis and Sega CD until 1996 on the cheap, which was a year after I got my PS1 lol. Then a Neo Geo CD Toploader in '97. I went in hard when I got my first job in '97.

Nice story, Mr. Nostalgia. Also, I like Moriya too, he's cute. There's a character in the newest BlazBlue that reminds me of him, he also has a Moriya palette. lol

[lukester]

Bomberman Collection disc on my PC when I was younger. Later got a Wii and found out about the Virtual Console.

[InfraMan]

I lived in Durham NC during the 16bit era

So Mark at Buy-rite was your dealer? So much wrong there, but so many good stories too!

Holy crap, I just saw this...

I used to buy stuff from Mark at Buy-Rite all the time back in the 90s! He had a place at that weird flea-mall on Capital Blvd, and then later moved into his own brick & mortar shop about a mile down the road. I used to go there about twice a month to check out all the new Saturn & PS imports... those were great times! I remember buying the last copy of the US version of Panzer Dragoon Saga there like it was yesterday... I paid $39.99 for it, and I still have that same copy today.

Mark always gave me a weird creepy molester vibe, but I have to admit I did get some great deals from the guy. If you weren't savvy, though, he'd stiff you in a heartbeat.

Didn't they eventually get shut down by the BBB or something? 

[HailingTheThings]

I lived in Durham NC during the 16bit era

So Mark at Buy-rite was your dealer? So much wrong there, but so many good stories too!

Holy crap, I just saw this...

I used to buy stuff from Mark at Buy-Rite all the time back in the 90s! He had a place at that weird flea-mall on Capital Blvd, and then later moved into his own brick & mortar shop about a mile down the road. I used to go there about twice a month to check out all the new Saturn & PS imports... those were great times! I remember buying the last copy of the US version of Panzer Dragoon Saga there like it was yesterday... I paid $39.99 for it, and I still have that same copy today.

Mark always gave me a weird creepy molester vibe, but I have to admit I did get some great deals from the guy. If you weren't savvy, though, he'd stiff you in a heartbeat.

Didn't they eventually get shut down by the BBB or something? 

This reminded me of a guy who had a shop out of his house that I used to buy Sega games from when I was younger. Tall blonde fellow with a curious smile, always wearing a Detroit Red Wings hat. Just got this icky vibe from him, like maybe he locked people up in his basement err something.

*gets chills*

Still remember to this day the last time I went there. I, very stupidly jumped in the pool connected to the office of the town house community I lived in while wearing my clothes. Forgot about my wallet. lol Anyway, later on that day I went to that shop and bought Star Wars 32x. When I handed that guy the money he just looks at me and says "Hey, this money's kinda soggy, hope you weren't doing anything you're not supposed to do!" He gave me creeper eyes and chuckled.

*stares blankly at the wall*

Moving on... How's everyone?

[MrWunderful]

Turbo Zone (Retail Island Mall Store) at Serramonte Shopping Center, Daly City, CA.

Circa 1990-1991.

Thats funny. I grew up in san bruno.

I always wanted a tg16, but just never had enough money. Fast forward a lot of years, I got really into NES collecting, then retro in general. That brought me here.

[gamerslife]

easy KBtoys in the early 90's then when i was older happened along a system with a few games and it exploded