New Gamasutra Article - TG16 Turns 25

[o.pwuaioc]

This would have been a much better article if it wasn't Gamasutra.

[Azzurri]

I was lucky enough to have 2 small video game stores when I was young that imported Japanese games so I got to play some of them, but not many TG16.

[esteban]

If you look back at the era without 20/20 hindsight, I think there's a big point that people forget. When I was growing up, we were aware of the Japanese market through magazines, but rarely would a store like Electronics Boutique or Babbages offer imports for sale in-store (the Saturn is the only system I remember having in-store imports for sale).

When I think *now* of how amazing the system was, I'm taking into account the full library of both PC-Engine and TG-16 games. Back then though, all we saw was the launch lineup and a trickle of occasional good/bad/mediocre games coming through to the states. By the time TTi took over, the TG-16 was relegated in our area stores to a small shelf in the back, with SNES, Genesis and PC taking up the majority of the store. It already had the stink of failure on it.

I guess what I'm saying is, *at the time* (the Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat 1 days), the TG-16 in retail had already been given the kiss of death. As a kid growing up during that era, gamers absolutely knew what the TG-16 was, but since SF2 and MK1 weren't available for it in the states, it might as well have been invisible.

That's how it was where I grew up; your results may vary.

Yup, from my perspective, Turbo was dead BEFORE Sega commercials were on TV 24/7, magazines were filled with endless amounts of Sega coverage, and everyone at school was talking about Sega...I don't think any Turbo fan thought our little TG-16 was going to anything beyond a niche.

I just didn't want TG-16 to die an ugly death. I was amazed it lasted as long as it did (I was happy, but shocked,that DUO was actually released).

I wasn't a cynical kid, I was realistic.

You didn't need market research the title "Executive" to grasp TG-16's predicament in the early 90's. Anecdotal evidence spoke plainly and clearly.

 

[jeffhlewis]

Now *with* 20/20 hindsight, I would have bought every single Turbo release on that little shelf in the back of the store. I distinctly remember picking up Exile: Wicked Phenomenon and being like "Oh cool! They brought that over to the states" and putting it back down. It was $19.99.

[Necromancer]

Fact #1: the Turbob wasn't "impossible to find".  It was carried by Sears, Service Merchandise, Montgomery Ward, JC Penney, and Radio Shack, which were all nationwide.

Fact #2: Mortal Kombat wouldn't have been a huge system seller, as few people would've been willing to pay $200 to play MK ($90 for the system, $50 for the game, $20 for a Tap, and $40 for a pair of 6-button controllers).  That's mighty steep to get a game that wouldn't have been exclusive for any length of time, 90 days tops.

[xelement5x]

This would have been a much better article if it wasn't Gamasutra.

Care to elaborate?

[A Black Falcon]

Fact #1: the Turbob wasn't "impossible to find".  It was carried by Sears, Service Merchandise, Montgomery Ward, JC Penney, and Radio Shack, which were all nationwide.

The Sears and Radio Shack stores in my town did not carry the TG16.  Sears had the Genesis, SNES, Game Boy, even the Virtual Boy, but not the TG16.  Radio Shack had almost no console stuff.  Service Merchandise... there was one of those nearby, but I don't remember going there for videogames much; if they had anything, it was probably even less than Ames (another department store there was one of around here back then), and I doubt very much they had anything TG16.  If those chains carried the system in some places, it was far from nationwide.  The only place I ever remember seeing a TG16 was in the Toys R Us near the mall (~40+ minutes away, so we went there quite rarely).

Fact #2: Mortal Kombat wouldn't have been a huge system seller, as few people would've been willing to pay $200 to play MK ($90 for the system, $50 for the game, $20 for a Tap, and $40 for a pair of 6-button controllers).  That's mighty steep to get a game that wouldn't have been exclusive for any length of time, 90 days tops.

Yeah, the length of exclusivity would be pretty important.  I do agree on that point.

[MrFulci]

Fact #1: the Turbob wasn't "impossible to find".  It was carried by Sears, Service Merchandise, Montgomery Ward, JC Penney, and Radio Shack, which were all nationwide.

The Sears and Radio Shack stores in my town did not carry the TG16.  Sears had the Genesis, SNES, Game Boy, even the Virtual Boy, but not the TG16.  Radio Shack had almost no console stuff.  Service Merchandise... there was one of those nearby, but I don't remember going there for videogames much; if they had anything, it was probably even less than Ames (another department store there was one of around here back then), and I doubt very much they had anything TG16.  If those chains carried the system in some places, it was far from nationwide.  The only place I ever remember seeing a TG16 was in the Toys R Us near the mall (~40+ minutes away, so we went there quite rarely).

Fact #2: Mortal Kombat wouldn't have been a huge system seller, as few people would've been willing to pay $200 to play MK ($90 for the system, $50 for the game, $20 for a Tap, and $40 for a pair of 6-button controllers).  That's mighty steep to get a game that wouldn't have been exclusive for any length of time, 90 days tops.

Yeah, the length of exclusivity would be pretty important.  I do agree on that point.

Black Falcon,

What state were you in during that time? I had no trouble seeing TG-16 stuff, without even having to look for it.

[cr8zykuban0]

was a good read for sure, it just sucks that the tg 16 wasn't properly managed in the u.s. and that many awesome games from japan never made it to the states!

[Azzurri]

Fact #1: the Turbob wasn't "impossible to find".  It was carried by Sears, Service Merchandise, Montgomery Ward, JC Penney, and Radio Shack, which were all nationwide.

The Sears and Radio Shack stores in my town did not carry the TG16.  Sears had the Genesis, SNES, Game Boy, even the Virtual Boy, but not the TG16.  Radio Shack had almost no console stuff.  Service Merchandise... there was one of those nearby, but I don't remember going there for videogames much; if they had anything, it was probably even less than Ames (another department store there was one of around here back then), and I doubt very much they had anything TG16.  If those chains carried the system in some places, it was far from nationwide.  The only place I ever remember seeing a TG16 was in the Toys R Us near the mall (~40+ minutes away, so we went there quite rarely).

Fact #2: Mortal Kombat wouldn't have been a huge system seller, as few people would've been willing to pay $200 to play MK ($90 for the system, $50 for the game, $20 for a Tap, and $40 for a pair of 6-button controllers).  That's mighty steep to get a game that wouldn't have been exclusive for any length of time, 90 days tops.

Yeah, the length of exclusivity would be pretty important.  I do agree on that point.

Black Falcon,

What state were you in during that time? I had no trouble seeing TG-16 stuff, without even having to look for it.

I don't remember seeing many where I live in Columbus, Ohio.  They did have em at Toys R Us but it was the only store I remember.

BUT we did have Incredible Universe which still is the greatest electronic store ever.

[vexcollects]

This would have been a much better article if it wasn't Gamasutra.

Care to elaborate?

Yes, I would ask this as well. Why would it have been better if it was not on Gamasutra? I've enjoyed Gamasutra since it was a site you needed to sign up for to gain access. I've always appreciated that they cover the industry as a whole with interesting editorials and esoteric stories. It's what I liked about Next Generation magazine as well, before magazines started to die. I would definitely pick Gamasutra over something like IGN any day. I've found it hard to find the substance in all the flash on a site like that....but I suppose that is like comparing apples to androids.

[glazball]

I thought it was a great article, thanks for sharing it.  I had never realized that the Genesis launched so closely to the Turbo.  That was a brilliant move by Sega (not changing the hardware for the US market) which drove the first nail in the Turbo's coffin.

[DragonmasterDan]

Great article, very well researched.

It also finally once and for all settles the UK release being official question that's been going around for the past decade or more.

[Necromancer]

If those chains carried the system in some places, it was far from nationwide.

Yeah, I'm sure they all had 'em in their catalogs but didn't actually stock them anywhere and refused to sell them if you attempted to order.  You got me. 

The concept of catalog stores is obviously lost on you.

[DragonmasterDan]

Yeah, I'm sure they all had 'em in their catalogs but didn't actually stock them anywhere and refused to sell them if you attempted to order.  You got me. 

The concept of catalog stores is obviously lost on you.

I recall buying TurboGrafx stuff at Toys R Us, Venture, Electronics Boutique, babbages, software etc and Target. I don't recall for example K-Mart stocking it. Simply put it wasn't as widely available as Nintendo or Sega hardware, but at least in urban areas it wasn't that hard to track the hardware and some games down. When TTI took over it really started focusing more on specialty stores.