Another side effect- Non-gaming journalist writing about the TG-16...
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/27/why-kanye-west-right-recommend-turbografx-16-console
However, the sheer variety of versions that hit the market left consumers confused. At least 17 distinct core models made their way to game shops through the 90s. There were handheld versions like the Turbo Express and the PC Engine GT, base console revisions including the Core Grafx, SuperGrafx and PC Engine Shuttle, and all manner of expansion cards and add-ons. And then there were CD-Roms.
I was super confused in the 90's, by consoles like the Super Grafx and PC Engine Shuttle. I took a wrong turn at Albequrque, ended up in Tokyo, and was like, what are all these options?!?
Indeed. The natural progression of items marketed OVER TIME (organic evolution) is very different than ALL PRODUCTS EVER RELEASED.
I can't imagine how confusing SEGA's offerings in the 80's and 90's would be for this author.
When you go by the stretching standards that people use to make the PC Engine line seem massive and confusing, the SNES and Genesis quickly catch up and the Sega line goes much further than the Turbo/PCE combined.
SNES hardware:
2 NTSC models for North America -square carts only
2 NTSC models for Japan -round carts only
1 PAL model for Europe/Australia -round carts only
1 PAL-M model for Brazil -square carts only
Game formats with various video speeds: Square carts, Round carts, Gameboy carts, Satellaview roms.
And although SNES fans like to say that extra chips in carts bitd doesn't count as hardware addons, just try playing most of the popular games on a standard flash cart and you'll be disappointed by how many don't work on the main hardware. There's probably a dozen different chip/misc addons that are functionally unique formats.
With PCE, you only need to worry about HuCards (2 regions), CD2, SCD and ACD. LaserActive is arguably a standalone platform like SuperGrafx.
The Genesis line has the following game formats: Sega Mark III carts, SMS carts, Sega My Cards, Genesis-shaped carts, Japanese MD shaped carts, Sega-CD, 32X carts, 32X CD, Mega Modem games, Sega Channel games.
When you add in all of the regional lockouts and video variations, there's probably as many as 30 - 40 formats and more hardware variations than any console to date.
The 80's/90's was a bad time to be an easily confused person.