Author Topic: Where was tg16 popular?  (Read 1744 times)

Idblbruno

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 28
Where was tg16 popular?
« on: August 11, 2016, 12:53:02 PM »
Hi there.  Not sure if this has been discussed before
  I am wondering where if anywhere was turbografx a popular system during its production.  I know so many folks say they never knew anyone who had one growing up.  I am in that pool as well.  Honestly I am not even sure they made it to stores local to me.  Today I can search retro stores local to me and occasionally find a copy of TV sports football or Keith courage.  I am assuming those are all coming in from folks who had doubles from their ebay hauls.  Thoughts?

tbone3969

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 792
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #1 on: August 11, 2016, 01:23:10 PM »
TurboGrafx was big in my area when I was a teen.  I am from the tri-state area.
"There's something out there in those trees and it ain't no man. We're all gonna die."

Keith Courage

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2690
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2016, 01:29:32 PM »
New York, Chicago, and LA for the most part. I'm about an hour out of Chicago and I think I knew 3 kids in my 7th grade class who had one besides me. All 3 of them sold theirs and got a genesis or snes 1  year later while I just kept expanding my tg16 library.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2016, 11:34:34 PM by Keith Courage »

esteban

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24063
Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #3 on: August 11, 2016, 01:41:38 PM »
I grew up just outside NYC (10-15 minutes) and...it was not particularly popular at school/neighborhood.

Yes, there always a "retail presence" in all the malls (EB Electronics Boutique), ToysRUs, and some local shops...but I never saw or met anyone who was actually looking at TG-16 stuff, let alone buying something.

I only knew a handful of folks growing up who had TG-16.... I was the only one who had TG-CD.

None of the local rental stores carried TG-16.

My two brothers and I, collectively, knew  hundreds of classmates/neighbors/family/etc.

Over the years that number grew...

...only  5-6 TG-16 out of ALL THOSE FOLKS.

Ok, maybe it was a bit higher...but not by much.

:)
« Last Edit: August 11, 2016, 01:43:31 PM by esteban »
  |    | 

geise

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3541
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #4 on: August 11, 2016, 01:45:32 PM »
It was huge in north east Ohio.  I had no problem getting Turbo stuff.  All of the large stores carried it as well as small import stores.  What I really liked in the area was Video Game Exchange.  They did new and used.  Had awesome prices as well as trade in.  Sadly I think the chain went under long ago.  I used to score turbo games for $10 complete.  Got Dungeon Explorer II used for $10 in 94.  Summer 94 an employee sold me Valis IV, Spriggan, Rayxanber II, and Hellfire S for $80 total.

Killjoyy027

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 53
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #5 on: August 11, 2016, 04:01:30 PM »
I am right out of Philly PA and it was all Nintendo and Sega none of the people I know or went to school with had one. I was aware of the system only through EGM at that time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Flare65

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 639
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #6 on: August 11, 2016, 04:46:50 PM »
Chicago was huge.  The NEC office was in Wooddale IL.

TR0N

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6421
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #7 on: August 11, 2016, 07:01:04 PM »
For as long as i lived in the maryland it wasn't popular around here.You either had a genesis or snes when it came down to it.Back in the 90's you were minority if you owned a TG16 around here for me at least.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2016, 07:07:21 PM by TR0N »

PSN:MrNeoGeo
Wii U:Progearspec

exodus

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 868
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #8 on: August 11, 2016, 09:40:46 PM »
Not unpopular in the SF bay area - I knew a few kids who had it.

DragonmasterDan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3508
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #9 on: August 11, 2016, 09:42:33 PM »
Chicago was huge.  The NEC office was in Wooddale IL.

Bingo, the suburb of Chicago I lived in was around 10 miles from Wood Dale. By 1990 I knew about 5-6 other kids who owned one (mostly from other people who were in my grade in Elementary school).
--DragonmasterDan

Zero_Gamer

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 733
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2016, 02:23:00 AM »
There were comercials on TV where I lived in Southern Virginia, which is how I learned about it. Kinda strange cause you couldn't find it in local stores. You had to drive to Roanoke to buy games or accessories.

Based on the comercials I bought mine through the wishbook for Christmas. I was the only person I knew with one.

ginoscope

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 360
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #11 on: August 12, 2016, 03:19:28 AM »
I spent my teen years in the Dallas area and I knew a few kids in high school that had a turbo.  The shops locally also had a decent selection of turbo stuff.  We even had a die hard which carried imports like Dracula X for $99 which I ended up getting.

I can imagine if you lived in a smaller town with 1-2 game shops turbo would have been really obscure.

Necromancer

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 21365
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #12 on: August 12, 2016, 03:40:24 AM »
It wasn't so popular anywhere that you'd know more people with a Turbob than you knew that had a NES/SNES/FEKA.  That said, it was popular enough (even in cornland) that you could find games at big retailers like Sears, Montgomery Ward, Service Merchandise, Toys R Us, Babbages, etc.
U.S. Collection: 97% complete    155/159 titles

DragonmasterDan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3508
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #13 on: August 12, 2016, 04:00:38 AM »
It wasn't so popular anywhere that you'd know more people with a Turbob than you knew that had a NES/SNES/FEKA.  That said, it was popular enough (even in cornland) that you could find games at big retailers like Sears, Montgomery Ward, Service Merchandise, Toys R Us, Babbages, etc.

It depends on when.

In 1989-until Christmas of 1991 I knew way more people with Turbo than SNES or Genesis.
--DragonmasterDan

SavagePencil

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 140
Re: Where was tg16 popular?
« Reply #14 on: August 12, 2016, 04:06:47 AM »
For as long as i lived in the maryland it wasn't popular around here.You either had a genesis or snes when it came down to it.Back in the 90's you were minority if you owned a TG16 around here for me at least.

Same experience.  I grew up in rural Maryland and only knew one person with a TG16.  It wasn't until I went to college in the mid-90s that I was able to start finding other people into it.