Author Topic: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?  (Read 4222 times)

Otaking

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sanjo

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2016, 02:21:46 AM »
this brings me back memories.

I vividly recall when the Turbo and the Genesis first came. the Turbo was everywhere, Sears had it, and a bunch of electronics stores (which are all gone now) had it.

I had the NES for about 2 years around then. It was fun, but I was always left longing for more arcade level graphics. That was the thing.. how can we get arcade quality at home?

The Turbo's case, I thought, looked cool and my friends and I really liked the hu-card design. it looked so simple and less cumbersome than the NES cartridge which was always flaky.
However the game on display was always Keith Courage. The game itself wasn't bad, but being kids who were influenced by the arcades.. the first thing we wanted to see were graphics. Keith Courage, while being better than the NES, didnt seem so much better. It didn't wow us. It definitely should've been either Bonk which was funner, or a game that showed off its graphics, like Legendary Axe. and also a 2nd controller port.

The Genesis at that time, had a Altered beast and some other arcade games and those really looked impressive and next gen. So some of my friends started buying them. For me and many others.. Altered beast is ok, but it didn't feel really re-playable or offered the same level of freedom of movement like a good platformer provides, like Mario. So it was still a little meh. It wasn't until Sonic game out that people around us felt that the Genesis was a must have.

But by that time the SNES came out and it as the obvious choice for everyone. It was now a battle for those who had the luxury of buying a 2nd console. Sonic really turned heads because no one experienced a game that had such speeds.

I didn't look back to the Turbo until the CD came out. By that time, maybe only half of the  stores carrying the Turbo had the CD. The two games I saw were gates of thunder and dragon slayer.  By this time, I had the SNES for a year or two. GoT was nice, but I was an RPG nut, so I was more impressed by Dragon Slayer. It was the first time I realized a video game could have CD quality music. That left a really big impression on me. I had really wanted the turbo cd at this time.

Unfortunately by the time my parents had saved enough money, all the places that sold the turbo either stopped selling it, or went out of business. so I went Sega.





DragonmasterDan

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2016, 03:25:06 AM »
There are things that certainly could have helped.

"Saved" is a relative term.

Working with Konami to say license the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game (they'd obviously have to have someone else develop the port) as a killer app in 1989 or 1990 would have got the system off to a much greater start.

A better franchise agreement with Hudson.

Ordering fewer systems at the start and spending more money on advertising.

These all would have been things that could have turned the systems fortunes around early on.


On a side note to comment on their video, by 1993 when Street Fighter II Champion Edition came out retail support was limited to Babbages, Software Etc, Electronics Boutique, Toys R us and mom and pop retailers. Bringing out Street Fighter II, and a licensed controller when your two primary competitors would have the game in short order wouldn't have helped at that time.

By 1992 when Turbo Technologies Inc was formed. The idea was no longer to compete head to head with the Genesis and Super Nintendo but instead to create a niche platform for gamers with the assumption most owners would already have at least one of the other two major 16-bit consoles.
--DragonmasterDan

Necromancer

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2016, 03:29:39 AM »
I like how the ignorant chuckleheads used Street Fighter 2 and Ninja Gaiden as examples of third party PCE games that we should've had in the US instead of all those NEC and Hudson games.
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EmperorIng

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2016, 04:03:30 AM »
One thought: designing HuCards and HuCard cases so as not to be ugly or as dull as humanly possible.

SignOfZeta

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2016, 04:54:12 AM »
That's weird. We were just talking about this in another thread.

Btw, it still baffles me that the majority of people seem to think of this show as "video". Just so you know, it's also an audio-only podcast and seriously there's no way I could actually watch one of these all the way through. No wonder these guys are so hated. Stop torturing yourself!


geise

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2016, 05:05:35 AM »
Excuse my ignorance, but who is Pat & Ian and why should I care?

Otaking

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2016, 08:03:38 AM »
Excuse my ignorance, but who is Pat & Ian and why should I care?

You possibly might not care.

Pat & Ian have a (biweekly?) audio podcast where they cover subjects in retro gaming and modern gaming and usually also any current drama (they were the main youtube channel that covered the whole Retro VGS debacle). 
With the podcast they cut up each subject matter they cover and release it as two short youtube videos each day.

Unlike likeable youtubers such as Bithead1000, Spida1a, Happy Console Gamer etc. I don't particularly like Pat or Ian, they come accross as dicks TBH. But they do cover most current gaming/retro gaming in nice short videos in a way that no other youtube channel that I'm aware of does.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2016, 08:15:49 AM by Otaking »

Zero_Gamer

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2016, 08:44:25 AM »
Excuse my ignorance, but who is Pat & Ian and why should I care?

You possibly might not care.

Pat & Ian have a (biweekly?) audio podcast where they cover subjects in retro gaming and modern gaming and usually also any current drama (they were the main youtube channel that covered the whole Retro VGS debacle). 
With the podcast they cut up each subject matter they cover and release it as two short youtube videos each day.

Unlike likeable youtubers such as Bithead1000, Spida1a, Happy Console Gamer etc. I don't particularly like Pat or Ian, they come accross as dicks TBH. But they do cover most current gaming/retro gaming in nice short videos in a way that no other youtube channel that I'm aware of does.
... And movies, wrastlin', YouTube drama, and a bunch of other shit most don't care about.

DarkKobold

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2016, 11:29:37 AM »
Unlike likeable youtubers such as Bithead1000, Spida1a, Happy Console Gamer etc. I don't particularly like Pat or Ian, they come accross as dicks TBH.

They really, absolutely do come off as dicks. They have no real chemistry together, Ian is always super defensive, as demonstrated in this clip. (starts at 3m30s if the time jump doesn't work)

https://youtu.be/QQqHwJhq6rk?t=203

Additionally, according to another PCEFXer, Ian's store is way overpriced (I've never been there myself). If this is true then anytime they talk about video game prices, he's been a massive hypocrite. Ian just comes off as very socially awkward and antagonistic towards Pat, despite only being "youtube famous" thanks to Pat.

Everyone do the T-rex!
Hey, you.

Necromancer

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2016, 11:34:22 AM »
Everyone do the T-rex!

Ha!  He looks so uncomfortable.
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MNKyDeth

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #11 on: October 11, 2016, 11:41:29 AM »
Wanna know what would have saved the TG16?

Street Fighter 2 on it's own bitches!!! Should have been a pack in and then the Arcade card should have been built into another console because because yeah...Whatever......


Seriously, box art aside.... It needed more games period. You walked into a store and you looked at how many games were on the shelf for the consoles and the TG16 was lacking. They always had a little tiny spot in the games case compared to the Genesis. And what game was always on Demo? Kieth Courage.... I mean wtf. Sure the colors were nice but the gameplay compared to most platformers it felt very stiff and unresponsive.

Imo they needed a slightly better selection of games. More rpgs, more 3d maze crawling style,... I mean, they had them in Japan and the system did great. In the US all we had was a little splattering of mediocre titles mostly, with a few standouts. They had all kinds of games to choose from in Japan but the few we had it was already a niche market when the system was released as the Genesis library of games quickly outgrew what the TG16 had to offer.

But hey.... There might be other factors I have no idea about. F the planet and play yer damned games. :)

geise

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #12 on: October 11, 2016, 02:03:46 PM »
Otaking thanks for the info!

EDIT:  ...and after finally clicking on the youtube link and seeing the dudes i went "oooooooooooooooohhhhh those guys....."  :lol:

Yeah I don't care.

Seriously though thanks for the info.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2016, 02:07:39 PM by geise »

technozombie

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #13 on: October 11, 2016, 04:31:02 PM »
That's weird. We were just talking about this in another thread.

Btw, it still baffles me that the majority of people seem to think of this show as "video". Just so you know, it's also an audio-only podcast and seriously there's no way I could actually watch one of these all the way through. No wonder these guys are so hated. Stop torturing yourself!

It's funny that you say that because Ian seems to think you're his buddy. Check out this video he says it very near the beginning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJtkplmJtE8&feature=youtu.be



dallaspattern

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Re: Pat & Ian video on TurboGrafx-16 Failure - What Could Have Saved It?
« Reply #14 on: October 11, 2016, 05:17:50 PM »
It's true, if they had've released SF2 in the US, it would've been huge for the system. Fighting Street was an embarrassment when trying to sell the TG to friends. A Bonk pack in, definitely. Bad cover art, yup. It was definitely a time when these things mattered. However, like the 2nd weezer album, I'm almost glad that it remained underground. Made the system that much more important.