Why is the TurboGrafx so popular regionally or? Where are you from Poll

[BigT]

Here in California (LA area), the Turbografx was relatively popular... I knew about 5 other people in my circle of friends who had one.  Of course, this was still nowhere near the market penetration of the NES!  Also, I knew no one around me who had a Turbo CD attachment or TurboExpress.  From personal experience, I can attest that the high prices of these items made them a tough sell to parents... I was able to get a TG16 when it went down to $99.99.  Eventually, they were selling it for $49.99 with an extra pack-in game...  I didn't move to the CD until after the Duo came out.

Back in the day, most of the big stores around me carried TG16 games... still remember seeing that Toy's R Us had Magical Chase for $49.99 and I felt that it was overpriced     At that time, I had already moved to the SNES or CD games and turbochips seemed quaint... Babbages also usually had a good selection...

Oh and I think I read that NEC/TTI mainly focused on large markets for advertising and distribution... so that probably explains the regional aspect.

[guyjin]

I'm from Iowa. the only place I ever saw Turbo ads was on Cable and in Magazines, the former only rarely. Most stores in my area did not carry turbo goods (I know Toys R us did, but that's the only one I know of.) I know of only one person in this area who had one back in the day.

[chany60126]

I am from Chicagoland as well. Back when the turbo was relevant, I remember asking for that system, but my parents got me a SNES instead. Time went by, and I eventually forgot about it since no one I knew had one.

Fast-forward to 2007, Retroware TV did a
on the Turbografx and focused specifically on the game Ninja Spirit, which really caught my attention.  A couple of weeks later, I sought out this system, and was able to obtain one from a Craigslist seller that lived in Bloomingdale. The game that came with the system was Blazing Lazers, and that immediately won me over and I have been hooked ever since.

[BigT]

I'm from Iowa. the only place I ever saw Turbo ads was on Cable and in Magazines, the former only rarely. Most stores in my area did not carry turbo goods (I know Toys R us did, but that's the only one I know of.) I know of only one person in this area who had one back in the day.

Yeah, it was totally different in Southern California... there were a bunch of turbo grafx commercials on TV.  Toys R Us, Circuit City, Best, Babbage's, Fedco, Sears, Montgomery Ward all carried it.  Many of the stores had playable displays.

I think that if they made the CD attachment more affordable or just included it standard from the get-go (kind of like an americanized pc-engine + CD-ROM2), things may have been a bit different...

[Jesse813]

Northeast in Pottstown, Pennsylvania which is 45 mins from Philadelphia. I don't remember seeing TurboGrafx-16 ads when I was younger just a bunch of stuff for Nintendo, Sega & Sony 

[nat]

I've been in the Seattle area for the past 20+ years, and I can say that Seattle was a pretty major market for the Turbo. I knew of a bunch of other people that had one back in the day, but everybody knew about it.

[bernielindell]

Virginia here, so I voted South as well.  I want to say we got out Turbo Grafx 16 from Toys'R Us and I got my Duo from Electronics Boutique which is now Game Stop I believe.  We actually had games and systems for sale in my area up till my graduation year of 1994.  Of course the amount of shelf space it got was pitiful....

[Black Tiger]

In Vancouver, Canada, department stores like Sears, the Bay, etc. all carried the Turbo, but after 1991(?) when the system was clearly dying and the games slowed to a trickle, the only noticeable holdouts to the very end were Radio Shack and Compucentre.  That was my experience, at least.

This was pretty much how it was in northern BC. Although I was lucky enough to have an independent store locally and a couple in the next town that carried Turbo for a while, in the end Radio Shack was my savior.

[roflmao]

During the Turbo's heyday I lived in Hawaii, so I checked "Other".  It had a pretty good sized following back then, I knew one or two other people who had one.  I remember seeing commercials for it on TV, and there were a lot of game shops that carried pretty good sized import libraries, especially after the CD attachment was released.  I'll never forget the day I came home with Spriggan.  That game blew me away!

[Mathius]

Chigacoland area. Oddly enough, I remember seeing Turbo goods all over the Indianapolis area, but I never bought one until a few years back, and I never had any friends who had one either.

[Arkhan]

Cleveland, OH is a tiny classic gaming hub.  We've got the tiny local show, and then another in Columbus.

the local game shop owner is a Turbo fan.

all the cool kids are turbo fans.

and then theres the wannabes.   They show up every year at the convention.

OH, THE TURBO GRAPHIXS (you know thats how theyd spell it if they typed it), YEAH THAT THING DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO COMPETE WITH BLAST PROCESSING.  NEC DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING.  THERE WEREN'T EVEN ANY GOOD GAMES.  SONIC WAS BETTER THAN BONK.

Shut up and keep walking please.  Its for your own safety.

[Necromancer]

I'm from Iowa. the only place I ever saw Turbo ads was on Cable and in Magazines, the former only rarely. Most stores in my area did not carry turbo goods (I know Toys R us did, but that's the only one I know of.) I know of only one person in this area who had one back in the day.

You should've crossed the river - Babbages, Sears, Toys Я Us, Montgomery Ward, and Service Merchandise all had Turbobs.

[bartre]

I'm in nebraska, but again, i can't remember even hearing about the TG until after the ps2 came out.
now that i have one, i get to feel superior to all of my gamer buddies, as i'm the only guy who has one, and any games that aren't keith courage.

[Eltigro]

Am I the only one in Texas?

[TheOldMan]

I'm sorry, I know this is off-topic and mean, but I can't resist the setup.....

Look Left. Look Right. Look Behind you. If you don't see anyone else, yes....You're

the only one in Texas?

I'm in Cleveland, Ohio, btw. Feel free to make with the jokes now...