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The PC Engine is a video game console released by NEC, a Japanese company, in 1987. The system was released in 1989 as TurboGrafx 16 for the North American market. A PAL version of the system also saw a very limited release in the UK and continental Europe in 1990 as "Turbografx" (not including the "16" in the title, and uncapitalized "g" in "grafx").

The TurboGrafx-16 was an eight-bit system with a 16-bit graphics chip, capable of displaying 482 colors at once.

PC Engine

The PC Engine was a collaborative effort between Japanese software maker Hudson Soft (which maintains a chip-making division) and NEC. Hudson was looking for financial backing for a game console they had designed, and NEC was looking to get into the lucrative game market. The PC Engine was and is a very small video game console, due primarily to a very efficient three-chip architecture and its use of HuCards, credit-card sized data cartridges. "HuCard" (Hudson Card; also referred to as "TurboChip" in North America) was derived from Hudson Soft. The cards were the size of a credit card (but slightly thicker) and thus were somewhat similar to the card format used by the Sega Master System for budget games. Unlike the Sega Master System (which also supported cartridges), however, the TurboGrafx-16 used HuCards exclusivdeo encoder chip, all designed by Hudson.

It was the first console to have an optional CD module, allowing the standard benefits of the CD medium: more storage, cheaper media costs, and redbook audio. The efficient design, backing of many of Japan's major software producers, and the additional CD ROM capabilities gave the PC Engine a very wide variety of software, with several hundred games for both the HuCard and CD formats.

The PC Engine was extremely popular in Japan, beating Nintendo's Famicom in sales soon after its release, with no fewer than twelve systems released from 1987 to 1993. It was capable of up to 482 colors at once in several resolutions, and featured very robust sprite handling abilities. The Hudson-designed chroma encoder delivered a video signal more vibrant and colourful than both the Famicom and the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis and is largely regarded as the equal to Nintendo's Super Famicom, although that system was not released until 1990.

As graphics technology improved, gamers continued to stick to the PC Engine despite its shortcomings. Erotic games were a key factor in making the PC Engine popular, and this popularity was maintained far past the lifespan of a regular video game console. New games were released for the PC Engine up until 1999.

Despite the system's success, it started to lose ground to the Super Famicom. NEC made one final effort to resuscitate the system with the release of the Arcade Card expansion, bringing the total amount of RAM up to a then-massive 2048K; many Arcade Card games were conversions of popular Neo-Geo titles. The additional memory even allowed the system to display pre-rendered 3D polygon graphics well beyond what the competing Super Famicom and Megadrive/Mega-CD could offer. By this time, however, it was too late -- only a relative handful of Arcade Card games were ever produced, and the expansion was never released in the U.S.

Mascots Bonk and Zonk

TurboGrafx-CD: Pioneering CD-ROM console

The TurboGrafx-16 was the first video game console in North America to have a CD-ROM peripheral (following the pioneering spirit of the PC-Engine CD-ROM add-on in Japan, although the FM Towns Marty was the first console to have a built-in CD-ROM). The TurboGrafx-CD debuted at a prohibitive $399.99 (and did not include a pack-in game). Monster Lair (a.k.a. Wonderboy III: Monster Lair) and Fighting Street (a.k.a. Street Fighter) were the initial TurboGrafx-CD titles. Ys Book I & II soon followed and was instantly recognized as the "must-have" TurboGrafx-CD game (and continues to be highly regarded today). The TurboGrafx-CD catalog grew at a snail's pace compared to the library of TurboChip (HuCard) titles.

The TurboGrafx-CD came packaged in a very large box, 85% of which was filled with protective styrofoam inserts. By some accounts, no other video game console (or peripheral) has been packaged in such an overkill manner. To be fair, though, the TurboGrafx-CD did come with a large plastic "carrying case" that could comfortably hold the TurboGrafx-16 base system, TurboGrafx-CD, all AC adapters, 2–3 controllers, and a few games.

Although the TurboGrafx-CD library was relatively small, North Americans could draw from a wide range of Japanese software since there was no region protection on TG-CD / PC Engine CD-ROM software. Many mail order (and some brick-and-mortar) import stores advertised Japanese PCE CD and HuCard titles in the video game publications of the era.

NOTE: While there was no region-protection on CD games, there were several different CD formats: CD, Super CD (SCD) and, later, Arcade CD (ACD). TurboGrafx-CD, equipped with the original System Card (version 2.01), could play all Japanese and North American CD games. TurboGrafx-CD, equipped with the updated Super System Card (version 3.01), could play all Japanese and North American SCD and CD format games. The Arcade System Cards (for playing Arcade CD titles) were never released in North America.

Rivalry with Nintendo and Sega

Initially, the TurboGrafx was marketed as a direct competitor with the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and early television ads touted TG-16's superior graphics and sound. These early television ads featured a brief montage of TG-16's launch titles: Blazing Lazers, China Warrior, Vigilante, Alien Crush, etc. Of course, TG-16 was also in direct competition with the Sega Genesis, which launched in North America shortly after TG-16 (Note: the launch dates are debatable; some sources claim that Sega beat NEC to the U.S. market; part of the confusion, perhaps, lies in the fact that TG-16 was test-marketed in major U.S. cities first, then given a national launch). The Genesis launch was accompanied by an ad campaign mocking NEC's claim that the TurboGrafx-16 was the first 16-bit console.

Another problem factor for the TG-16 were hardware limitations: while the Genesis only came with one controller, the TG-16 only had one controller port (plug-in). Players who wanted to have more than one player were required to buy the Turbo Tap, an addition which permitted five controllers to be plugged into the system, in addition to extra controllers. The Genesis only required players to buy one more controller. Another problem in the battle against the Genesis were the pack-in games (game included with purchase): The Genesis originally came with the impressive arcade translation of Altered Beast (1989), which included big, bold sprites and colors as well as impressive digital sound effects. The TG-16's initial pack-in game was Keith Courage in Alpha Zones (1989), a modest action plaform game that did not show off the capabilities of the TG-16 in nearly the same way Altered Beast did for the Genesis (or Super Mario World later did for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)).

The Genesis' Japanese counterpart, the Sega Mega Drive, was less popular than the NEC console, the PC Engine. In North America, however, the situation was reversed, and the Genesis is mainly remembered there for its rivalry with the Super Nintendo, not with the TurboGrafx 16.

Both Sega and NEC released CD peripherals (Sega CD versus Turbo CD), color handhelds (Sega Game Gear versus TurboExpress), and even "TV Tuners" for their respective handheld systems. While Sega outperformed NEC in North America, both companies' peripherals and handhelds were not terribly popular overall.

In 1994, comic book-like ads featuring Johnny Turbo were published by TTi. The ads mocked Sega, in particular the Sega CD. By this point it was too little too late, the TG-16 had been defeated by the Genesis in the marketplace, which was by then dominated by the battle between the Genesis and the Super Nintendo.

Ironically, many TurboGrafx 16 games are currently planned to be available with the "Virtual Console" option for Nintendo's upcoming console: Wii.

Struggles in North America

Initially, the TurboGrafx-16 sold well. However, the console suffered from a lack of third-party support from software developers and publishers in North America. In Japan the PC Engine platform received a lot of support from companies such as Konami who also produced a lot of games for the Nintendo's systems, however due to Nintendo's contracts with developers stipulating that if a game was released on the NES, it couldn't appear on any other console and Nintendo did not look positively at all on publishers who released games for other platforms by punishing them with "chip shortages" and other issues around the holiday seasons. This practice was later judged illegal, but while it was in effect, it caused many developers to pick the immensely popular NES over the upstart NEC console. As a result a catch-22 situation arose. Many publishers would only risk taking a chance on the Turbo if the system were more popular, and the system had difficulty becoming more popular since it had only a small handful of North American publishers with most of the system's publishing efforts being conducted by NEC, TTI, and Hudson Soft.

The TurboGrafx-16 was originally marketed by NEC Home Electronics based in Wood Dale, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. As the system gradually underperformed the duties of managing the platform were handed over to a new company formed of former NEC Home Electronics employees and former Hudson Soft employees called Turbo Technologies Incorporated (TTI), based in Los Angeles.

Both NEC Home Electronics and TTI had marketing issues and disputes with NEC of Japan over marketing dollars and how to focus their promotions. NEC of Japan had great success within Japan by concentrating their promotion and marketing focus on only the largest cities in the country. However, in North America the population is far more spread out and diverse and when the same philosophy was used by buying up advertisements in and having representatives to help with retail and promotion only in the largest metro areas of North America it resulted in lack of stock, and public awareness of the platform outside of major metropolitan areas. As a result the system was far more competitive and inordinately popular in certain local markets like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles while in smaller metropolitan areas the platform failed miserably.

By 1991 Sega Genesis had clearly surpassed the TurboGrafx-16, putting NEC's console in a distant fourth place in the overall video game market (Nintendo held the #2 and 3 places with the brand new SNES and aging but still potent NES). It became rather difficult for the relatively untested NEC to convince consumers who already owned a Sega or Nintendo system to give the TG-16 a chance. The biggest problem was that the titles and the vast majority of the software that made the system such a phenomenal success in Japan were almost entirely produced for the CD add-on. The TurboGrafx CD ROM peripheral was widely considered overpriced (debuting at nearly $399.00 as an add-on, eventually dropping to $149.99 when TurboDuo was launched), and the system was hard to find outside of large cities. As a result, few consumers bought the add-on CD system and the standalone TurboGrafx lacked the quality titles that made the system so popular in Japan.

TTI tried to address this issue by releasing a combination system called the TurboDuo, unfortunately at $299.99 the cost of the system was still too steep for most American consumers. To try to offset this NEC included seven pack-in titles and a coupon book but it still wasn't enough to lure in much of a mainstream audience. Many of the CD games for the Turbo platform were fantastic and innovative but the cost of the add-on system was a deterrent to buyers. Some Japanese games, such as Demon Castle Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, Ys 4, Far East of Eden 2 and Snatcher, never made it to North American shelves.

Meanwhile, the TurboExpress suffered from short battery life and a hefty price tag. Furthermore, it was fairly common for TurboExpress systems to have missing pixels in their displays, due to the fact that TFT LCD manufacturing technology was still in its infancy.

TurboGrafx-16 and TurboDuo Magazines

L.F.P. (Larry Flynt Publications) published 14 bi-monthly issues of TurboPlay Magazine (June/July 1990 – August/September 1992) dedicated to covering TG-16 and TG-CD hardware and software. It was a spin-off publication of Video Games & Computer Entertainment (VG&CE), a popular multi-platform gaming magazine of the late 1980s / early 1990s. Every issue of TurboPlay was 32 pages in length and a yearly subscription cost $9.95. An advertisement for TurboPlay was included with every TG-16 console.

Sendai published four quarterly issues of TURBOFORCE magazine (September 1992 – Spring 1993). TTi had editorial control over TURBOFORCE and used it to promote the launch of the new TurboDuo console. Unlike TurboPlay and DuoWorld, TURBOFORCE was devoid of critical game reviews.

L.F.P. published three bi-monthly issues of DUOWORLD magazine (July/August 1993 – November/December 1993) before it was cancelled. DuoWorld was very similar in format to TurboPlay, but with a focus on the newly released TurboDuo console (i.e. TurboMail and TurboNews became DuoMail and DuoNews, respectively).

NEC also published a handful of newsletters (TurboEdge) and sent them to folks who sent in their TG-16 warranty cards / subscribed to TurboPlay. These newsletters were black and white, mostly text, and 4–8 pages in length.

TG-16 on TV

During TG-16's summer-autumn 1989 launch, short TV ads started to appear. This advertising campaign would expand and become more extensive in 1990 with NEC promoting Bonk as the next big thing in video games.

In addition to advertising in 1990, TG-16, TG-CD, and TurboExpress were briefly covered on PBS' Computer Chronicles (two episodes, including "Battle of the Consoles"). Later, when TurboDuo was launched, it was featured in an episode on "CD-ROM and multimedia software".

Also, Video Power, a video game show (live action gameshow and cartoon) syndicated throughout the country in the early 1990s, featured footage from video games at the end of many episodes. Blazing Lazers, Legendary Axe (and perhaps other titles) made it into two episodes. Video Power rarely featured TG-16 games (focusing on NES and Genesis, instead). In addition, the Nickelodeon game show Nick Arcade featured several TG-16 games in the Video Challenge portion of the show.

Legacy

Today, the system is mainly known for its much-vaunted shoot 'em ups, its competition with the Sega Genesis, and advertising flop Johnny Turbo, and the Bonk games. After the TurboGrafx died, NEC decided to concentrate on the Japanese market, where it had had much more success.

In 1994 NEC released a new console, the Japan-only PC-FX, a 32-bit system with a tower-like design; it enjoyed a small but steady stream of games until 1998, when NEC finally abandoned the video games industry.

There is a niche collector's market for TurboGrafx games and Japanese imports, mainly centered around the system's many arcade ports of shooters. Spurring this interest is the fact that Turbo ports from the arcade tended to be closer to the original than Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive or NES versions, in terms of graphics and sound. Hudson Soft also released some shooters which were exclusive to the Turbo, such as Super Air Zonk, Gate of Thunder, Soldier Blade, Super Star Soldier, Star Parodia (Japan). The most famous North American shooter is probably Blazing Lazers (Gunhead in Japan) and was featured in all of the early television ads.

After the demise of TTi, Turbo Zone Direct (TZD), mail-order company, became the de facto source for new TG-16 / DUO hardware, accessories and software.

The brief "Johnny Turbo" series of advertisements have become part of gaming's pop culture. Many folks without direct experience with TG-16 consoles or its games have heard of the infamous "Johnny Turbo".

Many PC Engine/TurboGrafx 16 games will be available for download on Wii's Virtual Console download service, according to Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata. Not all games will be available; only some titles (mostly a "best hits" approach) will be selected. The number of games selected is still unknown. * *

Variations

Several variations on the TurboGrafx were released throughout the 1990s. The PC Engine GT is a portable version of the PC Engine. It had a very crisp screen and an optional TV tuner was available. It could play all of the PC Engine HuCard games, yet had low battery life.

SuperGrafx

Another variation of the hardware is the SuperGrafx. This system is very nearly the same as the original PCE, except it has a duplicate set of video chips (and an extra chip to coordinate the two) and four times as much RAM. Since the CPU was not upgraded most developers were unable to utilize the extra graphics capability, as the CPU just could not keep up. Only five SuperGrafx games (and one hybrid game - Darius) were released, and the system fell into obscurity.

Minor variations

Other members of the PC Engine family include the Shuttle, the LT (a laptop version similar to the Game Boy Advance SP, but considerably larger), the CoreGrafx I and II, the Duo R and the Duo RX. Contrary to popular belief, the CoreGrafx is not a European version of the PC Engine. It is simply a reengineered version of the original (white) PC Engine with an AV output instead of the original model's RF output. The PC Engine and its derivatives were never officially sold in Europe, although many systems and most accessories and games were available as imports. The PC Engine and its games had been extensively covered by most major European video game magazines and were surprisingly popular.

TurboDuo

In 1992 TTi (Turbo Technologies Inc.) released the TurboDuo, the North American version of the Japanese Duo. The system combined the TurboGrafx-16 and an enhanced version of the CD-ROM drive (the "Super CD-ROM²") into a single unit. The system could play audio CDs, CD+Gs, CD-ROM2 and Super CD games as well as standard HuCards. The Super System Card required for some games when using the original CD add-on as well as some of the Japanese variants of the TurboGrafx was built in to the Duo rather than requiring the card to be inserted at all times when playing CD games. The original pack-in for the Turbo Duo included the system, one control pad, an AC adapter, RCA cables, Ys book I & II a CD-ROM2 title, a Super CD disc including Bonk's Adventure, Bonk's Revenge, Gates of Thunder and a secret version of Bomberman accessible via an easter egg. The system was also packaged with one random HuCard game which varied from system to system (note: Actually, Dungeon Explorer was the original HuCard pack-in for TurboDuo, although many titles were eventually used, such as IREM's Ninja Spirit and NAMCO's Final Lap Twin and then eventually a random pick).

TurboExpress

The TurboExpress was a portable version of the TurboGrafx, released in 1990 for $249.99 (the price was briefly raised to $299.99, soon dropped back to $249.99, and by 1992 it was $199.99). It was the most advanced handheld of its time and could play all the TG-16's HuCard games. Its Japanese equivalent was the PC Engine GT. It had a 2.6-inch screen, the same as the original Game Boy. It shared the capabilities of the TurboGrafx, giving it 512 available colors (9-bit RGB), stereo sound, and the same custom CPU at 7.16 MHz. The optional "TurboVision" TV tuner included RCA audio/video input, allowing the user to use TurboExpress as a video monitor. The "TurboLink" allowed two-player play. Falcon, a flight simulator, included a "head-to-head" dogfight mode that could only be accessed via TurboLink. However, very few TG-16 games offered co-op play modes especially designed with the TurboExpress in mind.

Stand-alone systems

  • PC Engine (1987)
    • White, only RF output
  • PC Engine Shuttle (1989)
    • UFO-shaped system, unique expansion port (no CD option), AV output
  • PC Engine SuperGrafx (1989)
    • The only PC Engine unit to contain enhanced HuCard functionality. Only five games were released for it. (Two regular PC Engine releases, Darius Plus and Darius Alpha, were enhanced to utilize the extra sprite capability of the SuperGrafx.)
  • PC Engine CoreGrafx (1989)
    • Dark grey, blue label, AV output
  • PC Engine CoreGrafx II (1991)
    • Light grey, orange label, AV output, Identical in function to the CoreGrafx

CD-ROM accessories

Portable systems

  • PC Engine GT (1990)
    • Portable system, identical in shape and function to the US-released TG Express
  • PC Engine LT (1991)
    • Semi-portable system (no battery option) similar in size to a normal PC Engine or CoreGrafx. Uses a very large attached screen, and folds up like a laptop (hence the LT moniker)

Duo systems

  • PC Engine Duo (1991)
    • Combination PC Engine + CD ROM system, dark grey, has a CD door lock and headphone port
  • PC Engine Duo R (1993)
    • Same as the Duo, but white/beige, shaped differently, and lacks the lock and headphone port.
  • PC Engine Duo RX (1994)
    • Same as the Duo R, slightly blue in colour. The only PCE packaged with a six-button pad.

Others

Other region variations

  • TurboGrafx CD - North American version of CD-ROM 2
  • Turbo Express - North American version of PC Engine GT
  • TurboDuo - North American version of PC Engine Duo
  • Vistar 16 (Korean)
  • Several clones
  • TurboGrafx 16 - European (PAL) variant. Slightly different PCB layout to accommodate additional circuitry for PAL display, otherwise is identical to the NTSC TurboGrafx 16.

Unofficial variations

  • Various PC Engine Shuttle clones exist, with varying levels of compatibility with original PC-Engine games. One of the more common types is the "PC Boy".
  • New Tai Sang Corporation released bootleg HuCards which were sometimes patched to add features like invincibility. Unlike most bootlegs these closely resembled the original games in terms of packaging, even with color labels and manuals.
  • The PC Engine was never officially released in France, but one chain of videogame stores imported them and made SCART conversions on a moderate scale.

Unreleased and rumored hardware

  • A modem was developed but never released.
  • A SCSI interface for the Duo CD-ROM drive to be used by a PC existed in prototype form only. (it was featured in a TTi-published TurboGrafx 16 oriented magazine in the US)

Peripheral compatibility

All PC Engine systems support the same controller peripherals, including pads, joysticks and multitaps. Except for the Vistar, Shuttle, X1, GT and systems with built-in CD ROM drives all PC Engine units shared the same expansion connector, which allowed for the use of devices such as the CD ROM unit, game saves and AV output. See the External Links (bottom) for details on this connector.

The TurboGrafx and Vistar units use a different controller port than the PC Engines, but adaptors are available and the protocol is the same. The TurboGrafx offers the same expansion connector pinout as the PC Engine, but has a slightly different shape so peripherals must be modified to fit.

The Super System Card provides 192KB of RAM, supplementing the built in 64K of DRAM found in the CD interface tray. The PC-Engine Duo/R/RX consoles have the Super System Card’s 192KB of RAM plus the 64K of standard RAM and v3.00 BIOS software built in, and can play both CD-ROM² and Super CD-ROM² games without using any additional cards.

The Arcade Card Pro is for the original PC-Engine CD-ROM² and Super CD-ROM² peripherals, adding the 2304KB of RAM required by Arcade CD-ROM² games. It could, of course, also play standard CD-ROM² and Super CD-ROM² games.

The Arcade Card Duo is for the PC-Engine Duo/R/RX consoles, which adds 2048KB RAM. Because the PC-Engine Duo series of systems have 256K of RAM built-in, this does not need to be provided and is why the Arcade Card Duo contained less RAM and was less expensive than the Pro version.

Note: Because the aforementioned consoles use the same BIOS revision as the Arcade Card Pro, it is not known (as a cost-saving measure) if the Arcade Card Duo includes the BIOS software itself, or if the existing built-in BIOS is used.

The various CD-ROM game types are:

  • CD-ROM² (pronounced CD-ROM-ROM) : Standard CD-ROM game.
  • Super CD-ROM² : Requires a compatible system or upgrade card.
  • Arcade CD-ROM² : Requires an upgrade card.

While the standard CD-ROM² and Super CD-ROM² had RAM for data storage which was accessed directly, the Arcade CD-ROM² cards accessed the RAM in a slightly different way.

Both the Pro and Duo versions of the Arcade Card worked in the same way. Just as with the Super CD-ROM², up to 256KB of the RAM was able to be accessed directly by the CPU. The other 2048KB was accessed indirectly by transferring data to the other 256KB of RAM on the fly. This was done rather seamlessly, so that even though the CPU could only use up to 256KB of RAM at once, data could be swapped to and from the other 2048KB of RAM at any time. This technique of swapping data from RAM to RAM was much faster than loading the data directly from the CD into RAM, and offered developers a significant advantage over the previous System Card formats, as is evidenced by the many conversions of well-animated Neo Geo fighting games to the Arcade CD-ROM².

One technique that was used by games pre-dating the Arcade Card upgrade was to store graphics data in the 64K audio RAM (used for ADPCM samples) that was present. This RAM could be directly populated by the CD-ROM hardware (it had a direct DMA channel from the CD controller) without CPU intervention, and the memory could be accessed in an indirect fashion, similar to the Arcade Card, allowing data stored in it to appear as a 64K stream of linear data that could be easily transferred to the system RAM.

NEC manufactured a very large line of personal computers, one of which featured a single-speed CD ROM drive identical to the PC Engine version. They were designed to be interchangeable, which is why the PC Engine's IFU-30 CD ROM interface could be purchased without a CD ROM drive.

NEC developed a prototype adaptor that connected a PC through the HuCard slot, allowing the PC to control the PC Engine's CD ROM as it would any normal SCSI drive. Due to falling CD drive prices and the increasing undesirability of a single-speed SCSI drive, it was never released. It was however previewed in NEC's official US TurboDuo magazine.

Video formats

All PC Engine hardware is natively NTSC, including the European version which creates PAL-compatible video with the use of a chroma encoder chip not found in any other system in the series.

Technical Specifications

  • CPU: 8-bit HuC6280A, a modified 65C02 running at 3.58 or 7.16 MHz (switchable by software). Features integrated bankswitching hardware (driving a 21-bit external address bus from a 6502-compatible 16-bit address bus), an integrated general-purpose I/O port, a timer, block transfer instructions, and dedicated move instructions for communicating with the HuC6270A VDC.
  • GPU: A dual graphics processor setup. One 16-bit HuC6260 Video Color Encoder (VCE), and one 16-bit HuC6270A Video Display Controller (VDC). The HuC6270A featured Port-based I/O similar to the TMS99xx VDP family.
  • Resolution:
    • X (Horizontal) Resolution: variable, maximum of 512 (programmable in increments of 8 pixels)
    • Y (Vertical) Resolution: variable, maximum of 242 (programmable in increments of 1 scanline)
    • The vast majority of TurboGrafx-16 games use 256×224, though some games, such as Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective did use 512×224. Chris Covell's 'High-Resolution Slideshow' uses 512×240.
  • Color:
    • Depth: 9 bit
    • Colors available: 512
    • Colors onscreen: Maximum of 482 (241 background, 241 sprite)
    • Palettes: Maximum of 32 (16 for background tiles, 16 for sprites)
    • Colors per palette: Maximum of 16
  • Sprites:
    • Simultaneously displayable: 64
    • Sizes: 16×16, 16×32, 32×16, 32×32, 32×64
    • Palette: Each sprite can use up to 15 unique colors (one color must be reserved as transparent) via one of the 16 available sprite palettes.
    • Layers: The HuC6270A VDC was capable of displaying one sprite layer. Sprites could be placed either in front of or behind background tiles.
  • Tiles:
    • Size: 8×8
    • Palette: Each background tile can use up to 16 unique colors via one of the 16 available background palettes. The first color entry of each background palette must be the same across all background palettes.
    • Layers: The HuC6270A VDC was capable of displaying one background layer.
  • Memory:
    • Work RAM: 8KB
    • Video RAM: 64KB
  • Audio capacity:
    • 6 PSG audio channels, programmable through the HuC6280A CPU.
    • The addition of the CD-ROM peripheral adds CD-DA sound, and a single ADPCM channel to the existing sound capabilities of the TurboGrafx-16.
  • Game Media:
    • TurboChip (HuCard in Japan and North America): A thin, card-like game media. The largest Japanese HuCard games were up to 20Mbit in size.
    • CD: The TurboGrafx-16 was the first home video game console to offer a CD-ROM accessory.
    • With only one exception, the SuperGrafx, all TurboGrafx-16 hardware could play the entire TurboChip library, and every CD system could play all the CD games - with the right system card.

CD hardware technical specifications and information

  • Drive unit:
    • Single-speed CD-ROM drive, managed by a NEC microcontroller and using the SCSI-I interface.
    • Transfer rate of 150KB/sec.
  • ADPCM chip with variable speed input clock, and 64K DRAM for audio sample storage. Only one channel of 4-bit compressed audio (decompresses to 12-bit, top 10 bits output through DAC) was supported.
  • Programmable, timer controlled, electronic volume attenuator to fade-out the CD-DA and ADPCM audio channels together or individually.
  • The PC-Engine CD-ROM interface tray has 64K of DRAM for storage of program code and data loaded from the CD.
  • The "System Card" contains the BIOS program used to boot CD media and provides functions for software to access CD hardware through a standardized interface. Later System Cards had extra RAM and updates to the BIOS.
  • The Duo series has the same BIOS ROM (v3.00) and RAM (256K total) as a PC-Engine system equipped with a Super System Card. The Duo implements the memory as a single 256K SRAM chip rather than the split 64K DRAM / 192K SRAM.
  • The list of known CD-ROM BIOS revisions are:
    • v1.00 - First release (HuCard, came with the PC-Engine CD-ROM interface unit)
    • v2.00 - Upgrade (HuCard, sold separately)
    • v2.10 - Upgrade (HuCard, sold separately) - bug fix?
    • v3.00 - Final release (built into several products and available as a HuCard - see below)
  • The list of known System Card releases are:
    • System Card, v1.00 - First release. Came packaged with the original PC-Engine CD-ROM² System. Also available as a standalone purchase, in case you lost or damaged the pack-in System Card.
    • System Card, v2.00) – BIOS update. The only difference between this and the original System Card is the BIOS code update to v2.00. Otherwise, it is the same.
    • System, Card, v.2.10 – BIOS update. This may have been a bug fix for the System Card v2.00 BIOS code.
    • Super System Card - 1.5Mbit RAM (192KB) – RAM upgrade and BIOS update. This expands the RAM available for the CD-ROM unit to 256KB when including the existing built in DRAM. It also offers a final BIOS update to v3.00. The PC-Engine Duo (Turbo Duo in North America) had 256KB of RAM and the same v3.00 BIOS built into the system. Games developed for this System Card bore the title ‘Super CD’, and could not be played using an older System Card.
    • Arcade Card Pro - 17.5Mbit RAM (2240KB as 2MB+192K) – RAM upgrade. This greatly expands the RAM available for the CD-ROM unit to 2240KB. The BIOS revision was unchanged from v3.00. Games developed for this System Card bore the title ‘Arcade Card CD’, and could not be played using an older System Card. The Arcade Card Pro includes the extra 192k needed by the non Duo CD system. The 2MB of RAM is accessed through ports or units of single 8K banks and is intended for graphics data storage rather than program code; its flexible addressing system allows for rapid transfer of data to VRAM.
    • Arcade Card Duo – 16Mbit RAM (2048KB) – RAM upgrade. This greatly expands the RAM available for the PC-Engine Duo system to 2048KB. The BIOS revision was unchanged from v3.00. Games developed for this System Card bore the title ‘Arcade Card CD’, and could not be played using an older System Card. This will only work on the Duo systems, as it does not include the extra memory built into the Duo system.
    • Games Express Card – Bootleg system card. This was a bootleg System Card released by Games Express for play of unlicensed Games Express CD games. Only unlicensed Games Express games could be played on this System Card.
  • The corresponding CD-ROM products were:
    • PC-Engine Interface Unit (IFU-30), came with System Card (CD-ROM² System, v1.00)
    • System Card (CD-ROM² System, v1.00) (standalone, available as a replacement for the above)
    • System Card (CD-ROM² System, v2.00)
    • System Card (CD-ROM² System, v2.10)
    • Super System Card (Super CD-ROM² System, v3.00)
    • Arcade Card Pro (Arcade CD-ROM², v3.00)
    • Arcade Card Duo (Arcade CD-ROM², v3.00)
    • Super CD-ROM² System (Super CD-ROM² System, v3.00)
    • PC-Engine Duo (Super CD-ROM² System, v3.00)
    • PC-Engine Duo R (Super CD-ROM² System, v3.00)
    • PC-Engine Duo RX (Super CD-ROM² System, v3.00)
    • RAU-30 (Extension cable for the SuperGrafx to fit into the IFU-30 tray)

See also

External links

Fourth-generation video game consoles | NEC consoles | TurboGrafx 16

PC Engine | PC Engine | PC-Engine | PC 엔진 | TurboGrafx 16 | PC Engine | PCエンジン | Turbografx-16

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "TurboGrafx 16".

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