The 8-Bit Revival & 16-Bit War · 1985–1994

NEC TurboGrafx-16

PC Engine

CompanyNEC / Hudson Soft (Japan: PC Engine)
Lifespan1987 (Japan) / 1989 (US) – 1994
LibraryAround 150 US games (over 600 in Japan)

Sought After?

Very, especially the CD-ROM² add-on and Japanese PC Engine titles, some of which now sell for hundreds of dollars.

Downsides

Tiny cartridges ("HuCards") looked like toys and confused shoppers; weak marketing and third-party support in the US.

Why It Faded

Crushed between Sega and Nintendo's marketing budgets in the US, despite being a genuine technical and library success in Japan.

Trivia

It was the first console to offer a CD-ROM add-on (1988 in Japan), years before the Sega CD or PlayStation made CD gaming mainstream.