[ History ]

1.1 PC Engine

Welcome to the world of the PC Engine, a machine bought to you by the well known Japanese company, NEC.

Fig. 1.1 First PC Engine released Oct. 30th 1987.

This machine came out in the fourth quarter of 1987, and by then the Sega Master System and the Nintendo Famicom had already established a strong hold onthe console market around the world. The arrival of this dinky 8 bit (andit is small) console transformed the Japanese market in a way, bringing quality games which rivals the 16 bit computers of the 80's and with almost arcade perfect conversions such as R-Type, Galaga '88, it was an instant hit.

The machine performed extremely well in Japan, and with the hype, importers were set up around the UK with places like PC Engine Suppliers, PC Engine Services, Telegames, Mention Technical Services, Raven Games London (although I think they have been there before the PC Engine days) etc selling the machines (mostly SCART modded or NTSC with a PAL booster) to UK gamers with a price range of around the 160 pounds mark.

The machine first came in to the UK with a PAL booster only which was very poor in quality as the colours looked washed out but the SCART euro conversion fixed that problem later on.

Shortly after the PC Engine saw it's debut, Sega released their Model 5 system, the Megadrive. Although it was a 16 bit system with superior graphics chip/sound,it was eventually held to 3rd place in Japan with the PC Engine outperforming it just behind the Nintendo Super Famicom.

1.2 CD-ROM² System

One year after the release of the PC Engine, NEC shocked the videogaming industry with the debut of the CD-ROM attachment. This add-on, along with the interface unit, allows the pc engine to sit next to the cd drive (single speed).

Fig. 1.2 CD-ROM² System released Dec. 4th 1988.

With the system 2 card which came included, one can play a vast number of games never imagined before on the CD format. With a staggering 650MB of potential data, this far eclipses the normal hucard standard which, at the time was only a 4Mbit storage media.

The design of the unit is in itself  '1337' (Leet) and include with that a carrying case, it is the perfect combination I have ever seen. Having said that, the only drawback from this system is the huge price tag of 57800Yen. I have absolutely no idea what the exchange rate of Japanese Yen was backin 1988 but bearing in mind this price tag is more than double of what the white PC Engine costs, any dream of getting this from importers would set you back a possible 350 pounds. (Eek!!!)

1.3 PC Engine Shuttle

Next off the production line from NEC came the PC Engine Shuttle. What were they thinking of, I have absolutely no idea but wacky thinking and I have a lot of money to throw springs to mind. Whatever it was, it failed ;P

Fig. 1.3 PC Engine Shuttle released Nov. 22nd 1989.

This is one item that will have you collectors out there searching for a while. Although I have never seen this for sale in the UK with my very own eyes, this console didn't catch on in Japan well and like the Super Grafx (see later), it just huddled into a corner and moved to Manchester, UK (Note the transformation from Manchester to Death is  un-noticeable here).

1.4 Core Grafx
 

Fig. 1.4 PC Engine Core released Dec 8th 1989.

Right after it's release, the Core I and the Super Grafx came into the market (I guess NEC loved to release hardware in much the same speed as they do with their laptops nowadays.). The Core I as far as I can tell and know is priced the same as the white predecessor. The only difference is that whilst the white PC Engine has only got an RF connector, the Core I has it's own 5 PIN DIN out to RCa Audio/Video thus freeing out the rear BUS for backup boosters etc.

1.5 Super Grafx
 
 

Fig. 1.5 PC Engine Super Grafx released Dec. 8th 1989.

The Super Grafx on the other hand, is aimed as the second generation to the PC Engine with enhanced chips capable of displaying more colours, backward compatibility etc..

Games were few and far between and back in those days, the one game worth checking out was Ghouls and Ghosts.

Only 5 SGX dedicated games were released with a further 2 being enhancements when played on the SGX but compatible with the normal PC Engine machine.

The 5 Super Grafx games are: 1941, Aldynes, Battle Ace, Ghouls and Ghosts and Granzort.

The enhanced games are Darius Plus and Darius Alpha (Hibaihin).

Fig. 1.6 Super Grafx games (Darius Alpha not shown).
 

1.6 PC Engine GT

After numerous releases of what is actually the same console in different casing, along came the handheld which until recently, was unsurpassed.

Fig. 1.7 PC Engine GT Collection.

The PC Engine GT was unveiled to the public on the 1st of December 1990. To the shock of many, although it blows the then gameboy to pieces, how can it compete in terms of playability when the GT eats batteries like a Minidisc player in record mode???  Whilst the gameboy lasts double figures in hours and taking only 4 batteries, the GT with 6 alkaline AA will make it's owner happy if it lasts for more than 2 and a half hours.

Although one would argue that getting a power adaptor is one solution to the money guzzling machine, nevertheless, it's not how a handheld was designed to use. Where would you plug the adaptor to in the countryside?
One way is to get the Power Pack which is rumoured to last up to 8 hours on a GT but I do not have this accessory to confirm.

However, the GT does have an advantage over it's rivals such as the Gameboy and Nomad. The screen is Active Matrix and with the inclusion of the Tuner, you have a portable colour television. The Sega Game Gear can also do this (have to add that in, in case someone e-mails me to slag me off for being biased against Sega. Mind you I am a Sega fan too. If only Sega Europe followed suit and released the online downloading of PC Engine roms to play on my Dreamcast, that would definitely make my day.)

When the GT was released, many peripherals were made for it including those from 3rd party companies. The COM cable is one such accessory that most went for as bomberman were the craze for PC Engine enthusiasts.

Not many multi player games were made possible via the COM port apart from a handful which has escaped me unfortunately. I think one of the bomberman hucard games (bomberman 94?) doesn't have GT battle mode available whereas the others do.

1.7 Core Grafx II
 
 

Fig. 1.8 PC Engine Core II released Jun. 21st 1991.

Next up is the Core II System, a cheaper version of the PC Engine. Nothing bad or good I can say about this that hasn't been already mentioned with the Core I apart from the fact that the logo has gone from Blue to Orange.

1.8 PC Engine Duo

Having made done with the PC Engine and a CD-ROM attachment for so long, NEC decided to combine the two together and released the PC Engine Duo system.

Fig. 1.9 PC-Engine Duo released Sep. 21st 1991.

The Duo is basically the same as the PC Engine + CD-ROM combination with a System 3.0 card built in.
No more do you have to put in that hucard to play Super CD-ROM games. Shown above is a picture of my Duo which I bought 2nd hand from Japan. It unfortunately got a bit crushed, otherwise it would have been easily passed on as mint ;)

1.9 PC Engine LT

As if the gamer hasn't seen the best of the best from NEC, from nowhere came the PC Engine LT.

This is a PC Engine with a built in colour LCD screen and TV tuner all in one bundle. Only 1000 or so units were made (as I was told) and with a price tag of 98000Yen, no wonder it was limited. I'm not sure if this number of 1000 is for real as I have seen a lot of them on auction on Yahoo in the past 2 years. Someone must be pulling my leg here.

Fig. 1.10 PC-Engine LT released Dec. 1st 1991.

1.10 Super CD-ROM²
 

Fig. 1.11 SuperCD-ROM² released Jan. 1992.

The Super CD-ROM was made for two main reasons that I can see. Firstly it's for those who do not want the white cd-rom and interface unit and having to put in a system 3.0 card and secondly, it's for those who WANT to make better use of the rear BUS connector.

Actually there are more reasons such as for the direct connection to the Super Grafx (The other option of connecting the Super Grafx to a CD-ROM makes use of an awful combination of cd-rom, interface unit and that "badly designed what the hell is that supposed to be?" RAU-30 unit with the umbilical cord sticking out.)

1.11 PC Engine Duo-R

With the Duo costing a lot of money and the pressure from Nintendo's Super Famicom and the Sega Megadrive now with it's Sega-CD thingy and Wondermega, NEC cut costs and brought out the Duo-R.

Wow! I hear you say.... well apart from cutting costs, they did paint it white ;)

Fig. 1.12 PC-Engine Duo-R released Mar. 25th 1993.

This was my 2nd PC Engine by the way (first being the white PC Engine purchased in 1988 from Mention Technical Services). I got this beast from Hong Kong for HK$1300 modified to SCART (for info on modding PC Engine and other mods, check out Lawrence's page on http://www.gamesx.com

I can't remember what they did to cut costs but I think they removed the headphone sockets from the Duo amongst other things. (Don't complain...you don't really need the phono sockets anyway, after all it's 20000Yen cheaper than the Duo).

1.12 PC Engine Duo-RX

And last but not least comes the final chapter in the history of the PC Engine. The release of the PC Engine Duo-RX which is identical to the Duo-R but with a flashy 6 button controller.

Fig. 1.13 PC-Engine Duo-RX released Jun.25th 1994.

There isn't much to say about this machine that isn't covered in the Duo/Duo-R section above.
Oh maybe there is.. it's another 10000Yen cheaper than the Duo-R HOORAY!!!!!