Are you in it just for the CD ROM games?

[Lum]

Not really. Language barrier is a stumbling block in any case.

[MasonSushi]

I get the US games when possible, but if they are too expensive I will get the PCE version.

[JoshTurboTrollX]

I get the US games when possible, but if they are too expensive I will get the PCE version.

words to live by when collecting turbob.

I love the fact that this console is almost like 4 consoles wrapped in one! (5 for you Supergrafx owners) and when we see the developer really push the envelope on some Huey or CD-rom games. 

Example, I remember playing through Shubibinman 3 and about half way through seeing amazing GIANT bosses and crazy flashing paralax, I had to do a double take when I looked at the case and saw this was only a CD2 game and NOT SCD!!  Hell, I would have believed the game was Arcade Card if the mark was on the case....lol

Also, how amazing was it to see Street Fighter II CE look just as good as the SNES version of SFII?  I was floored.  Had no idea the ole Huey could pull off so many tricks!!

[thrush]

I love the fact that this console is almost like 4 consoles wrapped in one! (5 for you Supergrafx owners)

I've often thought about this.  It almost makes the system feel more like a desktop computer since there is a series of continual improvements and additions, rather than the static uniformity interrupted by occasional quantum leaps characteristic of most console lines.

[Mishran]

Just what the system is capable of with the Arcade Card is pure amazement. Fighting games like Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting look great for an "8-bit" system. Sure they aren't Arcade/Neo-Geo, but pretty damn close. And who can forget Sapphire??? Regardless, both formats have their gems. Wouldn't do without either type as they are both awesome.

[spenoza]

I love the fact that this console is almost like 4 consoles wrapped in one! (5 for you Supergrafx owners)

I've often thought about this.  It almost makes the system feel more like a desktop computer since there is a series of continual improvements and additions, rather than the static uniformity interrupted by occasional quantum leaps characteristic of most console lines.

Can make it feel like it costs almost as much as a desktop computer at times as well...

[CrackTiger]

I love the fact that this console is almost like 4 consoles wrapped in one! (5 for you Supergrafx owners)

I've often thought about this.  It almost makes the system feel more like a desktop computer since there is a series of continual improvements and additions, rather than the static uniformity interrupted by occasional quantum leaps characteristic of most console lines.

The PC Engine wasn't very unique in this regard in Japan. The SG-1000, Famicom, Sega Mark III and Mega Drive all had lots of variations, expansions and multiple formats. The Mega Drive in particular has all consoles ever beat.

Just what the system is capable of with the Arcade Card is pure amazement. Fighting games like Fatal Fury and Art of Fighting look great for an "8-bit" system. Sure they aren't Arcade/Neo-Geo, but pretty damn close. And who can forget Sapphire??? Regardless, both formats have their gems. Wouldn't do without either type as they are both awesome.

They're even impressive for 16-bit.

[thrush]

The PC Engine wasn't very unique in this regard in Japan. The SG-1000, Famicom, Sega Mark III and Mega Drive all had lots of variations, expansions and multiple formats. The Mega Drive in particular has all consoles ever beat.

I wonder what accounts for that?  Was it just that the strong economy there in the 1990s could support a wide range of add-ons, or was there some deeper reason?

[Mathius]

The PC Engine wasn't very unique in this regard in Japan. The SG-1000, Famicom, Sega Mark III and Mega Drive all had lots of variations, expansions and multiple formats. The Mega Drive in particular has all consoles ever beat.

I wonder what accounts for that?  Was it just that the strong economy there in the 1990s could support a wide range of add-ons, or was there some deeper reason?

Sega's schizophrenic mid 90s marketing.

[CrackTiger]

The PC Engine wasn't very unique in this regard in Japan. The SG-1000, Famicom, Sega Mark III and Mega Drive all had lots of variations, expansions and multiple formats. The Mega Drive in particular has all consoles ever beat.

I wonder what accounts for that?  Was it just that the strong economy there in the 1990s could support a wide range of add-ons, or was there some deeper reason?

Japan just loved video games. Even if every platform wasn't a huge success, their was still a market for innovation.

Sega's schizophrenic mid 90s marketing.

They did more experimenting during the 80's.

[SamIAm]

They did more experimenting during the 80's.

Japan has certainly always loved video games. Also, part of the experimentation of the 80s was that people had money coming out of their ears back then. I'm sure some of it is romanticized, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a wilder economic bubble than 80s Japan.

[Mathius]

Good Lord! I had no clue!

[Gao]

They did more experimenting during the 80's.

I have to ask, what the hell is that "Telecon Pack" thing?

[thrush]

Also, part of the experimentation of the 80s was that people had money coming out of their ears back then.

This was my thinking, too.  A lot of the peripherals for Japanese consoles I've read about remind me of the sorts of things you could get for 8-bit home computers in the US when I was 1st-grade-ish, but taken to the next level in terms of variety.  To me, this argues a similar impulse fuelled by more funds.  On the other hand, you have things like the Loopy coming out well into the 1990s and I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that this side of the Pacific.  Could be I'm mistaken, but this makes me wonder if it's more than just money that motivated all the accessories & add-ons....

/edited for clarity

[CrackTiger]

They did more experimenting during the 80's.

I have to ask, what the hell is that "Telecon Pack" thing?

Wireless AV.