Where was tg16 popular?

Idblbruno · 08/11/2016, 07:53 PM

Hi there. Not sure if this has been discussed before
I am wondering where if anywhere was turbografx a popular system during its production. I know so many folks say they never knew anyone who had one growing up. I am in that pool as well. Honestly I am not even sure they made it to stores local to me. Today I can search retro stores local to me and occasionally find a copy of TV sports football or Keith courage. I am assuming those are all coming in from folks who had doubles from their ebay hauls. Thoughts?

tbone3969 · 08/11/2016, 08:23 PM

TurboGrafx was big in my area when I was a teen. I am from the tri-state area.

Keith Courage · 08/11/2016, 08:29 PM

New York, Chicago, and LA for the most part. I'm about an hour out of Chicago and I think I knew 3 kids in my 7th grade class who had one besides me. All 3 of them sold theirs and got a genesis or snes 1 year later while I just kept expanding my tg16 library.

esteban · 08/11/2016, 08:41 PM

I grew up just outside NYC (10-15 minutes) and...it was not particularly popular at school/neighborhood.

Yes, there always a "retail presence" in all the malls (EB Electronics Boutique), ToysRUs, and some local shops...but I never saw or met anyone who was actually looking at TG-16 stuff, let alone buying something.

I only knew a handful of folks growing up who had TG-16.... I was the only one who had TG-CD.

None of the local rental stores carried TG-16.

My two brothers and I, collectively, knew hundreds of classmates/neighbors/family/etc.

Over the years that number grew...

...only 5-6 TG-16 out of ALL THOSE FOLKS.

Ok, maybe it was a bit higher...but not by much.

geise · 08/11/2016, 08:45 PM

It was huge in north east Ohio. I had no problem getting Turbo stuff. All of the large stores carried it as well as small import stores. What I really liked in the area was Video Game Exchange. They did new and used. Had awesome prices as well as trade in. Sadly I think the chain went under long ago. I used to score turbo games for $10 complete. Got Dungeon Explorer II used for $10 in 94. Summer 94 an employee sold me Valis IV, Spriggan, Rayxanber II, and Hellfire S for $80 total.

Killjoyy027 · 08/11/2016, 11:01 PM

I am right out of Philly PA and it was all Nintendo and Sega none of the people I know or went to school with had one. I was aware of the system only through EGM at that time.

Flare65 · 08/11/2016, 11:46 PM

Chicago was huge. The NEC office was in Wooddale IL.

TR0N · 08/12/2016, 02:01 AM

For as long as i lived in the maryland it wasn't popular around here.You either had a genesis or snes when it came down to it.Back in the 90's you were minority if you owned a TG16 around here for me at least.

exodus · 08/12/2016, 04:40 AM

Not unpopular in the SF bay area - I knew a few kids who had it.

DragonmasterDan · 08/12/2016, 04:42 AM

Quote from: Flare65 on 08/11/2016, 11:46 PMChicago was huge. The NEC office was in Wooddale IL.

Bingo, the suburb of Chicago I lived in was around 10 miles from Wood Dale. By 1990 I knew about 5-6 other kids who owned one (mostly from other people who were in my grade in Elementary school).

ToyMachine78 · 08/12/2016, 09:23 AM

There were comercials on TV where I lived in Southern Virginia, which is how I learned about it. Kinda strange cause you couldn't find it in local stores. You had to drive to Roanoke to buy games or accessories.

Based on the comercials I bought mine through the wishbook for Christmas. I was the only person I knew with one.

ginoscope · 08/12/2016, 10:19 AM

I spent my teen years in the Dallas area and I knew a few kids in high school that had a turbo. The shops locally also had a decent selection of turbo stuff. We even had a die hard which carried imports like Dracula X for $99 which I ended up getting.

I can imagine if you lived in a smaller town with 1-2 game shops turbo would have been really obscure.

NecroPhile · 08/12/2016, 10:40 AM

It wasn't so popular anywhere that you'd know more people with a Turbob than you knew that had a NES/SNES/FEKA. That said, it was popular enough (even in cornland) that you could find games at big retailers like Sears, Montgomery Ward, Service Merchandise, Toys R Us, Babbages, etc.

DragonmasterDan · 08/12/2016, 11:00 AM

Quote from: guest on 08/12/2016, 10:40 AMIt wasn't so popular anywhere that you'd know more people with a Turbob than you knew that had a NES/SNES/FEKA. That said, it was popular enough (even in cornland) that you could find games at big retailers like Sears, Montgomery Ward, Service Merchandise, Toys R Us, Babbages, etc.

It depends on when.

In 1989-until Christmas of 1991 I knew way more people with Turbo than SNES or Genesis.

SavagePencil · 08/12/2016, 11:06 AM

Quote from: TR0N on 08/12/2016, 02:01 AMFor as long as i lived in the maryland it wasn't popular around here.You either had a genesis or snes when it came down to it.Back in the 90's you were minority if you owned a TG16 around here for me at least.

Same experience. I grew up in rural Maryland and only knew one person with a TG16. It wasn't until I went to college in the mid-90s that I was able to start finding other people into it.

SignOfZeta · 08/12/2016, 12:23 PM

Nowhere. That's why it almost died but TTI rebranded everything and died a couple years later instead. Sure, TRU and EB in my town had games in stock, but you don't need to sell a single copy of anything to pull that off. It's about making deals with stores. No sales are required to arrange these deals. In the same way that everyone has a Kinect every TRU had a copy of Aeroblasters. In my town my brother and I were the only TG people I knew. I knew a guy with a Neo but no TG16. As long as your town had a rich asshole in it in 1990 you'd find him with a Neo. The TG was never top shelf enough to attract those guys, not fun enough looking for the kids, and only toward the end was it so cheap that parents might buy it for that reason.

JoshTurboTrollX · 08/12/2016, 12:47 PM

Places like TurboFest and these forums.

Arkhan Asylum · 08/12/2016, 02:18 PM

It was apparently popular in Ohio, given that Me, OldMan, Fragmare, Eagenduder, Spenoza, and like 5 other people are all from Ohio.

lol

glazball · 08/12/2016, 02:32 PM

Like DragonmasterDan said, it does kind of depend on when. I'd say retail-wise, the TG was highly visible here in Texas at launch. Our local mall had a McDuff Electronics that prominently promoted the Turbo. They always had a big TV running Keith Courage. Montgomery Ward had a big selection too early on. I remember seeing consoles and accessories like TurboBoosters there.

Sadly though, I only had 1 friend that had one (and he was the spoiled kid that had ALL game consoles.) Most of my TurboTime back then came from my cousin who rented the TG-16 console at a mom & pop video store by his house. He must have rented that thing every week and we played the hell out of Blazing Lazers, Splatterhouse and Alien Crush.

After the initial orange label games were out a while and after the Genesis got so popular, the Turbo just disappeared.

xcrement5x · 08/12/2016, 03:14 PM

I grew up in northern IL area, not in Chicago or the suburbs, and I remember it being pretty well known when I was younger. Oddly though, I didn't really ever start playing it until I left the state

csgx1 · 08/12/2016, 03:26 PM

Quote from: exodus on 08/12/2016, 04:40 AMNot unpopular in the SF bay area - I knew a few kids who had it.

Growing up in the SF Bay Area I knew only one friend that owned a Turbografx and another person that owned a PC Engine. Turbo games and systems were easy to find in most stores but it seemed unpopular among the people I knew.

I never heard of anyone buying a new Turbo Duo or TGCD around my area. When the Turbo Duo was on clearance for $99 around 1995, a few of my friends talked about how cheap it was but none of them bought it or even cared at that point.

exodus · 08/12/2016, 03:33 PM

Well, one kid in my elementary school had one, an older kid whose house I went to sometimes had one, then when I got to middleschool two kids had them, and my class was real small, so it seemed like I ran into them pretty frequently. but it's all a pretty random crapshoot, and this is all anecdotal evidence anyway.

(like zeta said, ultimately it wasn't truly popular much of anywhere)

SignOfZeta · 08/12/2016, 05:38 PM

Quote from: guest on 08/12/2016, 02:18 PMIt was apparently popular in Ohio, given that Me, OldMan, Fragmare, Eagenduder, Spenoza, and like 5 other people are all from Ohio.

lol

This forum, and Amercian fandom in general has a ridiculously significant Midwest/BFE presence. I'm in Michigan, the MGS is in Wi, we have people here from states I've never actually met anyone from in my life just because the odds are so low. By having just one guy in Alaska on such a small forum the odds are thrown off. I'm not sure ever ever met an Alaskan. I've met hundreds of people from NJ or CA.

Looking at a population density map alone it makes no sense. My theory is that people in the Midwest, too broke to afford anything and living so far from civilization, archive an overdeveloped state of fandom. How many people here "always wanted one back in the day?" The vast majority it seems. But if your family lived in major cities and had the increased income and access to everything that comes with, you maybe would have developed normally and gotten bored with PC Engine the same time everyone in Tokyo did. You'd be playing PS4 now instead, or maybe even living a more interesting thing than that.

TurboXray · 08/12/2016, 06:50 PM

In the small city of Tucson, 100 miles from the southern Mexican/American border, it was fairly popular. I knew of quite a few people that had it or played it (even made friends with strangers in high school because of the common interest of having a TG16). A lot of the stores carried TG16 stuff; Best, Toys R US, PlayWorld, Montgomery Wards, and others as well as most video game stores. Though by the time the Duo arrived, it was mostly Toy R US and Babbages that carried the CD titles. It was fairly common to find TG16 stuffs in the wild here up until 2008 (two popular used stores usually had TG16/CD or PCE stuff on the shelves). I even bought a Supergrafx game in the wild. My friend bought Dracula X back in 2005 in the wild, along with Cotton. I picked up Macross 2036 and a few other PCE CD games from the same used stuff place.

nopepper · 08/12/2016, 07:23 PM

I grew up in Puerto Rico and although my circle of friends were all into video games, not a single person had a Turbo. It did, however, have a sizable retail presence in big stores such as Toys R Us, back when they had those cool display cards in the aisles. Being a nerd since I was a kid, I was fully aware of all the games in the Turbo library, thanks to EGM and Gamepro, but like the majority of middle class America, could not afford but one system at a time.

I do remember seeing a couple of kids at restaurants, shopping malls, etc., hauling around their Turbo Expresses. They always had the look of rich spoiled brats to me...

Interestingly enough, the Sega Master System was much bigger back home than the Turbo ever was. Not as big as the NES mind you, but a pretty sizable minority of kids I knew owned one.

ccovell · 08/12/2016, 08:09 PM

In Canada, many department stores, computer stores (Compucentre, etc.) and of course Radio Shack carried the Turbo. During trips to the U.S. I found decent Turbo selections at Software Etc., Target, KayBee, etc in Seattle and Bellingham, WA.

Idblbruno · 08/12/2016, 08:20 PM

Where I grew up which isn't exactly a small town all I can remember is nintendo and sega. To be entirely honest I think my cousin had a sega Saturn and another cousin had a sega cd. Those were about as obscure as I ever saw.

I still have the first issue of NEXT Generation magazine from the mid 90s and they showed off all of the fringe systems like 3do, neo George cd etc. I remember reading about them all in magazines but none of the stores up here carried them.

SignOfZeta · 08/12/2016, 08:54 PM

I think there are a lot of definitions of "small town". My home city of Midland has a population of 40k, about 10% of Tucson which was also mentioned as being a small city. Then a guy who's town apparently didn't even have a mall describes his city as "not exactly small". Unless there are some regional dark areas I've never heard of I'm pretty sure every single "small city" or larger in the continental US had TG16. If you had a TRU, a Best Buy, an EB, etc then you had TG16, you just didn't know it. Same with Sega CD and Saturn. 3DO and Neo was vastly more fringe though, with Neo disappearing from American chain stores completely pretty early on.

Dicer · 08/12/2016, 10:01 PM

It was semi Popular here "Mass"

I worked in a ritzy mall, so our EB had everything, even NeoGeo...I was a fanboy and I worked with this kid Joe and he was a FEKA diehard, so we we both peddled our wares. NEC rep even came in to congratulate us on decent numbers and to let me fawn over the Turbo-Express.

I had one and I knew a good dozen others with one, which is huge compared to some areas.

retro junkie · 08/12/2016, 10:19 PM

In my area, western Ky, I was the only one that I knew that had one. I had to go across the state line in order to purchase anything TG 16.

drewbrim · 08/15/2016, 12:39 AM

Another "Midwest guy" here (SE MI & NW OH). I never considered it popular as only one other friend of mine had one. The local mom and pop video rental place did carry them but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that ever took advantage of that. They were always available.

TR0N · 08/15/2016, 01:25 AM

Quote from: SavagePencil on 08/12/2016, 11:06 AM
Quote from: TR0N on 08/12/2016, 02:01 AMFor as long as i lived in the maryland it wasn't popular around here.You either had a genesis or snes when it came down to it.Back in the 90's you were minority if you owned a TG16 around here for me at least.
Same experience. I grew up in rural Maryland and only knew one person with a TG16. It wasn't until I went to college in the mid-90s that I was able to start finding other people into it.

The same here by that point.It wasn't that hard either for being teased to own one.

jonebone · 08/15/2016, 01:15 PM

Quote from: Flare65 on 08/11/2016, 11:46 PMChicago was huge. The NEC office was in Wooddale IL.

On topic, I didn't know anyone in Southern MD that had one growing up. Also didn't know the Sega Master System existed until becoming an adult collector.

Semi on topic, apparently Konami had a Wooddale IL office too. Anyone have any hint sheets like these from NES? Didn't realize so much went on in Wooddale.

seieienbu · 08/16/2016, 05:21 PM

I grew up in a town of less than 30,000 people: College Station, TX. Right when it came out, I recall playing it in a Dillards and buying games for it at a Sears. Later in the Turbo's lifespan, you could still buy games for it at McDuff, Toys R Us, and Babages.

All that being said, I didn't know anyone else that had one. As an adult, I've met several people who had turbo stuff while they were growing up in Dallas.

esteban · 08/16/2016, 06:03 PM

Quote from: jonebone on 08/15/2016, 01:15 PM
Quote from: Flare65 on 08/11/2016, 11:46 PMChicago was huge. The NEC office was in Wooddale IL.
On topic, I didn't know anyone in Southern MD that had one growing up. Also didn't know the Sega Master System existed until becoming an adult collector.

Semi on topic, apparently Konami had a Wooddale IL office too. Anyone have any hint sheets like these from NES? Didn't realize so much went on in Wooddale.

Ok, I just read the tips...I didn't know most of them! Ha!

For example, I never understood what triggered a warp...but I was obsessed with killing as many Moai as possible, so that would explain why that was the only warp I consistently experienced.

TurboXray · 08/16/2016, 09:12 PM

Quote from: TR0N on 08/15/2016, 01:25 AMThe same here by that point.It wasn't that hard either for being teased to own one.

Were you in grade school??

martinine · 08/16/2016, 10:55 PM

Huge retail presence here in Charlotte, NC. I grew up about 50 miles north and our dept. stores even had Turbo. I feel like the Toys R Us had a serious selection even into the Duo days. Side note: I bought a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga there when it came out. Such a fun game.

Anyway, back to Turbo, strangely enough, I never saw Turbo games at the stores in Winston-Salem or Greensboro, only Charlotte.

I knew 2 other people that had a Turbo, and 1 with a Duo.

Only 1 of my friends had a Master System, and the token rich guy in town who had a Master System and a Neo. That guy didn't have a Turbo though. Go figure. This token rich dude was actually a really nice guy, not the typical "Troy from Goonies" type.

TR0N · 08/17/2016, 02:31 AM

Quote from: TurboXray on 08/16/2016, 09:12 PM
Quote from: TR0N on 08/15/2016, 01:25 AMThe same here by that point.It wasn't that hard either for being teased to own one.
Were you in grade school??

Naw i was in my teens by the that point after the TG16 release.Mostly it was done as a joke by friends and all.Nothing more at least around here it was just genesis and snes owners.

TheClash603 · 08/17/2016, 08:39 AM

I remember wanting to play as a kid, after seeing Bonk on Nick arcade and Splatterhouse in magazines. However, I didn't know a single person in Buffalo, NY that had one. It wasn't until I met a gut from Rochester, NY when I was a teenager that I finally played the system to death. Apparently Buffalo hated the TG16.

esteban · 08/17/2016, 12:26 PM

Quote from: TheClash603 on 08/17/2016, 08:39 AMI remember wanting to play as a kid, after seeing Bonk on Nick arcade and Splatterhouse in magazines. However, I didn't know a single person in Buffalo, NY that had one. It wasn't until I met a gut from Rochester, NY when I was a teenager that I finally played the system to death. Apparently Buffalo hated the TG16.

I wonder if it was my cousin. I have a cousin in Rochester.

Who am I kidding?

My cousin loved Genesis.

Who am I kidding?

He loved sports games.

PS: I don't really know what, if any, console he had. This reveals that I don't *really* know my own cousin. Damn. Who is he? Who am I? Why am I forced to watch another TubeYouMusic commercial right now? Why ask why?

SoulflySolid · 08/17/2016, 12:34 PM

I'm in central IL and I only ever saw one kid on my Jr high bowling team bring his Turbo Express to the bowling alley. I was in awe as it was so expensive at the time. My family would occasionally travel to the Chicago suburbs to go to the malls, and I always dreamed of walking into the NEC building hoping they would give me a Turbografx for some reason.

esteban · 08/17/2016, 12:39 PM

Quote from: SoulflySolid on 08/17/2016, 12:34 PMI'm in central IL and I only ever saw one kid on my Jr high bowling team bring his Turbo Express to the bowling alley. I was in awe as it was so expensive at the time. My family would occasionally travel to the Chicago suburbs to go to the malls, and I always dreamed of walking into the NEC building hoping they would give me a Turbografx for some reason.

That is a common fantasy.

I had that dream for every console.

bob · 08/17/2016, 01:04 PM

Quote from: jonebone on 08/15/2016, 01:15 PM
Quote from: Flare65 on 08/11/2016, 11:46 PMChicago was huge. The NEC office was in Wooddale IL.
On topic, I didn't know anyone in Southern MD that had one growing up. Also didn't know the Sega Master System existed until becoming an adult collector.

Semi on topic, apparently Konami had a Wooddale IL office too. Anyone have any hint sheets like these from NES? Didn't realize so much went on in Wooddale.

LOL for watermarking it.

nopepper · 08/17/2016, 06:38 PM

Quote from: martinine on 08/16/2016, 10:55 PMHuge retail presence here in Charlotte, NC. I grew up about 50 miles north and our dept. stores even had Turbo. I feel like the Toys R Us had a serious selection even into the Duo days. Side note: I bought a copy of Panzer Dragoon Saga there when it came out. Such a fun game.

Anyway, back to Turbo, strangely enough, I never saw Turbo games at the stores in Winston-Salem or Greensboro, only Charlotte.

I knew 2 other people that had a Turbo, and 1 with a Duo.

Only 1 of my friends had a Master System, and the token rich guy in town who had a Master System and a Neo. That guy didn't have a Turbo though. Go figure. This token rich dude was actually a really nice guy, not the typical "Troy from Goonies" type.

Since I never got to know any of them, all kids with a TurboExpress or a Neo Geo were Troy from Goonies. They did not deserve them more than I did, 'cause they were douches. They probably are the assholes that cut in front of you at the beer line or freeway rides your ass with their beemer.

Please don't humanize them for me.

SignOfZeta · 08/17/2016, 09:45 PM

I agree. I had a Duo when they were new but then I also had a job. Not many 9 year olds had them.

johnnykonami · 08/18/2016, 01:17 AM

I'm from MD (grew up in Baltimore County) and I got a TG-16 and a Duo as soon as they came out. I had three friends who all also had a Duo once I joined a Anime club in my teens, also had some exposure to Mega Drive and SFC games for the first time there. I don't think I ever met another TG-16 owner, and the common opinion from my friends was that I had backed the losing console, but I never felt like that. I always had different and interesting stuff to play than everyone else, and I still got to play SNES/Genesis through my friends so I don't feel like I missed out at all. Major bragging rights when Drac X came out too. That was fun, it was the "told you this was a good platform!" game for many people who were previously unimpressed.

TR0N · 08/20/2016, 02:59 AM

Quote from: johnnykonami on 08/18/2016, 01:17 AMI'm from MD (grew up in Baltimore County) and I got a TG-16 and a Duo as soon as they came out. I had three friends who all also had a Duo once I joined a Anime club in my teens, also had some exposure to Mega Drive and SFC games for the first time there. I don't think I ever met another TG-16 owner, and the common opinion from my friends was that I had backed the losing console, but I never felt like that. I always had different and interesting stuff to play than everyone else, and I still got to play SNES/Genesis through my friends so I don't feel like I missed out at all. Major bragging rights when Drac X came out too. That was fun, it was the "told you this was a good platform!" game for many people who were previously unimpressed.

Pretty much what i went through as well.My friends at the time thought the same thing that i backed the wrong console by going with a TG16+Turbo CD.

DragonmasterDan · 08/20/2016, 02:29 PM

Quote from: jonebone on 08/15/2016, 01:15 PMSemi on topic, apparently Konami had a Wooddale IL office too. Anyone have any hint sheets like these from NES? Didn't realize so much went on in Wooddale.

Wood Dale is right by O'Hare airport. It was/is relative to its small size a pretty popular location for foreign companies to operate their US operations from as it has easy access to railways to ship products and such a large airport in a central location.

otterboxer · 08/21/2016, 02:48 PM

in the uk it was almost non existent. I knew about the pcengine express before i knew about the pcengine. I remember seeing it in a magazine and being amazed at the thing and the price tag.

Up here in Cheshire was mega drive country. quite a few peeps had a super nintendo but sega had the edge sale wise imho

johnnykonami · 08/21/2016, 05:22 PM

Quote from: TR0N on 08/20/2016, 02:59 AMPretty much what i went through as well.My friends at the time thought the same thing that i backed the wrong console by going with a TG16+Turbo CD.

To this day I have a friend from way back then who still insists the SNES is superior to everything. He never bought any Turbo stuff but he often laments the Sega CD he received and even poo-poos the poor Genny too even though we share many good memories of Lunar, Splatterhouse 2+3, and playing around with his Super Pro Fighter copier (I believe that's the one that did both Genesis and SNES). 25 years later he still insists on fighting the 90's console war! It's cool though, no one else's opinions held much sway with me, I was always pleased with my alignment to the Turbo.