Poll- Are you a new or old PC Engine/TurboGrafx gamer?

[Flare65]

Bought the base system for around 155.00 cash from a AKO enterprises wholesale in Bolingbrook IL when it first came out.  These guys used to host video game swap meets at a hotel once a month and sent out post cards to everyone letting them know when the next meet up was.  This was just before the height of the 8-bit Nintendo popularity when Tetris was released.  Me and a few friends would always hit up the AKO game swapmeet int eh morning and then head to the Mars Merchandise (another now defunct video game shop) game swapmeet in the afternoon.

Not to get too far of track, but I remember being very dissapointed with Keith Courage as soon as I powered on the system.  The first part of the stage where you don't have the power suit on sucked.  My sister was laughing at me saying.... "you spent over 150.00 for THAT?!?!"  The game got much better when we you got the suit and went into the underworld area....or whatever it is called.  I have not bothered to power up this game in nearly 20 years so I'm going off memory.

The first game I bought was Bonk.  Nearly beat it that afternoon.  I remember it was going to be a toss up between buying Bonk and Military Maddness.  My dad grew up playing Avalon Hill board games and wanted me to get MM, but I ended up getting Bonk...he was disappointed.  I ended up buying MM the following month with my lawn mowing money.

[Zenimus]

I never had a TG-16 growing up, nor even played one. My only experience with it back then was seeing Bonk at a Toys R Us kiosk and wanting it badly. I remember some store employee back then saying that "these work in a Nintendo too". I was 6 years old, I believed it, I begged my grandma for it, and was shocked to pop that box open to find a tiny game card that could never possibly work. Why did that was that guy at the store thinking??

Last year I got a box of mixed video game stuff at an auction in LA. A Turbo Duo was in there, and I remembered that day of wanting to play Bonk so badly, so I kept it and tracked down a small set of games. It's a fun side of my favorite era in gaming that I never got to experience before.

[Gemineyetwin]

I only have had my Tutbo Grafx system for about 2 years now.  Of all the numerous consoles I own, this is my favourite.

[kiketonto]

The first time I played with was in '93, but it was from a friend.
I have  mine since 2000

[miaandjohnrule]

I first played a TG-16 on a demo unit at a department store sometime early in its console life. I remember really enjoying Keith Courage.

[ApolloBoy]

I knew about the TG-16 when I was very young in the early 90s; my dad subscribed to Game Players magazine back then and I found out about it and other stuff like the TG-CD and TurboExpress from there. I remember really wanting an SNES and Genesis back then because of it and I think I wanted a TG-16 too. AFAIK, TG-16 stuff wasn't really available in my area then because I don't remember seeing TG-16 stuff in the stores.

Anyway, I got my first TG-16 about 6 years ago and I've been hooked ever since. I got into both the PCE and TG-CD/PCE CD scenes after I sold my first TG-16 to get a region modded PCE Duo (which I stupidly traded for a TG-CD setup, which I've since replaced with a Duo-R).

[BigusSchmuck]

Got my Duo back in early 94 from Game Dude after reading the review of YS books 1 & 2 in EGM. Yeah it was a bit late in its life, but I tell you what, we had endless amounts of fun playing 5 player bomberman as I was the only person in my little town that had a Duo!

[munchiaz]

Never played it as a kid. Got my first turbo experience back in September of 2011 with a tg-16 and a copy of Cadash. I've never looked back

[MrFlutterPie]

Never played it as a kid. Got my first turbo experience back in September of 2011 with a tg-16 and a copy of Cadash. I've never looked back 

That's a damn fine game to start out with

[munchiaz]

Never played it as a kid. Got my first turbo experience back in September of 2011 with a tg-16 and a copy of Cadash. I've never looked back 

That's a damn fine game to start out with

Indeed it is. One of my fav games on the console

[PUSH RUN BUTTON]

Old timer here.

First saw the Turbo at the Montgomery Wards when I was scoping out the Genesis.

It wasn't until I saw the PC Engine write up in EGM #4 (which explained the orgins of the Turbo) that I first became curious about the card-based system.

When I saw the Turbo initially, I didn't know anything about it, who NEC was, or why it was coming out of nowhere to compete with Sega. That article cleared things up, made the connection to the wildly successful Japanese PC Engine, and the Turbo suddenly seemed like it had the weight to take on Sega and win. We all know how that turned out...

After collecting Christmas and birthday money and combining it with allowance and mowing/car washing income, I was able to pick up a CD unit. Again, EGM played a big role in convincing me to buy the CD attachment, with it's raving review of Ys. Ed, one reviewer giving it a 10 and declaring that the perfect game had finally been made...

After years of lusting over a Turbo Express for 10 years, I finally picked up one from eBay in 2000.

I got back into the Turbo in 2009 and have been collecting steadily since, really focusing on the PC Engine, Super Grafx and Super System Card games.

[Tatsujin]

What if I am not the super oldtimer, but also not new to the system?

I know and adore the PCE since her first appearance in a German video game mag back in early 88. But due to being only 13 at that time and having no income whatsoever, approx. 600 swiss francs for an import PCE was waaaay out of my range at that time.

I first played the PCE at a buddys home around 1989. he was an only-child, his parents were out of house a lot, and he could get anything he wanted.

since there was never any official release of the pce in europe (switzerland), we always had to rely on expensive importers.
arround 1992 I got my first own 2nd handed core with few cards, like pc genjin and super star soldier.

later I got an imported US turbo duo with RGB mod and huey adaptor, which was my prime system until 2005.

around end of the 90s I also got some brief case, SGFX, LT and stuff. also when I finally got my very own income.

Now I am using my S-Video modded DUO-R, since RGB is such a rare ware here in Japan.

[Otaking]

necrobumper

[MNKyDeth]

Wowza Necro

I voted old gamer. Had the system when it released. Then when the Duo's came out my dad bought one of those instead of the cd-rom attachment.

[Jason_dicarlo85]

I never had one as a kid... My grandfather did I got to play frequently ... He only had three games so for 15 Years the only three games I had ever played for it were Keith courage.. Victory run and tvsportd baseball

[PukeSter]

Been playing it for over 6 years. Started with bomberman 93 on PC, and a couple years later I started buying virtual console games.

[Marto_Jo-ing]

           OLD TIMER                                                                                                                                                                 I was a super lucky kid in the summer of 89 at the young age of 13. My best friends mom worked in the marketing dept. (i don't know who for) in the computer/video game industry and somehow she acquired a Turbografx about a week before public sale. I remember going over to my buddies house to spend the night and play games and watch movies when his mom walked thru the door holding the Turbo. We had only seen a couple of articles about the Turbo in some videogame magazines. We completely lost our shit. Even though we only had Kieth Courage we didn't stop playing all weekend. It is one of my best gaming memories. I ended up getting my turbo for Xmas 4 months later. I played turbo for years.I never got the turbo cd attachment but I did pick up a turboexpress thru a trade with a buddy in high school in 94.  When I turned 20 I sold all my video games and systems thinking about the future and using the money toward moving out of my parents house. After a couple years of regreting selling my stuff I found a web site selling NIB TurboGrafx and NIB Turbo Express. I pretty sure it was in the year 2000. Turbografx were about $50 and the Express about $60. I purchased one of each, I should have bought all I could but I didn't ever think the Turbografx prices would climb so high. I picked up a Pc Engine Duo in 2010 because I wanted to play turbo cd games I had and start collecting Japanese hucard games. Last year I pulled the trigger on the Supergrafx, cool system. I only need 1941 to complete Supergrafx collection and Darius Alpha since it upgrades the graphics. But those games are very expinsive. Thanks for reading. Cheers!!!

[OldMan]

Old timer (In both senses)

Took my nephew to We-Be-Toyz to pick up a nintendo for XMas. (nes. He was pissed they didn't have the one with the robot anymore.) And a few games.

Just got a nice-paying job at the time, so I asked my finance manager (aka, his mom) If I could get me something. Walked out with a tg-16, cd-rom, and all the games they had at the time. (It was only about a half-dozen)

[NecroPhile]

..... his mom walked thru the door holding the Turbo...... we completely lost our shit.

Story checks out.  Carry on. 

[kosko99]

Newbie, totally a newbie over here... in fact, I played for the first time ever on a real system like... 1 month after I registered here, on emu I played few months ago.

Only seen it on magazines when it was new or youtube vids ages later.
The system didn't exist over here and neither saw any shop getting one as an import device. A pity and I really regret not to have got it earler.

[ginoscope]

Old school had the turbo in 1990.

Added cd in 1992 and enjoyed most of the US super cd and Dracula X.

Sold it like a fool and this year got a pc engine duo and a turbo express.  Reliving the teen years and learning a lot from the community.

[martinine]

I got my turbo when it was first launched. Once I saw the turbo on the cover of VGCE, I knew I had to get it.

I first fell in love when this issue of VGCE came out as well. I can still see the cover in my mine. I marveled at how they could put something which pummeled the NES into the tiny HuCard. I had to wait a little while, but it was before NEC packaged Bonk with the system. A friend bought one shortly after I purchased mine. His came with Bonk's Adventure and he thought Keith Courage was so awful. He loved joking me about how I only got KC with mine. God I still love Keith. I'm going to go play it as soon as I hit post!

[ParanoiaDragon]

I never had one as a kid... My grandfather did I got to play frequently ... He only had three games so for 15 Years the only three games I had ever played for it were Keith courage.. Victory run and tvsportd baseball

Woah woah, your grandfather had TV Sports Baseball??  I'll assume you either mean World Class Baseball or perhaps TV Sports Basketball.  Otherwise, you need to track that game down, as it was finished, but never released!  That'd be a great find, but I don't have high hopes.

[johnnykonami]

Got my TG-16 the Christmas it was released.  A couple years later I upgraded to the Duo (cut a bunch of lawns that year saving up for it) and been a life long fan ever since.

[ClodBusted]

Not an old timer by any means. I saw pictures of the PC Engine for the first time in 1999, in a German videogame magazine called "TOTAL!". It was featured along with the SuperGrafx in an article about the history of videogames.

I got my Turbo Duo in 2013.

[GohanX]

I always wanted one back in the day, but it was not meant to be. I eventually got a duo from TZD sometime around 2001 or so, but I didn't really get active until I got a Duo R maybe 10 years ago.

[Bloufo]

TBH, I didn't even know what it was until about 2007.
That was the year I bought a Wii, and I saw something called "TurboGrafx-16/TurboGrafx-CD" in the list of Wii Virtual Console games.

As I say, I hadn't a clue what that was. So out of curiosity I bought a couple of those games, and really liked what I saw. So the following year I got on to eBay and won an auction off of this guy called Doujindance. It was for a loose Coregrafx and PC Engine Duo.

The Duo was running very hot with the Genesis 2 power supply that I was given. That's what led me to you guys here at pcenginefx to ask with regard to power supply specs.

[Groover]

I played it all the time at my best friends house. So much fun. I finally got a duo a few years ago.

[grolt]

I bought the system new for $50 when its battle with the Genesis was all but lost and was able to get a lot of used games for $5 a pop from my local video rental shop at the same time since they were cutting ties as well.  I played it a little bit back then, mostly just quick run throughs of Fantasy Zone and Deep Blue, but didn't really have enough games for me to really stick with the system long.  I always wanted to play the Bonk games but could never find them in my area in Northern Canada.  The Genesis and SNES kept releasing good games up there so it was back to playing those.  I always kept the system and all the games, and every few years I'd revisit them, but it wasn't until earlier this year that I really fell in love with the system.  I busted it out for a quick play on my birthday and ended up plowing through a half dozen of the games with a craving for more.  Fast forward a few months and I've been able to track down the vast majority of the HuCard games and I'm working on the CDs now as well.  Great little system that never really got a fair shot, and the one that finally, after 25+ years of gaming finally made me a shooter fan.  All hail NEC.

[Gentlegamer]

I'm definitely a late comer to OBEY. I only knew TG-16 from magazine coverage when it was current. I only knew one kid (friend of a friend of a friend) who was that spoiled kid who had everything, and he had a TG-16 and the Turbo CD, but I never got to play it (I was the young kid who just got to watch, prefiguring Twitch).

In the late 90s, I discovered the magic of emulation, and the Magic Engine emulator, which was my firs taste of OBEY. I was a mostly emu-classic gamer for many years when I finally started "collecting" in 2006, when I bought a like-new TG-16 and three games (Keith Courage, Dungeon Explorer, and Neutopia).

For several years after that, I still played most games through emulation when I picked up buying a few games here and there for TG-16, and was pointed at Keith Courage here for a great Duo-R with region switch. I've slowly accumulated a nice little library that I am very happy with.

[esadajr]

I'm an old newcomer. Three years of actively playing with my DuoR.

[GoldenWheels]

I knew a kid who had a Turbo Express but NOT a TG-16 in the 90s. Man did I do a lot of over the shoulder watching.

"Can I play now?"
"No."

Then I emulated it for a few years in the early aughts before ever owning one. More accurately, I hogged the hell out of my buddies' roommates PC which had an emulator on it, since I had no idea how to set that stuff up.

[Warbucks]

I had it when it was 1st released, being the only kid in the neighborhood with a TG16 was cool because everyone wanted to play it but stunk because I couldn't trade games with anyone.

Decades later, it seems like it still is the same 

[grendelrt]

I had a TG16 then the next Xmas got a CD add on. Got the super system card at release. My brother at the time worked at NEC in Texas, so my parents bought me the TG16 based on him working there. He would send me games every once in a while which was awesome. My favorite on he sent was Devil's Crush. Made the super huge mistake of selling everything in HS to get a Saturn. I bought a Duo though in college and have been slowly getting the games I really enjoyed back. My fondest gaming memories are playing my TG16+CD growing up. I didnt get SNES until the end of its generation. My first new system at release after TG16 was the PSX.

[geise]

Traded in my TG-16 back in the day to get the Duo at launch.  Glad I did.  Sad it didn't last long, but at least I was grabbing the games for next to nothing.  Cotton and DE II $10 a piece new?...yes please.

[johnnykonami]

I had Cotton at one point and don't miss it one bit, traded it back when it was going for regular prices.  I think for something pretty common, too.  You're the second person I've heard picked up DEII for $10 though, and I wish I would have run into it at that price.  Gah, what was I doing back in 1993/94???  I guess you never can tell which games are going to become rare.  It was probably still $50 bucks which was still a hefty amount to me back in high school.

[martinine]

This is easily one of the best threads I've ever read. Seeing how everyone fell in love with this system is really fun. Let's hope it keeps going for some time.

[StarDust4Ever]

I've been retrogaming since 2002, starting with NES. I didn't know what Turbografx was until the Wii came out. I literally read the Virtual Console announcement and was like wth is a Turbografx? I downloaded a few games and got hooked. Starting in 2011 with the Genesis, and 2012 Atari 2600, I started branching out beyond Nintendo systems (I have every Nintendo system except for Virtual Boy). 2013 brought me an AV Famicom so I could rid myself of using half-donkey converters to play imports on my NES toaster, and 2014 introduced me to three "underdogs," an SMS via an adapter from Stone Age Gamer, an Atari 7800, and a Turbo Grafx-16 base model. One of my first purchases was the Everdrive, seeing how expensive TG-16 games were. I also recently bought an AV adapter from a dealer on Etsy. Very nice to finally get stereo sound output.

Late Bloomer but I have a modest pile of Turbochip games and am building my collection slowly. I joined mainly to read the "hidden" forums but I figure I'll post a few here.

tg-16 is a wonderful if often overlooked system!

[Silent Hill]

I had no clue what a TG was growing up. I found out about it around 2010 and picked up a lot online. It's been slim pickings around here for anything TG related, but I'm happy with my progress so far.

Desh hooked me up with a Duo months ago so I've finally got to experience Ys I & II and Rondo the proper way.

[Opethian]

I still don't know

[stinkoman]

I got mine back in 94 so I'm not sure where i fall in it. My older cousinet me and my brother borrow his for a year and and said we could just keep it. It had Bonk, Keith courage, Dungenon Explorer, and R-Type.

This is a true story. I remember going to Video Game Exchange if people remember those, looking for Bonks Revenge and other games. I remember seeing this stupid game with a witch on it thinking it was some game for a girl and quickly passing on it.

[Gentlegamer]

I've been retrogaming since 2002, starting with NES. I didn't know what Turbografx was until the Wii came out. I literally read the Virtual Console announcement and was like wth is a Turbografx? I downloaded a few games and got hooked. Starting in 2011 with the Genesis, and 2012 Atari 2600, I started branching out beyond Nintendo systems (I have every Nintendo system except for Virtual Boy). 2013 brought me an AV Famicom so I could rid myself of using half-donkey converters to play imports on my NES toaster, and 2014 introduced me to three "underdogs," an SMS via an adapter from Stone Age Gamer, an Atari 7800, and a Turbo Grafx-16 base model. One of my first purchases was the Everdrive, seeing how expensive TG-16 games were. I also recently bought an AV adapter from a dealer on Etsy. Very nice to finally get stereo sound output.

Late Bloomer but I have a modest pile of Turbochip games and am building my collection slowly. I joined mainly to read the "hidden" forums but I figure I'll post a few here.

tg-16 is a wonderful if often overlooked system!

Never heard of OBEY until the Wii? How old are you? And you must not have been on emulation and ROMZ sites.

[cr8zykuban0]

Ive heard of the obey sometime around 2006 from a friend who used to own one as a kid. Didnt get my own turbo until early 2013 and been happy obeying ever since! I got a duo r in mid 2014 so ive been late in the game but i realized i missed out on the good stuff for all these years!

[shawnji]

EDIT:  Deleted because I'm an idiot, forgot I posted this, and then posted a better summary further down in the thread.

[Dicer]

Saw it in a kisok in a store called "Child World" Basically a New England version of Toys R US, anyway Blazing Lazers was going and it SPOKE....I heard voice clear as day (in my mind anyway) I was hooked right then and there, needed to have it, sadly I didn't get it sometime later at a JC Penny outlet store, system and Legendary Axe for $99, twas a hell of a deal, and I was amazingly happy...

And there ya go.

[EmperorIng]

even ran across a demo unit running Sherlock Holmes in a mall once, but it failed to grab my interest.

Imagine that, even kids weren't fooled. Johnny Turbo backed the wrong horse.

[Koa Zo]

I'd seen the original US commercials on television, and this was at a time when I had income and was looking to purchase my very own console (had previously had a 5200 handed-down from my older brother)

A new strip-mall had opened nearby and it strangely (next to a grocery store and a Chuck E Cheese) had a "Wall to Wall Sound and Video" store, I think it may have been just called "The Wall" at that time.
I rode my bike up there one day to do some comparative shopping. The audio video store had demo displays of both the Genesis and TuboGrafx-16. A VHS tape reel had me excited for Blazing Lazers, but the playable demo unit featured Keith Courage. Sorry guys! I ended up buying a Genesis.

Luckily (and unexpectedly) within the following year an older kid in the neighborhood I never really hung out with suggested we temporarily trade consoles. Dungeon Explorer and Devils Crush were played for many hours, and I got to complete Dungeon Explorer with a friend.

It wasn't until around 2004 that I purchased a PC-Engine GT, and then a PC-Engine weeks apart from each other, and then soon after a Duo-R and things snowballed from there!
I remember how stunned I was at how small the PC-Engine was. And also how odd I felt that Galaga'88 was my favorite game even among some big name titles.

[ShadowKitty777]

I'd be interested in how many forum members first played the PC Engine/TurboGrafx after the era it was released.
 

Personally I played it around the time it was released and through the console's life cycle and I bought most of the games (all the big ones) back when they were first released too.
A massive part of my interest in the system is purley nostalgia of this time.

I didn't get to play turbo until psone era. I only knew about Nintendo and Sega when it came out.

[ShaneRC51]

When I was deep into Super Nintendo, a friend of mine from school invited me over to his house.  He was playing Exile on a TurboGrafx CD.  It was the first time I had ever heard actual voices being spoken in a video game.  From that moment, I was hooked.  Later that same year, the TurboDuo launched, and I got one.  Gate of Thunder and Lords of Thunder were my jam.

  I remember hating how small the CD library was, and being a broke highschool student, I couldn't afford to buy but one game a month if I was lucky.  To this day I still get pissed that I spent money on a game called Shape Shifter.  Damn I hated that game.

  When I joined the military right out of highschool, I got rid of all of my old games/systems.  I still kick myself for that.  I've been into emulators for the last few years, but I only recently picked up a Duo R to play on original hardware again...

[Stingray]

I picked my TG and CD addon respectively as they were released at Toys-R-Us.  I remember thinking a CD based game was the coolest damn thing.  After I got my drivers license I removed the CD player, picked up a tape deck adapter and it rode with me all the time I'm amazed I never broke it. Over time it got pushed aside by new stuff until recently.  The only issue I had was the usual stuck laser gear, but now all is good