What year did you first start gaming on the PC Engine/Turbografx??

erik · 09/12/2010, 11:16 AM

I am very curious to find out when most of us started gaming on the PC Engine/TurboDuo family of consoles. I, like many of you, did not appreciate it until long after it had bitten the dust. It started back in 1999 for me when I bought my TurboDuo from TZD for about $200. Gaming was well into the PS1 era when I started to collect retro systems and games again. I reacquired an SNES in 1997 and a Genesis in 1998, and I was really interested in playing Dracula X and Gate of Thunder sometime in my life. I also had EGM's Issue 100 with its Top 100 games of all time and saw several TG-16 games in there including Bonk, Legendary Axe, Military Madness, Devil's crush, Gate of Thunder and Y's Book I + II. I did not even know what Y's was until I saw it on the Top 100!!! Crazy Huh? Anyway, I feel EGM's Top 100 in November 1997 helped shape me into the gamer I am today, happily enjoying the PC Engine and it all of its Duo goodness. Let me know when you fisrt stated gaming on PCE and let me know if you were inspired by EGM's Top 100 list!

BlueBMW · 09/12/2010, 12:15 PM

I think I got my first TG16 in 2001. Found it at a used game store with Keith Courage, Victory Run, and Final Lap Twin. It was different, had never seen it before and it was cheap. Ever since then, NEC stuff has held a spot in my collection. I guess I like it because its not the norm. Its not Nintendo, its not Sega, its it's own unique experience! I sold almost all my games in 2005 at the command of an ex fiance, and over the last few years I've been piecing it all back together. Just since June I've been rebuilding my Turbo collection. I've gone from having ZERO turbo stuff to having a TG16/CD, a Turbo Express, a few Duos, a PCE Core GFX and about 100 games! Its been great to get back into the stuff again! And I'm discovering new things I hadn't played before (Lords of Thunder is a prime example!)

turbogrfxfan · 09/12/2010, 12:31 PM

I think I got my tg16 christmas back in 1989. I think. I remember it was a big thing for me to decide between that and the genny. I obtained a vhs promotional tape for the turbo and That was it. I saw ys and it was amazing!!. the first game I bought was legendary axe. I didnt get the cd part till september cause I had to work durring summer vacation to get it.
For some reason I didnt buy any egm zines. If I bought any zines it was Mad magazine CHEAP! I had a few turboplay. but all I remember of egm was reading them at the magazine rack. I think they were expensive.

I ended up getting a genny and super nintendo, ps1 etc. but they never had the impact tg16 had. I bought a converter started to collect tg16/pce again around 4 years back.

SignOfZeta · 09/12/2010, 12:43 PM

My first NEC system was a Duo in 1992. Having a system that wasn't Nintendo or Sega back then was appealing, but not that odd for me since I had owned stuff from Atari and Coleco. I later got an Express from a guy at work who used it to watch sports on. Got a Core Grafx for free because it was broken, got a Duo R for $60 because it was broken. Fixed both of these and sold the Express to a Brit on eBay, sold the US system for $120, or something like that to a forum member. Traded the Core Grafx for a white PCE, bought a IFU+CDROM2 from a friend, and that's where I am. The two white set-ups are the coolest, and that's what I have. Eventually I'll have a Supergrafx, an LT, and an FX, but those aren't anything I'm in a hurry for.

When I first started collecting games, I obviously just bought US stuff but drooled for the cool imports seen in the magazines. Then I started renting and buying them from the Diehard Gameclub store that used to be in Michigan. I now have all JP soft except for the pack-in games that came with the Duo. I don't do American releases anymore since they are inferior in almost every way with the exception of maybe a half dozen games, most of which I don't even care about. I do have the US Gate of Thunder 4-in-1, Ys 1&2, and the free Chew Man Few I got from TZD's binder.

Mathius · 09/12/2010, 01:24 PM

For me it was the spring of 2009 when I got a Turbo and then a few weeks later the CD Add-on. I have always been fascinated with the Turbo ever since reading EGM (like the OP) and seeing all the cool imports for the PC Engine. One of those games I remember seeing was Spriggan and that ended up being my first PC Engine game. Eventually I got a Murai adapter and a copy Download and that was my first Japanese Hu Card. Now I have about 40 games that are a mix of Japanese and American releases. It's basically 50/50 between the two regions. Like SignOfZeta, I will eventually get a SuperGrafx but I want to get the CD add to go along with it. I'd also like to get a modded Duo-R sometime.

nat · 09/12/2010, 01:56 PM

I got a Turbo for Christmas 1990. I was an NES kid before that. The Turbo seemed so far ahead of the NES back then.

Gogan · 09/12/2010, 01:57 PM

I believe it was '90 or '91 for me. I bought a US TG from Electric Avenue (Montgomery Wards electronic department) with KC and Blazing Lazers. I was so pumped cuz no one had one. I get home, pop in KC, ...and was a initially disappointed; the quirky overworld tune, and rather childish graphics, then he fired up that Nova Suit and things got...metal. Flying skulls, gun-heads, and the like. Popped in Blazin Lazers after, and I. Was. Sold. BL was actually the first shooter I ever played, and to this day, is my fav genre. I feel very fortunate I was able, and continue to experience this system.

It wasn't until the mid to late 90's that I started messin with imports, but once I did, it was all over for me. Pretty much abandoned all other consoles for the most part. They just lacked something only the TG gave me. Eventually got a duo in 2000, had it modded and rip it up at least a couple times a week. Have built up about a 110 game collection and look foward to picking up many more I have yet to get. In fact, ima go rip up some Image Fight right now!

ShinobiMan · 09/12/2010, 03:47 PM

I first encountered the TG16 is early 1992. I had just moved to a new neighborhood and my Mom wanted me to make friends with our neighbor's son who was a year older than me (I was 6). I loved video games, and in trying to find some common ground with him, he introduced me to his TG16. The first game I ever played on the system was Bonk's Revenge, and it blew my mind. Here was this strange video game system that I had never heard of or seen, and here was a game and mascot that gave Mario a run for his money. I ended up playing that game with him long into the hours of the night. I remember being upset when my parents came knocking at the door, asking that I come home.

That was the start of a long history of TG16 gaming. Good times.

nat · 09/12/2010, 04:05 PM

If you were from WA I might have asked you what your name was.... I have a virtually identical story, only I was the "older neighbor." The difference is I was like 11 or 12 and the kid that moved in was like 8 or something. I wonder what ever happened to that guy..... He loved that Turbo of mine. And it's funny because the game in my story was Bonk's Revenge as well-- I remember it had just come out the week before he moved in and I'd just bought it with my allowance so we were playing it all the time.

exile · 09/12/2010, 04:38 PM

I must admit I was that kid that shitted on the Turbo back in the day. I was hating it for the fact that I couldn't own one when it was first released. I enjoyed the multiplayer games so much I bought my own Turbo controller just to play with my mates.
I bought my first NEC system two days before Thanksgiving in the Winter of 1998. I was so stoked when it arrived. Duo with 42 games 6 contollers and a Turbo stick. Since then I've been obsessed with the system. I moved to Japan in 04 and went on PC Engine overload. I'm a huge shmup fan and own most of the shooters domestic and import. My goal is not to own every game,but only the ones I love.

Sparky · 09/12/2010, 05:32 PM

2003 i guess.... i was a late bloomer as i wanted one when i was a kid but the high price tag landed me a SMS instead with my mom and dad and my buddies got the genny.

To be honest i would have bought one sooner but i never came a cross 1 to even play, the area i lived in had no TG16 love, our Radio Shack were pushing its TRS-80 and Tandy computers and that was it.

TGX16 · 09/12/2010, 05:54 PM

My first TGX16 was bought at Game Dude, Sherman way (or something?) in LA winter -90.
Me and two friends went to the US to for a month on holliday and to buy used car parts for our Vintage cars back home.
Me being a videogame nerd as well had to finally get my hearts desire a TURBOGRAFX 16....
So I've had contacted G.D. before and made sure they had all the stuff waiting for me...
I was in heaven that nite, at last the long wait was over.

I bought a boxed TGX, a boxed Turbo booster Plus, a turbo tap, three turbopads and a Boxed Purple Barnie .
Also Bonks adventure, Revenge, K.C., Legendary axe and 13 games more.
Since then has the collection grown and expanded to an unexpected size.

At the moment I've got:
My first TGX 16 and all the hardware
Another one to spare
A brand spanking new in an unopend box (The EU version named "Turbografx") And a boxed unopend Turbotap and two boxed unopend Pads.
A SuperCd player and a CorgrafX II
A PC Engine shuttle with pad AC and cable (missing the lid though)
A PC Engine DUO Boxed
A PC Engine DUO-R missing the original joypad
A PC Engine DUO- RX
A Boxed PC Engine plus additional hardware
A PC FX boxed as new. and a mem-card
A Boxed PX-FX GA for PC-9800 new
About 85-100 Tgx 16 games
And aprox. 150 PC engine games
And 28 PC-FX games
The collection is growing constantly slowly but surely

Game being played at the moment is Dragon Knight 3

lord_cack · 09/12/2010, 05:57 PM

I would have to say it was 1991 or 1992, most likely mid '91. I had a birthday, got some cash and wanted to buy some videogames. So, got a new Turbo with Bonk's Revenge and bought a copy of Dungeon Explorer. I have to say I was alittle disappointed at first, but after a day or two I was more than pleased. Bought a few more Chip games (US Only back then so Turbo Chips they were) and had a good time. Then Christmas '92 I got the Duo. Came with Ninja Spirit Turbo Chip. Played it, then Gate of Thunder, lastly I put in Ys and was blown away (RPG's were my thing back then) "Ys, the ideal utopia." It was some kind of magic. That was when I fell in love with the Turbo and have been ever since.

TheClash603 · 09/12/2010, 05:59 PM

It wasn't until 2007 when I got my Laseractive NEC Pac that I started buying TG stuff. My friend in college had a TG, and we played a lot of Cadash, DE, and Splatterhouse, but I never had the knowledge of the system to buy my own.

Now I have been working on my PCE stuff, but generally prefer the US versions of games. If I go back to Tokyo, I will probably stock up on PCE stuff.

DragonmasterDan · 09/12/2010, 07:35 PM

A few people I knew got it for Christmas in 89, so I'd go to their houses and play. I got mine in 1990.

CGQuarterly · 09/13/2010, 12:01 AM

I got my first TurboGrafx in 2004. I traded a guy online a CIB Jaguar with a game or two for a CIB TG16 with Keith Courage. I built up a small collection, and then sold it all a few years later because I needed money (needed to buy an engagement ring. This is now called "The Great Purge of 2007".) I got into emulation because I got a modded Xbox, and felt like I didn't need all of these consoles and games anymore. Well about a year later my friend got me into RGB gaming, which means that I needed consoles again. Currently I have a TG16 with CD base (but no CD drive), about 15 CIB games, and a Neo Flash 64Mb card. I have an external RGB amp (on a bread board, actually) that I need to put inside the CD base. I am going to the Portland Retro Gaming Expo next week and have my fingers crossed that I can find a CD drive and System 3.0 card while I'm there.

So that's my story.

Chris

Tatsujin · 09/13/2010, 12:32 AM

I was not a PCE user from day one on. how could I? the system was never sold officially in my homecountry and the prices for imports where far beyond my budget at that time I was like 12~13 years old. but I am a pce adorer since almost day one, when I first saw it in our local mags shortly after its japan release. R-Type 1:1 arcade like, so who wouldn't have fallen in love with that system instantly?
I always wanted it over the Mega Drive or Super NES.

I played it the first time in like 1990 at a friends place (rich parents bastard). When I started my apprentiship in 1993, soon after a US Turbo DUO (w/ awesome RGB mod) was my own (including the YS 1&2, GoT bonk combo etc).
games like spriggan, nexzr, WoT, star parodia and dracula x followed soon.

that was the point of no return.

Mathius · 09/13/2010, 01:14 AM

Quote from: Tatsujin on 09/13/2010, 12:32 AMI was not a PCE user from day one on. how could I? the system was never sold officially in my homecountry and the prices for imports where far beyond my budget at that time I was like 12~13 years old. but I am a pce adorer since almost day one, when I first saw it in our local mags shortly after its japan release. R-Type 1:1 arcade like, so who wouldn't have fallen in love with that system instantly?
I always wanted it over the Mega Drive or Super NES.

I played it the first time in like 1990 at a friends place (rich parents bastard). When I started my apprentiship in 1993, soon after a US Turbo DUO (w/ awesome RGB mod) was my own (including the YS 1&2, GoT bonk combo etc).
games like spriggan, nexzr, WoT, star parodia and dracula x followed soon.

that was the point of no return.

What's your home country Tats?

Tatsujin · 09/13/2010, 03:26 AM

Quote from: Mathius on 09/13/2010, 01:14 AMWhat's your home country Tats?

Le swissle

shubibiman · 09/13/2010, 08:14 AM

I bought my SGX at Christmas 1991 along with Final Soldier and Dragon Egg. Cyber Core was bundled with the SGX. I was a bit disappointed as I expected Battle Ace to be bundled instaed of what I thought was a crap back then (I changed my mind since then) and as no SGX games were available in the store where I bought the lot. I had heard of the PCE for the first time in a French magazine in mid-1990. I fell in love at once as saw that all my arcade favourites were released for this little machine. At the time, I owned an Amstrad CPC 464 so there was quite a difference between the games I already played and what I saw in the magazines. I didn't even have an audio CD player so I just couldn't imagine you could play CD games already!

I was living in the Frenc countryside and even if Sodipeng made an excellent job with its grey import, it was still hard to get devices and games outside of bigger cities. So some friends and I had hard time which to decide of the Megadrive and the PCE. We thought it would be good to buy the same machine so that we could exchange games. I can clearly remember the exact moment when we opted for the PCE. We were walking in a wood!

One of my friends got his Coregrafx first (it was a special pack sold by Sodipeng and included a Coregrafx, a multitap, a game and 2 pads) along with PC Kid 2, that turned out to be the very first PCE game I've ever played. Before that, I saw some gameplay in stores that sold PCE systems when we went to big cities with my parents. My jaws litterally dropped. I was so impressed!

I still own the same SGX now and I never stopped playing and buying PCE games since then, that's why I now have quite a big collection, PCE games would go for so cheap between 1996 and 2000!

Obfuscate · 09/13/2010, 09:29 AM

Got a Turboduo Christmas 92'. Although had a couple good friends who had regular TG 16 and loved playing theirs so that's what made me want a duo.

NecroPhile · 09/13/2010, 10:45 AM

I got my TurboDuo in late '91 and never looked back.

Quote from: erik on 09/12/2010, 11:16 AMI did not even know what Y's was until I saw it on the Top 100!!!

Never heard of it.

rag-time4 · 09/13/2010, 05:16 PM

From the time I saw the very first Turbo CD display in Toys R' Us with Fighting Street I really wanted one.... but never got one until I got my US Duo in 01, with my first game being Fighting Street! I briefly played a TurboGrafx at my next door neighbor's house back around 90/91, but I wasn't impressed by China Warrior and Battle Royale. Axe II was decent, though... and those are the only three games I remember playing back then.

My Duo sat in storage for years between 02 and 06... but 06 was definitely the year of the Duo for me. I sold all of my SNES and Genesis stuff and got really into the Duo!

nectarsis · 09/13/2010, 05:48 PM

Late 91/early 92 (I remember the TurboExpress was $250 when I bought it). Nabbed Neutopia II, and Veigues Tactical Gladiator (always teh mecha head). I LOVED it, even though for the life of me I couldn't find anyplace that carried the ac adapter

. I ended up selling it off for peanuts in like 96 with never delving farther into the library.

Fast forward to 2007, the bug came back...and will never leave.

termis · 09/13/2010, 07:01 PM

Initially played at a store booths, a friend borrowed the system from another friend etc... but then,

* 92 or so - got my first tg16 + cd-rom when those systems went on clearance. I got a few CD games not too long afterward - Ys, Spiriggan (a blind purchase for like $5 - awesome!), etc... then I put it away for awhile after a year or so as I got into other things (girls, booz, motorcycles, computers, etc)...

* 96 or 97 - started getting back into the system. Sold off the tg16 + cd-rom and got hold of a used TurboDuo for like $50 (Oh, the days). Played it for a while here and there, but then got out of gaming again as I went full time into college.

* 2003 - took the Duo out, played some games here and there, and reminded me how awesome the Duo is... I put it away again as I went back to Korea, but this was the little spark that got me getting into PCE a couple years later.

* 2005 - Living in Japan at this point, I started visiting recycle shops and started buying a dirt cheap games here and there initially for the saturn, but couldn't look away from the PCE section. I ended up getting a SGX, and a package consisting CG2, SCD-ROM2 and a broken PCE Duo. After realizing that SGX + SCD-ROM2 wasn't really a practical setup, I ended up only keeping the PCE Duo (of course, after repairing it). Learning Japanese helped with enjoying the whole PCE experience.

* Currently, the PCE is one of my full time consoles set up on my TV. I don't get as much videogame playtime as I'd like, but I still fire it up once in awhile, and I get reminded of a game now and then by regularly visiting this forum.

DesmondThe3rd · 09/13/2010, 07:25 PM

For me it was 1989. Me and brother passed up the Sega Genesis and we're more interested in what the Turbo had to offer especially since Sega screwed up the Master System in our opinion. I remember playing R Type, The Legendary Axe, and Keith Courage like crazy.

ParanoiaDragon · 09/14/2010, 02:15 AM

Quote from: TGX16 on 09/12/2010, 05:54 PMMy first TGX16 was bought at Game Dude, Sherman way (or something?) in LA winter -90.
Me and two friends went to the US to for a month on holliday and to buy used car parts for our Vintage cars back home.
Me being a videogame nerd as well had to finally get my hearts desire a TURBOGRAFX 16....
So I've had contacted G.D. before and made sure they had all the stuff waiting for me...
I was in heaven that nite, at last the long wait was over.

I bought a boxed TGX, a boxed Turbo booster Plus, a turbo tap, three turbopads and a Boxed Purple Barnie .
Also Bonks adventure, Revenge, K.C., Legendary axe and 13 games more.
Since then has the collection grown and expanded to an unexpected size.

At the moment I've got:
My first TGX 16 and all the hardware
Another one to spare
A brand spanking new in an unopend box (The EU version named "Turbografx") And a boxed unopend Turbotap and two boxed unopend Pads.
A SuperCd player and a CorgrafX II
A PC Engine shuttle with pad AC and cable (missing the lid though)
A PC Engine DUO Boxed
A PC Engine DUO-R missing the original joypad
A PC Engine DUO- RX
A Boxed PC Engine plus additional hardware
A PC FX boxed as new. and a mem-card
A Boxed PX-FX GA for PC-9800 new
About 85-100 Tgx 16 games
And aprox. 150 PC engine games
And 28 PC-FX games
The collection is growing constantly slowly but surely

Game being played at the moment is Dragon Knight 3

Wow, you got yours at Game Dude?! I didn't know that place was around that far back! I used to buy alot of import PCE games there years later.

Anyways, probably around October of 1990 it started with me playing a friends TG the night before going to Disneyland. The only game I know I played for sure that night was Bonk 1, played it for hours, got to the last level but needed sleep! Then I believe in Februaray of 91, I bought a friends TG with KC, Ninja Spirit, Vigilante, Tiger Road, & Splatterhouse. I think later that year is when the Genesis dropped for $150, I bought that, but, eventually sold it to my bro since it just didn't have as many good games IMO. I believe that was also the year that the CDRom was slashed to $150, & I got that along with Valis 3 for $30 at Babbage's.

OldMan · 09/14/2010, 08:12 AM

I honestly don't remember what year it was - the late 80's comes to mind.

Just graduated college (university to you guys), got my first real job making pretty good money. Sister, nephew and I went out for my birthday, and we stopped by toys-r-us on the way home. Nephew was interested in tg-16 (he had an nes already). I was gonna buy some games for us to play, but my sister said he would only lose/trade them away. Since I wanted something I could play, I bought the tg-16. All of it. CD attachment too, and all the games toys-r-us had in stock.

When the turbo express came out, I had to have that too, so I could play my games on the road. Spent many, many hours (and loads of batteries) in airplanes trying to beat blazing lazers and alien crush. Then devil's crush, when it came out.

And fwiw, it became household policy that if you wanted a video game system, you couldn't buy one we already had.. So we ended up with pretty much all the major ones since then. Genesis+cd (niece), SNES, n64, Dreamcast, XBox, XBox360 (nephew), and wii (niece).

I pretty much stuck to the retro stuff; I still have my first 2600, but I had to replace my coleco. Nephew picked up an intellevision from someone. I don't collect this stuff; there's only a few games I play on each system, but the games I play i really enjoy.

Mathius · 09/14/2010, 01:12 PM

Quote from: DesmondThe3rd on 09/13/2010, 07:25 PMFor me it was 1989. Me and brother passed up the Sega Genesis and we're more interested in what the Turbo had to offer especially since Sega screwed up the Master System in our opinion. I remember playing R Type, The Legendary Axe, and Keith Courage like crazy.

I remember standing in an Electronics Boutique in the late 80s playing Legendary Axe and Keith Courage. The graphics in both games back then seemed SO awesome for the time. Unfortunately, playing them again in 2009 for the first time since didn't quite wow me like they did BITD. At least Legendary Axe's music never looses its charm.

Tablet · 09/14/2010, 01:48 PM

Living in England we didn't really get a TG-16 release here (dunno where all these new PAL-UK ones have popped up from recently) I remember when I was in High School and trying to find a replacement SMS, my mother was the type to have yearly clearouts of our older stuff, normally when we were at school so we wouldn't notice and the SMS went. After I managed to track down another model 2 with Alex Kidd built in I turned my sights to handhelds. I've always loved handheld gaming, in fact my first system was a big ol'fatty gameboy I got for my 4th birthday (my dad was a gaming nerd and wanted me and my brother to turn out the same way) and I loved it... At around 2002-03 ish I had became aware of the TG-16 thanks to wikipedia, my attention however was always drawn to the Turbo Express and the cards they used for the games, niavely I thought the cards were swiped through the system like a credit card (the wiki article did describe them as credit card sized) but prices always kept them just out of reach.

Anyway in mid 2007 a friend needed some cash (went over his student overdraft,

tut tut) was selling a PC engine core grafx with a tenokoe 2 and a loose copy of Genpei Toumaden (most probably spelt wrong) I think he'd ebayed the rest of the games in the past but I know he needed the money ASAP. I bought it from him, joined this forum to get some suggestions for games and have been hooked ever since. I grabbed my PCE-CD unit in 08 and I haven't looked back. I think the appeal for me, getting into this so late on was that I had had a mega drive and a super nintendo throughout my childhood and I wouldn't say I was bored of either system but the PCE was something completely different, I'm still astounded they managed to fit Street Fighter 2 on a huey. Before the PCE I NEVER played shooters but now after playing Gate of Thunder, Soldier Blade, Download 2 and many many more I fell in love with the genre and in particular that era of shooters tracking down similar shooters for the MD and SNES.

So for me it was 2007, late to the party but I'm glad I'm here.

Mathius · 09/14/2010, 01:51 PM

Quote from: Tablet on 09/14/2010, 01:48 PMSo for me it was 2007, late to the party but I'm glad I'm here.

Touche.

JoshTurboTrollX · 09/14/2010, 01:52 PM

I started becoming a Turbo fan in 1992-93 just from reading reviews and seeing screen shots in game mags from that time. I finally got my Duo in summer of 1994 with my first paycheck from my first job.

Otaking · 09/14/2010, 05:12 PM

Got my first taste of the PC-Engine around 1988 ish
its what got me into video games

BlackandBlue · 09/15/2010, 04:42 PM

I didn't own a TG until a few years ago.... 2006 maybe? But one of my friends in Jersey had one that we use to skip school and play. I think that was in '95? Ah, good ole times playing double dungeons and smokin cigs in the house. I had wanted one since, but didn't until some 12 or 13 years later. Best decision ever

termis · 09/16/2010, 04:08 AM

Quote from: ParanoiaDragon on 09/14/2010, 02:15 AMWow, you got yours at Game Dude?! I didn't know that place was around that far back! I used to buy alot of import PCE games there years later.

Anyways, probably around October of 1990 it started with me playing a friends TG the night before going to Disneyland. The only game I know I played for sure that night was Bonk 1, played it for hours, got to the last level but needed sleep! Then I believe in Februaray of 91, I bought a friends TG with KC, Ninja Spirit, Vigilante, Tiger Road, & Splatterhouse. I think later that year is when the Genesis dropped for $150, I bought that, but, eventually sold it to my bro since it just didn't have as many good games IMO. I believe that was also the year that the CDRom was slashed to $150, & I got that along with Valis 3 for $30 at Babbage's.

Lol. My first import game, Spiriggan was from Game Dude as well. That must've been 92 or so. Back then, they were just another small used video game shop. Probably the 1/15th of the current Game Dude (or what I last saw of Game Dude, which was like 2003.) I then bought my Duo from there a few years later when I swapped over from TG16/CD-Rom.

Good times. You were actually able to get real deals from there by buying "x" condition games - they were scratched up and had a no-return policy, but were all below $5 or so, and I think I only had one game actually skip on me. (out of like 20-30 x condition games I bought). [off topic, but I had similar experience in Japan with the "junk" sections of Hard Off, except those discs were usually mint anyway!]

Marll · 10/22/2010, 07:28 PM

Recycled this from another post I made since it's relevant:

I've owned a TG16 since right around the time they were released in the US. I was a RABID fan of the system, constantly scoffing at friends with the Genesis because I KNEW that I had the superior system no matter what they said. I read every review in every magazine I could on the system, games and PCE stuff. I didn't have normal posters in my room as a kid, only TG ads that were cut out of the magazines and posted on the wall. I saved money from mowing lawns to buy a converter and Street Fighter 2 when it came out in Japan and endured the 3 months shipping time to my house...

My parents were cool and got me the Turbo for Christmas one year the Turbo CD and the Super System Card the year it was released. I have toted the system all over the world with me as I moved around while serving in the Army, the system has never failed me. I desire to have a complete collection some day, but not willing to compromise on quality or price (to a certain degree).

Biggest Turbo mistake was selling it at one point before I left for the Army...I bought it back after 2 months because I couldn't stand it...thankfully I came to my senses.

bartre · 10/22/2010, 11:12 PM

so many of you guys are vets, I had never touched a TG/PCE until this year.....
anyway, I played a couple roms, and just decided to take the plunge, so BAM!
here I am, +1 PCE Duo-R

Mathius · 10/22/2010, 11:15 PM

Quote from: bartre on 10/22/2010, 11:12 PMso many of you guys are vets, I had never touched a TG/PCE until this year.....
anyway, I played a couple roms, and just decided to take the plunge, so BAM!
here I am, +1 PCE Duo-R

Don't feel bad. I didn't get my first NEC console until 2009, although I did play a Turbo at Electronics Boutique BITD.

geise · 10/23/2010, 09:07 AM

Haha I got my Duo from Game Dude! That place is really good. Now a days they are kind of expensive on shipping but they do great business. Just so people know they want $10 bucks shipping when I ordered a lose Hu card, but they still have great prices. It's a good place to check now and then for TG games. Just email them what you're looking for and they'll send a reply back.

I had a TG-16 before the Duo was out. My neighbor had one and got me hooked on the TG-16. He then got the CD add on and it blew me away. Well my parents were awesome enough to buy my brother and I one. They got us Ys Book I&II (thank god

O:)) So I've been with the TG-16 for quite a while. It still is my top system. When I finally got the Duo I got rid of the TG-16 and CD add on. We used the money for more games. Luckily that was a bit after I bought the Duo so games were going for the cheap! We had fun at Toys R Us that day.

VestCunt · 10/24/2010, 10:09 PM

A friend and I both saved money and each bought a TurboGrafx-16 at Toys R Us in the Summer of '92. Unfortunately, I was never able to buy many games. My parents didn't have any money to throw around, my allowance came to $15/month, and my paper route was $30/mo. So I only bought discount, $10-20 games. I got Deep Blue, Legendary Axe II, and Parasol Stars new and ordered Victory Run and Pac-land from BRE Software. I never managed the $20 for a TurboTap + $20 for a second controller. While I drooled over the CD-Rom, the idea of ever being able to save $200+ was unthinkable. So I sold it all in '95.

I got a job painting houses in '97 and happened to see a neon, TG-16 sign while driving through Richfield, MN. I couldn't believe it! It was Games to Go (the owner Paul had some notoriety in the NEC scene at one time). At that time there was very little organized interest in the system, as an online collector community had yet to form. Games to Go was one of the relatively few shops in the country that actively bought and sold the stuff and it was filled with rare titles in '97, including a couple copies of Dynastic Hero I passed over. From Games to Go I bought a used Duo for $150, a Tap, a couple Avenue Pad 6's, CF2, DE2, Exile 2, Vasteel, LoT, New Adventure Island, Y's 1-2, Vigilante, the Arcade Card, a Barney converter, World Heroes 2, Fatal Fury 2, SF2. From my local Radio Shack I ordered Soldier Blade, Smackdown Adventure, Bomberman '93, Shockman, Y's 3, and Dragon Slayer. TG games were dirt cheap at GAME DUDE, so I put in an order and got Valis 2, GoT 3-in-1, Riot Zone, Exile, Fighting Street, Prince of Persia, Shadow of the Beast, Super Air Zonk, a Reverse Duo Tap, and another controller, all used for about $70! Super Air Zonk I think was $15 and is the one really sweet deal I got before I started playing games again in 2004 and realized everything was outrageously expensive.

I like the Mario man and Pacman. Also the Donkey is fun.

csgx1 · 10/27/2010, 01:28 PM

I got my original system when TG16s were first discounted to $99 at toys r us. I think it was around '92-'93. At about the same time I bought Bonk 1 for $3.99 and a turbo booster plus for $9.99 on clearance at Circuit City. Most of my friends moved on to SNES at the time and no one cared about the Turbografx.

Sounds like a lot of you are quite lucky to have experienced the TG-CD/Duo when they came out. I didn't know one single person that owned a TG-CD or Duo at the time. No one could afford it then, including me. Finally got my TG-CD & PCE Duo in '99.

Colossus1574 · 10/27/2010, 02:53 PM

Quote from: Mathius on 09/14/2010, 01:12 PMI remember standing in an Electronics Boutique in the late 80s playing Legendary Axe and Keith Courage. The graphics in both games back then seemed SO awesome for the time. Unfortunately, playing them again in 2009 for the first time since didn't quite wow me like they did BITD. At least Legendary Axe's music never looses its charm.

Late 80s! Wtf??? How long has EB been around? they never appeared in Vancouver (canada) until the mid-late 90s!?!?!

Anyways, I started off with the TG16 (had to play KeithCourage for awhile before got my next game which i think was BloodyWolf?) that i got for Xmas back in '90 or '91? and back then it was all about trading games with your friends at highschool. Noticed that after a year or so that I knew more people with PCE (Vancouver was going through a huge immigration boom from HongKong) then the TG16...so ended up getting one of my relatives to bring one back from HongKong, the good ol' suitcase PCE/CDrom which i still own & play today! The TG16 ended up selling to a buddy of mine in '93...which he lent to someone....who moved outta town never to be seen again....

_Paul · 10/27/2010, 03:16 PM

I think it was 89/90 as far as I could remember. I had clocked in a lot of play time on friends' PC Engine's before getting my own, most likely later in the 1990 from the releases I remember at the time.

tg16manaic · 10/27/2010, 03:23 PM

I got mine in 1990. I picked it up used with 1 game (splatterhouse). I paid $60 for it if i remember correctly. I was blown away by splattterhouse and i've been in love with the turbo grafx ever since! I was a kid, and i remember being so excited that i almost left the guys house without putting my shoes on! I was holding the turbo grafx, i opened his front door, stepped outside and was about to leave without my shoes. I was so excited, it was a boxed like new system, and it was a steal for $60, so i couldn't get outta there fast enough. I was thinking like, okay, i got my turbo grafx for 60 bucks, see ya later, oh sh*t my shoes!

Mathius · 10/27/2010, 05:15 PM

Quote from: Colossus1574 on 10/27/2010, 02:53 PM
Quote from: Mathius on 09/14/2010, 01:12 PMI remember standing in an Electronics Boutique in the late 80s playing Legendary Axe and Keith Courage. The graphics in both games back then seemed SO awesome for the time. Unfortunately, playing them again in 2009 for the first time since didn't quite wow me like they did BITD. At least Legendary Axe's music never looses its charm.
Late 80s! Wtf??? How long has EB been around? they never appeared in Vancouver (canada) until the mid-late 90s!?!?!

Yeah, they were in Indiana by the late 80s. Them, along with Walden Software, were the places to go back then.

DJLobo · 10/29/2010, 12:47 PM

I picked up a TG16 w/CD add-on back in '06, but I knew all about the Turbo growing up. I saw ads for Splatterhouse and Vigilante in the back of comic books I had in the early 90's along with reading about it in EGM. I do remember trying to convince my parents to pick one up when it being discounted, but they wouldn't spring for another system. (My brother and I already had a NES & SNES) I even tried to convince my Mom that Ys I & II would work on the SNES.

I had forgotten about it for some time until I found an old advertisement for the Super System Card in my room. Must have saved it for some reason. Glad I did.

blueraven · 10/29/2010, 07:47 PM

1989. I went to my friends houses when I was younger in the 80's and 90's (2 actually, that had turbos) because I couldn't afford one. Most of my gaming was done in the Kiosk at Software, Etc. in the Mall, the Babbages TG Kiosk, and the system they had setup in Toys R US.

I didn't own my first Turbo Duo until 1999 or 2000, purchased on eBay for $100. It was sold in 2003 for $250 to make rent. In 2006 I got back in with a broken PCE Duo, lurking here until early 2008 when I started posting after it broke.

The rest is history

pixeljunkie · 10/30/2010, 12:14 PM

Bought a friends TG-16 and game collection from him back in '90, the next year i got the CD add-on...My friend had gotten a Duo when they came out. I sold my original TG-16 hardware and conned him into later selling me his Duo. I still have all my original games from the time as well. I now use a region modded Duo-R. There has never been a moment since 1989-90 that I haven't been playing TG/PCE in some form or fashion.

Starfighter · 11/03/2010, 05:50 AM

I started 2009.

I bought a loose coregrafx at an insane price.. (with delivery fees and customs it landed on about $180)

Official Ninja · 11/16/2010, 12:05 PM

I purchased my TG-16 at launch. Purchased the CD add-on at launch, and the super system card too.
I have always been a huge fan of the TG-16 and used to argue A LOT with my little brother who was a "me too" Genesis fan boy.

I had mostly every US release that came out, including the CD games. Eventually as he got older my brother also started to realize how great the TG-16 was. We imported a couple games, Spriggan and a couple purple adapters to play Parodius and another import I can't remember. Eventually I moved out of my house, married and had kids. My Turbo collection stayed at my parents house. As it turned out my little brother continued to use it. Turns out he thought I didn't care about it anymore, sold a few games. Worst part of this story is he had all the games in a box in his car trunk. He was driving on I-287 at night and blew out a tire. When he got to the shoulder to change to the spare he opened the trunk and in the process of getting the spare out spilled the games all over the side of the road, in the street and the grass. Pitch black, he put what he could back in the box, changed his tire and got out of there. (its not exactly safe on the shoulder of I-287).

Fast forward a few years to like 1997 maybe, I had the gaming itch again. I went to get all my stuff from my parents house (including a NEOGEO AES and games!

but thats another forum) I was disappointed to find most of my games gone. However all the hardware was there and most the CD games. I than purchased a few more base systems from ebay, a also got a NIB Turbo Express from telegames. I still have about 20 hucard games. My son maybe 5 years old at the time LOVED the Magical Dinosaur tour.

My CD-ROM drive had the gear go bad about 5 years ago. I really want to get another drive unit to use my CD system again. Right now I'm using emulation on the PC with a real turbo-pad. I have all these CD games, a Super System card and no system to use it all with because of damn gear.

So, now my little brother is also grown up and has his wife and kids and was bitten with the same gaming bug. He recently purchased a Super Grafx and I was playing that a few days ago. Awesome.