Turbografx availability in WA state during the system's life

[Lum]

Hey I'm curious about Turbo regional distribution way out here back when it was active supported. How much NEC console related inventory did typical retailers stock in this area? Had they quit carrying it earlier than other parts of the nation? Were there otherwise-common titles that seemingly ended up bordering on impossible to find new? I missed that era myself, not old enough at the time to know about TG16.

If you have stories of the sort on other "less mainstream" systems like Neo Geo, 3DO, Lynx, etc, I'd be interested in hearing them too.

[ccovell]

As a Canuck, I liked to visit Bellis Fair in Bellingham to get timelier games.  Electronics Boutique had a good TG/Duo selection up until the end, and Target wasn't bad.

[Lum]

Heh. I'd probably buy a Turbo CD or Duo complete in box 100% *scientifically* provable was purchased in the state. Just to show my support. Not that any such receipt or something left wouldn't be faded beyond all human recognition by now... >_>

[BlueBMW]

Heh. I'd probably buy a Turbo CD or Duo complete in box 100% *scientifically* provable was purchased in the state. Just to show my support. Not that any such receipt or something left wouldn't be faded beyond all human recognition by now... >_>

You might be surprised.... a well kept reciept can last!  I've got the receipt from when my dad bought our Atari 800 back in 78 or whatever.  Its still perfectly readable... of course it was handwritten so maybe that has something to do with it.  $1200 with a 16K ram upgrade cart!

[nat]

Heh. I'd probably buy a Turbo CD or Duo complete in box 100% *scientifically* provable was purchased in the state. Just to show my support. Not that any such receipt or something left wouldn't be faded beyond all human recognition by now... >_>

I still have the TurboGrafx-16 core that my parents bought me for Christmas 1990. I don't know where exactly they bought it, but it was somewhere in the Seattle area. I don't have a receipt, though, and it's not for sale anyway....

I lived in the suburbs of Seattle (still do, actually) during that time period, and I can tell you that this area was actually one of the bigger Turbo markets in the country. There was heavy support of the system from many game retailers, and you could still buy new games in the stores as late as 1994 or 1995. In the beginning, the NEC displays were always just as big as the Genesis ones with demo kiosks (who can forget that Legendary Axe demo showcasing the giant Jagu) and the whole nine yards. This was before the SNES even existed. Granted, by 1994/95 the Turbo section was basically hidden behind the counter. I remember walking in to one place I used to buy Turbo games around this timeframe and asking where all the Turbo games went and they pulled out a bin from under the counter and said "This is all we have left...." All those corporate-type places like Software Etc, EB, etc, all had retail sets controlled by a corporate office somewhere out in the middle of Nowhere, USA so when they were told to do a a reset and pull the Turbo displays to make room for a new SNES kiosk, they had no choice, despite the fact that in this particular market Turbo stuff was still selling. So they threw it all in a bin under the counter and hoped people like me would just ask about it.

Looking back, it was really a sad time. I knew a handful of people that had a Turbo and quite honestly, the number of people I knew that had a Genesis was about the same. My Turbo was all the rage with my friends, they'd beg to play it when they came over, etc. In my own small little childhood world it didn't seem like the Turbo was losing out all that badly to the Genesis but there was no World Wide Web back then, so I didn't really get to see the big picture until years later. It made me sad when I'd walk in to the stores as the years went on and see the Turbo displays disappearing, displaced by oversized SEGA gondolas.

It was around this time I got my first flyer from Turbo Zone Direct, built from the ashes of TTi. For another 12 or so years TZD served the community better than any entity did the Genesis and SNES, until they too closed up shop and the same sadness I had felt as a kid washed over me once more.

What's funny is that despite the fact this area was a big Turbo market back in the day, when you talk to people today nobody fucking remembers the system. It's like they all collectively had their brains wiped. Everybody at my school knew what a fucking TurboGrafx was back then, but talking to some of the same people today they just stare at you blankly. It's like, "Dude, you and the other neighborhood kids would come over in the summer and BEG to play Air Zonk all day. You don't remember?"

Everyone still remembers the SNES and Genesis though. Oh, well. More for me, I guess.

[Marll]

I still have my original console that I got for Christmas in 1989. My parents got it at the Fred Meyer in Marysville, WA. Got the CR ROM the next year, which I think she either got from Fred Meyer again or from the Toys R Us is Everett, WA.

[CrackTiger]

I visited Seattle the summer that SFIICE for PCE came out. It arrived the morning we were leaving and I got to play it on my Express during the road trip, back when only a single screen shot if Turbo for SNES had been shown in EGM.

I was pleasantly surprised by tge selection of Turbo and SMS games I found at a mall down there. I spent a while decidi.g between Exile, which I had wanted for a long time, and Vasteel. Luckily I chose Vasteel, although I was later able to order Exile directly from WD (their games weren't available at retail in Canada).

My brother also chose a game that we'd never seen in Canada: Ghouls 'n Ghosts for SMS. We were very impressed by it and I still have it today.