AHC: Make the Turbo Grafx 16 bigger

Heres an interesting challenge for the classic gamers here. How would you make the Turbo Grafx 16 a more succesful system than it was in OTL? By bigger i mean on the same level as Genesis or the NES?
 
I have ideas but, alas, I'm saving most of them for my tech and pop culture timeline.

However a simple way to have TurboGrafx 16 (aside from a less confusing name) be bigger in the USA is for NEC to get it out the door in the USA for Christmas 1987 for a more or less same-time launch as the PC-Engine in Japan.

That alone might give the TurboGrafx 16 the chance to become the default alternative to the NES, and give NEC the resources to launch the TurboGrafx-CD as a brand new 16-bit console in 1991 or 92.
 
However a simple way to have TurboGrafx 16 (aside from a less confusing name) be bigger in the USA is for NEC to get it out the door in the USA for Christmas 1987 for a more or less same-time launch as the PC-Engine in Japan.

That alone might give the TurboGrafx 16 the chance to become the default alternative to the NES, and give NEC the resources to launch the TurboGrafx-CD as a brand new 16-bit console in 1991 or 92.

I agree with this. A big problem with the console, if I recall correctly, was that it was too close to when the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo saw release. It's graphics were worse than those two (it wasn't really a 16 bit system, since it had something like a 16 bit processor but only 8 bit capabilities or some jargon like that) so it failed on that account, and it couldn't seem to compete.
 
I agree with this. A big problem with the console, if I recall correctly, was that it was too close to when the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo saw release. It's graphics were worse than those two (it wasn't really a 16 bit system, since it had something like a 16 bit processor but only 8 bit capabilities or some jargon like that) so it failed on that account, and it couldn't seem to compete.

16-bit graphics chip which was better than the NES or Sega Master System, but the CPU was 8-bit and only marginally better. Up against the NES it looks great, against the SNES it's doomed.

So it comes in 1987 in the USA (even if that means spring 1988 for Japan) and manages to do decently, a more liberal policy than Nintendo on developers for instance, it doesn't see massive success—that's probably impossible unless we remove the NES—but it goes for a decent second place.
 

Thande

Donor
One thing that I find interesting about the Console Wars is how introverted the Japanese console companies were. Both Nintendo and Sega spun off effective American divisions and put effort into conquering America, but Nintendo completely bungled its European campaign and gave Sega a virtual monopoly for the whole of the 8-bit era and half the 16-bit. (When I was a kid we used to speculate about what the mysterious NES had looked like--none of us had ever even seen one). Yet all Sega's leadership cared about was their third position in their native Japan, resulting in the Saturn's design and marketing being aimed around a futile attempt to try and boost sales in Japan rather than capitalising on their strong position in the US and dominant position in Europe. The result being disastrous. Yes, I am still bitter, how can you tell?

Anyway to drag this back to this thread, perhaps NEC could pull a Sega and market the TurboGrafx-16 in a market that the other console producers hadn't exploited yet, which would then give them a steady stream of income with which to target America with their next console. Not sure where though...did Australia already have its reputation of being the last western country to get console and games released, I suppose they could have targeted there...
 
Let's see:

1: Come out in America a year-18 months earlier

2: Use a 65816 or at least a 65C802 or Hitachi 6309 for the CPU Core, at least 4096 colors in the pallette, the graphics architecture of the SuperGrafix, and a max resolution of 512/640x480

3: Included an RGB adapter and composite RV out, too

4: Redesign the controler to be at least a little less follow-the-leader to Nintendo. The turbo switches are a nice touch, but not enough. I would have included an analog stick and/or at least four action buttons, and included four control ports using the Atari 9-pin interface on the American version.

5: Kieth Courage in Alpha Zones is a nice tech demo but way too short. I would have used either JJ & Jeff (Licencing the likenesses of Gilbert Godfried and Charlie Sheen) or Alien Crush.

6: Come out with a cheap progressive-scan TV, and

7: Offered the Turbo-Grafix 16 to the Tramiels to sell in the Americas and PAL Markets (Except for India and Australia) as the Atari 10400. Since they were based on the same basic CPU architecture (Assuming I don't use the 6309), porting from the 2600, 5200, 7800, and 8-bit computer/XEGS should be a breeze, and since we use the same port, the XEGS Light Gun can plug in too.

If we can keep the price under $100 (which shouldn't be too much of a problem) and quality control up (since we will be releasing our own video games under the Turbo Technology label no matter what Atari does) we should reel in a winner.

Of course, as always, there's always something to screw things up...
 
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I have ideas but, alas, I'm saving most of them for my tech and pop culture timeline.

However a simple way to have TurboGrafx 16 (aside from a less confusing name) be bigger in the USA is for NEC to get it out the door in the USA for Christmas 1987 for a more or less same-time launch as the PC-Engine in Japan.

That alone might give the TurboGrafx 16 the chance to become the default alternative to the NES, and give NEC the resources to launch the TurboGrafx-CD as a brand new 16-bit console in 1991 or 92.

Those are Excellent Idea Monk, and one more would be keeping the Japanese Desing as a way to promote portability as a selling point(that the console easily can go in a Suitcase for other place) and maybe some more support for international release.

And Using the CD-Medium can help... but having a least a quality check to keep the FMV games out of the system
 
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