During the winter of 1989..

two video game systems were released in America. One of these systems was the Sega Genesis, and the other was the Turbo Grafx-16. Both of these systems offered eye popping graphics, extreme speeds, stereo sound, and larger characters than the previous 8-bit systems. They both had their advantages. The Turbo Grafx-16 offered 512 simultaneous colors, larger sprites, and faster processing while the Sega Genesis offered a slightly better advertising campaign and a much better sound system. Both systems did very well, but unfortunatly, the Genesis always had the upper end of the market. The Turbo Grafx-16 was made by NEC, and was originally made in Japan. The Japanese version had better games that were designed towards the Japanese market. Because of this, it went over very well in Japan...and not in America. This system was known as the PC-Engine in Japan, and nearly everyone had one. Several different versions of the PC-Engine were offered and they all were able to use a CD-ROM. The CD-ROM was a very new thing in the video game business because it offered animated sequences, video with speech, spectacular music, and multimedia capabilities. The CD-ROM was imported to the U.S.A., but Unfortunately the Turbo Grafx CD-ROM was too expensive for most people to add on to their system. Only those lucky enough to have $400 laying around were able to buy one. NEC also made a portable unit known as the Turbo-Express. It was, and still is, the ultimate portable video game system. The Turbo-Express offered true 16-bit power, speed, color, and sound. It also was made to play any games that were designed for the Turbo Grafx-16, and the Turbo Duo. The Turbo Express also had an active matrix color LCD screen for maximum speed in games, and a TV attachment was offered as well. Unfortunately, this was too expensive for most people also. The Turbo Express came out with an introduction price of $300 and they were extremely hard to get. I was able to buy one at this cost, but it wasn't very easy. The only way I was able to do that is by convincing a store clerk to let me buy their display model. The price dropped down to $200 during the next year.

In the latter part 1991

NEC came out with a new system and design in Japan. This system was designed to bring CD-ROM power into the hands of all Turbo Grafx-16 fans and many others too. NEC called it the PC-Engine Duo. It's case size was slightly larger than the other PC-Engine units because it was designed around the U.S.A.s TV/interference standards. When it made its debut in the U.S.A. during the fall of 1992, it was known as the Turbo Duo. The Turbo Duo could play all of the games from the Turbo Grafx-16, the Turbo Grafx CD-ROM, and all of the new Super CD-ROM games designed especially for the Turbo Duo. After it was released, many people bought one, and enjoyed it. At the same time, though, the Sega CD had been released. Because of the dramatic marketing advantage Sega had over NEC, the Sega CD took over the market. The Turbo Duo was a superior CD-ROM system in that it offered faster speeds than the Sega CD, and it also had a specialized extra fast CD-ROM in it for faster loading and better video. Another nice feature was the 512 colors that it had available to display while the Sega CD was still stuck with the original 64. One major advantage that people found by buying the Sega CD was the amount of games that came out for it. For a short while, the Turbo Duo had many more CD titles, but as the price of the Sega CD dropped and as Sega’s market got bigger and bigger, the Turbo Duo took its last stand, and was eventually dropped from the market. Those who were lucky enough to buy a Turbo Duo had an excellent video game system with some of the top of the line games available today.