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Konami Announces the Turbografx-16 Mini (kotaku.com) 73

An anonymous reader shares a report: Hey, if Nintendo and Sega can do it, then Konami can too. In a surprise E3 announcement, the company is releasing a miniature version of the classic 90s Turbografx-16 console, called the Turbografx-16 mini. If you're wondering why Konami is handling this, the original console was a joint effort between NEC and Hudson. Konami became Hudson's parent company in 2005 and then absorbed its operations in 2012, meaning it owns the brand and all its properties.
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Konami Announces the Turbografx-16 Mini

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  • What the hell? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by H3lldr0p ( 40304 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @11:12AM (#58750188) Homepage

    Why is the Japanese version getting the anchor game, Bonk's Adventure, but not the US? Are they expecting people to break it open and put new games on it or what?

  • Great machine (Score:5, Interesting)

    by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @11:13AM (#58750192) Homepage Journal

    The PC-Engine (TG-16 in the US) was a great little console. The CPU is 8 bit but the graphics hardware is 16 bit. It's very easy to work with and the results are great.

    It also got a well supported CD peripheral (later integrated) very early on. It was only 2x speed but the machine only had 192kb RAM so loading was very fast. The lack of a video decoding hardware also meant there was no crappy FMV of the kind that plagued later machines through the 90s.

  • by Viol8 ( 599362 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @11:17AM (#58750202) Homepage

    Yes its nice to play retro games occasionally but apart from a few great ones (defender, pac man etc) most of them suck. And its not like we don't have emulators so why would anyone spend money on a 8 or 16 bit console (or more likely a £30 raspberry pi in a retro box running MAME) that isn't even an original to play mainly rubbish games that they could play on an emulator anyway?

    I Just Dont Get It.

    • I Just Dont Get It.

      Which is why you don't have a job in marketing.

      • Or perhaps he has a job in marketing... for the competitor.

        You know "That YouTube Guy" who makes money selling refurbished old equipment.

    • Compared to illegally downloading ROM images, a licensed emulation box avoids liability for copyright infringement.
      Compared to a licensed download on Epic, Steam, or other PC game stores, a licensed emulation box offers ease of use and avoids having to cart the PC back and forth between the computer desk and the living room TV.

      • a licensed emulation box offers ease of use and avoids having to cart the PC back and forth between the computer desk and the living room TV

        Retropie and SNES controllers with USB adapters will change your mind.

        • by tepples ( 727027 )

          Retropie and SNES controllers with USB adapters will change your mind.

          A licensed emulation box is cheaper than purchasing a Raspberry Pi, controllers, ROM dumper (Retrode, INL-Retro, etc.), and game cartridges.

    • by barc0001 ( 173002 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @11:56AM (#58750360)

      > I Just Dont Get It.

      stoplikingthingsidontlike.jpg ?

      Seriously though, it's a big world and everyone has different tastes and likes. You think there are only "a few great ones", but I happen to like a lot of the older games. Everyone has different tastes. If everyone thought like me, the avocado industry wouldn't exist as I personally dislike avocados, avocado toast, guac, and anything else done with avocados. But a lot of people like avocados, so here we are. And a lot of people like and buy these retro consoles. So here we are.

      As for why not a Pi? Not everyone has the inclination to spend the time to set one up, or even the skill to do so. These consoles you pull them out of a box, plug in the power and the HDMI cable, and turn it on. Done.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        When done right these retro consoles can be much better than a Pi. The biggest difference is usually latency, especially when the console is FPGA based. Software emulation adds latency.

        The Pi is also not powerful enough to fully emulate some consoles, such as the N64. It can get close but if you want 100% accurate emulation in popular games like Mario Kart it can't keep up. The N64's 3D hardware can do stuff that is relatively slow on the Pi's GPU, and enabling it fixes a few graphical issues but also makes

        • >The Pi is also not powerful enough to fully emulate some consoles, such as the N64

          Sure, but it's also worth pointing out that currently any console the Pi can't emulate, there isn't a "retro mini" on the market for either.

          NES, SNES, TG-16, Genesis, 2600, older arcade games, it does them all very well. As well as a ton of older consoles that don't have a retro mini.

    • I'm not going to buy one but these are some positives of those:
      • They look like the real thing
      • Works out of the box without futzing with emulators and roms
      • Pretty cheap
      • Licensed (Yes, some care about that)
    • You don't get that other people might be interested in things that are different that things your interested in?

    • why would anyone spend money on a 8 or 16 bit console (or more likely a raspberry pi in a retro box running MAME) that isn't even an original to play mainly rubbish games that they could play on an emulator anyway?

      The console has always been a plug and play experience. No assembly required. No emulators to configure. There were very fine games published for eight and sixteen bit systems and I very much doubt the rubbish content was any higher than Steam or a Linux DVD with its thousands of no-budget games;

    • by noodler ( 724788 )

      apart from a few great ones (defender, pac man etc) most of them suck.

      Wait, so Dracula X sucks? Ys 1 & 2 suck? R-Type sucks? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT???

    • by sad_ ( 7868 )

      most modern games suck just as well, bar some exceptions.
      a lot of old games are still great, some were great and haven't passed the test of time, a lot of games were rubbish and still are now.
      people are still playing a lot of retro games, casual games are basically old games in their mechanics and a lot of people play those.

  • Back when I had a Sega Genesis/Megadrive, Turbografx-16 was the "enemy" platform. There were some good games though. Blazing Lazers in particular was pretty cool. Ghouls and Ghosts on Supergrafx also awesome. Remember being in arms race with kid across the street who's parents got him a Genesis, a Turbografx, and an Atari Lynx. I won that moon race with a Neo Geo and Magician Lord, but it was a Pyrrhic victory.
  • by Jason1729 ( 561790 ) on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @12:12PM (#58750458)
    My only memory is turbrografx 16 from back whan it came out it was so stupidly, insanely expensive. I didn't know anyone who had one because of the price, and so nobody in my group even wanted one because who wants to be the person with the odd console out?
    • by sad_ ( 7868 )

      that and it wasn't available everywhere.
      but being expensive doesn't mean it's not a great platform.
      look at the SNK home console or the Atari Lynx.

  • If this isn't packaged with the system it's probably not worth getting. This is the version that introduced the game to me, which I later bought for Android, Playstation, and Wii.....

  • Never knew Konami bought Hudson, but it makes sense. By far, the game that best represents that systems potential was Dracula X, something that never made it to US shores because of Nintendo's excusivity stranglehold on publishers.

    I had the full CD system as a kid, and I loved it. Darius, Y's I & II, Military Madness, Moto Roader were all my jams. I had the turbotap and used to have my friends over to play some pretty heavy Moto Roader sessions.As much as I loved it though, it was a disapointment see

  • Though I never owned an NEC, I remember they had a handheld portable version with its own screen that I thought was well designed/thought out: If I recall, not only were its cartridges compatible with the TV-based console, but you could buy a television tuner cartridge too and watch TV anywhere!
    • Yeah, it would have been truly epic if battery/screen technology had been ready for it.
    • by Anonymous Coward

      Yeah the Turbo-Graphix Express. Complete portable implementation of the home system. It retailed for something like $300 (compared to ~$100 for a Game Boy) and was absolutely huge, and ate batteries, in comparison to the Nintendo product.

  • Meanwhile I can play Bonks adventure on my GP2X from like a decade ago, all in the palm of my hand.

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