Today’s generation op videogame
systems are incredibly powerful in terms of graphical prowess, sound, and
programming content, that every title played on them is almost always like an
experience of another life. In exchange for that however, gaming device prices,
especially for the major consoles, are prohibitively high. In some quarters
this has fueled wistful nostalgia to earlier generations, when games both
simple yet memorable were played on affordable platforms. This was the advent
of the “Mini” consoles emulating past-gen hardware and software. Nintendo, Sega,
and Sony have all released mini-versions of their past best-selling consoles.
Now it is Hudson Soft’s turn, or rather Konami.
The Verge has it that the TurboGrafx-16 Mini, first teased during the
E3 2019 event back in June, is now slated to release in March of next year.
This retro console is the miniature reissue of the TurboGrafx-16, known in
Japan and France as the PC Engine, which was put on the market by Japan
computing giant NEC and designed by Hudson Soft, now part of Konami. It is
Konami that is manufacturing the TurboGrafx-16 Mini, which will come in three
variants – Japan, Europe and US. But in spite of the aesthetic and display differences,
all three mini consoles will carry almost the same games.
Konami has announced that the
TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine Mini will have at bare minimum 50 games. This library is
divided into 24 TurboGrafx-16-released games for the US and Europe, and 27 from
the Japanese PC Engine, with one title each from the collections being
exclusive respectively in the Western and Eastern variants. As a result, the
mini console will have both English and Japanese versions of action
role-playing game “Ys Book I & II.” The Japanese-language “Salamander” (localized
as “Life Force”) is an international exclusive while the pioneering dating-simulation
game “Tokimeki Memorial” is for Japan only.
The original TurboGrafx-16 from
NEC and Hudson Soft was released in 1987, the first videogame console to offer
16-bit graphics before the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. Konami, which had
developed game titles for all three consoles, had been one of the major
creators for the TG-16, helping it to remain relevant in the gaming industry
until the console was discontinued in 1994. Hudson would eventually be bankrupted
and absorbed by Konami, giving them the right to develop and produce the
TurboGrafx-16 Mini in response to the popularity of similar retro
mini-consoles. Similar to these devices, the Mini includes a quick-save
function to keep one’s game progress, as the titles come from before game
saving.
Konami will release the
TurboGrafx-16 and PC Engine Minis on their respective markets March 2020.
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