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For more information on the North American version of the system, see: Turbografx 16.

The PC Engine used cards instead of cartridges to hold its games, and while its processor was 8-bit, its graphics hardware supported up to 512 colors at once in different resolutions. It was the first console to have a separate CD system for full orchestral soundtracks. The PC Engine was extremely popular in Japan, and started outselling the Famicom. At the time, the Sega Megadrive wasn't doing to well in Japan, especially due to the lack of a CD-ROM system. Many games in its popular Japanese library had not been translated to the North American Turbografx 16.

Several different versions of the system's CD-ROM drive exist. The first, version 1.0, had only 1 Mb of RAM; this version was only in production for four months and is extremely rare. The second, version 2.0 (or CD-ROM²), added another 2 Mb, while an expansion card (version 3.0, or Super CD-ROM²) brought the total amount of RAM up to 5 Mb, as well as increasing the CD buffer and adding an improved BIOS. In 1992, after the Sega Mega-CD came out, the PC Engine and its CD drive became combined into the Duo, with the Super CD-ROM² upgrades built into the system.

Despite the system's initial success, it soon lost ground to the Super Famicom. NEC made one final effort to resuscitate the system with the release of the Arcade Card expansion, bringing the total amount of RAM up to a then-massive 16 MB; many Arcade Card games were conversions of popular Neo-GeoNeo-Geo is the name of a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK. The system was years ahead of other home systems of its time, offering a huge colorful 2D graphics and high-quality sound. This syste titles. The additional memory even allowed the system to display 3D polygonA polygon (from the Greek poly for "many", and gonos for "angle") is a closed planar path composed of a finite number of sequential straight line segments. The straight line segments that make up the polygon are called its sides or edges and the points wh graphics well beyond what the competing Super Famicom and Megadrive/Mega-CD could offer. By this time, however, it was too late -- only a relative handful of Arcade Card games were ever produced, and the expansion was never released in the U.S.

In 19941994 is a common year starting on Saturday, and was designated the International year of the Family''. Events January events January 1 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect January 6 Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the right leg by an NEC released a new console, the Japan-only PC-FXThe PC-FX was NEC's 32-bit sequel to its PC Engine (US: TurboGrafx 16). The PC-FX only used CDs as opposed to the PCE's (TG16) use of HuCards(it did have a CD peripheral, though). What's unusual about the PC-FX is its computer-like design. It stand uprigh, a 32-bit32-bit is a term applied to processors, and computer architectures which manipulate the address and data in 32- bit chunks. It is also a term given to a generation of computers where 32-bit processors were the norm. The range of integer values that can be system with a tower-like design; it enjoyed a small but steady stream of games until 19981998 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of the Ocean''. Events January January 1998 A massive ice storm, caused by El Nino, strikes New England, southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting, when NEC finally abandoned the video games industry.

The PC Engine GTThe PC Engine GT was a portable version of the PC Engine. It had a very crisp screen and an optional TV tuner was available. It could play all of the PC Engine HuCard games, yet had low battery life. The North American version was called the TurboExpress, is a portable version of the PC Engine. It had a very crisp screen and an optional TV tuner was available. It could play all of the PC Engine HuCard games, yet had low battery life.

Another variation of the hardware is the SuperGrafxThe SuperGrafx video game console was an upgraded version of NEC's popular PC Engine system. Compared to the latter, it has four times the amount of work RAM for the main CPU, a second video chip with its own video RAM, and a priority controller chip that. This system is very nearly the same as the original PCE, except it has a duplicate set of video chips (and an extra chip to coordinate the two) and four times as much RAM. Since the CPU wasn't upgraded most developers were unable to utilize the extra graphics capability, the CPU just couldn't keep up. Only five SuperGrafx games (and one hybrid game - Darius) were released, and the system fell into obscurity.

Other members of the PC Engine family include the Shuttle, the LT (a laptop version similar to the Game Boy Advance SP, but considerably larger), the CoreGrafx I and II, the Duo R and the Duo RX. Contrary to popular belief the CoreGrafx is not a European version of the PC Engine. It is simply a reengineered version of the original (white) PC Engine with an AV output instead of the original model's RF output. The PC Engine and its derivatives were never officially sold in Europe, although many systems and most accessories and games were available as imports. The PC Engine and its games had been extensively covered by most major European video game magazines and were surprisingly popular.