MACHINE REFERENCE

PC Engine

Name: PC Engine
Brand: NEC and Hudson Soft

The PC Engine was a small NEC and Hudson Soft console released in Japan on 30 October 1987, with an 8-bit HuC6280 processor and two 16-bit graphics chips.

Why it matters

The PC Engine reached the market in 1987, before the Mega Drive, and a CD-ROM² drive was available as an add-on. In America it was sold as the TurboGrafx-16, and the ’16’ was criticised as misleading because the CPU was 8-bit. The TurboGrafx-16 sold about 2.5 million consoles in North America, and NEC’s successor, the PC-FX, followed in 1994 in Japan only.

What to check before you buy

Check which console it is; PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16, CoreGrafx and Duo are not the same.
Test video and sound for capacitor faults.
Ask whether HuCards from other regions work; US and Japanese cards are not interchangeable without an adapter.
On a Duo or CD-ROM², check the drive spins and the CD sits flat.
Look for the controller; a single port means a multitap for more players.

Photo: Evan-Amos, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Released

1987

RAM

8 KB main RAM, 64 KB video RAM

CPU

HuC6280, 7.16 MHz (8-bit)

Launch price

¥24,800 (Japan); $199.99 (US, as TurboGrafx-16)

Manufacturer

NEC and Hudson Soft

Form factor

Compact home console using HuCards

CPU

HuC6280, 7.16 MHz (8-bit)

Chipset

HuC6270 video display controller and HuC6260 video colour encoder

RAM

8 KB main RAM, 64 KB video RAM

ROM

Unknown

Graphics

482 colours on screen from a palette of 512

Audio

Programmable sound generator at 3.58 MHz, with 5 to 10-bit stereo PCM

Storage

HuCard cartridges; CD-ROM² add-on

Ports

One controller port (a multitap is needed for more than one player), expansion port

None; games boot from the HuCard or CD

PSU

External power adapter

Units sold

Unknown (sources quote about 10 million HuCard consoles and 1.92 million CD-ROM² and Duo units)

Successors

PC Engine SuperGrafx (1989), PC Engine Duo (1991), PC-FX (1994, Japan only)

Ageing electrolytic capacitors

Capacitors across PC Engine hardware, particularly the Duo and Super CD-ROM² units and the portable GT and TurboExpress, have started to leak. They cause damage to the board and daughterboards and need replacing.
CD-ROM² drive problems

Some Super CD-ROM² units have interference from failing decoupling capacitors, and the drive can sit slightly low so the disc magnet does not hold the CD.

1987 NEC and Hudson Soft launch the PC Engine in Japan on 30 October
1989 The TurboGrafx-16 launches in North America on 29 August; the SuperGrafx follows
1991 The PC Engine Duo combines the console and CD-ROM²
1994 NEC releases the PC-FX in Japan