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Import Icon As NEC’s diminutive console reaches its 30th anniversary, we remember how its combination of exoticism and arcade appeal gave birth to the market for import games. Join Nick Thorpe for a look back at this legendary piece of hardware… 18 | RETRO GAMER
PC ENGINE: IMPORT ICON “If you hAd moNEy ANd wErE A hArdCorE gAmEr, ThE PC ENgINE wAs ThE CoolEsT sysTEm you Could owN” Julian Rignall 11 yEArs, 7 moNThs & 4 dAys passed between PC Engine’s launch (30 October 1987) and its final game, Dead Of The Brain 1 & 2 (3 June 1999). Japanese console manufacturers didn’t have an easy time of breaking into the European gaming market – but then, it can’t be said that they put much effort into it. Unlike in North America, where Nintendo and Sega had dedicated operations, the NES and Master System were introduced into European territories by third-party distributors in 1987. The consoles occupied an awkward middle ground in the gaming market. The hardware was more capable than the 8-bit home micros, and competitively priced, but software was slow to arrive and cost as much as full-price games for the 16-bit computers. So when the May 1988 issue Computer & Video Games featured a report on a tiny Japanese wonder-console capable of sublime arcade-perfect games, you’d have been forgiven for being sceptical – especially given that the author of the ‘Mean Machines’ column had a penchant for enthusiastic hyperbole. “Forget Nintendo and Sega, they are not even a spit in the ocean in terms of power and gameplay,” Tony Takoushi gushed in his two-page feature introducing this technical marvel. “I have used all the superlatives in the past and yet none of them begin to be adequate when you come up against the most powerful console in the world.” It’s often said that if something sounds too good to be true, then it usually is. However, hype will always » [PC Engine] A special adaptor was needed for multiplayer games like Bomberman ’93 due to the PC Engine only having one controller port. » [PC Engine] The PC Engine’s colour handling allowed the original Lords Of Thunder to outshine its Mega-CD conversion. beat scepticism when gamers are concerned, and the seed was planted in the minds of British gamers – the PC Engine was something to watch. Designed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by electronics giant NEC, the PC Engine actually lived up to the claims made about it. Roughly the size of three CD cases stacked atop one another, the machine could display sprites that were larger and more colourful than the other consoles, and it could display more of them. With six audio channels it delivered richer sound than the Sega and Nintendo machines, and the games came on thin cards. However, with no UK model available, players had to take Tony’s word for it – and with that in mind, we wondered how he first came to witness the machine. “I used to get games and consoles direct from Japan and the USA and review them for UK <strong>magazine</strong>s in the early days when few (if any) others did so. It was expensive with phone calls and shipping but very exciting times,” says Tony, remembering his writing days. “I saw the PC Engine in a Japanese <strong>magazine</strong> while I was working for Virgin Mastertronic and mentioned it to Frank Herman, one of the directors, who was about to go to Japan on business. He returned with one and a few games – an RPG, Drunken Master and a Namco platformer. Wow!” Despite the fact that the console was impossible to obtain in the UK, Tony continued to cover the PC Engine in his Mean Machines sections. “I was very lucky the editor Tim Metcalfe was awesome and understood the excitement and impact of these reviews, and letting people know what was coming (hopefully) to our shores.” The decision to run with the coverage despite the machine’s lack of an official presence in the UK proved to be the right move. “The response was insane, everyone wanted to get it but NEC had no plans to release in the UK, they were looking to a US launch was best I heard. CVG got inundated with mail asking for more info and reviews,” remembers Tony. However, not everybody welcomed the attention that the console was gathering. “I decided to call NEC and see if they were going to release/confirm arrival of the RETRO GAMER | 19
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