NEC / Hudson Soft · 1989–1994 · ~2,500,000 (US)
A technically capable NEC/Hudson joint venture that dominated Japan as the PC Engine but found only modest success in North America against entrenched NES and arriving Genesis competition.
The PC Engine launched in Japan in 1987 to tremendous success, becoming the country's second-most popular platform behind the Famicom. Its HuCard format (a thin credit-card cartridge) was innovative, and the CD-ROM² add-on made it the first console with CD-based media in 1988. In North America, branded as TurboGrafx-16, the launch was hampered by limited distribution and a small library. The console launched within weeks of the Genesis, with Keith Courage in Alpha Zones as a weak pack-in. Japan received dozens of exclusive titles — including Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (Akumajō Dracula X) — that never crossed the Pacific.