Why is the PC Engine called a PC Engine?

[oldskool]

I've always been curious about this.  I am guessing cause it's like a mini PC, and ..  uhm..  it's the Engine to play the games?

[spenoza]

Well, the Japanese NES was called the Famicom, short for Family Computer, so in Japan video games have always been associated as computer devices. The PC Engine is probably Personal Computer Engine, engine simply being a cool word or representing the core or power of a computer.

[Joe Redifer]

Yeah, they probably used the word "engine" because they thought it sounded cool.  The Japanese are like that.  It doesn't need to make sense.  Kind of like "Mega Drive".  Seriously, WTF?

[nat]

Because the PC Engine was supposed to be the "engine" behind a full-featured home computer/entertainment system complete with keyboard, mouse, printer, etc. After said peripherals didn't sell well, the idea was scrapped before much software was written to utilize them.

[Keranu]

I'm still curious about "Super Grafx". There had to be some kind of connection with Turbo Grafx 16 there.

[Turbo D]

I always thought the name pc engine was meant to represent a fast pc. When you hear the word engine, you think of power; like the with your car. It was NEC's way of proclaiming their gaming computer as being faster than the current competitors at the time.

[Tatsujin]

the closest that comes to my mind, is that NEC just took over the term "PC" from their PC-8x personal computer line up (since those where already common sence and well known at that time) and attached the term "engine" behind, because it's just like the core of those PCs without anything else. although in technical point of view, it is a completely different architecture than those PC-8x series used.

[spenoza]

We can only dig so deeply, linguistically, into this, because it's entirely possible some of the naming is the result of a misunderstanding of an English term or popular misuse of an English/Engrish term in Japan. Anyone over there in Japan in the mid, late 80s?  ;)

[WoodyXP]

I like Tatsujin's explanation the most.  Back when I discovered the PCE the first thing that came to my mind was
"Maybe this machine is a stripped down PC... aimed toward gaming."  Maybe that was NEC's intent.. the machine
was powerful by the standards of the time... and the machine had to stand up to the Family COMPUTER. 

The name would be the perfect play on marketing if that were the case.

[OldRover]

According to my sources, the term "PC Engine" came from the fact that the unit used just that...a PC "engine". The processor, being a 6502 (though highly modified), was the processor that powered a great number of PCs of the time. And of course, an engine powers a car as well as many other things, so why not power a computer? Thus, "PC Engine". Quite honestly, it's a stupid name, but it worked...just like the Wii has one of the dumbest names ever devised, yet it works.

[Nazi NecroPhile]

Quite honestly, it's a stupid name, but it worked...just like the Wii has one of the dumbest names ever devised, yet it works.

Indeed.  The name may have helped marketing in the early days, but the PCE's awesomeness wasn't contained within the name, so its name was ultimately irrelevant.

[Tatsujin]

"PC ENGINE" a name made of pure magic

[drboom]

PC-Engine and Mega Drive are the best console names, with Saturn a close third. For some reason the Japanese names sound better. Turbo Grafx is kind of ok, but just makes me think of Kit from Knight Rider's Turbo Boost button, which is not cool. Just my two cents.

[Lord Thag]

The Japanese just name stuff like that. I mean, c'mon, when was the last time you browsed through the Anime section of Best Buy? For every actually decent title like 'Hellsing', there's 'Allocatable Yak Boiler Uganboo' and 'Space Byproduct Trainer Mycroft'.

Gotta love 'em!