Pc engine, pioneers of the modern video game console?

[imparanoic]

Pc engine, pioneers of the modern video game console?
I believe it was, as it was the first console to used CD roms, Memory cards ( tennoke), multi tap, possibily the first with memory upgrades, thus the prelude for modern consoles as they literally followed suit with the same key features of a console.

what is your opinions on this topic?

[Tatsujin]

101% definitely YES!

[Arkhan Asylum]

I r in agreeance also.

PC Engine did it all first, and best.

first system with animated cutscenes, I think?!

First and only one to have a portable that uses the same library....

First to have small easy to store game cards.

The next closest attempt is the DS, decades later....

theres alot of epic things that it managed to do.

[Joe Redifer]

The Tennoke Bank is not a memory card because you cannot save directly to it from a game.  Therefore the Mega CD RAM Cart would be the first "memory card", so to speak.

[SuperDeadite]

The Tennoke Bank is not a memory card because you cannot save directly to it from a game.  Therefore the Mega CD RAM Cart would be the first "memory card", so to speak.

By that logic, the NeoGeo Memory Card is the first.  MegaCD was '91, Neo was '90

[termis]

Yeah, I definitely think the PCE was ahead of its time (and yet commercially successful, at least in Japan) -- it's probably one of the reasons why the it lasted so long.

The CD-ROM has got to be the pioneering aspect of the PCE.  It took almost 10 years before it became mainstream, and games still use optical media to this day.  On the other hand, I'd question the "benefit" of multi-tap.  I'd rather would've had two controller ports -- especially for the TG16 (considering it couldn't use the space saving excuse like the PCE).

As for small game cards, the SG-1000 & the SMS had those cards before the PCE.

[Digi.k]

yup definitely pioneer. such a shame the world never caught on to it as much as japan

[Joe Redifer]

By that logic, the NeoGeo Memory Card is the first.  MegaCD was '91, Neo was '90

Fair enough.  I forgot about the Neo Geo card.  Is there any other logic to go by?

[lord_cack]

....First and only one to have a portable that uses the same library....

The first part of that is true but the Sega Nomad used the same library so it wasn't the ONLY to do so...

[Tatsujin]

As for small game cards, the SG-1000 & the SMS had those cards before the PCE.

As well the MSX with its more or less rare Hudson Bee Cards.

[Thibaut]

Duo Monitor and the CD-ROM² were showed the first time at the end of 1987 !

[esteban]

Of course, I certainly believe the PCE was a pioneer in consoles.

Random thoughts (please help clarify/correct any misconceptions):

1. While the Zelda cartridge (Famicom/NES) was, I think, the first to use a battery to save progress in a console game, the PCE's solution (a central location for saving both HuCard and CD-ROM media, via the CD-ROM hardware or back-up devices) is a much more elegant, and flexible solution.


2. I love the Nomad, but it was ~5 years later (end of the Genesis life cycle) and, to quote myself (forgive the enthusiasm):

Now, I love the Nomad, but even Sega-philes will admit that the huge, bulky size of the Genesis cart was not amenable to the demands of a truly portable system. The slim HuCard format, on the other hand, was well-suited for use in a handheld. TurboExpress had built-in rapid-fire switches (a requisite for shooters and a convenience for many other genres) and featured the nicest LCD screen of its era. And, if you purchased TurboVision, the optional UHF / VHF tuner, not only would you get the best TV-on-a-handheld experience (superior even to that of Sega's later Nomad), but you could use TurboExpress' LCD screen as a monitor! That's right: TurboVision provided A/V input, so nothing prevented you from hooking-up your VCR, video camera, LaserDisc, NES, Sega Master System, Genesis, etc. to the TurboExpress and using it as a portable monitor!

I used the TE as a monitor for other devices, including the Sega-CD and 3DO , when an extra TV wasn't available. Apparently, I was desperate to play some video games.

3. My own limited research suggests that the PCE was the FIRST console to ever have a thorough, updated catalog of releases available on electronic media. I guess we can throw all the CD-ROM multi-media (i.e. Ultra Box) into this category.

4. Following #3: PCE first console to have DEMOs distributed? (i.e. Dragon Slayer, Mooks)

5. This is, perhaps, a DUBIOUS claim: TG-16 + TurboBooster = SEXIEST FORM FACTOR EVER*


* It is so corny to use terms like "form factor", but I am a victim of the tech press.

[Ceti Alpha]

Definitely!

It was king in Japan through two generations (8bit and 16bit), and was even chuggin' along into the 32bit era.

[Mathius]

Definitely!

It was king in Japan through two generations (8bit and 16bit), and was even chuggin' along into the 32bit era.

Too bad it didn't stretch beyond the 32-Bit era. Maybe in another timeline NEC is still the KING!

[Arkhan Asylum]

....First and only one to have a portable that uses the same library....

The first part of that is true but the Sega Nomad used the same library so it wasn't the ONLY to do so...

oh yeah, i forget about that battery whore, lol.

As well the MSX with its more or less rare Hudson Bee Cards

Those are just HuCards in disguise .  Few extra pins, whatever.     Same people!  They took their fairly successful Bee Card idea and turned it into an entire system!


and, the SG-1000 and SMS games on card weren't exactly super successful were they?

[jperryss]

1. While the Zelda cartridge (Famicom/NES) was, I think, the first to use a battery to save progress in a console game, the PCE's solution (a central location for saving both HuCard and CD-ROM media, via the CD-ROM hardware or back-up devices) is a much more elegant, and flexible solution.

Except when you ran out of space (damn you, Exile WP) and had to start wiping stuff (or use a Tennokoe Bank).

[Arkhan Asylum]

I prefer each game saving data, though this doesn't work for CD-ROM games so well.

That way you can take the cart to a friends and be good to go.   


but, the lack of save-space on the cards is what kept their size small

[esteban]

I can't believe no one has followed up on my other insightful comments from my prior post (i.e. about  PC-Engine Hyper Catalog (CD-ROM Capsule), Ultrabox, Game Database, Game Demos, etc.)!

I mean, COME ON!

[SuperDeadite]

NEC also made the Virtual Cushion.  Probably the first home feedback device.

[SignOfZeta]

First karaoke add-on (ROMROM Amp)? Maybe.

As for it pioneering the "modern" era, that depends on your definition of modern. Certainly the Playstation and Saturn owe a lot to the PC Engine, but with systems like the PS3 and 360...honestly the discs the games ship on are just a formality, IMO, since updates sometimes nearly a GB is size are required for most top tier games every other time you turn it on. Game delivery and storage is mostly the internet and the hard drive. We have MS to thank for that, more or less.

It seems like Nintendo is the only company with the confidence to ship a finished product on a fixed disc.

[Arkhan Asylum]

having online updates is lame.  It just lets the programmers be lazy bastards.

"ah its ok! well patch it in 5 months"