NEC interview on SuperGrafx & Power Console

[Otaking]

Years back I started a thread(link) which had scans from a Japaneses NEC booklet I had. Whilst I was scanning the images from the booklet for that thread I also scanned an NEC interview about the SuperGrafx. I recently stumbled upon these old scans and sent them to esteban for his site. Coincidentally recently there was a thread on the TurboGrafx section of this forum discussing the SuperGrafx history (link)and I asked SamIAm if he would be up for translating the old scanned artilcle, I have PM'd him the scans. Thanks SamIAm if you are ok to do the translation 

[shubibiman]

Pretty interesting read. I'll make a quick translation first. The interviewer asks why NEC didn't choose to use a 16 bit chip.

[elmer]

I'm looking forward to this! 

[SamIAm]

Pretty interesting read. I'll make a quick translation first. The interviewer asks why NEC didn't choose to use a 16 bit chip.

I did the first three pages already last night. 

Now, this is very slapdash, but it gets the job done fine, I think. I'll post the last page soon.

------------------------------

First Page

[red text]
A Giant Controller With Tons of Functionality
[text on white background]
The Power Console is a new input device for the SuperGrafx. In addition to a steering-wheel, it has a joystick, a jog dial, a throttle lever, and more. It also has a "macro-function" that allows it to save your input, and it works as a multi-tap. It even has a timer, an alarm, and four buttons with auto-fire. It really is a machine that was made to work with games in various genres that will be appearing in the future.

[text on red background]
On sale next spring - MSRP 59800 yen.

[text on grey background]
Jog dial - No games support this at the moment. It's an input device that you use by turning it.

Throttle lever - Surely to be used by racing games?

Joystick - Ordinary games will be conrolled via this joystick.

Power/Reset Switches - In addition to a power switch, it comes with a reset switch.
Run and Select buttons

Handle With Trigger Buttons - Allows eight degrees of "turn" in each direction. Trigger-buttons are placed where you put your thumbs.

LED Indicator - Displays your movement/input
LCD Panel - Displays numbers for timer, clock, calculator, "macro-functions" etc.

Card Case - By lifting this lid, you can store your (Hu?)cards.

Multi-tap - Allows you to connect up to four controllers

10-key pad - Allows you to set the timer and other functions, and works as a calculator

Auto-fire buttons - Four buttons are all equipped with auto-fire

[left yellow box]
It's got Macro-Functions!
This device has a macro-function that allows you to record your input. By using this, you can tackle difficult games, or make RPGs that have you performing the same task repeatedly easier.
In terms of storage capacity, it's possible to store input for the first three stages of R-Type I.

[right yellow box]
Store the SuperGrafx Inside!
The unit is rather large in size...so much that you actually put the SuperGrafx inside it. It connects via the 18-pin input connector.

NEC Interview
We ask NEC-HE about a few things that concern us regarding their new machine.

-To begin with, please tell us about what lead to the launch of this new machine.
NEC: The topic of a high-end PC Engine first came up in autumn of last year. The PC Engine as everyone knows it is capable of many things, but we began considering whether we could produce a system that would allow people to enjoy even higher quality arcade conversions at home.

-That means it took a year before the system was announced, right? By the way, what are the differences between the current PC Engine and the SuperGrafx?
NEC: Talking about the internals first, we strengthened the graphic capabilities and increased the RAM. For the graphics, we added a second "background screen" so that it's easy to have two scrolling layers. You can enjoy games while feeling a greater sense of depth.

-That's probably going to make designing maps harder. (laughs)
NEC: Also, we've increased the number of sprites possible to display on-screen, so scenes that would normally flicker will look much better. We've increased the RAM from 8kB to 32kB, making it easier for developers to put together high level programs.

-By the way, in terms of the system's size and case design, it does seem like you'll be surprising some people.
NEC: If you think of the PC Engine as being made for the general public, the SuperGrafx is targeted at the hardcore maniac gamers. It appears that these kinds of gamers care a lot about mecha-things and special effects, so in designing the system, we targeted them by using a mecha-like appearance of what comes into your head when you imagine the word "engine". Since it's something that people are going to leave set down, we also wanted it to have a certain high-class feel to it, which is why we decided on this particular size. TVs are getting bigger and bigger these days, too, so I don't think the size goes too far.

-How will you use the new I/O port, especially in terms of the "O" (output)?
NEC: For that port, we have a special controller for the SuperGrafx called the Power Console. It has a steering wheel and a joystick; the steering wheel has seven degrees [sic] of turn, while the joystick has four degrees in each direction, so it's quasi-analog. As a macro-function, it can reproduce player input so that you can repeat the same actions. In terms of output, the Power Console has an LED that the game software itself can control. For example, in a 3D game, it can light up to tell you when an enemy is coming from behind.

-Are there any games that support these things?
NEC: Not yet, but we are insisting that developers who make Supergrafx software make use of them.

-Do you have any other plans? For example, there is a British company called KONIX that is developing a mobile chassis called a Power Chair.
NEC: We don't have any concrete products to show at the moment. However, we plan on developing a series of such products for everyone to enjoy.

-We're looking forward to it. Oh, we noticed that the RF output is replaced with an AV output?
NEC: Presently, TVs with AV inputs as well as adjoining stereo systems are becoming more and more common. We decided to make as our standard something which has better quality than an RF signal. It is still also possible to connect it to a TV without an AV input with an optional RF unit.

-When people talk about good video quality, they often talk about S-video and RGB. Why didn't you make either of those the standard?
NEC: Well, as for RGB, there are very few consumer televisions that have RGB inputs anymore. On the other hand, as for S-video, there really aren't many televisions out there that support it. Even if we did make the Supergrafx output S-video, it really wouldn't be that much prettier than ordinary composite. Furthermore, by including either of these things, we would raise the cost of the system, and we wanted to prevent that. I think one of the reasons why the Famicom and the PC Engine have spread like they have is because of how easily they connect to a regular television. That's why we chose the most standard of video output types.

- I see. So, how is the all-important sofware coming?
NEC: At the same time that the hardware comes out, Hudson will release Battle Heat and Granzort, while NEC Avenue will release Daimakaimura and Strider. We have also asked other developers to make games for the system. If it's someone who has made a PC Engine game before, then we don't need to draw up any particularly special new contracts. If they want to make games for it, we'd like for them to be able to make them quickly, one after another. For development, all they have to do is add something to their current development kits, and they'll be able to put all the know-how that they've gathered to use.

- I would like to delve into a deeper topic right now. Looking at the specs of your new machine, it appears that it is a tad weaker than the Mega Drive and the Super Famicom. I'd like to ask on behalf of gamers first of all about using the same CPU as the PC Engine. Why didn't you choose a 16-bit CPU? Or, even if you wanted to use the same CPU, didn't you feel that there was a need to increase the clockspeed?
NEC: In the beginning, there were voices calling for a 16-bit CPU, but with balance as a whole in mind, we wanted to ensure 100% compatibility with the existing PC Engine library. Speaking of which, PC Engine software has finally matured as developers have acquired know-how for the system. We wanted them to be able to put that to use, and we also wanted the software they've made up until now to be playable, so we decided on using the same CPU. As for clockspeed, we decided not to change it because we felt it was enough for all the game designs we can imagine at present.

- Was there ever a time when you considered setting aside compatibility and developing a totally new machine?
NEC: The idea was considered, yes. In the world of PCs, for example, it's sometimes necessary to ignore what currently exists and leap ahead. However, it's only been two years since the PC Engine came out. It's just not that time yet. That's why we decided on simply adding functionality. Furthermore, by going with something completely new, we would be forcing developers to start from square one. We wanted to preserve the PC Engine "world" that we've created thus far.

- We see you strengthened the graphical capabilites of the PC Engine in your new machine, but why didn't you add rotation and scaling capabilities?
NEC: This is the thing we spent the most time going back and forth on. Programmers asked us for two things: scaling/rotation capabilities, and more RAM. We considered a lot of options. We would have loved to have included both, but that would raise the cost. Also, we were afraid that by adding scaling and rotation, those features would wind up being used in the same way every time, and the games would all wind up looking like each other. Thus, we decided that by increasing RAM, which is more general-purpose, we could get developers to compete with each other in a freer kind of way. That's why we left out scaling and rotation.

[SignOfZeta]

Yep. Idiots.

[SamIAm]

-The sound hardware wasn't changed, either, was it?
NEC: The PC Engine has a unique way of generating sound called Waveform-Memory. This type of sound is extremely easy to use for games. People often compare it to FM synthesis, but going with FM synthesis puts a heavier load on the CPU. There is the option of adding in another CPU that specializes in sound, but we felt that that would be a waste. Waveform-Memory stands up to FM synthesis in comparison, so we left it as-is. We also opted against ADPCM because it requires such large amounts of data. I think that's best left to a CD-ROM system, which is why we put ADPCM capabilities in our Interface Unit for the current PC Engine.

- Speaking of the Interface Unit, this new system won't fit in it...that is to say, you can't connect it to the CD-ROM2 system. Why is that?
NEC: We're developing a custom interface unit for the SuperGrafx to be released this spring. It will allow you to connect it to a current CD-ROM2 system.

-In other words, when people who already own a CD-ROM2 system want to play CD games on the SuperGrafx, they'll only need to use a new interface unit.
NEC: That's what we're moving toward. We also plan on adding improved ADPCM capabilities in this new interface unit.

- By the way, when you connect this interface unit and the Power Console at the same time, won't the vibrations from the Power Console affect the CD drive? Are you thinking of having it be separated somehow?
NEC: That is indeed a problem, and we are considering many ways of dealing with it. As for what form the solution will take, I simply can't say at the moment.

- The Interface Unit contains Backup RAM - wouldn't it have made things convenient if you had put Backup RAM into this new system?
NEC: Again, this is a matter of cost. Putting in Backup RAM will cause it to go up. Either that, or we have to remove other things to make room for it.

- I think gamers are rather shocked by your new system. What is going to happen to the current PC Engine?
NEC: The current system is our core product. We're going to keep the PC Engine world as our main focus in sales. The people in that world who are more hardcore are the ones we're targeting with the SuperGrafx. If the PC Engine world were a mountain, the SuperGrafx would be the top, while the middle to the base would be the PC Engine. The software, too, will have the more hardcore stuff going to the SuperGrafx. It's also possible to make the software detect which system it's running on.

- Will you be creating an adapter to allow owners of the current PC Engine to upgrade to this new system?
NEC: Unfortunately, that's not possible. If it were a sound upgrade only, it would be possible, but for display upgrades, it's simply not.

- My questions about the system specs have all been answered. On another note, the Turbo Grafx went on sale in America in September. Are there any plans to sell the Super Grafx there?
NEC: We have no plans currently to sell it overseas, no.

- I see. To close with, please tell us what your next plans are for the core system.
NEC: We'll be making a broad public announcement from our whole telecommunications division soon. You'll find that games take center-stage, so please look forward to it.

- This fascinating world of games is getting bigger and bigger. Thank you for your time.

[esteban]

Thank you to Otaking and SamIAm for all their help

I am on vacation, but if I remembered the power cable for my computer, I'll try too add the text to the images.

This is a pretty interesting interview, IMHO.

I'll make the original scans available, too.

[BigusSchmuck]

Awesome, thanks for posting this. Can someone sticky this for future reference?

[csgx1]

Fascinating read.  Thanks Otaking and SamIAm for taking the time to post this!

[Psycho Punch]

-Do you have any other plans? For example, there is a British company called KONIX that developing a mobile chassis called a Power Chair.

you jinxed it man

[shubibiman]

Thanks SamIAm ;)

[ccovell]

Yep. Idiots.

Actually, almost all their answers seem quite well-reasoned and reasonable.  NEC knew what they were aiming for, and not too much more (feature creep.)

The only totally bonkers answer is about "Why no scaling/rotation hardware": it'll make games look samey.  Bullshit.  Also, they showed their cards a bit too much by saying, "Devs, just add a tiny bit more to what you have right now and get something, anything released quick!"

Sadly, the burning question that was left out was "Why this?  Why now?"

[MNKyDeth]

I agree with the console was designed for the hardcore gamer. Only because you had to be very serious to get one I assume back in the day. And, even today, you need to be a hardcore gamer if you would consider buying one for a total of 5 games.

I mean, the SGX+SCD2 attachment will set you back more than a PCE-Duo and the PCE-Duo can play every game the SGX can except 5. So unless you have a serious hard on for Battle Ace, Daikamura, 1943, Aldynes and Granzort stick to the normal consoles, and maybe grab an Arcade card for the games that can take advantage of it.

I do have my SGX + SCD2 and all 5 games but out of all the consoles to collect for, this is the one I could get a complete set rather easy without having to worry about a magical chase etc.

I also thought the SuperGrafx was the most ugly crazy looking console ever until I got one. It has grown on me and I just tell people it's my battle axe, so it does help has a conversation piece at least.

Edit:

I need to edit because the one thing I would love to see and would pay for, is a game like Phantasy Star 3 on the SuperGrafx. Some sort of huge classic RPG with multiple scrolling backgrounds like this game had. Gawd I would kill for something like this and maybe use the Arcade Duo card with the cd-rom attachment to up the ante even further.

[SamIAm]

Actually, almost all their answers seem quite well-reasoned and reasonable.  NEC knew what they were aiming for, and not too much more (feature creep.)

For the SGX internals, yes, there is a certain sensibility to it. It's disappointing that they couldn't have gotten the CPU to switch into a higher clockspeed ("We can't imagine how we would use the extra power" has got to be bullshit), but keeping it otherwise simple and compatible was a smart move in and of itself.

On the other hand, the Power Console is feature-creep central. The only thing it's missing is a cup holder for a Big Gulp and a horn that plays La Cucaracha.

Frankly, in reading this and other things in Marukatsu PC Engine magazine issues from the time, I think the biggest insight that I've gained is that the Power Console probably played a large and under-appreciated role in the SGX bombing as badly as it did. From a consumer perspective, it looked like you more-or-less needed to have this thing in order to enjoy games on the system, yet the combined cost would have been on the order of a bank-breaking $1000. From a developer perspective, aside from fears of paltry demand, you would have had NEC leaning on you to design your game around this totally weird controller, which would be both time consuming and also make porting to other systems more difficult, if not impossible.

How crazy is it that the NEC rep spent so much time emphasizing the importance of keeping costs down in the SGX itself, yet the Power Console throws that restraint to the wind so utterly and unabashedly it's almost comical?

That's something the interviewer should have grilled him on, IMHO.

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall when NEC/Hudson decided to can the Power Console even though they had practically billed it as the horse to the SGX's chariot.

Also, they showed their cards a bit too much by saying, "Devs, just add a tiny bit more to what you have right now and get something, anything released quick!"

It was definitely a sad moment when he wasn't able to name-drop a single third-party developer, much less any third party games, when asked what was slated to come out on the system. In pivoting to how easy it would be to sign up and start coding (Power Console notwithstanding), I think he handled the question about as well as he could, though.

Sadly, the burning question that was left out was "Why this?  Why now?"

The official lines about why they decided to create the system all seemed pretty in-order to me. I don't think the interviewer could have skewered them into confessing that it was a desperate tactic to make the "PC Engine world" look more competitive in the coming console war.

...If that's what the SGX really was. As I've seen it, the understanding of the SGX in the west has always been that it was supposed to be a shield against obsolescence. In this interview, it's presented more as an extravagance aimed exclusively at people who enjoy extravagances (and can afford them). Which role is truly the one that NEC/Hudson had in mind for it?

Could it be a demented mix of both?

--------------------

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(Psst. Hey, esteban. Maybe now is a good time to bust out that stuff we were putting together before?)

[esteban]

^ Ha! I am at your command, comrade

[Otaking]

Thanks SamIAm for the translation, much appreciated.
 

[TheClash603]

That was a great read, thanks!

I disagree with some of you who say they had even the slightest of an idea with what they were aiming for with this system.  Backward compatibility is a key feature which allowed for less segmentation, but if there truly wasn't a way to do it while also making your system specs on par with competitors new machines, then why bother at all?  Essentially they produced an overpriced piece of nearly the same hardware.

The part that had me shaking my head the most is when the interviewer pointed out that the CD attachment won't really fit the Power Console and that it will be getting shaken all over the place and then the NEC guy basically said, "yeah, we know that sucks."

[NecroPhile]

Thanks for the article.  'Tis interesting stuff.

Based on price, I'm inclined to believe they intended it to be a premium product; a 60% higher MSRP is surely much more than they needed to cover the cost of the two extra chips and extra ram, and its cost gets even sillier when you figure in the Power Console.  I'm sure they also thought of it as a fall back position - if the PCE dropped off dramatically in sales, the SGX would only be a price cut away from getting them back in competition.

[elmer]

Thanks Otaking and SamIAm ... that was definitely an interesting read. 

The NEC guy seemed to know what he was talking about a bit better than the usual "marketing" drones that get sent on interviews like this ... and he'd definitely been well briefed on his list of "excuses".

This little snippet about the Power Console was interesting ...

-Are there any games that support these things?
NEC: Not yet, but we are insisting that developers who make Supergrafx software make use of them.

I wonder is there's any support code for the Power Console left over inside the few SuperGrafx games that did ship.

I can also imagine that a requirement like that would help turn-off any developers that had even the slightest interest in developing for the SuperGrafx.

The part that had me shaking my head the most is when the interviewer pointed out that the CD attachment won't really fit the Power Console and that it will be getting shaken all over the place and then the NEC guy basically said, "yeah, we know that sucks."

I guess that explains the long cable on the RAU-30 ... but jeez, what a monsterously-huge combination that would have been with the Power Console, SuperGrafx, RAU-30 and briefcase! Folks wouldn't have any floor space left in the living room!

************

But all of this really makes me want to write something for the SuperGrafx to see just how well the CPU can handle using 2 screens and all of those sprites.

Since the SNES's crappy 3MHz (or less) 65816 can handle it, I expect to find that the NEC guy was right on that aspect and that the SuperGrafx really didn't need a new CPU (although I'm sure that NEC really kept it the same for cost-reasons).

[Vimtoman]

Thanks Guys. Really interesting.

Does that mean Strider dumped SuperGrafx capability for arcade card?

[bacon industry]

Brilliant read, thanks for the translation!

[SamIAm]

Thanks Otaking and SamIAm ... that was definitely an interesting read. 

Glad you liked it. 

This little snippet about the Power Console was interesting ...

-Are there any games that support these things?
NEC: Not yet, but we are insisting that developers who make Supergrafx software make use of them.

I wonder is there's any support code for the Power Console left over inside the few SuperGrafx games that did ship.

I can also imagine that a requirement like that would help turn-off any developers that had even the slightest interest in developing for the SuperGrafx.

First of all, I think you would have a very good chance of finding something in Battle Ace. The release order went: Battle Ace (1989/11), Granzort (1990/4), Daimakaimura (1990/7), Darius Plus (1990/9), Aldynes (1991/2), and 1941 (1991/8). Battle Ace certainly looks like it was designed with that Power Console in mind, too.

Second of all, the wording he used was a little tricky, and I sort of digested down the sentence...in short, he used two verbs to say something more like "We're going to make a request to developers, and make them support each of these things." It's not clear whether a developer would have actually been forced to create something compatible as a contract term or something.

Regardless, I think the pressure from NEC would have certainly been there, and if I were making anything other than a racing game, I wouldn't have wanted to touch that thing. Especially not if the joystick is as lousy as it looks.

I would really like to know when they canned the Power Console...but alas, my stock of Marukatsus only goes into the very first months of 1990.

I guess that explains the long cable on the RAU-30 ... but jeez, what a monsterously-huge combination that would have been with the Power Console, SuperGrafx, RAU-30 and briefcase! Folks wouldn't have any floor space left in the living room!

It sure does.

But I want to know more about this totally different interface unit they were planning, complete with better ADPCM capabilites. What would it have looked like? Perhaps there is a picture or concept drawing somewhere.

But all of this really makes me want to write something for the SuperGrafx to see just how well the CPU can handle using 2 screens and all of those sprites.

Since the SNES's crappy 3MHz (or less) 65816 can handle it, I expect to find that the NEC guy was right on that aspect and that the SuperGrafx really didn't need a new CPU (although I'm sure that NEC really kept it the same for cost-reasons).

I'd love to see what you can do. 

Yeah, it wasn't exactly begging for a new CPU...but it would have been nice. This same guy appears in the Marukatsu magazine interview (which has much less substance) talking about the potential that the increased RAM opens up for doing really sophisticated, possibly psuedo-3D games, yet here he's saying that programmers wouldn't know what to do with the extra power? 

[SGX Engine]

Awesome work.

From an American reader's perspective, these articles from Electronic Gaming Monthly are right in line with the subject matter of that interview, and also what western readers probably expected from the PC Engine 2 / SuperGrafx (16-bit processor, scaling and rotation, better sound capability).

[SignOfZeta]

Thanks Guys. Really interesting.

Does that mean Strider dumped SuperGrafx capability for arcade card?

It's probably more accurate to say it was basically cancelled and then when AC software supply was looking real bad they decided to reschedule it. The AC came out several years after the SGX, they didn't even have the Super System at this point. I wouldn't assume the project dated back to 1989/1990 but...then again it was kinda so-so so maybe it does.

IIRC the game was "coming soon" for an extremely long time but it could have been two separate projects. So far I think we have yet to see proof that anything was ever coded or developed for the SGX version.

[ClodBusted]

Thank you so much for providing the interview and the translation!

[ccovell]

But all of this really makes me want to write something for the SuperGrafx to see just how well the CPU can handle using 2 screens and all of those sprites.

I think the SGX can handle lots of sprites, with BG & raster scrolling on both planes no problem, really.  1941 is probably the best showcase of that, I think.

The only annoying thing is configuring the VPC to have BGs layered as you want them as well as all 128 sprites in the order that you want them too.  A bit of a cock-up, that VPC.  (Well, the SNES' sprite HW was full of cocks, too...)

[SGX Engine]

Have you guys seen any of this homebrew SuperGrafx demo stuff?

Edit:

I need to edit because the one thing I would love to see and would pay for, is a game like Phantasy Star 3 on the SuperGrafx. Some sort of huge classic RPG with multiple scrolling backgrounds like this game had. Gawd I would kill for something like this and maybe use the Arcade Duo card with the cd-rom attachment to up the ante even further.

Pretty neat IMO.

Edit:

Heh, that's a kewl idea.  Welp, this is the best I could do. When you mentioned Phantasy Star III and SuperGrafx, I remembered this edition of International Outlook in EGM.

[TheClash603]

Nintendo officially stated the Super Famicom was not going to the U.S. and the Super Grafx seemed like a sure thing?  1990 sure was a strange time.

[SGX Engine]

The Super Famicom never came to the U.S.

Super NES though  O:)

[shubibiman]

Phantasy Star III for the SGX ? SGX was designed as an "arcade" machine, it would be irrelevant to port an RPG to the SGX. It would be better to port arcade games.

[SGX Engine]

Galaxy Force, After Burner, Thunder Blade, Out Run, etc were the type of games suited to the SuperGrafx, especially if the higher-end capabilities had made it, along with that controller.

[SamIAm]

Without scaling hardware or more CPU power, I'm not sure how much better Space Harrier and OutRun would have been than their vanilla-PCE counterparts. With larger Hucards, they could have made some improvements, and the increased VRAM and sprite bandwidth would have helped, but it would still be a far cry from the arcade versions. That goes for pretty much all of those games.

When I look at the SGX, it seems to me like it has two meaningful advantages over other systems, including the PCE: the number of sprites it can draw on one horizontal line, and the high amount of VRAM available. So, what kinds of games can make the best use of those things? Horizontal shooters quickly come to mind for the sprites...but I think the best genre would be side-scrolling beat-em-ups. With the VRAM, you can store lots of animation, and with the sprite bandwidth, you can put lots of guys on the field at once. It's a shame that the genre was still only finding its legs in 1989.

You know what I think would have been a cool SGX release game? R-Type. It was such an attention-getter on the PCE 18 months before. Why not give Japan the all-in-one 512mb 512KB Hucard that the US got, have the player sprite and bullets drawn by the second graphics processor to eliminate flicker, and split up the tiles a bit to get dual-layer scrolling like the arcade version? Assuming they had the assets saved (and judging by their release of R-Type CD years later, they did), I would imagine that one programmer and one artist could knock that out on a fairly short time-scale. Call it "R-Type Perfect" or something.

[Vimtoman]

Thanks Guys. Really interesting.

Does that mean Strider dumped SuperGrafx capability for arcade card?

It's probably more accurate to say it was basically cancelled and then when AC software supply was looking real bad they decided to reschedule it. The AC came out several years after the SGX, they didn't even have the Super System at this point. I wouldn't assume the project dated back to 1989/1990 but...then again it was kinda so-so so maybe it does.

IIRC the game was "coming soon" for an extremely long time but it could have been two separate projects. So far I think we have yet to see proof that anything was ever coded or developed for the SGX version.

Maybe it would be worth trying Strider on a Surpergrafx ?

[SamIAm]

Maybe it would be worth trying Strider on a Surpergrafx ?

You mean, play the Arcade Card Strider CD on a SGX to see if it does anything differently?

It's probably been done before, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to look again.

Were I a hacker with lots of free time, I might try to rig up an automated system with Mednafen to boot each game in the entire CD library once in SGX mode and again in normal PCE mode, making a savestate precisely one or two seconds after pressing Run at the loading screen, and comparing each pair of savestates to see if there aren't any differences. By doing this, we could take a big step toward being able to say once and for all whether any CD games detect the SGX.

Of course, since a game might take longer than one or two seconds to detect it, it wouldn't be 100% conclusive, but it may be the best we could hope for in the short-term.

Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised to see an easter egg out there somewhere, especially in a Hudson/NEC Avenue game.

[SignOfZeta]

Phantasy Star III for the SGX ? SGX was designed as an "arcade" machine, it would be irrelevant to port an RPG to the SGX. It would be better to port arcade games.

Galaxy Force, After Burner, Thunder Blade, Out Run, etc were the type of games suited to the SuperGrafx, especially if the higher-end capabilities had made it, along with that controller.

I think you guys are hugely overrating the SGX. It's enhancements are so small, and it's software so early in the PCE's life, that a normal person genuinly can't even tell there's anything special about SGX games. Graphically games like Sapphire, Dracula X, Street Fighter II', Gate of Thunder or Ys' IV completely blow the doors off every SGX game.

And that controller. Jezuz. What a piece of crap that thing would have been. The size of a Barbie Dream House, but unlike the BDH it has a calculator built in. If they had made that thing it would be almost impossible to find a working one today. You know that flight yoke thing would have *sucked*.

[CrackTiger]

Phantasy Star III for the SGX ? SGX was designed as an "arcade" machine, it would be irrelevant to port an RPG to the SGX. It would be better to port arcade games.

Galaxy Force, After Burner, Thunder Blade, Out Run, etc were the type of games suited to the SuperGrafx, especially if the higher-end capabilities had made it, along with that controller.

I think you guys are hugely overrating the SGX. It's enhancements are so small, and it's software so early in the PCE's life, that a normal person genuinly can't even tell there's anything special about SGX games. Graphically games like Sapphire, Dracula X, Street Fighter II', Gate of Thunder or Ys' IV completely blow the doors off every SGX game.

And that controller. Jezuz. What a piece of crap that thing would have been. The size of a Barbie Dream House, but unlike the BDH it has a calculator built in. If they had made that thing it would be almost impossible to find a working one today. You know that flight yoke thing would have *sucked*.

It can do CPS1 ports at the arcade resolution with pixel-for-pixel assets and all of the full sized sprites. By 16-bit console standards, sorite limiations are no longer an issue. Plus you get another tile layer and we've seen how capable the PCE can be with only one.

The SuperGrafx could do a "beat-em-up" game with 4 players at once fighting 10 enemies on screen. Those 4-player Konami arcade games like TMNT would be "arcade perfect" for the time.

[NecroPhile]

512mb R-type huey?

[SamIAm]

Why, yes...That's what mine says... If you're interested, I might let you have it...for the right price, of course... 

[touko]

In the 90's era all guys have only 16bits cpu to the mouth, ok, but which ??
68K ??, of course no other choice, but this CPU was more expensive than the whole Hu6280 (including sound), and not more powerfull,the slow interrupt system would also have been a problem  in the consumption of  CPU cycles.
An ARM CPU then ???,in that case no problem 
It would have been impossible to lunch a complete new hardware with only two years after the PCE,even if not perfect, the SGX was the good choice for upgrading the actual PCE quickly with little R&D and reuse close to the whole chips and other components .
The drawback with the SGX is really the hucard format IMO,and also like chris said, it's not easy to play with priorities between the two VDC,mainly for sprites .

1941 is probably the best showcase of that, I think.

i agree, for me a good exemple that the SGX can do.

[SGX Engine]

You know what I think would have been a cool SGX game release game? R-Type. It was such an attention-getter on the PCE 18 months before. Why not give Japan the all-in-one 512mb 512KB Hucard that the US got, have the player sprite and bullets drawn by the second graphics processor to eliminate flicker, and split up the tiles a bit to get dual-layer scrolling like the arcade version? Assuming they had the assets saved (and judging by their release of R-Type CD years later, they did), I would imagine that one programmer and one artist could knock that out on a fairly short time-scale. Call it "R-Type Perfect" or something.

Yeah I think that would have been a great idea. Then SGX would be launching in November 1989 with Battle Ace and R-Type, giving the system a better impression for gamers and devs like.

[shubibiman]

I think you guys are hugely overrating the SGX. It's enhancements are so small, and it's software so early in the PCE's life, that a normal person genuinly can't even tell there's anything special about SGX games. Graphically games like Sapphire, Dracula X, Street Fighter II', Gate of Thunder or Ys' IV completely blow the doors off every SGX game.

And that controller. Jezuz. What a piece of crap that thing would have been. The size of a Barbie Dream House, but unlike the BDH it has a calculator built in. If they had made that thing it would be almost impossible to find a working one today. You know that flight yoke thing would have *sucked*.

Sure the controller was a huge wasteful gadget. It's a good thing it was never released in the end.

Am I hugely overrating the SGX ? I don't think so. Only 5 games were released for the system and the 5th one looked like this :





I don't know if you've ever played the arcade version of 1941 but the way the SGX handled this port pretty much shows that loads of other faithful arcade ports could have been released. I'm not talking of games such as Galaxy Force 2 and other Sega "3D"games.

Most of the devs here that have spent a huge amount of time working on the SGX all say that it was a powerful system.

And even if games such as Winds of Thunder or Dracula X are beautiful, I find some of 1941's background way more impressive and detailled than anything else on the PCE.

[touko]

And even if games such as Winds of Thunder or Dracula X are beautiful, I find some of 1941's background way more impressive and detailled than anything else on the PCE.

Of course it is, even more if you consider the 8mb hucard,and thanks to the 128ko of VRAM .

[esteban]

WE ALL AGREE: From 1989 onward, all new PCE products (CoreGrafx, DUO, SuperCD, LT...and GT, too?) should have been equivalent to SuperGrafx hardware.

An aggressive "upgrade your old PCE" campaign + coupons + candy would sweeten the deal.

Altered Beast SGX would be launch title.

Cross-promotions between SuperGrafx, Capcom/Konami shmups and popular confectioners would be paramount to success.

For example, imagine a Reese's SuperGrafx campaign:

 

A series of 7 collectable Gradius/Parodius/Gyruss SGX stickers, exclusively found in Reese's products. 

A series of 9 collectable 1941/Legendary Wings SGX stickers, exclusively found in Reese's products. 

A series of 15 collectable Strider/Altered Beast SGX stickers, exclusively found in Reese's products!

The SGX juggernaut would have been unstoppable.