I've covered a lot of vintage game systems on this blog. Usually to showcase the graphical marvels accomplished on them by assembly coding sorcerers of the day. But out of those systems, which is the rarest treasure I myself most wish to own?
Feast your eyes on the PC Engine LT. The PC Engine was the Japanese name for what, in the US, was called the Turbo GrafX 16. There were many variants on the PC engine hardware, including two portable versions: The PC Engine GT (Turbo Express in the US) and the PC Engine LT.
As you can see above, the GT was basically just a PC Engine in a Game Boy style form factor. Still, this was revolutionary at the time. Every other handheld was cut down, power wise (except the Sega Nomad, but that's a different story.) The GT was a full blown current gen home console from that period...as a handheld.
Compare that to the 8 bit Game Gear which played cut down, less advanced games because it was based on Master System hardware. Or the monochrome Gameboy, which reigned supreme even during the SNES era, even though when it was released it was already substantially weaker than the NES.
The equivalent today wouldn't be the Nintendo Switch, because it's deliberately underpowered to achieve good battery life as a portable. It would be more like if Sony released a full blown handheld PS4 with no compromises. So you can imagine how tantalizing the PC Engine GT/Turbo Express was on release.
The PC Engine LT went one better by being playable as a handheld (like an oversized, unwieldy Gameboy Advance SP) but also allowing you to set it down on a flat surface, connect an external control pad and play it as a console. Sort of like the Switch's tabletop mode, but way back in the early 1990s.
The LT was the evolved version of NEC's prior experiment in making the PC Engine portable, its LCD Color Monitor, seen above. A tentative toe in the water which elicited enough interest, they said "why not just build it into the unit?" Uniquely feasible for a machine as compact as the PC Engine, compared to the bulkier SNES and Genesis.
Now, color LCD screens weren't great in the 90s. They had bad issues with ghosting for instance since the refresh rate was so poor. They also didn't come cheap, hence why early 1990s VR headsets cost tens of thousands of dollars because of the LCD microdisplays inside.
This means the quality suffered and if you can find a PC Engine GT or LT today, odds are good it has at least one stuck or dead pixel. However there's a cottage industry which has sprung up, devoted to replacing the 1990s LCDs in these old portables with modern TFT displays of the same resolution.
You can get a Game Gear, Atari Lynx, PC Engine GT, etc. with a fully modern TFT with richer colors, vastly better per-pixel refresh rate and less power consumption, but it will cost you a pretty penny. Often they also mod in lithium batteries so you don't have to supply 4 to 6 AAs that it burns through in 2 hours, like the old days.
I already love the PC Engine platform, but my old consoles are in storage and I can't justify digging them out. I have nowhere to put them, no TV to hook them up to and it's easier to just emulate them these days. I made an exception when I bought the Switch because it's tiny, self contained and includes an integrated display.
The PC Engine LT has the same strengths. It could just live in its own little corner of my desk waiting for a break in my writing, or when I have to wait for a video to render. Then I could fit in a round of Super Star Soldier or something on authentic, original hardware.
These portable self contained consoles are few and far between. Often short lived experiments that are damn near impossible to get ahold of now. The Sega Treamcast, a mini Dreamcast with a built in laptop style flip-up LCD monitor is another example, but I'll save that for a future article.
Stay Cozy!
How do you still have all of these ? It’s gonna be worth a lot sooner than later . I remember the ps1 in my head when I see these
I don't. It makes it clear in the article I don't own one of these machines.
Think I misunderstood when you said about your Old consoles being in storage
I do have many old consoles, but not the particular one this article is about.
my first game consol was a soviet copy of Nintendo Game & Watch :D
looks like this one:
both of them had the same way of playing - you need to see which one of the coming rockets is the closest and to react on it - to destroy, and speed is getting higher over the time
it was fun :D
I was stuck with a Merlin growing up. How I wish i had some of those games way back then. Jealousy. Cheers @alexbeyman. RESTEEMED.
A classic era of gaming!
What was the power situation with this beast? These will be worth a fortune in 50 years. Or, the AI overlords will shovel them into a giant landfill, along with our carcasses.
That thing sure does look pretty epic if i do say so myself.
How can I have that machine and play games like yore?
Wow. Awesome!
Holy shit those would have been fucking rad to play as a kid
You'd have been the envy of your classmates for sure.
Hahaha 😀😀😀fun
OMG you're giving me flashback to my childhood. I remember the PC Engine (Turbo GrafX 16) and I owned the Game Gear for a while :)
Oh cool! Blast from the past! I remember playing those old game boys and I loved my sega console although I only had one game- sonic the hedge hodge. Really cool to see those other types in your photos, haven’t seen them before
Good old memories, I could really use these now, the games these days seems to suck friend
ha ha this is so crazy anyway hope it is fun to do so
-cheers-
very funny..this reminded me of my childhood..good old days <3 :)
owww its really amazing sir @alexbeyman have a good day
I do a lot of thrifting and have seen it all, except some of those rad systems. I have found some obscure gaming systems and games, but just flip them for profit.
For my next Open Mic drum entry, I've been debating between The Legend Of Zelda's Main Theme Song or a Super Mario Bros Medley. It's been one of the tougher decisions I've had to make lately... Zelda is more epic and Mario might be more popular for the wow factor. Thoughts?
I don't see why not. I've scored some old systems in thrift stores too, mainly Goodwill. That's how I got my Atari 5200. It became apparent pretty quickly why somebody would give it to a Goodwill. There's not much to recommend it except that the controller storage compartment can be used as a beer cooler.
Very good game for your game
I can't say I ever had a Turbo GrafX when I was a kid, but I have definitely heard of them. Had no idea what they looked like till now lol.
The American Turbo Grafx looked very different. If you Google Image search it you'll see they doubles the size of the console for the US market even though the mainboard inside stayed the same size.
Wow, this is sick dude! where did you find this jewels? I really wanted to have one.
The article makes it clear I do not own one.
This would have been the greatest thing to have as a child. Nice article resteemed.
Haha Amazing
I like game..games sometimes like in the real world, it's fun to almost forget the time..thanks for sharing @alexbey
Only if i could have this, back then i was a game maniac.
I wanted a Turbo Grafx 16 when I was a kid but alas it wasn't to be.
I am really enjoying these retro/historical game console posts. Bringing back memories.
If I got that thing in my childhood I'd probably throw my teddy bear and sleep with this gaming console.
Everything else aside, it's worth having just for it's beauty. That first image of the fully assembled voltron monster is a piece of art worthy of any cyberpunk film set.
That's one hell of sexy gaming rig you dug up :P
ohhh shit that is unreliable .. yu are the king of gaming