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46-662: The PC Engine SuperGrafx ( PCエンジンスーパーグラフィックス , Pī Shī Enjin SūpāGurafikkusu ) , also known as simply the SuperGrafx , is a fourth-generation home video game console manufactured by NEC Home Electronics and released in Japan in 1989. It is the successor system to the PC Engine , released two years prior. Originally known as the PC Engine 2 during production stages, it was purported as

92-465: A frequency of 111.87 kHz for single cycle of 32 samples (while not in D/A mode) with a bit depth of 5 bits. Each channel also was allotted 20 bytes (32×5 bits) of RAM for sample data. The waveforms were programmable so the composers were not limited to the standard selection of waveforms ( square , sine , sawtooth , triangle , etc.). But the use of standard waveforms, and semi-standard forms, such as

138-445: A 25% pulse wave were used fairly often. The first two audio channels (1 and 2) were capable of LFO when channel #2 was used to modulate channel #1. Optional software enabled Direct D/A which allows for sampled sound to be streamed into any of the six PSG audio channels. When a channel is in D/A mode the frequency is as fast as the CPU can stream bytes to the port, though in practicality it

184-554: A 6502-compatible 16-bit address bus), an integrated general-purpose I/O port, a timer, block transfer instructions, and dedicated move instructions for communicating with the HuC6270A VDC. There was 32 KB of work RAM and 128 KB (64 KB per HuC6270A VDC) Video RAM. The display subsystem was composed of two 16-bit HuC6270A Video Display Controllers (VDCs), one HuC6202 Video Priority Controller, and one HuC6260 Video Color Encoder (VCE). The HuC6270A featured Port-based I/O similar to

230-580: A SuperGrafx console. As such, it was the only commercially-released HuCard game to carry the PC-SG mark. A special version of Darius Plus , titled Darius Alpha , was also released as a sweepstakes giveaway, which was limited to 800 copies that were distributed on a weekly basis from 21 September through 16 November 1990. Many of the games that were announced for the PC Engine SuperGrafx were either canceled or repurposed into other formats. One notable example

276-484: A drop in software sales in subsequent years. This generation ended with the discontinuation of the Neo Geo in 2004. Features that distinguish some fourth generation consoles from third generation consoles include: Additionally, in specific cases, fourth generation hardware featured: The PC Engine was the result of a collaboration between Hudson Soft and NEC and launched in Japan on October 30, 1987. It launched under

322-547: A numerical keypad. The Power Console was scheduled to be released in Spring 1990 with a suggested retail price of 59,800 yen, but was never released due to its high production cost and the poor sales of the SuperGrafx itself. There were only five SuperGrafx-specific HuCards produced. In addition to these fives games, NEC Avenue also released Darius Plus as a standard PC Engine HuCard that offered slight enhancements when played on

368-427: A true 16-bit home console, featuring improved graphics and audio capabilities over its predecessor. The console was rushed to market, released several months before its initial intended release date in 1990, only having modest updates to the hardware. With only six retail games released that took advantage of the console's hardware updates, the SuperGrafx was a commercial failure, selling only 75,000 units total. None of

414-589: Is also compatible with the CD-ROM² System add-on (via the ROM² Adaptor), as well as the Super CD-ROM² add-on. No CD-ROM² format games were produced that took advantage of the SuperGrafx's added capabilities. The CPU was an 8-bit HuC6280A , a modified 65SC02 , running at 1.79, or 7.16 MHz (switchable by software). Features included integrated bankswitching hardware (driving a 21-bit external address bus from

460-450: Is backwards compatible with all standard PC Engine HuCard -format games in addition to its own. The labels on SuperGrafx HuCards were upside-down relative to standard HuCards; A standard HuCard will read upside down on a SuperGrafx, while its own are right-side-up. The SuperGrafx is also compatible with the CD-ROM² and Super CD-ROM² System add-ons, allowing it to play any CD-ROM² format game with

506-558: Is limited to 6.99 kHz when using the TIMER interrupt with its smallest loop setting (1023 cpu cycles) or 15.7 kHz using the scanline interrupt. There is a method that combines two channels in DDA mode to play back 8-bit, 9-bit, or 10-bit samples. The addition of the CD-ROM peripheral adds CD-DA sound, and a single ADPCM channel to the existing sound capabilities of the PC Engine. The SuperGrafx

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552-598: The Mega Drive/Genesis console, the Super NES eventually took the top selling position, selling 49.10 million units worldwide, and would remain popular well into the fifth generation of consoles. Nintendo's market position was defined by their machine's increased video and sound capabilities, including exclusive first-party franchise titles such as F-Zero , Super Mario World , Star Fox , Super Mario Kart , Donkey Kong Country , The Legend of Zelda: A Link to

598-799: The Satellaview and the Super Game Boy . The Satellaview was a satellite service released only in Japan and the Super Game Boy was an adapter for the SNES that allowed Game Boy games to be displayed on a TV in color. Nintendo, working along with Sony , also had plans to create a CD-ROM drive for the SNES (plans that resulted in a prototype version of the Sony PlayStation ), but eventually decided not to go through with that project, opting to team up with Philips in

644-626: The American and Japanese NTSC standard to the European and Australian PAL standard. Companies such as Konami , with large budgets and a healthy following in Europe and Australia, readily optimized several games (such as the International Superstar Soccer series) for this audience, while most smaller developers did not. Also, few RPGs were released in Europe because the market for the genre

690-476: The Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo decided to censor the game's gore, but Sega kept the content in the game, via a code entered at the start screen. Sega's version of Mortal Kombat received generally more favorable reviews in the gaming press and outsold the SNES version three to one. This also led to Congressional hearings to investigate the marketing of violent video games to children, and to

736-467: The Hedgehog franchise to compete with Nintendo's Super Mario series, as well as a very stylized marketing campaign aimed at American teenagers. Several other companies released consoles in this generation, but none of them were widely successful. Nevertheless, there were other companies that started to take notice of the maturing video game industry and begin making plans to release consoles of their own in

782-429: The Hedgehog , pushing the Genesis as the "cooler" alternative to Nintendo's console and inventing the term "Blast Processing" to suggest that the Genesis was capable of handling games with faster motion than the SNES. Their advertising was often directly adversarial, leading to commercials such as "Genesis does what Nintendon't" and no scream at all. When the arcade game Mortal Kombat was ported for home release on

828-638: The Mega Drive in Japan to concentrate on the new Sega Saturn . While this made perfect sense for the Japanese market, it was disastrous in North America: the market for Genesis games was much larger than for the Saturn, but Sega was left without the inventory or software to meet demand. Nintendo executives were initially reluctant to design a new system, but as the market transitioned to the newer hardware, Nintendo saw

874-546: The Past and Super Metroid . The CD-i format was announced in the late 1980s, with the first machines compatible with the format being released in 1991. The Philips CD-i's main selling point was that it was more than a game machine and could be used for multimedia needs. Due to an agreement between Nintendo and Philips about an abortive CD add-on for the SNES (which eventually evolved into Sony 's PlayStation ), Philips also had rights to use some of Nintendo's franchises. The CD-i

920-529: The SuperGrafx twice as many on-screen sprites as the original PC Engine and support for two independently scrolling background layers opposed to the PC Engine's single layer. Since the SuperGrafx was produced and marketed as an upgraded PC Engine model rather than as a new platform, it was backwards compatible with standard PC Engine HuCards in addition to its own. However, SuperGrafx-specific HuCards were expensive compared to standard HuCards, in some cases approaching as much as $ 110 USD at retail. The SuperGrafx

966-567: The TMS99xx VDP family. The X (Horizontal) Resolution was variable, maximum of 565 pixels (programmable to 282, 377 or 565 pixels, or as 5.37mhz, 7.159mhz, and 10.76mhz pixel dot clock). Taking into consideration overscan limitations of CRT televisions at the time, the horizontal resolutions were realistically limited to something a bit less than what the system was actually capable of. Consequently, most game developers limited their games to either 256, 336, or 512 pixels in display width for each of

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1012-680: The Turbo Duo, ceased manufacturing in North America by 1994, though a small amount of software continued to trickle out for the platform. The Mega Drive was released in Japan on October 29, 1988. The console was released in New York City and Los Angeles on August 14, 1989, under the name Sega Genesis, and in the rest of North America later that year. It was launched in Europe and Australia on November 30, 1990, under its original name. Sega built their marketing campaign around their new mascot Sonic

1058-473: The TurboGrafx advertising from 1990 to 1994. The platform was well received initially, especially in larger markets, but failed to make inroads into the smaller metropolitan areas where NEC did not have as many store representatives or as focused in-store promotion. The TurboGrafx-16 failed to maintain its sales momentum or to make a strong impact in North America. The TurboGrafx-16 and its CD combination system,

1104-927: The TurboGrafx-16 in North America). Though NEC released the first console of this era, sales were mostly dominated by the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo across most markets: the Sega Mega Drive (known as the Sega Genesis in North America) and the Super Nintendo (known as the Super Famicom in Japan). Cartridge-based handheld game consoles became prominent during this time, such as the Nintendo Game Boy , Atari Lynx , Sega Game Gear and TurboExpress . Nintendo

1150-1502: The amount of translation required. Popular US games imported at this time included Final Fantasy IV (known in the US as Final Fantasy II ), Final Fantasy VI (known in the US as Final Fantasy III ), Secret of Mana , Street Fighter II , Chrono Trigger , and Super Mario RPG . Secret of Mana and Street Fighter II would eventually receive official release in Europe, whilst Final Fantasy IV , Final Fantasy VI , Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG would be released in Europe years later on other consoles or formats outside of this generation. US$ 399.99 (Silver version) (equivalent to $ 890 in 2023) Game Boy (using Super Game Boy ) Hudson Soft HuC6280 A (based on 8-bit 65SC02 ) 1.79 MHz (0.77  MIPS ) or 7.16 MHz (3.08 MIPS) 32X Add-on: SA-1 enhancement chip : Upgrades: Enhancement chips : Hudson Soft HuC6280A PSG 32X Add-on: 32 KB main, 128 KB video RAM Upgrades: Enhancement chips: Upgrades: Enhancement chips: Upgrades: Hudson Soft HuC6280 A (based on 8-bit 65SC02 ) 1.79 MHz (0.77  MIPS ) or 7.16 MHz (3.08 MIPS) Philips SCC68070 @ 15.5 MHz Motorola 68000 @ 12.5 MHz (2.19 MIPS) Philips SCC66470, MCD 212 Sega ASIC coprocessor Oki MSM5205 MCD 221 Ricoh RF5c164 Super CD-ROM²: Upgrades: 1 MB RAM CD BackUp Ram Carts: Scan line On CRT screens

1196-455: The combined sprite per scanline limit of 32 sprites or 512 sprite pixels. Tiles were 8x8 with each background tile able to use up to 16 unique colors via one of the 16 available background palettes. The first color entry of each background palette must be the same across all background palettes. Six Wavetable Synthesis audio channels, programmable through the HuC6280A CPU. Each channel had

1242-519: The console only accessible to a niche market. A less expensive version, retailing for $ 399.99, did not include a memory card, pack-in game or extra joystick. Nintendo, NEC and Sega also competed with hardware peripherals for their consoles in this generation. NEC was the first with the release of the TurboGrafx CD system in 1990. Retailing for $ 399.99 at release, the CD add-on was not a popular purchase, but

1288-661: The creation of the Interactive Digital Software Association and the Entertainment Software Rating Board . Sega concluded that the superior sales of their version of Mortal Kombat were outweighed by the resulting loss in consumer trust, and cancelled the game's release in Spain to avoid further controversy. With the new ESRB rating system in place, Nintendo reconsidered its position for the release of Mortal Kombat II , and this time became

1334-518: The development of the add-on instead (contrary to popular belief, the CD-i was largely unrelated to the project). The fourth generation was also the era when the act of buying imported US games became more established in Europe, and regular stores began to carry them. The PAL region has a refresh rate of 50 Hz (compared with 60 Hz for NTSC ) and a vertical resolution of 625 interlaced lines ( 576 effective), compared with 525/480 for NTSC. Because

1380-695: The erosion of the commanding market share it had built up with the Nintendo Entertainment System . Nintendo's fourth-generation console, the Super Famicom, was released in Japan on November 21, 1990; Nintendo's initial shipment of 300,000 units sold out within hours. The machine reached North America as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on August 23, 1991, and Europe and Australia in April 1992. Despite stiff competition from

1426-432: The eventual creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board . The emergence of fifth generation video game consoles , beginning around 1994, did not significantly diminish the popularity of fourth generation consoles for a few years. In 1996, however, there was a major drop in sales of hardware from this generation and a dwindling number of software publishers supporting fourth generation systems, which together led to

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1472-573: The future. As with prior generations, game media still continued to be distributed primarily on ROM cartridges , though the first optical disc systems, such as the Philips CD-i , were released to limited success. There was additionally technical competition with home computer games on the Amiga and on DOS -based IBM clones . As games became more complex, concerns over video game violence, namely in titles such as Mortal Kombat and Night Trap , led to

1518-640: The hardware advancements it possessed were carried over to later PC Engine models, such as the Duo & the LD-ROM² PAC for the LaserActive . Compared to the PC Engine, the SuperGrafx has four times the amount of working RAM for the main CPU . Its main upgrade is an additional video chip with its own video RAM, with a priority controller chip, which allows the output of both video chips to be combined in various ways. This gives

1564-520: The horizontal scan lines are visually discernible, even when viewed from a distance, as alternating colored lines and black lines, especially when a progressive scan signal with below maximum vertical resolution is displayed. This is sometimes used today as a visual effect in computer graphics . The term is used, by analogy, for a single row of pixels in a raster graphics image. Scan lines are important in representations of image data, because many image file formats have special rules for data at

1610-579: The name TurboGrafx-16 in North America on August 29, 1989. Initially, the PC Engine was quite successful in Japan, partly due to titles available on the then-new CD-ROM format. NEC released a CD add-on in 1990 and by 1992 had released a combination TurboGrafx and CD-ROM system known as the TurboDuo . In the United States, NEC used Bonk , a head-banging caveman, as their mascot and featured him in most of

1656-461: The preferred version among reviewers. The Toy Retail Sales Tracking Service reported that during the key shopping month of November 1994, 63% of all 16-bit video game consoles sold were Sega systems. The console was never popular in Japan (being regularly outsold by the PC Engine ), but still managed to sell 40 million units worldwide. By late 1995, Sega was supporting five different consoles and two add-ons, and Sega Enterprises chose to discontinue

1702-621: The required System Card. No SuperGrafx-specific CD-ROM² titles were produced. The SuperGrafx is compatible with all standard PC Engine input devices, such as the TurboPad and the Multitap. The ROM² Adaptor (RAU-30) was an adapter released in Japan on 20 April 1990 that allows the SuperGrafx unit to be connected into the CD-ROM² System Interface Unit. This was not required for the later Super CD-ROM² System add-on. Power Console (PI-PD7)

1748-518: The simulation speed of contemporary game systems was directly linked to the output frame rate , which was in turn synchronized with the TV's refresh rate, this meant that the game would run more slowly on a PAL television. The smaller number of vertical lines in the NTSC signal would also lead to black bars appearing on the top and bottom of a PAL television. Developers often had a hard time converting games designed for

1794-544: The three modes. The Y (Vertical) Resolution was also variable, maximum of 242 (programmable in increments of 1 scanline). Color had a depth of 9 bits with 512 colors available with up to 512 colors on screen (241 background and 240 sprite colors from each of the two VDCs). There were 32 palettes in total: 16 for background tiles and 16 for sprites. Each sprite palette could have 15 colors defined, and had one transparent color index; and each background tile palette could have 15 colors defined, plus one color index whose color

1840-534: Was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1998, selling only 1 million units worldwide despite several partnerships and multiple versions of the device, some made by other manufacturers. Released by SNK in 1990, the Neo Geo was a home console version of the major arcade platform. Compared to its console competition, the Neo Geo had much better graphics and sound, however, the prohibitively expensive launch price of $ 649.99 and games often retailing at over $ 250 made

1886-524: Was a color that was shared across all background tile palettes. 128 sprites were simultaneously displayable with sizes of: 16×16, 16×32, 16×64, 32×16, 32×32, 32×64. Each sprite can use up to 15 unique colors (one color must be reserved as transparent) via one of the 16 available sprite palettes. The dual HuC6270A VDCs are capable of displaying 2 sprite layers (1 each). Sprites could be placed either in front of or behind background tiles. Each layer can display 16 sprites or 256 sprite pixels per scanline , giving

PC Engine SuperGrafx - Misplaced Pages Continue

1932-435: Was able to capitalize on its success in the third generation , and managed to win the largest worldwide market share in the fourth generation as well. However, particularly in the lucrative North American market, there was a fierce console war that raged through the early '90s, which eventually saw Sega outselling Nintendo in North America by 1991. Sega's success in this era stemmed largely from its launch of its popular Sonic

1978-429: Was an unreleased cockpit-sized controller that attaches onto the SuperGrafx unit itself, connecting via the expansion port on the front side. The peripheral would have added numerous control options such as an eight-way joystick, four action buttons, a flight yoke with two triggers (one on each handle), a throttle lever, a jog dial , three mode switches, an LCD panel, an LED indicator, four additional controller ports and

2024-489: Was largely responsible for the platform's success in Japan. The Sega CD was released with an unusually high price tag ($ 300 at its release) and a limited library of games. A unique add-on for the Sega console was Sega Channel , a subscription-based service (a form of online gaming delivery) hosted by local television providers. It required hardware that plugged into a cable line and the Genesis. Nintendo also made two attempts with

2070-495: Was not as large as in Japan or North America, and the increasing amount of time and money required for translation as RPGs became more text-heavy, in addition to the usual need to convert the games to the PAL standard, often made localizing the games to Europe a high-cost venture with little potential payoff. As a result, RPG releases in Europe were largely limited to games which had previously been localized for North America, thus reducing

2116-433: Was the PC Engine port of Strider Hiryu , which was initially announced as a SuperGrafx title, but was ultimately released as an Arcade CD-ROM² disc. Fourth generation of video game consoles In the history of video games, the fourth generation of video game consoles , more commonly referred to as the 16-bit era , began on October 30, 1987, with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics ' PC Engine (known as

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