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Possibly the ultimate PC Engine, this model is

also known as the Turbo Duo in the USA. Both

USA and Japanese CD's worked on either model.

In one stylish box unit it contains the hardware of a normal Engine and a CD Rom. Not to mention the game backup facility. 

The CD controlling software is built in, so there are no system cards to loose or damage. Card games load from a small covered slot in the front. NEC also released a portable battery pack for this machine and a Duo monitor.

NEC also released DUO R and DUO RX models in Japan. The differences were different colour and shape cases and the removal of the headphone socket to make the retail price more competitive.

Then in 1990 NEC produced a shock with the launch of the all new Super Grafx. This machine was much larger than its brothers and

incorporated a much more powerful  graphics chip and enhanced video and working RAM.

Also scheduled to be released soon after was a peripheral which would cover the machine. This would have been a steering wheel that could be

used for both driving and flying games.

Unfortunately this piece of hardware did not materialize leaving many angry owners with a slightly more powerful system at sometimes a huge cost. When the Super Grafx was released it cost approx £280 in the UK.

What the Super Grafx could do was to play much larger games with more graphics power. However only 6 games were specifically produced for this system (and Darius Alpha which you will read about later) Also this machine plays all the original Hu card based games. The 6 games released are:

The Shuttle was supposed to be aimed at the younger player. It was a total flop, mainly because it was cheaper to buy the white Engine than this model. 

Also a back-up unit was separately released so Shuttle owners could save their games as the Shuttle could not plug into the CD Rom and Interface.

Using some of NEC's vast experience in LCD television technology they produced one of the best handheld games machines ever.

Its main feature was a superb quality colour LCD screen. Unlike most other handhelds the screen image was as good as a TV or monitor. The design of the unit is a little large for small hands to use but has comfortable finger recesses and controls.

One of the main advantages of this handheld machine is the fact that unlike most other systems, this one could use the same game cards as its bigger brothers. This meant that at its release there was already a large list of software available for it at launch.

Add to that the ability to join a TV receiver to the side of the GT (which worked in Japan only) and with the release of a link cable meant that it became a huge success. Boxed versions of the GT are very hard to come by now.

TV Receiver