Most people are surprised to learn that the PC Engine uses an 8-bit processing chip. The processor (CPU) is in fact a Z-80, 8 bit chip running at a respectable 7.16mhz. This is fast enough for most games.

However, although the chip is quite powerful, it still needs help from other custom chips to be able to run some of the more complicated games.

Although the Engine uses only an 8-bit CPU, this alone is not capable of producing the high quality graphics and sound needed, so the Engine also incorporates a powerful 16-bit video chip.

This chip takes the strain off the main 8-bit chip. It is capable of producing quality scrolling and sprites. 512 colours are available with 16 on screen at once. Up to 64 sprites can appear on the screen at the same time (8 per line) and the chip can create large animated sprites.

Screen resolution is 256 x 216 pixels. To store the graphic data, the Engine has 64k of video RAM. There is also 8k of work buffer RAM. All this is enough to produce some wonderful games with colourful and fast graphics, like Twin Bee and Final Soldier.

The Sound

A small custom chip produces the 6 channel stereo sound. Check out games like Gunhed and Dungeon Explorer to hear the chip at its

best

If the PC Engine or Turbo Grafx 16 comes from Japan or the USA without any modifications done to it, it is an NTSC machine. This is the TV signal Japan and the USA use, we in the UK use PAL I. If your TV or monitor can accept an NTSC signal (most do these days) then the machine will play in full colour. Raven Games can convert your machine to run Rgb scart if you wish, so if you do not have a compatible monitor or TV then Rgb scart is the way to go as long as your TV has a scart socket (Euro connector).

Most people prefer their machine to be converted to scart as the sharp picture quality is superior to the grainy NTSC one. You can also purchase a colour booster cable which plugs into the scart lead which brings up the colours, i.e. Legendary Axe or Pc Kid now appear in a true flesh colour rather than a dull red. This really is the best way to enjoy the PC Engine to the full.

When the PC Engine was brought into Europe, a PAL version was available. These had an ugly grey unit plugged onto the back of the machine, these were unofficial and produced poor picture quality. If you still have a PAL version we recommend you have it converted to scart. Click here for info

The Future?

The last game officially released on the Pc Engine was Dead Of The Brain as late as would you believe the 3rd of June 1999. A third party released game called 'Implode' was released on Scd in 2002, see pic's below & another new game in 2004 has also just emerged, it was though around 1994 that most of the Japanese mass public moved on to newer consoles of that time. 

The PC Engine now has a cult following with buyers from all around the world, the machine is still very strong in France, Italy and USA and of course in the UK with many rare games still very sought after, Games like Castlevania still regularly sell for £100.00 upwards.

Even now compared to say the next generation consoles like The Playstation 2 and The X box, the PC Engine is one of the few consoles from the past that can still outplay these machines with it's simple arcade platform and shoot em up classic style games! and the fact that many of the games still don't look dated now, considering it's age is incredible. Basically the PC Engine was years ahead of it's time and luckily because of the large library of games released in Japan there's plenty of classic software out there to keep you occupied for many years to come, and there's plenty of hard core collectors out there worldwide still keeping this console well alive.

As for the games market now Its unlikely if any of the new so called 'next generation consoles' will make a mark in peoples lives like The Pc Engine did, the games market is now a massive global money making industry making even more money then Hollywood movies and run by the likes of Sony and Microsoft, even the Pc Engine in this day and age would never had stood a chance against these giants, thank god for the past !

Implode (Scd)	Puzzle game	Released in 2002

Thanks to:

Richard Gibbs for the PC Engine history from his original 1993 PC Engine fanzine.

Richard White for the information on Darius Alpha, Gary Young for info on the Vista. William at Games Wonderland for his original support & NFG for the prototype info.