Retro Recall: The PC-FX

Some of you who read this will know what this system was, others may not. I hope that this post will serve as both an informative piece as well as a nice reflection on a system that could have been.

The PC-FX was the successor to the PC-Engine(better known as the TurboGrafx-16 in the US) in Japan. NEC had planned to use this system to enter the 32-bit era of consoles, and at first it looked like the system was poised to take the lead. At the time of the console’s release in 1994, it was a rather unique looking machine at the time, looking like a PC tower that you might see in today’s PC desktop computers. It used CD-ROMS as its primary media for games, unlike its predecessor’s credit card like HuCards. The PC-FX’s controller look a bit like a Genesis’s six button controller, and even featured the same connector pin setup.

During its release, the system also had several peripherals that came out along with the system including a mouse that made it easier for adventure and strategy games. A rather unique peripheral was an internal PC card that allowed for the development of PC-FX games as well as the ability to play said games, and individual titles on a PC. As far as I know this is the only other instance of a company releasing development tools to consumers outside of Sony and its PlayStation Net Yaroze system and toolset.

NEC began development of a piece new development hardware in 1992 that the company called “Iron Man.” The PC-Engine was still quite popular in Japan at the time, and so many developers were a little turned off at the idea of a brand new 32-bit processor. Around 1993, the 3DO came out, and was it started to generate the idea that the 32 bit era was coming in. Both Sega and Sony had announced plans to enter this arena with the Sega Saturn and PlayStation (We all know how this turned out…). However, NEC pushed forward with its Iron Man project, rather than develop a piece of hardware to compete with their competitors, they opted to use the tech they already had.

At the time of release, the system was severely underpowered, lacking any capability to do 3D. Instead the system was essentially a 2D powerhouse, being able to play games with beautifully animated sprites, and being able to decompress 30 JPEG pictures per second (think motion JPEG images). This resulted in having much higher quality FMVs in the PC-FX’s games at the time.

Sadly the system was only released in Japan, and was released to little fanfare, never really reaching its full potential. A total of 62 games were ever produced for the system. Most of the games comprised of bishōjo games (Dating sims geared towards the male audience) and dating sims. There was also a handful of RPGs, strategy titles, and action games released for the system. Games were released for the system all the way up to 1998.

I personally don’t own the system, and it is a relatively rare thing to see here in the United States. This is one of the system that I would love to add to my collection, along with a few key games for the system. I find that this system is quite interesting piece of tech as one of the only system to basically come and go without so much as a whisper. NEC was a company that had a vision, and unfortunately for them, they were pushed out the door because of poor oversight and an unwillingness to create something new. Who knows, maybe NEC will rise from the grave and create something truly great for the next generation of consoles?

I am praying for the return of 2D games.