The TurboGrafx-16, known as the PC Engine outside North America, is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation, it launched in Japan to compete with Nintendo's Family Computer, but its delayed U.S. debut placed it against the more advanced Sega Genesis and later the Super NES.
Games were initially released on HuCard cartridges, but the platform later supported additional formats requiring separate hardware: TurboGrafx-CD (CD-ROM in Japan) games on compact disc, SuperGrafx games on a new console variant, and LD-ROM games on LaserDisc via the LaserActive, a TurboGrafx-compatible system developed by Pioneer. No configuration supported all formats simultaneously. While the TurboGrafx-CD was moderately successful, the other two formats failed to gain traction. The resulting hardware fragmentation created consumer confusion.
