Turbo Technologies, Inc.

Turbo Technologies, Inc. (sometimes abbreviated as TTi) was a spin-off joint venture set up by NEC Technologies and Hudson Soft to handle the sales, distribution, marketing and support of the TurboGrafx-16 line of consoles in North America. After the TurboGrafx-16's lukewarm initial reception in the territory, the joint entity was 1992 as Hudson Soft was still confident in the platform's long-term prospects, and thought NEC wasn't doing an optimal job as their North American partner. The aim of the new arrangement was to give Hudson Soft more control over the North American operations, while still allowing NEC input and a share of the profits.

The main product most associate with TTi is the TurboDuo (later known as just Duo), which aimed to replace the TurboGrafx-16 and TurboGrafx-CD by combining both into a single unit, though still positioning it at a premium product with a high price compared to the competition at the time. The company also handled publishing duties for the vast majority of titles released in North America, in addition to taking over management of a few Western-developed projects which had originally been started by NEC. To more quickly expand the console's library, TTi focused extensively on localizing and releasing titles already out in Japan, where the platform was significantly more popular.

Communications between this new division and the Japanese side of NEC were poor, which resulted in many delays and hangups. The TurboDuo continued to see poor sales as more consumers flocked to new 16-bit offerings from Nintendo and Sega. In 1994, TTi ceased operations, effectively ending the TurboGrafx-16's presence in the North American market.

The Story of TurboGrafx and Turbo Duo: A Journey of Innovation and Challenges, by "Johnny Turbo"

The Beginning

In the early years of Turbo Technologies, John Brandstetter and Tony Ancona led the development of the Turbo-Duo and Turbo Grafx platforms, working directly with our colleagues in Japan.

The Team

Brandstetter, the brand manager, collaborated closely with Ancona and Jeremy Klein to bring the best games to the Turbo-Duo platform. Sonoko Saito, another instrumental team member, contributed significantly to our product development efforts.

The Vision

Our team envisioned a solid game lineup to resurrect the Turbo-Grafx platform, understanding the potential success of the platform had it been bolstered with a wider variety of games.

The Arcade Card and NEO GEO Games

John's close relationship with SNK and his contacts in the arcade industry facilitated the licenses for NEO GEO games, including "King of the Monsters," "King Of Fighters," "Fatal Fury," "Art of Fighting," and "World Heroes." John and Tony then shared their findings on the possibility of additional memory add-on for the PC-Engine, the Arcade Card, with the hardware team following the successful licensing agreement with SNK for PC-Engine and Turbo-Grafx.

The Challenges

Securing licensed sports titles was a significant challenge we faced. The uphill battle also included convincing our Japanese counterparts of the viability of the anime and arcade game market in the USA. The desire to bring hit arcade titles such as Mortal Kombat was met with resistance from upper management, impacting the platform's game roster.

The Innovations

Our team, with backgrounds in internal hardware and software teams at Hudsonsoft, worked directly with the designer of the PC-Engine, Okada San. We developed innovative devices like the Turbo Duo Interface that transformed your Duo or Turbo CD into a PC CD drive.

The External Factors

The Gulf War and the Los Angeles riots significantly hampered our business models and development processes, further complicating our operations.

The Unfulfilled Dreams

Despite the difficulties, we dreamt big. We had plans to launch Tetsujiin, the second-generation PC-Engine, and to increase the roster of games on the platform. However, due to various reasons, these dreams were not realized.

The Legacy

Our journey with TurboGrafx and Turbo Duo serves as a testament to our commitment to innovation and perseverance in the face of adversity. While we wished the public could have experienced the amazing stuff we had in the works, we are proud of what we achieved and the valuable lessons we learned.