TurboExpress

Lore & Background

The TurboExpress, codenamed Game Tank, was revealed as a working prototype in the April 1990 issue of VG&CE. It was released in December 1990 in both Japan and the United States. Its U.S. price was briefly raised to $299.99 in March 1991 due to higher display costs, then dropped back to $249.99, and lowered again to $199.99 in 1992. The handheld primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, Sega's Game Gear, and the Atari Lynx. Despite its technical advantages, it was not widely recognized or adopted by consumers, selling 1.5 million units—far behind its main competitors. NEC's marketing issues and the initial $249.99 price tag, significantly higher than popular competitors, contributed to its lack of market share; it was labeled the 'Rolls-Royce of handheld systems'. The ability to run the same software as the TurboGrafx-16 meant that portable-specific software did not need to be purchased if the user already owned the console, offering cost savings.

Reader's Guide

The TurboExpress is significant as an early attempt to create a high-end portable console that directly played a home console's library. Its backlit display was a notable technical achievement at a time when market leader Nintendo did not offer a backlit handheld until the Game Boy Light in 1998. However, the system suffered from several practical drawbacks. Faulty capacitors caused frequent sound failure, an industry-wide issue in the early 1990s. The LCD screen, though state-of-the-art, had a high rate of pixel failure, and brand-new units often had several bad pixels. Text designed for television screens was difficult or impossible to read on the small LCD, making certain RPGs and adventure games hard to play. Battery life was about three hours on six AA batteries, comparable to other color handhelds of the era but far shorter than the Game Boy's 12–40 hours. The TurboExpress also lacked internal memory for saving games that relied on the TurboGrafx-CD unit or TurboBooster Plus, though most games offered password saves. The TurboLink accessory enabled two-player play for a few games, and the TurboVision TV tuner converted the unit into a handheld television, though it could only process analog signals and became largely nonfunctional after the adoption of digital television. The system's legacy is that of a technically impressive but commercially unsuccessful handheld that demonstrated the potential—and the challenges—of a portable console with full home-console compatibility.

Did You Know?

• The TurboExpress was codenamed Game Tank during development.
• Its screen is 66 mm (2.6 in.), the same size as the original Game Boy.
• The TurboExpress can display up to 481 colors on screen from a palette of 512.
• The TurboVision TV tuner accessory includes an RCA audio/video input for external composite video signals.