Namco was working on a system in 1989, huh?

[Ed Oscuro]

http://www.forumplanet.com/gamespy/t...22&tid=1857047

Looks like it was dropped in favor of the SuperGrafx

I've put more comments at that link. Enjoy!

[airraid]

well according to Electronic Gaming Monthly, yeah
Namco was apparently working on a 16-bit home
videogame console that supposedly rivaled
the then-upcoming Super Famicom which Nintendo
had unvieled to the press in 1989 (or maybe 1988 in Japan).

no details of the Namco system seem to be known,
other than it was 16-bit.

the interesting thing about the Namco console,
its destiny was seemingly intertwined with NEC
and their PC-Engine2, or rather, NEC's effort
to have 'a' PC-Engine2 of some sort.

At first, NEC and Hudson were working on their
own true 16-bit PC-Engine2. they wanted to get
a head start against Nintendo's Super Famicom.
unlike the PC-Engine ~ TurboGrafx-16, the PC-Engine2
was to "employ true 16-bit technology". not just
provide better graphics, although that was part of it
too, as well as having improved audio
(face it, PCE-TG16 chip audio sucked!).

The 16-bit PC-Engine2 would reportedly not arrive
for a year or more, from mid 1989, that would put it
at mid to late 1990.

somewhere along the line, NEC saw that Namco
already had a 16-bit system almost completed,
waiting in the wings. NEC reportedly had negotiations
with Namco to use the Namco 16-bit system as the
basis for the PC-Engine2.

but NEC's partner in the PC-Engine-TG16 business,
Hudson, who had also created the hardware, was
against the idea and they killed the deal! NEC and
Hudson would continue on, with their own next-gen
PC-Engine without Namco. that's what they should
have done, right? without Namco's 16-bit becoming
the PC-Engine2, NEC and Hudson should've gone
back to their original plan..... but that did not exactly
happen.....

Unfortunately, NEC and Hudson rushed a system to
the market by November 1989, sooner than expected.
It was not much of a leap beyond the then-current PC-Engine.
Yes, you guessed it, this was the ill-fated SuperGrafx.
This incarnation of the PC-Engine2 was not the true 16-bit
system that EGM had reported on in mid 1989.

The SuperGrafx had the same 8-bit CPU as the
PC-Engine, and did not have improved audio.
What it did have was modestly improved graphics
and backwards compatibility with the PC-Engine HuCards.

With the true 16-bit PC-Engine2 off the radar screen
and the 8-bit PC-Engine2 'SuperGrafx'
(call it PC-Engine 1.5!) launched in Nov 89,
what the hell happened to the Namco console?

it too disappeared off the radar screen.

here are the EGM clippings I gathered on the Namco console

from EGM #2, July 1989





from EGM #3, Aug/Sept 1989







you may think that I've written quite a lot of text
about the never-seen Namco 16-bit system and the never-seen true 16-bit PC-Engine2 that was scrapped in
favor of the SuperGrafx. well, I am no expert on this subject. I don't have ANY 'insider' knowledge. I am merely
expanding on info in the reports from EGM, adding a few obvious points and a touch of commen sense based on those reports.


jumping from EGM #2 and #3 a few months to EGM
#6 and #8, we see that the SuperGrafx has emerged

EGM #6, January 1990



EGM #8, March 1990


heh, PC-Engine3 is just the Handheld, which was sometimes known as 'Game Tank' and 'HandyGrafx', then finally called PC-Engine GT and Turbo Express.



....i'll try get the other pics up when photodump.com
is back online.... grrr blast them for being down....

[Ed Oscuro]

Of note: The original PC-Engine 2 concept appears to have been a bit more ambitious than the SuperGrafx turned out, but the project apparently morphed into the SGX at a later date (the reasoning was likely to not put out a competitor that'd damage the PC-Engine's ongoing success, but the console was marginalized when it came out despite having some great ports). Airraid tells me the Namco platform showed up as a Namco hardware system (at his other topic)...impressive graphics.

[airraid]

as Ed Oscuro is saying, the Namco console *may* have showed up in one or more of Namco arcade boards. specifically, the NA-1 hardware for arcades.

I cannot emphazize strongly enough that this is totally unconfirmed. my source was the guy that runs the Assembler
videogame museum. pretty good source, but still not confirmed.

[suppafly]

Great article, great scans!!

Thanks a lot!

[Zadoc]

Here's an article on the "Namco Super System" that I wrote recently based on my own research.

When? 1989. Where? Japan. Who? Namco.

After creating the most recognized video game mascot, in the 1980's Namco felt that they could do anything. Traditionally an arcade developer, Namco saw the success of Nintendo's Famicom (NES) system in Japan and abroad and felt that Pacman could take on Mario.

After Nintendo began to reveal information about there Super Famicom (SNES), Namco revealed that they were working on a true 16-bit console of their own, one which would have rivaled the processing speed of the MegaDrive (Genesis) and surpassed the color pallet and sound capabilities of the Super Famicom. It promised to be the most powerful 16-bit game console in the world, hence earning the name 'Super System.'

What happened?

In 1989 a console called the PC Engine was the number one selling game machine in Japan. In the West, American's were patiently waiting for their iteration of the system, the TurboGrafix, to hit their shores. The PC Engine was a joint venture between Japanese electronics giant NEC, and game development powerhouse Hudson Soft.

Namco began to question how they could compete in a market were veterans like Nintendo, Sega and NEC/Hudson were all gearing up for a prolific struggle for domination of the console hardware market.

They decided to align themselves with insurgent NEC. NEC recognized the brand power that came with Namco. In a time where video games were relatively under ground or regarded as a kid's toy, Pacman was instantly recognizable and transcended all facets of society; age, gender, race and social class.

NEC and Hudson were already in the designing phase for a PC Engine2. This would have also been a true 16-bit console, a follow-up to the PC Engine, and a guarantee that the PC Engine brand would endure for another hardware generation.

Talks between NEC and Namco were ongoing, and Namco's console was nearly complete and ready to be integrated with NEC's technology. It would have been ready for the US market within a year.

No Namco materialization or manifestation?

Jealousy has been know to humankind for as far back as history is recorded, and beyond. Just as jealousy exists in human society and even in the animal kingdom, it is also present in the business world.

Hudson feared that they would lose control over the PC Engine to Namco and that NEC would favor this new partner. As a result, Hudson pushed the PC Engine2 to the market, the version that they had co-designed with NEC, leaving Namco and their impressive hardware back in the lab.

This PC Engine2 came to be known as the ill-fated and ill-remembered SuperGrafx. The SuperGrapfx was more like a PC Engine 1.5 than a version 2.0. It featured upgraded graphics, but used the same 8-bit core, not living up to the promise of a true 16-bit console. It also offered no upgraded sound capabilities. Backwards compatible with the PC Engine's HuCards, the SuperGrafx hailed few supporters. NEC and Hudson would try one more time to enter the hardware market to compete with Sony and Sega with a 32-bit machine with CD based media, but the PC-FX faded even faster than its 16-bit ancestor.

Namco never released their Super System on their own and very little is know about the machine. There are no prototypes know to exist anywhere in the world, though it is widely speculated that Namco still owns at least one prototype as well as specifications.


...And all that could have been.

The landscape of the game industry could've been very different had NEC partnered with Namco, or had Namco gone the same route as Sony when Nintendo backed out of their deal to create a CD add-on device for the Super Famicom codenamed "Playstation."

Had the SuperGrafx been canned in favor of the Namco console, Namco/NEC might still be major players today. Namco is one arcade developer who could've handily capitalized on their universally recognizable IP such as Pacman and Dig Dug, and as well as the success of their modern arcade hits such as Ridge Racer, Tekken, Soul Calibur and Time Crisis, and develop new IP such as Kalona and Ace Combat.

If Namco 'pulled a Sony' and decided to release their Super System on their own they may have wound up on top and remain major player today -or- Namco might have deteriorated under the pressure and costs of hardware development and folded before such classics and Soul Calibur and Dead to Right could've been imagined.

Despite the historical outcome of Namco's experiments with their own home videogame system, it would still be interesting today to see their 1989 Super System in action!

[Zadoc]

Here's an article on the "Namco Super System" that I wrote recently based on my own research.

When? 1989. Where? Japan. Who? Namco.

After creating the most recognized video game mascot, in the 1980's Namco felt that they could do anything. Traditionally an arcade developer, Namco saw the success of Nintendo's Famicom (NES) system in Japan and abroad and felt that Pacman could take on Mario.

After Nintendo began to reveal information about there Super Famicom (SNES), Namco revealed that they were working on a true 16-bit console of their own, one which would have rivaled the processing speed of the MegaDrive (Genesis) and surpassed the color pallet and sound capabilities of the Super Famicom. It promised to be the most powerful 16-bit game console in the world, hence earning the name 'Super System.'

What happened?

In 1989 a console called the PC Engine was the number one selling game machine in Japan. In the West, American's were patiently waiting for their iteration of the system, the TurboGrafix, to hit their shores. The PC Engine was a joint venture between Japanese electronics giant NEC, and game development powerhouse Hudson Soft.

Namco began to question how they could compete in a market were veterans like Nintendo, Sega and NEC/Hudson were all gearing up for a prolific struggle for domination of the console hardware market.

They decided to align themselves with insurgent NEC. NEC recognized the brand power that came with Namco. In a time where video games were relatively under ground or regarded as a kid's toy, Pacman was instantly recognizable and transcended all facets of society; age, gender, race and social class.

NEC and Hudson were already in the designing phase for a PC Engine2. This would have also been a true 16-bit console, a follow-up to the PC Engine, and a guarantee that the PC Engine brand would endure for another hardware generation.

Talks between NEC and Namco were ongoing, and Namco's console was nearly complete and ready to be integrated with NEC's technology. It would have been ready for the US market within a year.

No Namco materialization or manifestation?

Jealousy has been know to humankind for as far back as history is recorded, and beyond. Just as jealousy exists in human society and even in the animal kingdom, it is also present in the business world.

Hudson feared that they would lose control over the PC Engine to Namco and that NEC would favor this new partner. As a result, Hudson pushed the PC Engine2 to the market, the version that they had co-designed with NEC, leaving Namco and their impressive hardware back in the lab.

This PC Engine2 came to be known as the ill-fated and ill-remembered SuperGrafx. The SuperGrapfx was more like a PC Engine 1.5 than a version 2.0. It featured upgraded graphics, but used the same 8-bit core, not living up to the promise of a true 16-bit console. It also offered no upgraded sound capabilities. Backwards compatible with the PC Engine's HuCards, the SuperGrafx hailed few supporters. NEC and Hudson would try one more time to enter the hardware market to compete with Sony and Sega with a 32-bit machine with CD based media, but the PC-FX faded even faster than its 16-bit ancestor.

Namco never released their Super System on their own and very little is know about the machine. There are no prototypes know to exist anywhere in the world, though it is widely speculated that Namco still owns at least one prototype as well as specifications.


...And all that could have been.

The landscape of the game industry could've been very different had NEC partnered with Namco, or had Namco gone the same route as Sony when Nintendo backed out of their deal to create a CD add-on device for the Super Famicom codenamed "Playstation."

Had the SuperGrafx been canned in favor of the Namco console, Namco/NEC might still be major players today. Namco is one arcade developer who could've handily capitalized on their universally recognizable IP such as Pacman and Dig Dug, and as well as the success of their modern arcade hits such as Ridge Racer, Tekken, Soul Calibur and Time Crisis, and develop new IP such as Kalona and Ace Combat.

If Namco 'pulled a Sony' and decided to release their Super System on their own they may have wound up on top and remain major player today -or- Namco might have deteriorated under the pressure and costs of hardware development and folded before such classics and Soul Calibur and Dead to Right could've been imagined.

Despite the historical outcome of Namco's experiments with their own home videogame system, it would still be interesting today to see their 1989 Super System in action!