XXX: Unboxing a TurboGrafx-16

If you owned an NES in 1989, then games like Mega Man 2, Ninja Gaiden, and Tetris were your jam. That same year, if your parents really loved you, you were getting all powered up with Altered Beast for the Sega Genesis.

However, if you were a real pain in the ass that year, your parents strode right past the NES classics and Sega's 16-bit juggernaut, and got you a TurboGrafx-16 for Christmas. That'll show you, you little bastard.

22 years later, here's what that Christmas would have looked like for disappointed little boys and girls across America.

The box for the TurboGrafx is certainly a product of the times: hypercolor orange artwork, stonewashed jeans, and a dude in a denim jacket. This is 1989, kids. Get used to it.

The sides and back are standard console box fare: screen grabs, ads for accessories, and lofty claims of "next generation, arcade-quality" graphics and sound. Right. Look closely and you'll see a pitch for the CD add-on--$400 at the time (twice the price of the base system) and the first of its kind.

 

Inside, you get a Macintosh-like, two-tiered styrofoam tower, topped with a very cool "Thank You" card. Cast that aside and you're greeted with a packet of printed swag, including the requisite instruction manual, registration card, and sneak preview booklet, plus an extremely well illustrated Keith Courage in Alpha Zones mini comic book to accompany the pack-in game.

The hardware is packaged nicely within, and in such a manner that no mortal could possibly return it back to the box. Top floor: the Turbo Pad controller, Keith Courage game, power cord, and RF switch. Lobby: the TurboGrafx console.

If the tidy packaging and wonderfully dated artwork didn't win you over, the folks at NEC lobbed one final salvo of awesomeness at new TG-16 owners--the most incredible poster I've ever seen. Just look at this thing. The question here isn't if I should have this thing professionally framed and hung it in my game room, but where? 

I hope you enjoyed this unboxing of the TurboGrafx-16. Be on the lookout for a full review once I get the appropriate capture equipment. Until then, like a toddler at Christmas, we'll just have to be satisfied playing with the box.