I think most people have only ever seen the PC-FX in magazines, and very few have actually had a chance to play one. It was the successor to the PC Engine, which I've been introducing here for a while, but it turned out to be a spectacular failure. NEC was far too complacent. The gaming industry was rapidly shifting from 2D to 3D, but the PC-FX was only a slight upgrade over the PC Engine CD. When it launched, NEC heavily promoted its impressive video playback capabilities, but the PlayStation and Sega Saturn could do pretty much the same thing, so it had no real competitive advantage. Its sales figures were just as disastrous. While the PC Engine sold around 6 million units, the PC-FX reportedly shipped approximately 290,000 units, with only about 110,000 actually sold. It had just 62 game titles in total, so development effectively came to a halt. When I look at the Saturn, I can't help but feel a little sad about how things turned out. But the PC-FX doesn't give me that same feeling. All I can think is, What on earth were they thinking, releasing something like this for a whopping 50,000 yen?

When I first saw the PC Engine GT, the impact was incredible. Imagine a handheld gaming device today with the same performance as a PS5. That's how unbelievable it was back then. Even the fact that it ran on six AA batteries and lasted only about two to three hours was shocking.