Speaking of rare PC Engine hardware, what happened to this monitor?

Did you know that the folks at NEC announced both the PC Engine DUO and the PC Engine LT (the laptop-esque portable mentioned in this post) at the Tokyo Game Show in 1991? Well, they did.

At the same show, NEC also displayed a four-inch, clamshell monitor that could be attached to the aforementioned DUO to turn it into what the writers at TurboPlay magazine called "the ultimate portable machine."

In this article (from the August/September 1991 issue of TurboPlay), it's suggested that this sexy little monitor (above) had been released two years prior with a price tag of approximately $600. That assertion seems questionable to me, as that would mean it was released in 1989--the PC Engine's second year on the market.

So, I have a question for any fellow PC Engine fans out there who may come across this post: Was this monitor really released in Japan in 1989, or was it released alongside the DUO and the LT?

Regardless, it's a rather fascinating peripheral--especially given its release date--isn't it?

The wonderful world of Working Designs

So, I've spent the last few evenings flipping through my old TurboPlay magazines, and while doing so a number of Working Designs ads have caught my attention.

I thought I'd post three of them here, just in case some of you are TurboGrafx-16 (or Working Designs) fans, too.

This rather horrific ad was supposed to promote one of the system's rare RPG releases, Cosmic Fantasy 2:

The following ad, for Exile: Wicked Phenomenon, is a bit better, at least in my opinion.

There's little to complain about in this Parasol Stars ad--unless, of course, you hate parasols and rainbows and, er, anthropomorphic slot machines.

See also: 'PC Engine porn'

Mizubaku Daibouken = Bubble Bobble 4?

At least, that's what the editors of TurboPlay magazine suggested all the way back in 1992--just before Taito's Mizubaku Diabouken (aka Liquid Kids) hit the streets in Japan.

My initial reaction to that suggestion was something along the lines of "nuh uh!"--but after giving it some consideration my reaction has softened a bit.

After all, the series' other (actual) entries--Bubble Bobble, Rainbow Islands and Parasol Stars--don't share enemies, protagonists, settings or weapons, so why would part four--with its waterbomb-wielding platypus--be any different?

All that said, Mizubaku Daibouken isn't, as far as I can tell, officially called chapter four of the Bubble Bobble saga--although I suppose that may have been something the game's creators considered early on.