TurboPlay Magazine was a bi-monthly, U.S.-based video game magazine published by Larry Flynt Publications (L.F.P.) from June/July 1990 through August/September 1992. A total of fourteen (14) issues were released. TurboPlay exclusively covered NEC's line of video game consoles, especially the North American models: TurboGrafx-16 (PC Engine), TurboGrafx-CD, Turbo Duo (DUO) and the handheld TurboExpress (PC Engine GT). NEC's SuperGrafx (which was never released outside of Japan) also received some minor coverage.

Each issue of TurboPlay was 32 pages in length and contained software/hardware reviews & previews, strategy guides & cheats, letters to the editor, a feature article or two, contest announcements, etc. These contests, held bi-monthly, often required folks to be creative (as writers or artists) and winning entries were awarded 1 Grand Prize (typically five TG-16 software titles) and 5 Runners Up (typically one TG-16 software title).

Publication History & Personnel

TurboPlay was a spin-off magazine from the editors of Video Games & Computer Entertainment (VG & CE), a popular multi-platform magazine of the late 1980's / early 1990's. VG & CE, like TurboPlay, was published by L.F.P.

Lee Pappas and Andy Eddy, senior editors from VG & CE, would lend their talents to TurboPlay ... as did many other VG & CE staff / reviewers. Notable writers for TurboPlay included Victor Ireland (of Working Designs fame), Donn Nauert (a former video game "champion" and a member of the short-lived US National Video Game Team ), etc.

Special features in TurboPlay ranged from "behind the scenes" peeks at game development (i.e. filming the FMV sequences in Cinemaware's It Came From the Desert TG-CD; interviews with the ICOM development team that created Addams Family TG-CD) to coverage of trade shows (i.e. CES, Tokyo Toy Fair, E3, etc.). Donn Nauert, a celebrity of sorts in the gaming community, wrote many of these features in addition to the strategy guides / tips that appeared in nearly every issue. You might recall that Donn Nauert, along with Jim Allee, have the dubious honor of being the first and only members of the "US National Video Game Team". Victor Ireland, another up-and-coming "celebrity" in the gaming community (he would soon found Working Designs and begin localizing popular titles for TG-16, TG-CD, Sega CD and later, Sony PlayStation) also contributed regularly to TurboPlay. Beginning with issue #4 (Dec. 90 / Jan. 91), Victor Ireland wrote "Games Around the World", a column that profiled import games from Japan. He also covered many trade shows and even penned a feature article on "The Sound and Vision of CD+G."

Importance of TurboPlay to TG-16 Gaming Community

TG-16 struggled in the North American market and, as a result, was given marginal coverage in the major multi-platform magazines of the day. By default, TurboPlay was the only resource Turbo fans could turn to for consistent, timely coverage of TG-16 domestically and PC-Engine in Japan.

Notes

NEC did not produce TurboPlay, but NEC was the primary source of advertising revenue (NEC promised to purchase at least 4 full-page ads in each issue, indefinitely).

External Links

• TurboPlay Magazine Archives (TurboGrafx-16) , offering page scans for all 14 issues of TurboPlay magazine (in their entirety). Also covers TurboForce and DuoWorld (subsequent TG-16 magazines).