Background

The PC-Engine had a huge following in Japan compared to North America. Hence, many titles were released in that region only and were unavailable to TurboGrafx-16 Owners. With the db Electronics PC-Engine to TurboGrafx-16 Converter, a.k.a PC-Henshin, all of these Japanese titles are now transformed to be played on TurboGrafx-16!

In keeping with the Japanese wordplay PC-Genjin which was the name of Bonk in Japan (sounding very similar to the console name PC Engine and meaning PC-Primitive Man); it was suggested by Ishiyakazuo to rename the PC-Engine to TurboGrafx-16 Converter PC-Henshin (Japanese for transform, à la Power Rangers!). I can only dream of ever having a Mr. Sparkle type advertisement for the PC-Henshin!

Do I need PC-Henshin or Turbo PC-Henshin?

   PCE Games on TG16  PCE System Cards on TG16  TG16 Games on PCE
 TG16 Converter  works  doesn't work doesn't work
 PC Henshin  works  works doesn't work
 Turbo PC Henshin  works  works works

Form Factor

The PC-Henshin fits snugly into a standard NTSC or PAL TurboGrafx-16 console. In order to achieve the same thickness as HuCards, the PC-Henshin's thickness is increased to 0.093" by affixing a 0.030" plastic sheet on the under side (because standard PCBs are thinner than HuCards, being only 0.063".) The HuCard itself connects seamlessly on the input side of the PC-Henshin. Simply insert a HuCard until you hear a "click" sound - indicating proper contact has been made.

Specifications

The PC-Henshin is a passive converter like the Master System Converter. Earlier versions of the converter relied upon bus transceivers to reverse the databus but this proved to be unnecessary. The PC-Henshin shares the same board as the PC-Henshin Turbo (to be released soon), but the Turbo version adds a CPLD to the board in order to break the region sequence software check.

Compatibility

The PC-Henshin has so far been confirmed to work on the following console variants:
  • TurboGrafx-16 NTSC
  • TurboGrafx-16 PAL
  • TurboDuo NTSC
  • Turbo Express NTSC
  • Super System Card 3.0 on TG16 (rev d and up only)
If you have confirmed the PC-Henshin works on a system not listed above, or have found a compatibility issue with a certain game, please share this information with the community by posting your findings on our forum.

Where to buy?

The PC-Henshin is currently avaliable at:

TG16 Converter at Retrotowers.co.uk

http://www.ebay.ca/usr/db-elec