Namco's Lost Game Console - Super System

After creating the most recognized video game mascot, in the 1980's Namco felt that they could do anything. Traditionally an arcade developer, Namco saw the success of Nintendo's Famicom (NES) system in Japan and abroad and felt that Pacman could take on Mario.

After Nintendo began to reveal information about there Super Famicom (SNES), Namco revealed that they were working on a true 16-bit console of their own, one which would have rivaled the processing speed of the MegaDrive (Genesis) and surpassed the color pallet and sound capabilities of the Super Famicom. It promised to be the most powerful 16-bit game console in the world, hence earning the name 'Super System.'

What happened?

In 1989 a console called the PC Engine was the number one selling game machine in Japan. In the West, American's were patiently waiting for their iteration of the system, the TurboGrafix, to hit their shores. The PC Engine was a joint venture between Japanese electronics giant NEC, and game development powerhouse Hudson Soft.

Namco began to question how they could compete in a market were veterans like Nintendo, Sega and NEC/Hudson were all gearing up for a prolific struggle for domination of the console hardware market.

They decided to align themselves with insurgent NEC. NEC recognized the brand power that came with Namco. In a time where video games were relatively under ground or regarded as a kid's toy, Pacman was instantly recognizable and transcended all facets of society; age, gender, race and social class.

NEC and Hudson were already in the designing phase for a PC Engine2. This would have also been a true 16-bit console, a follow-up to the PC Engine, and a guarantee that the PC Engine brand would endure for another hardware generation.

Talks between NEC and Namco were ongoing, and Namco's console was nearly complete and ready to be integrated with NEC's technology. It would have been ready for the US market within a year.

No Namco materialization or manifestation?

Jealousy has been know to humankind for as far back as history is recorded, and beyond. Just as jealousy exists in human society and even in the animal kingdom, it is also present in the business world.

Hudson feared that they would lose control over the PC Engine to Namco and that NEC would favor this new partner. As a result, Hudson pushed the PC Engine2 to the market, the version that they had co-designed with NEC, leaving Namco and their impressive hardware back in the lab.

This PC Engine2 came to be known as the ill-fated and ill-remembered SuperGrafx. The SuperGrapfx was more like a PC Engine 1.5 than a version 2.0. It featured upgraded graphics, but used the same 8-bit core, not living up to the promise of a true 16-bit console. It also offered no upgraded sound capabilities.

Backwards compatible with the PC Engine's HuCards, the SuperGrafx hailed few supporters. NEC and Hudson would try one more time to enter the hardware market to compete with Sony and Sega with a 32-bit machine with CD based media, but the PC-FX faded even faster than its 16-bit ancestor.

Namco never released their Super System on their own and very little is know about the machine. There are no prototypes know to exist anywhere in the world, though it is widely speculated that Namco still owns at least one prototype as well as specifications.

...And all that could have been

The landscape of the game industry could've been very different had NEC partnered with Namco, or had Namco gone the same route as Sony when Nintendo backed out of their deal to create a CD add-on device for the Super Famicom codenamed "Playstation."

Had the SuperGrafx been canned in favor of the Namco console, Namco/NEC might still be major players today. Namco is one arcade developer who could've handily capitalized on their universally recognizable IP such as Pacman and Dig Dug, and as well as the success of their modern arcade hits such as Ridge Racer, Tekken, Soul Calibur and Time Crisis, and develop new IP such as Kalona and Ace Combat.

If Namco 'pulled a Sony' and decided to release their Super System on their own they may have wound up on top and remain major player today -or- Namco might have deteriorated under the pressure and costs of hardware development and folded before such classics and Soul Calibur and Dead to Rights could be imagined.

Despite the historical outcome of Namco's experiments with their own home videogame system, it would still be interesting today to see their 1989 Super System in action!