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The HuCard (Japanese: ヒューカード, Hepburn: HyūKādo) (Known as the TurboChip in regions where the PC Engine was marketed as the TurboGrafx-16) is a ROM cartridge in the form of a card, designed by Hudson Soft for NEC's PC Engine and PC Engine SuperGrafx video game consoles, which were originally released in 1987 and 1989, respectively.
Development
The HuCard is an evolution from an earlier Hudson Soft technology, the Bee Card, which it developed in the early 1980s as a distribution medium for MSX software; In July 1985, Hudson Soft approached and pitched Nintendo a new add-on for the Famicom that played games using their patented Bee Cards, which was experimented on the MSX computer. Nintendo liked this concept, as it had the ability to store full games and overwrite existing ones. However, as the technology for it was expensive, and that they would have to pay royalties for each card sold, Nintendo instead decided to pass on Hudson Soft's proposal. This eventually led to the partnership between Hudson Soft and NEC. The Bee Card is an EEPROM device that is slightly thinner than the HuCard. It has 32 connectors whereas the HuCard has 38.
Most video game cartridges have a large plastic housing to protect the PCB while providing enough space inside for radiant heat and, less often, a button cell. The PCB in a HuCard or Bee Card is protected by a rigid, glossy polymer that conducts heat; since the PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 leave one side of the card partially exposed while inserted in the console, heat disperses with less obstruction.
Releases
Video game developers made new releases on HuCard until December 1994, when 21 Emon: Mezase! Hotel Ō was released in Japan for the PC Engine. It was the last official release for the platform in any region.
Hudson Soft, NEC, and other vendors published seven HuCard games specifically for the PC Engine SuperGrafx. Hudson Soft called this enhanced medium the Super HuCard.
Atlantean, an independent game released on a HuCard, was made available in August 2014. Jessie Jaeger in Cleopatra's Curse is a new title in development with a planned release in 2022.
See also
- Famicom Modem – Peripheral for the Family ComputerPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
- Sega Card – Memory card formatPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
- Nintendo game card – Game cartridge used on some Nintendo video game consolesPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
References
- "マイコン BASIC 1985 07" – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Gaming Historian (July 14, 2016). The Story of the Famicom Disk System. YouTube. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - PC Engine UK. Access date: September 10, 2022.
- Aetherbyte. Access date: September 10, 2022.
- Reddit. Access date: September 10, 2022.
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