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.
7-621: 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
14-721: A Bee Card, the cartridge slot of the MSX had to be fitted with a removable adapter: the Hudson Soft BeePack. The first mass-produced Bee Cards, however, were EEPROM telephone cards manufactured by Mitsubishi Plastics ; these were first sold in Japan in 1985. The trade names Bee Card and Bee Pack derive from Hudson Soft's corporate logo , which features a cartoon bee . Hudson Soft and other software publishers distributed at least eleven MSX software titles on Bee Card: Hudson Soft later collaborated with NEC to develop
21-502: Is a new title in development with a planned release in 2022. Bee Card (game cartridge) A Bee Card (ビーカード, Bī Kādo ) is a ROM cartridge developed by Hudson Soft as a software distribution medium for MSX computers. Bee Cards are approximately the size of a credit card but thicker. Compared to most game cartridges, the Bee Card is small and compact. Bee Cards were released in Japan and Europe but not North America because
28-551: 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. Video game developers made new releases on HuCard until December 1994, when 21 Emon: Mezase! Hotel Ō
35-650: The MSX was unsuccessful. However, Atari Corporation adopted the Bee Card for the Atari Portfolio , a handheld PC released in 1989 in North America. Some Korg Synthesizers and workstations also used Bee Cards as external storage of user content like sound programs or song data. Even though these systems all use Bee Cards, they are incompatible. Only a few MSX software titles were published on Bee Card: six in Japan and only two in Europe and Italy. To accept
42-475: 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
49-644: 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
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